Section 6: Creative Activities in Other Curricular Areas



Section 5: Creative Activities in Other Curricular Areas

In this section of your text, creativity in various areas of the curriculum is discussed. The emphasis continues to be on the process and not the product in these areas of the curriculum, as it is in the arts in general.

Web Activities

Conduct an Internet search, locating at least four reliable sites for one or more of these curriculum areas: movement, music, language experiences, social studies, health and safety, and creative food experiences. Review, compare, and contrast the information provided on each site.

• Does the information appear to be accurate?

• Is it developmentally appropriate?

• Does any of the information appear to be potentially harmful to young children?

Visit the Web site of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) at . Review the Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Click on the Table of Contents and choose one of the Ten Thematic Strands in Social Studies to review.

• How useful is this information to you as a teacher of young children?

• How much would you be able to apply in your lesson planning?

• Give an example of a lesson plan designed around this particular strand.

You can access the complete set of science standards on the National Science Education Standard’s Web site at . Click on “Access Now” to reach the index of the Standards document.

• Choose one of the chapters in the index to read and review.

• Prepare a summary of your reading.

• Include in your summary: implications for early childhood teachers; how this information can be of positive use for teachers; and your plans to incorporate this information in your future teaching.

Visit the National Association for Music Education Web site at . In Resources Section click on Music Standards. Choose on the articles in that section and answer the following questions:

• Is the information in this subsection similar to that in Chapter 17 of your text?

• What are some similarities and differences?

• How can you use this information in your work with children?

• What specific activities would you plan using this information?

Visit the Web site of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics at . On the Homepage, click on Elementary School. From the Elementary page, choose at least one activity from the Lessons, Activities, or NCTM Standards sections. Use this activity or lesson with children. Then evaluate it in these areas:

• Level of difficulty

• Appropriate age/grade level

• National standard addressed in the activity

• Would you use this activity with children? Why or why not?

Do an Internet search for Web sites offered by publishers incorporating various materials, activities, and books for several areas of the curriculum. Choose the two you felt were most useful for teachers of young children. Review, compare, and contrast the information provided on each site.

• What age/grade levels is/are most appropriate for this site?

• Are the activities presented developmentally appropriate?

• Is the information presented consistent with the information in your text? What are the similarities and differences?

Music resources are in abundance on the Children’s Music Web at . Here you will find a collection of resources for teaching children about music. The site, organized by five main topics (Bank Teachers, Orchestra Teachers, Vocal/Choral, Classroom Music, and All Music Teachers) offers links to great composers, study guides for instrumental music, lessons for different grades, and much more. Click onto the Classroom Music site and choose one lesson that you feel is appropriate for your work with children. Then use it with children. Evaluate your experience: Was the lesson at the appropriate level of difficulty? Did it have appeal? Was it easy to use? Would you use it again? Why or why not?

Take an art safari. Visit New York’s Museum of Modern Art at . Click on the paw print to enter this site to explore animals and art. Click onto “Make Your Own Art.” Then click on one of the four topics (fantastic animals, my pet and me, animals from my country, and recycle for art). Follow the directions in the selected topic to create your own art. Evaluate your experience. Would this activity be suitable for young children? Which ages? How would you improve the activity? Would you recommend this Web site to your fellow teachers and students? Why or why not?

Field Trips can be made on-line. Visit Tramline—Virtual Field Trips at . Select a subject for a trip from the field trip list including Science, other subject trips and Teacher’s Resource trips.

Science Lessons Plans and the National Science Standards

Visit for over 3,500 free lessons. Select a subject from the “Choose your Subject” section, including social studies, math, and science lessons. All lessons are correlated with national standards. You can also access both seasonal lesson plans by date and multi-disciplinary units.

Learn more about the National Science Standards Matrix at . This site, developed by the University of California Berkeley—Museum of Paleontology, has a matrix of activities including suggested grade level, content standards, and other content. On the home page, type in “National Science Standards Matrix” in the Search Box and click on “search UCMP.” Then click on “National Science Standards Matrix.” Click on the activity “Tennis Shoe Detectives.” Evaluate this activity for use with children. Include its strengths and weaknesses, ease of use, and general appeal.

Learn more about the national math standards at NCTM Illuminations—Marcopolo, . This Web site is based on the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Math. You can click on View by Grade Band (Grades Pre-K–2 and Grades 3–5). Or you can view by Type of Content including Lesson Plans, Selected Web Resources, Interactive Math tools, i-Math investigations, Inquiry on Practice. Click on “This Week’s Highlight.” Evaluate the lesson for its appropriateness to your group of children or students. Would you use it in your classroom? Why or why not?

