This semester, Teaching Artist LaVonna Varnado-Brown worked with a study skills class that had teachers that were both committed and excited about their KID smART creative arts residency. We used a combination of creative dramatic exercises and social emotional learning techniques in each co teaching session.

When teaching artists Kitty O’Connor and Mia Rotondo sat down to reflect on and share about their collaborative practice, they quickly realized that there were SO many stories of joyful collaboration woven throughout their semesters at school residencies, professional development, and planning with SO many other colleagues and community organizations- that just one story wouldn’t do! So please enjoy this ongoing reflection series on Collaboration and Arts Integration.

Summer is a special time for those who work in and with schools. The break gives us a little breathing room to rest, reflect on the year that just ended, and make plans for the year ahead. The KID smART programming team took this time to retreat and ask ourselves, “What are we doing well? And what could we be doing better?”

This summer, my engagement with STEAM smART centered on three key objectives: student benefit, organizational growth, and personal professional development.

We are cultivating a community of confident artists at Foundation Prep this Fall semester. In Mrs. Houston’s science class we learned through an arts integrated lesson about physical and chemical changes, simultaneously exploring visual arts techniques like mixing oil pastels and watercolor. This lesson is building off of other skills we have acquired throughout the semester like: elements of drama, characters, plot, and setting.

Retell and sequencing is a major part of comprehension across subject areas. Providing students the opportunity to create their own visual representation of fictional stories, historical events, or scientific and mathematical procedures allows them to deepen their understanding of the content. Bringing comic, zine, and art book making into lessons can be an engaging, empowering, and fun way to work on these skills.

This year, 5th graders are studying the Middle Ages. In their eyes, this is truly ancient history. Sometimes it's a challenge to relate to anything that happened before you were born, and you’re left wondering why it is even relevant to learn. But the one thing that has never changed over thousands of years is human nature.

KID smART Teaching Artists (TA) and Arts Integration Specialists (AIS) develop a unique relationship with Classroom Teachers (CT) in order to be successful in the classroom.

Teacher Eren works with Mrs. Tate’s 3rd grade students from Hynes UNO to develop a podcast called Seven Continents.

Students in Ms. Boyce’s class are tasked with completing the LEAP CONNECT, an alternative state test.  Testing presents many challenges for ALL students.  We wanted to create access points and reduce barriers for our students by bringing in arts-integration to overhaul the usual test-prep lessons. 

Ms. Jones’s 4th-grade ELA students transformed the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury into a comic. The objective was to show as a six-panel comic an important moment in the science-fiction tale, when the sun finally comes out for one hour after seven years of rainstorms.

One of the most influential things I did in preparation for this school year was read Liz Byron’s Art for All: Planning for Variability in the Visual Arts Classroom. It’s an incredibly short & digestible book that provides classroom-ready advice on how teachers can transform their practice in sustainable ways with Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

On October 9, 2024, educators from 14 different campuses across the Greater New Orleans area gathered for the first Arts eXperiences In Schools (AXIS) session of the 24-25 school year. 

When learners are encouraged to employ what they already know and allow what they would like to have happen, The Power of Imagination becomes an invaluable tool for problem-solving, critical thinking, and joyful learning.  

Reflections from our first-ever Arts & Education Conference!

See how students at RTP combined science and art to explore food webs through abstract prints! See how this arts-integrated approach makes learning about ecosystems engaging and meaningful.

Want to bring STEAM learning into your classroom? Explore shapes, colors, and patterns while practicing arithmetic and geometry with this pantry staple.

Students at The NET Central City collaborated to create meaningful photographic portraits in their civics and journalism class while learning the importance of consent.

See how students at Hynes UNO brought ancient cultures to life through hands-on art projects! Through 'rock carvings' and the design of Greek vases, they connected deeply with their history lessons.

Discover how students at The NET Central City are exploring cultural relevance and self-discovery through Mardi Gras mask making. Learn how they draw inspiration from Black Masking Indians and create art with intention and meaning!