Art and Literature in the Elementary Curriculum

Art teacher and 1992 Teacher Institute alumnus Sue Reiber worked with media specialist Julie Hehnke to develop an innovative program in literature and visual arts for elementary children. "The Caldecott Connection" is a multi-disciplinary curriculum unit that integrates literature with the visual arts into the first through fourth grade curricula. It was developed to familiarize students with the award-winning Caldecott books, which have been honored for their illustrations. Overall goals seek to increase students' visual awareness, to promote critical thinking skills through evaluation, comparison, and synthesis, to enhance creative thinking and writing skills, to integrate a variety of technologies into the learning process, and to provide interdisciplinary relationships and incorporate existing curriculum objectives.

Art activities are coordinated with the Caldecott literature on the basis of story content, the media used by the illustrator, or the art style or historical time frame. Caldecott books are generally used as the introduction. Related works of art from museums are presented at different points during the unit. The reproductions are discussed using many thinking levels, from identification to comparison, analysis, syntheses, and evaluation. They also serve as inspiration for the students' art.

Administrative support for the "Caldecott Connection" was established by meeting with the elementary school principal, Audre Zaroban, and district superintendent, Dave Schley, during the final planning stages of the curriculum unit. Both administrators were enthusiastic about the concept of a six-year interdisciplinary course of study. Their interest encouraged the elementary classroom teachers to become involved. The Caldecott curriculum unit was adopted as a permanent part of the art/whole language/library curriculum for the school district. Professional leave and funding to visit major museums in their search for resources were provided for both teachers.

The administrators were continually updated on the implementation of the unit. The larger community was informed of the project through newspaper articles, a slide show at the all-student Celebration of the Arts, and Parent-Child Art and Whole Language workshops. In addition, the superintendent offered the teachers time to present the project at a school board meeting. The presentation included a display of student art works, creative writing examples, Caldecott books, and National Gallery of Art videodiscs.

Museums providing resources are the National Gallery of Art (visit http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/loanfinder/ to browse and borrow free-loan resources), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Joslyn Museum of Art. These institutions have provided, either on long-term loan or for purchase, a variety of multimedia and print reproductions, as well as teacher resource guides and catalogues. The resources enable these students, in a small Midwestern town of 900, to learn about art from large urban collections. Students have taken field trips to the nearby Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, Nebraska, to view art commemorating the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Oregon Trail. The school is at least two travel hours away from any other major art museum.