STEM into STEAM
by the staff of Haskell Elementary and Tim Griffin
(to the tune of Modern Major General by Gilbert and Sullivan)
The standards of the Common Core and NGSS clearly say
We ought to integrate the arts but they don’t really show the way
To use the arts efficiently so they won’t be a big distraction
From the standards of the STEM that ought to be the main attraction
And furthermore I’m thinking that my singing voice is really bad
My acting is atrocious and my dancing makes my partner mad
I know a lot of things but drawing really isn’t one of them
And this is why I hesitate to put the arts into the STEM
Chorus: This is why we hesitate to put the arts into the STEM,
This is why we hesitate to put the arts into the STEM!
But when you use the arts as part of daily pedagogy you
Enhance the students’ comprehension, stimulate their memory too
So focus on the standards and then find an art to fit your theme
‘Cause integrating arts will stimulate the STEM by making STEAM!
Chorus: So focus on the standards and then find an art to fit your theme
‘Cause integrating arts will stimulate the STEM by making STEAM!
Now if you feel intimidated, take a look and you will see
Resources are available, no need to be a prodigy
There’s plenty on the internet, so integrate it where you can;
Just use it as a toolkit to enhance your normal lesson plan!
The thing you must remember is that this not “just one more thing”
We focus on the standards when we act or draw or dance or sing
I’ve seen some pretty projects where I don’t know what the topic was;
A project’s pretty pointless if we only did it “just because!”
Chorus: A project’s pretty pointless if we only did it “just because,”
A project’s pretty pointless if we only did it “just because!”
But when we use the arts to teach the topics that are testable
We raise the kids’ achievement; the results are incontestable
We focus on the standards and we find an art to fit the theme
Artistic integration stimulates the STEM by making STEAM!
Chorus: We focus on the standards and we find an art to fit the theme
Artistic integration stimulates the STEM by making STEAM!
Notes
One of my favorite gigs through GriffinEd is training elementary teachers in techniques for integrating the arts (music, dance, drama, and visual) into regular lessons. Examples would include choreographing particle physics, painting wall murals of ecosystems, and of course songwriting to tunes the kids know (i.e. filking). To summarize the workshop, the teachers and I wrote a song together about the arts-integration process. The two main points the teachers wanted to convey are that (1) you don’t need to be a great artist to use the arts effectively in your classroom, and (2) for it to really work you have to focus on the point of the lesson first and then find an easy arts-based project to support the lesson, NOT go nailing on an artsy project just so we can say we're doing art. Because there was so much jargon in the discussion, it felt natural to go with a Gilbert & Sullivan tune.