THE BEACH
Why The Beach?
Many students in Philadelphia may have never had the opportunity to visit the beach. Since I grew up within fifteen minutes of the closest beach, I felt that this was a theme that needed to be brought to life for inner-city students. The beach is a very exciting place to be and I think that everyone should be able to experience digging their toes into the warm sand while hearing the waves crash and seagulls call. There are a lot of different animals that call the beach and ocean their home and our students need to meet them! Even if we can not physically take our students to this wonderful place, we can provide many of the same experiences right here in the classroom! Learning about the beach may open up a whole new world for these students and it will be a learning experience that they will never forget!
Why The Beach?
Many students in Philadelphia may have never had the opportunity to visit the beach. Since I grew up within fifteen minutes of the closest beach, I felt that this was a theme that needed to be brought to life for inner-city students. The beach is a very exciting place to be and I think that everyone should be able to experience digging their toes into the warm sand while hearing the waves crash and seagulls call. There are a lot of different animals that call the beach and ocean their home and our students need to meet them! Even if we can not physically take our students to this wonderful place, we can provide many of the same experiences right here in the classroom! Learning about the beach may open up a whole new world for these students and it will be a learning experience that they will never forget!
Why Integrate Academics with the Arts?
In our schools today, many art programs are being cut due to tight budgets and a focus on standardized testing. If our students are not being introduced to the arts, we may be missing out on the next great Picasso, Beethoven, or Julie Andrews. Our students need to be exposed to different art forms, not just for discovering their talents, but also to help them better understand the academics they are being taught. Not every student can learn by being taught out of a textbook. Some students need a creative outlet to grasp new material. You may be familiar with the terms "verbal learner" and "visual learner" but these are just two of the five different learning styles that our students can identify with. Not only are there different learning styles, but it is believed that people may also be right or left brained. This theory is based on the belief that the two sides of the brain control different types of thinking. I don't know about you, but I believe myself to be right-brained which is thought to be more intuitive, thoughtful, and subjective. While others are left-brained which is often said to be more logical, analytic, and objective. With all of these different learning styles, especially in a class filled with 25 or more developing brains, we, as educators, need to do our part to activate all of the different leaning styles to ensure that our students are getting the best educational experience available to them. I believe that Integrating the arts into academic lessons is a great way to start!