Articles & How-To Guides for Educators
Practical, creative ways to bring the arts into your classroom
Featured Article
How Teachers Can Transform Learning in Inclusive Arts-Integrated Classrooms
Inclusion teachers can bolster engagement with arts integration by adapting time, classroom tools, and instructional techniques.
Browse the Collection
Directory Listing
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Article Arts Integration Resources
This collection on arts integration draws from more than a decade of the Kennedy Center’s efforts to clarify arts integration principles and implement best practices.
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Article Supporting Individual Needs
This collection of resources and articles is designed to help educators devise an approach for supporting individual needs in the classroom: from English Language Learners or students with disabilities, to conflict resolution and giving feedback.
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Article 4 Easy Social Dances for Upper Elementary
Some fun social dances to try with your upper-elementary-level students.
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Article 5 Easy Drama Games for the Early Elementary Classroom
Get your students up with these games that are great for any size class and classroom.
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Article 5 Easy Social Dances for Early Elementary
Channel your students’ love of movement with these easy social dances.
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Article A Team Effort: Volunteers in Arts Classrooms
Learn how to successfully manage volunteers in your arts classroom. Get tips from one visual art specialist who works with dozens of volunteers a year.
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Article Academic Rigor Through Arts Integration
When K-12 teachers integrate arts into specific disciplines they can build creative learning spaces without compromising rigor in a primary content area.
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Article Art Critiques Made Easy
One-word answers and grunts don't count as student critiques of art. How to foster interesting and authentic discussion in the classroom.
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Article Arts Education: Making the Case With Legislators
Educators offer voter- and data-driven advocacy to build relationships with legislators and advocate for the arts.
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Article Arts in the 21st Century Classroom
The skills our students need can be readily integrated into arts lessons and vice versa.
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Article Beyond Food & Fiestas
Practical ideas for creating authentic cultural experiences for your students.
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Article Claiming Personal Power
Here are ideas and resources to help link you up when you want to add your personal power to the company of others.
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Article Constructivism: Actively Building Arts Education
A brief introduction to constructivism and how arts educators can utilize it effectively.
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Article Creative Conflict
Explore ways to handle conflicts among students while teaching them that voicing their opinions matters, as well as being able to negotiate and compromise.
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Article Dance and Historical Events
Dance helps students better understand the far-reaching impact of historical events on many areas of a nation’s life.
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Article Dealing with Sensitive Themes Onstage
Staging controversial shows in school theaters presents rewards and risks. Veteran arts educators share insights about the pros and cons of such shows, and how to produce them successfully.
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Article Dealing With Trauma
If we have gone through a traumatic experience, we may need help to feel safe and hopeful again. The first step is to connect with people who help us feel protected and secure. Here are some resources that may help with that process.
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Article Developing an Artistic Eye for the Math Classroom
Middle school math teachers will unlock students’ “artistic mathematical eye†with arts objectives, lesson openings, essential questions, and student choice.
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Article Developing Self-Awareness and Social Awareness Skills through Musical Theater
Middle and high school teachers will explore the power of musical theater to build social and emotional learning skills, connect with others, and view stories around them in new ways.
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Article Do Tell: Giving Feedback to Your Students
How can arts educators provide engaging and useful feedback? Here are seven suggestions to get you started.
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Article Encouraging Your Students to Become Choreographers
Use these great ideas to get your students choreographing at your school.
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Article Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition
Help students build techniques to interpret what they see into written words using art.
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Article Fostering a Culture of Connection through the Arts
Embedding the arts into the culture and climate of schools can create opportunities for students to connect and build relationships in a “post-pandemic†era.
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Article Get Wired for Learning
Are you stumped about how to integrate technology into your arts teaching? Check out these 8 tips to put you on the road to tech-savvy arts learning.
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Article Get Your Write On
Writing can involve reading works that fire up your imagination or finding inspiration by connecting with people. Here are a handful of online resources to help you get your write on.
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Article Getting Schooled: When Arts Teachers Become Students
Learn what makes up the five core elements of effective teacher development with a focus on learning in and through the arts.
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Article Going Public
Here are the best and safest ways to share your student's work with the world!
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Article Growing from STEM to STEAM
Find tips to blend arts, sciences, math and technology by learning how one school district experimented with adding STEAM to their classrooms.
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Article How Dance Can Teach Literature
How to incorporate dance into a traditional English classroom.
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Article How School Leaders Can Support Arts Integration
School leaders can foster arts-integrated learning spaces by planning with purpose, cultivating a shared mindset, growing with their community’s resources in mind, and celebrating every step.
