Making Connections: How Different Forms of Art Relate

2 Min Read  •  Arts Integration

Seeing And Making Connections, skill transfer, critical and creative thinking.

These are all things we want for our students.  Being able to see and making connections, to transfer skills from one area to another. The ability to think critically and creatively. This is what helps ensure that the daunting problems our students face as citizens of this rapidly changing world will be solved or even prevented.  To help students, we need to model that kind of thinking.  We need to draw in making connections, to demonstrate where skills can transfer, to model how we think through a problem to analyze it and solve it in multiple ways.

But, How?

Last fall, I endeavored to create a chart showing the relationship between elements of different art forms.  This chart is the brain child of our artistic trio. With the support of my music and visual art specialist teacher colleagues, we drew in making connections between the various aspects of each art form to help us think more fluidly about the art forms. As well as, how the art forms might be integrated – how each art form might be used to support learning in the other art forms.

This is, by no means, a perfect or definitive document.  However, as you endeavor to integrate art with core content, it might help to create units of study involving several art forms.  In this way, you might draw connections you have not seen and be able to model that thinking for your students.  Over time the hope is students will start doing that themselves, and that train will be off and running!

As you head into a new calendar year and have a chance to pause, breathe and reflect. I hope this list of connections give you a fresh way of approaching your arts integration!

Click on this link to view and download the PDF!

Relationship of Elements of Art- Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Art and Design