improving reading skills through elementary art experiences

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National Art Education Association Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art Experiences Author(s): Becky Van Buren Source: Art Education, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan., 1986), pp. 56+59+61 Published by: National Art Education Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192943 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 05:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . National Art Education Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Art Education. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.77.34 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 05:12:46 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art Experiences

National Art Education Association

Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art ExperiencesAuthor(s): Becky Van BurenSource: Art Education, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan., 1986), pp. 56+59+61Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192943 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 05:12

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

National Art Education Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to ArtEducation.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.34 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 05:12:46 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art Experiences

like asking questions, searching for structure and order, and putting infor- mation together to discover new re- lationships. Instead of waiting to be fed answers, could students be taught to search for answers themselves? Lowenfeld and Brittain would answer a resounding "Yes" and that art can help children develop inquiring, answer-seeking thinking. When children choose to begin an art activity, they are self-motivated. From the very beginning, they make choices about size, colors, and composition. They decide how big to make a drawing, whether to use pencils or paint, and how many animals to include on their paper. Clearly, there is not only one set of answers for an art activity. Art Children absorbed in an art activity are continuously gathering ideas and bits of information. They listen to signals from within, feel interactions between themselves and their environment, and the work of art evolves. These abstract, intellectual processes are characteristic of flexible, creative human beings. What a sharp contrast to the child who is locked into memorizing facts, unable to apply what he or she is learning, and lacks opportunities or encouragement to utilize inner resources.

While art for the adult is usually concerned with aesthetics, art for children is essentially a means of dynamic expression; dynamic because as children grow their expression changes and grows. It is Lowenfeld and Brittain's conviction that creative processes of the child are more impor- tant than the quality of final products. Art's purpose should be to encourage children to develop ways to express their feelings and emotions without concern for making beautiful objects. Ideally, an art teacher will be a resource person who can facilitate ex- plorations as children seek and find their own answers. (Lowenfeld and Brittain, 1982).

Pearl Greenberg agrees that art ex- periences give children opportunities to make choices and important state- ments, they acquire techniques to help

them solve problems (1966). As many of us have already observed, technical knowledge is not requisite for a child to experience deep satisfaction from self- expression in art. Even a young child's scribbles express feelings. Children develop self-confidence as they work through satisfying art experiences. They articulate a part of their inner selves. This belongs uniquely to them and cannot be judged right or wrong. Although encouragement or praise may be welcome, children do not re- quire external reinforcements to know their work is satifying. The value of the work is in the process (Greenberg, 1966).

A central concern for art in the school curriculum is to define, expand, enrich, and respond to the need for ex-

. . . presslng one s experlences.

The goals of art education have to en- compass all of the feeling and thinking ottributes of people. (Kaufman, 1966, p. 27).

Kaufman suggests that in order to help an individual or group of children achieve their full potential, there must be an intimate relationship between the aesthetic elements of consciousness and the overall instruction of a cur- riculum. Children happily dripping paint on pieces of paper are experienc- ing learning just as much as when they painstakingly copy letters together to make a word.

Art is a language, a visuol longucxge, that can be read and understood by children. (Erdt, 1962, p. 7).

Erdt feels that art is a natural ex- perience for young children. Children do not feel they need years of training before expressing themselves with paint or clay. Art materials themselves stimulate children to explore their ideas and feelings (Erdt, 1962).

The art teacher should be concerned with expanding each child's ability to communicate. Art is an important way for children to express themselves as individuals. When children can draw

Becky Van Buren

In this article . . . Van Buren tells how art experiences can be used to improve

reading skills. "Communication

and self-expression are two goals

common to both art and reading."

* believe that art classes should be * part of the regular curriculum for a all elementary school children. I

am concerned about the eighties' back-to-basics movement and the resulting pressures that threaten art classes with possible elimination. Often people believe that arts are irrelevant, costly "frills". I hope to demonstrate that art is an essential part of educa- tion. Art experiences can help children learn to explore their inner selves as well as teach them how to discover and develop ideas both in art and reading.

There are many similarities between education's goals for art and for reading. Learning to communicate and acquiring an articulate use of symbols are just two. If art and reading teachers would recognize each other's impor- tance and collaborate to improve how they teach their students, children would learn with greater ease, more depth, and deeper enjoyment.

