Field Work 2

What?
This was our second week in Mr. Wimmer's 6th grade class. My partner and I went to their art class, which they have once a week taught by a specialty art teacher. They learned how to make geometric tessellation shapes and designs. Mr. Wimmer is still having them work on their pottery easter baskets. He also always gives them the option to draw pictures instead of writing in their journal. I think that is a good option to allow the students to express themselves in whatever manner best fits their interests.
So What?
Because of this semester, my question with all art projects done in the classroom has become, 'how does this tie back to the curriculum?' Our teacher loves worksheets and seems to give them worksheets without any connection back to the curriculum. The activities are fun and the kids enjoy doing them, but the enduring understanding doesn't seem present. For example, I asked my 4th grader cousin, Ethan, what he knew about Rome. He said, "Oh, I learned so much about Rome. That was one of my favorite things I learned about in school." I said, "Well, what did you learn?" He said, "I don't really remember, but I do remember that we built these awesome roads with mud and rock and sand!" The connection was almost made between world history, creating a road, and Rome's great invention of the everlasting roads, but the tie between the art and the importance to world history wasn't quite clear enough. It needed to be explained just a little deeper the significance of the art project in connection to Ancient Rome.
I believe using art, in the 6th grade especially, is most effective and productive when it is used to meet curriculum objectives in other main content areas and when that connection is made known to the students very clearly.
Now What?
When I begin teaching in the future, I want to make sure that my lesson plans include productive art that allows them to really understand and remember the content in another subject really well. The more things you can teach at once, effectively, the more time you will have to cover all the subjects in the core curriculum. This will allow the students to have a greater advantage in all the grades to follow. Art is a great way to create opportunities for enduring understanding, when it is used in a thoughtful, prepared, and organized manner that ties in well to the subject being taught.