Mixing media and integrating social studies and art

This artifact was created with items found during our walk through the cemetery. We found many different items as strolled through the same path as the first persons to arrive in South Bend. Since then South Bend has grown by leaps and bounds. Back in the 1820's South Bend was just fur trading post now it is home to many historical landmarks. This mix media collage shows the life that sill remains in our beautiful city.

Social Studies and Art Blogs

Art Blogs
www.artprojectsforkids.org
kidsart.com/blog
abrakadoodle.com/blog
todayscreativeblog.net/art-projects-for-kids
artlessonsforkids.me
msjuliesartschool.blogspot.com
www.createmixedmedia.com/blogs
cooltunesforkids.blogspot.com
 dramakids.com

Social Studies Blogs 
socialstudiesforkids.com
kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/tag/social-studies
 kids.usa.gov/social-studies/index.shtm
 computingforkids.wordpress.com/category/social-studies
 www.imcpl.org/kids/blog/?tag=social-studies
 multimedialearningllc.wordpress.com
 thesocialstudiesteacher.wordpress.com
 ushistoryeducatorblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/virtual-tours-of...
 learning.blogs.nytimes.com 
 teachhistory.com

Do You Know the Different Types of Neighborhoods?

In this social studies lesson we discussed our neighborhoods. We discussed what we liked and did not like about them. Although we all lived in different types of neighborhoods we all similar likes and dislikes. After the discussion we integrated art by doing a poem about how we felt about our neighborhood. This helped us discover a different avenue to express our feelings about our living environments.

Let's Go Back...Back Into Time

Take your students back into era's that shaped the history of America. To integrate arts have the students dress in the clothing of that era and create collages that represent artifacts from that era. Trust me it will be a stone gas!

Mapping out the World

Creating salt dough maps was a very interesting way to integrate arts with social studies. I created a salt dough construction of Africa and I tied it with another peers construction of Italy. This can be done in the class as well; you can have students pick a country, construct the country and do a report about the country.

Acting Out

Reader's Theatre is a very fun and interactive way to act out history. Students get the opportunity to direct history and watch it unfold in front of their very eyes. Not everyone wants to act so the teacher can designate others to be in the background or to do technical things like sound effects or create props.

Bachata Baby!!

Introducing dance of different cultures creates a sense of diversity in the classroom. Having cultural events shows the students different sides of their peers in the classroom. The instructor of the dance session was able to inform us of different activities going on around the city and on the campus. This would be a great way to get students out in the community and mingling with different ethnicities. This merging of arts and social studies will impact the students a lot more than reading about culture from a textbook.

Cabin Days...Walking Through History

This cabin was home for six individuals. The cabin was considered a bi-level and the older children slept upstairs. This experience allowed us the opportunity to see how maybe our grandmother's grandmother lived. The students could do a graphic organizer and show the differences of their lives today and the lives of children of yesterday.

In 100 Hundred Years From Now....

I can remember the first time I saw students doing a time capsule I was watching "Saved by the Bell". I was excited about the project. I believe that students would learn a lot about their peers and find out what is important to themselves. As a class we learned which classmates had similar things in common that we would put in the capsule. This could possibly create bonds, all the while teaching them.

Drumming Through History

This drumming presentation depicts the takeover of the White Man over the Native Americans. It starts with some sounds that mimics Native American celebration music. But in a slow, deep rumble the White men swoop in and attack and eventually take everything. The drumming gives the story substance and shows the students a different rendition of the written stories.

Viewing the Past

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During a visit to Riverview Cementery the class was able to learn the history of our city by going to the exact places where historians first stepped and where they went to their final resting place. The importance of history is to know where you came from so that you are able to now where you are going. This would be a positive way to show students how much impact South Bend had on industry. During this trip we traveled through "Millionaire Row"; this is where many influential historians now rest. These historians helped to give South Bend it's importance in industry; for instance, there lied the Studebaker brothers and others.