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Teacher Resources Overview
" ...[T]he arts are one of humanity's most eloquent means
of understanding the world. Through the arts, we share the
highest achievements of every culture and find a universal
language which permits communication among all peoples. As
such, the arts are an essential component of a complete education."
— from the Mission Statement of the John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts
The purpose of this section of the Arts Council website is
to provide useful ideas and links
as well as a place for educators to contact us with questions,
suggestions, lesson plan ideas, dates of upcoming events,
and anything else of interest on the subject of arts education.
Bookmark us, and visit again.
If you have or discover a site you would like included, email us and we will
add the best ones to the list.
We are currently investing heavily in our Movement to
Music training program for teachers. This summer institute
is designed to help physical education teachers teach the
dance standards in their classroom work. This program was
the first of its kind in the state, and is in its second year.
The three-day dance institute was launched by the Arts Council,
with planning support from the dance professionals of the
Grand Rapids Ballet. ‘Graduates’ receive Continuing
Education Units from the Kent Intermediate School District
and are eligible for one credit hour from Grand Valley State
University. The credit hour applies towards the dance certification
and physical education CEU requirements.
Planning for improvements to the second year’s lesson
plans, and to explore developing a distance-learning component,
has been provided by Steelcase Foundation. Otherwise the program
is underwritten by the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids.
To learn more about the Movement to Music institute
held in July, contact
the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids’ Program Officer.
Advocacy messages and links to research reach parents,
administrators, community leaders and teachers. Those messages
help parents understand the value of arts education for their
children, and help teachers and administrators understand
the importance of the arts specialists’ work within their
school’s culture.
Grants for
arts education have been used in a highly strategic
manner since their inception in 1991-1992.
Training for teachers and artists has been one of our primary
arts education strategies. Since 1991-1992, the Arts Council
of Greater Grand Rapids has provided a wide array of workshops,
one-on-one assistance and seminars to support classroom art
experiences.
To support teachers’ work, we function on two fronts:
1) We help classroom teachers integrate arts learning into
their daily work through workshops, promotional materials,
research dissemination, advocacy and Arts Resource Fairs;
and 2) We help arts specialists advance their skills and improve
their effectiveness through workshops/institutes/funding for
advanced training, direct support of their work through grants
to parent groups, and improvements to their equipment/ environment
through matching grants.
We have prepared artists for the classroom through planning
exercises, age appropriateness workshops, diversity training,
workshops on how to build a lesson plan, integrated learning,
and facilitated group work on how to assess student achievement.
For teachers, we have offered workshops on integrating the
offerings of arts and cultural groups in the classroom, and
have produced, supported or promoted Arts Resource Fairs and
summer workshops.
For additional resources and links to information, visit
our Resources and Links page.
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