Arts Curriculum - Information and Help

Washington State’s vision for teaching the Arts is “The ARTs, which include dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, will be effectively integrated into student educational experiences in all Washington State schools.”

Redmond Elementary provides instruction in music.

Curriculum Information

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
http://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/Arts/default.aspx

Essential Academic Learning Requirements
http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculumInstruct/Arts/EALRs/EALRs.aspx

Testing

Classroom based assessment metrics are under development for the Arts.

Tips for Helping Students

Start sharing your interest in the arts at an early age. Listen to music in your home and go to live performances. Experience theater, dance and literary events together. Take your children to art exhibits. Make it a part of family outings. Professional theaters, libraries, symphony orchestras, and museums often have programs especially for children and at reduced ticket prices. Libraries are great local resources of art books, CDs, films and music.
Keep a journal of your next vacation, or even of short outings, like a trip to the zoo, a walk in the park, or a special birthday. Collect memorabilia, like tickets, flowers, shells, or pictures. Write a description of the event and paste the mementos in a spiral notebook or journal. For very young kids, take dictation of their words or make oral recordings to encourage their ideas and make connections with other experiences.
Keep a variety of art materials available to your children--crayons, colored paper, newsprint, paints, colored pencils and pastels. Encourage your kids to use them. Get a large box-the best are from furniture movers and let your children create their own imaginary environment. Give them a disposable camera to document a trip to school or the grocery store, dinnertime, or playing with friends so they start becoming more aware of their surroundings.
Choose a popular work of art, like Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. Talk about the painting and how night skies look. Recreate your own Starry Night. Think about how Starry Night would sound? How would it look as a dance? Could it be a Halloween costume?
Educate yourself about the number and variety of art education programs offered at your child's school. Is there an arts credit requirement to graduate from high school? Are there achievement standards for the arts in your schools? Is there an expectation that every student will participate in the arts? Is there a budget to support the arts in your schools as well as appropriate space and equipment? Are all the art forms taught (music, visual arts, dance, drama, poetry, film, etc.)?
Volunteer to work on an arts project in your child's school, like helping to organize an arts day, assembling an arts and writing journal of students' work, or making arts related field-trips a richer experience by including pre-or post-event discussions or projects.
Take your children to the arts events in the community. Many are free and the quality is excellent. Look for community festivals of Shakespeare, music or the visual and performing arts. Attend your local high school's theater productions. Introduce your children to the arts through art camps, classes and music lessons. You will find excellent instruction in after-school programs or at mini-camps during school-breaks. Consider extra-curricular arts classes in music, dance, drama or the visual arts. Check out youth orchestras, choral groups, community bands and theater groups to give your children an opportunity to work with professional artists.

PTSA Enrichment Activities

Reflections
Field Trips

Links