In attempting to understand the position of art in American education, Lowenfeld and Brittain (1982) looked at how knowledge generally is trans- mitted in American schools. They claim that current methodology seems to feed children bits of information and requires them to repeat facts on a test. This method of instruction ad- dresses only one aspect of human development, the ability to do well on fact-oriented tests. It neglects qualities

56 Art Education January 1 986

Improving Reading Skills Through

Elementary Art Experiences

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Page 3: Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art Experiences

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upon their senses and see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and manipulate, as part of their learning, the art process has meaning (Greenberg, 1966). It seems that art has the ability to synthesize reason and information from the physical senses with emotions and in- tuition. Art enriches the individual with a unique vitality that is different from ordinary existence. Art, then, has a two-fold nature. First, it is an exter- nal realization of an experience that someone has created. Second, art is an internal quality that resides in some degree within all individuals.

As an educational strategy, art ex- periences provide a means of expres- sion that other areas cannot easily af- ford. Kaufman asserts that an ex- perience is more likely to communicate on a felt level if it is transformed into an artistic expression. A sculpture depicting some strong emotion will communicate more feeling than a paragraph of words. Art brings together the emotions and the intellect, intuition and logic, thus creating op- portunities for a fuller quality of living (Kaufman, 1966).

One way that children learn com- munications is by forming images from symbols in their outside world. As they interpret experiences or concrete ob- jects and translate them into works of art, they are using creative, insightful thinking. Children's experiences with art help them learn about symbolic structure and the beauty of forms. Might this thinking transfer to produc- tive learning in other areas? Reading Reading is often characterized as a basic skill necessary for learning. Upon examination, however, reading, writing, and arithmetic are merely tools that can facilitate learning. Is recognizing letters and words "reading"? Is saying words out loud "reading"? Or is reading the ability to ask questions about information or to trigger thoughts and ideas? Lowenfeld and Brittain believe that an integral aspect of reading is its assimilation into the direct experience of the child. A child who reads should be able to take in information and evaluate it in terms of his or her own experience. Reading is a learning, evaluating process as is working on an art project.

As young children begin to make representations of the world around them, they develop symbols for what

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language in the form of visual images, reading signs, and symbols of art. In either instance, the language of art is an effective means of communication. We perceive visual images faster than we can interpret complex words and meanings. One needs to gather many words to comprehend their significance in a certain context, whereas art is often immediate and direct. Art en- compasses what is tangible and what is imagined, realistic representation and abstraction, rhythmic, balanced forms and haphazard shapes. Art and Reading Art especially relates to reading, which is thinking stimulated by visual sym- bols. Art has the ability to pique curiosity and increase vocabulary. For example, most children are curious about clay. They learn that it is com-

they see. A circle with lines radiating out from its edge might be a sun; a line with a circle at the top could be a per- son. As children begin to make and understand symbols, they realize that other people make symbols too, not only in pictures, but in writing and reading. A child who is able to relate these symbols in a drawing, placing them side by side or overlapping, is utilizing organizational thinking. Understanding complex alphabet sym- bols is an early part of reading com- prehension (Lowenfeld and Brittain, 1982).

In the article, "Art Means Language", Richardson ( 1982) de- scribes art as a special kind of language. It may take the form of language as we know it, in a critical discussion of art, or it may be a

Art Education January 1986 59

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Page 4: Improving Reading Skills through Elementary Art Experiences

enhances how we think. When children combine visual and language arts ex- periences, they learn to communicate in more complex, aesthetic ways and they become more expressive (Rabson, 1982).

Communication and self-expression are two goals common to both art and reading. When art instruction is com- bined with reading as it was in the Detroit public schools' study, children develop more complex vocabularies and imaginative use of words. Expand- ing children's vocabulary for self- expression with the visual language of art will permit them to describe themselves, their feelings, and the world in more ways than with spoken and written words. Art experiences en- courage children to use all their senses and become "whole." Learning to Read Through the Arts operates with the conviction that language instruc- tion is enriched and deepened when coupled with art experiences. Their programs are successfully helping readers who are below grade level, perceptually handicapped, and gifted.

A few schools are beginning to develop art/reading programs that work together to enhance children's reading skills. Hopefully, the idea will spread into other schools and districts. Mixing art lessons with reading is an excellent opportunity to utilize the resources and abilities of several dif- ferent teachers as they work toward common goals. From the child's point of view, it certainly seems that learning that involves art experiences would simply be more interesting and fun. ^

Becky Van Buren is an art specialist at Village East Elementary (Cherry Creek Schools) in Aurora, Colorado.

