Art, Music, PE collaboration

[nafmeadmin]

The PE and art teacher in one of my buildings are interested in coming up with something the 3 of us could do with students to tie in art, music and p.e. Have any of you done something like this that accomplishes the collaboration, while teaching the standards/benchmarks of your individual area at the same time? We have so little time with our students and have a full curriculum, so we want to make this something that helps us address our concepts and skills.
Any ideas you have to share would be greatly appreciated!

[nafmeadmin]

My first idea has to do wtih Hispanic Heritage Month which is coming up – middle of Sept through middle of Oct. You teach songs from Spanish-speaking countries, gym teacher teaches games and dances from those countries, art teacher teaches artists and styles from those countries. This covers several standards. Collaboration among all of the “specials” is extremely ideal and hard to achieve – as you point out given the time restrictions- but I’m very happy that you are going for it. … more ideas: winter songs in Music, adjust kiddie games to be winter theme, art could teach currier and ives pictures!!

[nafmeadmin]

At my school all three groups present a PTO program each month. We basically do informational concerts were we show what we are doing in the classes. We also have required Professional Learning Community meeting that has to take place each week. We discuss all things related to us.

[nafmeadmin]

I’m not sure about art, but I have done team teaching with the gym teachers to teach folk dances to my 2nd, 3rd, an 4th grade classes (in our state, movement is part of the PE standards… as well as separate dance standards, but we don’t have a dance teacher). You can also teach the students jump rope songs/rhymes and do jump roping in the gym.

[nafmeadmin]

We’ve been doing a STOMP unit. The kids built their instruments in art, composed the music in music class, and then came up with choriography in PE. They actually also did research on the computer in tech beforehand. We used to all do this, but now we do the whole thing in music class. But it was a nice collaboration!
Another good music/pe project could be contradance or square dances.

[nafmeadmin]

You may find this NAfME book helpful: Singin’, Sweatin’, and Storytime: Literature-based Movement and Music for the Young Child, by Rebecca E. Hamik (PE Teacher) and Catherine M. Wilson (music teacher) — https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781607092650
Over 170 lesson plans are included. Each lesson has a story for the teacher to read to the children, a music activity and a physical activity. Lessons include basic music and physical education skills as well as lessons that teach students about staying healthy, good character, citizenship, holidays, and world cultures.
Most likely the visual art teacher could come up with an art component.

Linda Brown, NAfME Staff

[nafmeadmin]

I teach in a multi-age, inquiry K-5 school. This past year we did an entire day of 4/5 integration with Music, Art, P.E and science on “The Body”. Music dealt with music and movement effecting your health, leading the students through a yoga session (accompanied by baroques and classical music), then cardio dance followed by discussion of how and why musical styles can effect the nervous system, emotions and other aspects of the body. The art teacher worked with body image and sketching the human body, including student perceptions of art involving the human body. The P.E. teacher worked with nutrition, activity and the healthy body. Science brought in body organs to understand the “nuts and bolts” of the body, and how lifestyle effects the functioning of those organs. We rotated groups throughout each session, including a healthy snack time. At the end of the day, students journaled about their experiences with resounding success for making connections from session to session and much enjoyment of a different approach to the school day. The biggest accomplishment was working together and keeping the integrity of each subject area.

Christine Hayes, Chair
Council for General Music Education

[nafmeadmin]

I love all the ideas that have been submitted. I have done some collaborative performances with our art, drama and phys ed teacher. We picked a culture and built an exhibit/performance around it. One year we selected Africa – the art teacher had students make instruments, masks, and costumes; the phys ed teacher worked on dances, I taught songs and instrumental ensembles, and our drama teacher/librarian worked on short skits. It actually was a school-wide production with every class involved (which we don’t do anymore) but you could simplify it according to your needs. Good luck!

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