Bring real world math into the classroom by using the National Math Trail Web site at . The National Math Trail is an opportunity for K–12 teachers and students to discover and share the math that exists in their own environments. Students explore their communities and create one or more math problems that relate to what they find. Teachers submit the problems to the National Math Trail site, along with photos, drawings, sound recordings, videos and anything else that can be adapted to the Internet. Visit the site to see if your state is represented here. Click on the Math Standards section on the Home Page for specific activities related to the National Math Standards. Choose one activity to share with your fellow students.

() has many lesson plans in many subject areas including math. Click on the Math Section, then click on General. Choose a lesson plan from those listed. What age group would you use this activity for? What mathematical concept does it reinforce? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this activity? Would you use it with children? Why or why not?

Black History Month is a great time to explore the Internet for information. Visit the Web sites listed below and answer the questions on each.

. Click on Enter and then read the artist Faith Ringgold’s biography. You may recognize her work from her book Tar Beach. Browse through Images and next click on Story Time. Read and illustrate her story.

In the winter, longer nights and sorter days make for a great time to share stories with friends and families. Visit the Boohbah Web site at for a lesson plan for kids to make up stories and create puppets to act out the story.

Read about great jazz musicians at . Create a poster that comparers a jazz great to a modern-day musician.

Students in grades 5–8 can learn about the African roots of American music through an exploration of Gullah culture in the southeastern U.S. Visit for more information.

Learn more about the language of music by trying out the San Francisco Symphony’s Music Lab (). Experiment with music notation and symbols in interactive games.

Be the bandleader, join the band or just learn more about jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis at .

Looking for information on great American musicians? Learn about arts from Bob Dylan to Placido Domingo to Billie Holiday at the American Masters Web site: . Click on “Music.”

Visit the Library of Congress’ American Memory collection to search for period music from before the Civil War to today. LOC contains original recordings in various formats to download for your class to hear. , click on “performing Arts, Music.”

Celebrate Reading—Electronically!

Celebrate reading with these great resources on the Web for curriculum lessons and ideas.

Children’s Book Week—

The Children’s Book Council Web site has dozens of resources and links to support a successful book week. Download the book list, directions, and questions for a Battle of the Books game. Have students create their own questions. You can even let your students search the Internet to find questions and answers for their book favorites. Additional resources include story starters and author and illustrator links.

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This online database of books and authors is a rich resource for book characters, author studies, and book talks. Encourage students to create book covers for all-time favorites from their reading logs. For a list of authors and illustrators to consult before heading to this site, visit and check out the Online Extra list of interviews from their Magazine Archives.

Book It Reading Program—

Pizza Hut BOOKIT!, a national reading incentive program for grades K–6, runs from October through March. Every child who reaches his or her monthly reading goal earns a certificate for a free Person Pan Pizza. Teachers can download reproducibles, including a student Monthly Reading Log, (by the minute, age or book), a Book Review form and various certificates. Enrollment for BOOKIT! Beginners, an eight-week program that encourages teachers to read aloud to preK kids, is open through mid-February; the program begins in March.

Ask students if they’ve ever heard any folklore that predicts weather. Use the Forecasting Folklore handout at , have students test if the predictors were correct about the next day’s weather over a period of a week. Another fun site is .

Apple Activities

Apple book titles. Obtain a list of apple books and a list of teacher resources about apples for a literature-based unit covering science and social studies for K–2. Visit .

Apple facts. A comprehensive site with apple history, growing guidelines, and nutrition facts can be found at .

Apple teacher kits. Download PDF lessons and cross-curricular activity pages for grades K–6 from .

Apple geography. See if you can recreate the travels of John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, from his hometown in Leominster, MA, into Pennsylvania and Ohio. Where is the closest apple orchard to your home/school? What states are known for their apples and what variety do they grow?

Apple legends and folk heroes. Research the legends and folktales about apples. Johnny Appleseed is the official folk hero of Massachusetts. Does your state have a folk hero? Who would you nominate as folk hero of your community? This is a great starting point for studying biographies.

The American Association of School Administrators provides booklets and audiovisual materials on wellness and school health education programs. Visit their Web site at . Choose at least two of their materials and evaluate them for their practical use in the elementary classroom. Would you recommend these materials to your colleagues? Why or why not?

The School Nutrition Association lists children’s books on nutrition and answers frequently asked questions about nutrition. Visit their Web site at . Choose at least two of the recommended children’s books and evaluate them for their use in the early childhood and/or elementary classroom. What were the strengths and weaknesses of these books? Would you recommend them to your colleagues to use in their work? Why or why not?

Michigan Team Nutrition shares ideas for integrating nutrition education into core subjects. Visit their Web site at . See if you can find any ideas that you could use in your work or field placement. Share these ideas with your classmates.

Increase Fitness— has lots of great ideas for keeping your students moving including running games that are both academic and fun. Check out the “Run to Read and Spell Tag Games.” Also, check out the reproducibles, running and nutrition news, and inspiring stories sections about teachers and kid who run. Are there any ideas here that you can use with your group of children? Which ideas did you find the most useful? Why?

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