References Catchings, Y.P. (1984, October). "Art joins

the reading circle. " Instructor 94, 150- 151. Cunningham, P. (1982, May). "Drawing them

into reading." Reading Teacher, 35, 960-962. Erdt, M . H . (1962). Teaching art in the elemen-

tary school. New York: Holt, Rinehardt and Winston.

Greenberg, P. (1966). Children's experiences in art. New York: Reinhold.

Kaufman, 1. (1966). Art and education in con- temporary culture. New York: MacMillan .

Lowenfeld, V ., & Brittain, W. L. (1982). Creative and mental growth. New York: Mac- Millan .

Rabson, B . (1982, April) . " Reading and writing at the Guggenheim." School Arts, 81, 13-15.

Richardson, A. S. (1982, September). "Art means language. " A rt Education, 35, 10-12 .

posed of "minerals" in the soil, should be kneaded or "wedged" before shap- ing, may be "glazed" with color before being "fired" in a "kiln" for per- manence. Art projects that include specialized vocabulary and important sequences of action set an atmosphere conducive to improving reading skills. This was demonstrated in a recent study (Catchings, 1984). Five hundred Detroit elementary school students took part in a five year study. Art lessons were integrated with reading classes to test whether art activities can influence reading skills development. At the beginning of each school year, several fifth grade classes in different schools were chosen for the study. Once a week, half the classes were given a reading and art lesson, the other half acted as the control group and were not given the art lessons. Standardized achievement tests were used to measure performance at the end of each year. The children who had the weekly art lessons consistently made greater gains in reading skills than the control children!

Pat Cunningham, an education pro- fessor at Wake Forest University, has described how she acquired the idea of using drawing to cultivate reading skills with a collection of nine "How to Draw" books. Directions in those books were easy to follow, and the descriptive text that came with the lessons offered interesting oppor- tunities to build children's reading vocabulary.

It seems to me that an elementary reading teacher could use information- filled drawing lessons very effectively. Books would not really be necessary. An art teacher and an elementary teacher in the same building could plan a unit together on a particular subject, such as " Insects. " The classroom teacher could decide which concepts and new vocabulary words to in- troduce, while the art teacher could plan a related project. Students, for ex- ample could choose a particular insect to study and plan an art project to display the results of their study. Because art is innately flexible, children would have several options. They could work individually or in small groups. Materials could be simp- ly crayons and paper, or the children could create large papier-mache in- sects, painted with bright tempera paints. Very possibly some children who have difficulty with reading might

tune in to the art portion of this lesson and build other skills without realizing it. It seems likely that children who ex- perience art along with reading instruc- tion will develop better vocabularies, learn sequencing of events, and even learn to think with more originality and creativity.

The notion of an art and a reading teacher collaborating to improve children's reading skills is still relative- ly new. Most elementary educators would separate the two areas, failing to perceive any connection between the two. There are, however a few schools and school systems that are beginning to realize how art experiences help children's reading abilities. I would like to describe one example of an arts/language program thriving in New York City.

Learning to Read Through the Arts is a non-profit organization that operates in conjunction with the Gug- genheim Museum in New York. Their programs are based on the belief that learning is deepened and reinforced when it occurs in environments that awaken many of one's senses. Artists teach workshops in New York and New Jersey public schools. They relate different art media such as architecture drawing ceramics, and photography to language development. There are dif- ferent programs for children in first through twelfth grades, with some for students reading several years below grade level, some for academically gifted youngsters, and others for children with perceptual handicaps (Rabson, 1982).

Learning to Read Through the Arts aims to promote creativity and learn- ing, using art forms within a language arts curriculum. Each artist-instructor develops a series of two to four week art/reading/writing lessons, based on a particualr theme. Students spend equal time on art and language. The lessons are planned to develop cognitive skills such as identification, discrimination, sequencing, memory, and comprehen- sion. Each student keeps a journal that includes original stories, vocabulary lists, and detailed directions for certain art projects. Concurrent art ex- periences help children acquire an awareness of relationships and events. Rabson notes that children who are simultaneously expressing themselves in art and writing projects are utilizing two different symbol systems. Describ- ing experiences visually and verbally

Art Education January 1986 61

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