GAEA Conference Fall 2024

This presentation will delve into the integral role of arts education in fostering literacy skills among students. By exploring the connections between visual arts and literacy, we aim to demonstrate how art classrooms serve as rich environments for nurturing reading, writing, thinking, communication, and creativity. Through research findings and practical examples, we will showcase the transformative power of art education in improving literacy rates and enhancing overall academic achievement.

This presentation will provide examples of art integration lessons that incorporate art standards as well as content standards. The lessons will be easily adaptable to multiple grades. The presentation will include an introduction to art integration as we see it impactfully practiced in our schools today. We will discuss the benefits of including other content areas in our art instruction such as: helping students to make personal connections to the content, increased overall academic achievement, developing student’s ability to apply learning to other experiences, and many more. Presenters will walk through specific lessons which integrate art with math, language arts, literacy, science, and social studies so that they will leave with relevant lessons to implement immediately. All lessons will support art standards as well as content standards.

Dive into the world of visual literacy, discovering innovative methods to blend it into art education and beyond. This session highlights the crucial role of visual literacy in today's image-centric society, offering practical strategies and activities suitable for art classrooms and various educational contexts. Explore how to make visual literacy a seamless part of learning experiences.

Puppets are used around the world! We use puppets to tell stories. Puppets can represent ourselves or be a character and allow us to act out a story, work out problems, and express ourselves. You can do it solo or with others. Puppet characters, props, and sets can be made from simple materials, much of which is cheap or free: wood, paper, metal, leather, cardboard, cardstock,, fabric, chopsticks, rods, dowels, cotton batting, string, pipe cleaners, wires.

With hundreds of free instructional resources available through GaDOE Inspire, find out how to customize current GaDOE lessons and to create your own lessons within the Inspire platform. You will learn how to curate your own content collection and how to create Velocity activities. Velocity is a free digital learning tool available to all GA educators within Inspire. Bring your laptop and find out about the free resources that are available to you.

Explore the transformative power of art in facilitating conversations around challenging subjects in K-12 education. This session delves into some of the no-cost resources and strategies from GPB Education for utilizing the arts to engage students in processing difficult topics. Discover media collections and activities from our PBS partners that help foster emotional resilience, empathy, and critical thinking through artistic expression. Model techniques for creating a safe and supportive environment where students can explore complex issues through various artistic mediums. Join GPB to harness the potential of art as a tool for facilitating meaningful dialogue and empowering students to navigate challenging realities with creativity and resilience.

This presentation looks at an after-school workshop series I taught for middle-school aged students on creating superhero stories. Topics that will be explored in this presentation include facilitating original character creation, incorporating literacy learning and storytelling in art-making practices, and using comic books as a medium to engage students in creating stories.

Don't lose the A at a STEM school! We will look at different models, engage in observation and experimentation, collaborate and make some art. I will be redelivering information and resources from the NAEA Fostering STEAM workshop I attended in Jan 2024.