Kristen Just, Ashley Garaas

& Whitney Fridley

This case study was designed for students who ranged from the ages of three to five years of age. Students underwent this study for a six month period. This case study was completed to determine if students who received music enriched lessons out performed students who did not receive music instruction in their lessons. The research from this study suggests that students who received music enriched lessons scored significantly higher then students who did not.

Throughout this six-week case study researchers tried to discover the effects that process drama would have on the development of literacy skills for four to eight year old students. Some of the students even spoke English as their second language. The research from this study suggests that through the use of process drama in the reading curriculum, teachers may be better able to help students develop both basic and higher level literacy skills.

Case Study One Case Study Two

Applied music skills such as: pitch, dynamics, duration, timbre, and form

Developed listening, vocal, and motor skills

Used critical thinking skills involved in counting, calculation, number conventions, and number facts

Explored multiple and alternative viewpoints

Identified and attempted to solve problems

Applied own logic Used skills necessary in critical

reading Applied language development Applied content knowledge Explored and understood

written texts and picture books

Both studies applied critical thinking skills, although case study two utilized more skills than case study one.

Case Study One Case Study Two

Dance

Clapping rhythms

Vocal expression through the use of singing

Acting out concepts through the use of drama

Drama Dramatic play Role-playing Improvisation Using imagination

Both studies were equally effective in the use of creative expression.

Both of these case studies were process orientated.

The connection in case study one was made by integrating music with mathematics.

The connection in case study two was made by integrating drama with literacy.

Both of these studies were seamlessly integrated by using the arts to help teach core subject areas.

In both of these case studies students were more engaged in their core subject areas through the use of art integration.

In case study one students were not only more actively engaged but also scored significantly higher on standardized tests when music was integrated into their math lesson. Through the use of singing, clapping, and dancing student involvement increased because all learning styles were addressed.

In case study two students were also actively engaged through the use of process drama and role-playing to develop basic and higher level literacy and language skills. Integrating process drama into reading lessons was especially useful in getting English Language Learners more engaged.

In our own classrooms we could see ourselves incorporating the arts from these case studies (such as music, movement, drama, and role-playing) into all subject areas.

Arts integration would allow our students to be more actively involved in our lessons because it would encourage creative expression and critical thinking. When students are more actively engaged and lessons utilize more learning styles, students achieve significantly higher.

Using drama to act out stories, writing ideas, math word-problems, and social skills

Using music and movement to develop a deeper understanding of concepts in almost any content area

Using visual arts to create illustrations for a class book or a piece of their own writing

Puppetry

Storytelling

Creative writing such as narratives, poems, fantasies

Using dramatic play in all content areas

Harris, M. A. (2007). Differences in mathematics scores between students who receive traditional Montessori instruction and students who receive music enriched Montessori instruction. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 3(1).

Montgomerie, D., & Ferguson, J. (1999). Bears don't need phonics: An examination of the role of drama in laying the foundations for critical thinking in the reading process. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 4(1), 11 - 20.