Spark! Inspiring Tomorrow’s Readers Through Drama has been recognized for its exceptional impact on literacy through arts integration by receiving the 14th annual Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award from the Riley Institute at Furman University.
The Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award Celebration highlighted three exceptional initiatives in public education that have demonstrated remarkable success in positively impacting South Carolina. During this celebration each honoree received a professionally produced program by South Carolina ETV, showcasing their innovative approaches to education.
Spark! is a multilayered literacy-based drama outreach program that utilizes beginner-level drama strategies to support literacy efforts in elementary schools statewide. Established by the Governor's School for Arts and Humanities in 2016 in response to the Read to Succeed initiative, Spark! is responsible for a 20-45% increase in reading gains when compared to students that aren't participating. Spark utilizes arts integration by genuinely linking drama and reading, which engages learners through the exploration of standard-based concepts such as plot and story development within the realms of storytelling and play. This approach builds reading, writing, and oral communication by connecting the actor's basic skill set (body, voice, imagination, cooperation, and ensemble) to traditional ELA standards.
With a reach spanning every community in South Carolina, Spark! and its partners are dedicated to building upon the program's success, expanding into other aspects of the community to promote experiential learning and boost literacy through arts-integrated instruction. Spark! has already made significant strides across South Carolina and is now poised to embark on a national journey, inspiring a new generation of readers across the country. Arts Integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.
Spark! serves as an amazing testament to the effectiveness of integrating arts into the classroom.
If you want to get started with integrating arts in the classroom, explore the many resources offered by SCETV through its KnowItAll website and partner website, PBS LearningMedia. Both sites offer supplementary resources for art lesson plans, videos, games, and activities aligned to state and national standards. Sample resources are cited below. SCETV also offers ETV Learn courses and group trainings to support educators.
- Artopia | KnowItAll.org
Artopia is a comprehensive web-based arts experience designed for middle school students, covering the visual and performing arts. Students will learn art history via animated one-minute movies, be guided on how to closely examine important works of art, and view videos of professional artists at work.
- Arts Grow SC | KnowItAll.org
Arts Grow SC is a three-year partnership between the South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina Arts Commission to help public schools throughout the state address pandemic related learning loss with proven, arts-based learning initiatives.
- Creating with Mr Dearybury | KnowItAll.org
Children’s Literature is a special art form blending perfectly woven words and beautifully created pictures. Reading the author’s story combined with the illustrator's images, readers can’t help but to dream, imagine, and create. In this eight-video series, join author, illustrator, and educator Jed Dearybury as he walks us through some of his favorite picture books and how they inspire him to make art.
- Take the Stage | PBS LearningMedia
Take the Stage is designed to enrich the learning experience through the incorporation of performing arts. This collection provides educators with a diverse range of tools to engage students in creative learning processes that merge arts and traditional subject areas.
- Murals of the Holocaust | PBS LearningMedia
For over 20 years, a summer program for gifted adolescents at Western Kentucky University has offered an arts-integrated history course on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The course concludes with students working as a group to create a large mural on the Holocaust. In this way, students use the power of art to deal with their own emotions as well as to educate others.
- Science Notebook Corner | PBS LearningMedia
Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists. Explore easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your classroom.