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Article How Teachers Can Transform Learning in Inclusive Arts-Integrated Classrooms
Inclusion teachers can bolster engagement with arts integration by adapting time, classroom tools, and instructional techniques.
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Article Inspired Classrooms
Need to battle off those creativity killers? Here are 7 simple steps for educators to create a classroom environment that is friendly to creativity.
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Article Instructional Benefits to Integrating Google Docs and Google Slides
This guide will assist teachers in enhancing digital instructional practices with 21st-century learners in no time!
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Article It Takes a Village: Parent Volunteers
Learn how parent volunteers can contribute to the learning environment with the right goal-oriented guidelines.
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Article Mindfulness Needs an Upgrade — It’s Time to “Move†Our Feelings
PreK-2 teachers will make mindfulness thrive in the classroom when they integrate WORD Movement and practice conscious media selection.
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Article Music Matters
Incorporating music makes content lessons more exciting and memorable. And it's easy to do!
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Article New Paths to Learning
An introduction for educators to differentiation instruction through the arts for academically gifted students.
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Article Opera-tunity Knocks
A guide for all opera newbies, both young and old, with some hints as to how to calm the opera skeptic.
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Article Parent/Caregiver Involvement
This collection of articles provides tips on involving and engaging parents and caregivers in their students' arts education.
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Article Poetry and Puppets: Learning English
Help English-learning students build language and communication skills through poetry and puppetry
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Article Portfolios: Assessment Across the Arts
An introduction for arts educators to portfolio assessment.
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Article Process Drama: Taking a Walk in Someone Else's Shoes
Process drama is an imaginative tool for non-arts teachers and students to explore issues and solve problems.
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Article Production 101
So you’ve decided to create your own video – excellent! But maybe you’ve never made a video before, and you’re not sure how take your idea and put it on the screen, whether that’s a big movie theater screen or on someone’s computer.
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Article Raising “Art Smart†Students in the 21st Century
So, what are 21st century skills exactly? Why do they matter to “art smart†parents and how do we help our kids?
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Article Reaching Out to School Board Members
Use these tips to connect with school board members in meaningful ways to ensure they make arts education a priority.
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Article Reading Into Action
How theater and visual arts can help to engage your students to read.
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Article Reading Through the Arts
How theater and visual arts can help to engage your students to read.
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Article Shall We Dance?
5 easy ways to use dance and movement in your classroom.
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Article Speak Up for the Arts
As a teacher you can help parents become strong arts education advocates.
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Article Stories Brought to Life
Learn about ways to increase student participation and skill building during interactive read-alouds.
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Article Supporting Artistically Gifted Students
Learn about artistically gifted students and how can others can help them reach their potential.
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Article Supporting Language Literacy with the Arts
The arts can support your English Language Learners in multiple ways, here are 5 sources to get you ready to start fusing the arts with language development
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Article Take Two: Teaching Revision Through the Arts
Find tips on how to use the arts to build writing revision skills and differentiate the writing process.
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Article Teaching Students about Self-Assessment in the Arts
Introduction to self-assessment strategies involving observation and reflection.
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Article Teaching Students to Critique
Helping your students learn how to creatively critique each other's work.
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Article The Key to a Strong Workforce
How to help students learn skills essential to the 21st century workforce in and through arts learning.
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Article The Power of Music for Self-Management
Explore the power of music to understand one's emotions and actions. Teachers will learn how to integrate songs and musical games into lessons to build and practice self-regulation in a community context—even without a musical background!
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Article Thinking Outside the Test
Introduction to performance assessment, which provides educators with "real-world" arts assessment strategies.
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Article Thought-Provoking Art
There’s no need to divide critical thinking from creativity. The two easily meld into classroom activities with art as the starting point.
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Article Understanding Arts Integration and SEL
Gain an understanding of how social and emotional learning (SEL) and the arts reinforce the necessary skills to grow and develop in different settings. Learn how school-family-community partnerships contribute to equitable, trusting, and creative learning environments.
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Article Using the Arts to Support English Language Learners
Enhancing instruction with performing, visual and language arts can build skills, confidence, and understanding for English Language Learners.
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Article What Do I Say?
For the young theater student, a teacher’s feedback can inspire or crush in a matter of minutes. Learn how to responsibly assess your student’s work.
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Article Working Together: Teaching Collaboration in the Arts
The arts are a prime tool for building skills in collaboration. Here are 6 tips to create successful collaborations and develop effective group learning through the arts.