Integrated Arts: workshop – music and art // painting.
Music:
We split into small groups this week, and were given a glockenspiel or xylophone. We were also given three sheets of music // Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jingle Bells and Frère Jacques. They were written in a technique called figure notes. Each key had a shape with a different colour. The shape would change with each section, known as an octave. It was difficult at first as everyone was playing random songs at the same time, but I eventually got the hang of it and had a positive experience. I would definitely teach music like this in my classroom at first before moving onto music notation. We then played each song as a class which felt like a mini performance. We were then told that everyone individually had to play a 16 bar improvisation to ‘Hit the Road Jack’ which obviously caused nerves and dread in many of us. This gave everyone a good experience and all nerves were eliminated. I think this would be a good lesson to give to pupils as we all got to listen to each other and show off the skills we had learned in that day. We also had a look at a teaching website called ‘Charanga Scotland’. This website is based on teaching music in Scottish schools. The website gives lesson plans for various levels, or you could even plan lessons yourself using the website.
** I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skills and using performance directions and/or musical notation.
EXA 2-16a** (Scottish Government, 2004, p.67)

Art:
We spent the first half of the workshop making our own paintbrushes to show that even if your school has no resources, you could easily make them with the different objects found. We used willow branches and decorated them using string, ribbon, buttons and other things we could find. I used pink string to decorate the handle of my paint brush, while using a lot of cotton wool as the bristle part as it would be easy to cover a large space with. After we finished making our own brushes, we brought them all together to see the different ideas we came up with. I think that letting children create their own brushes is a great lesson idea as this allows them to be creative and lets the child decide what they want to use to paint. Next, we were given a description of a picture and told to paint what we think the picture looked like. However, we were only given yellow, blue, red and white paint. We were allowed to pick any colour of A3 paper and were allowed to begin painting. This was a good lesson as everyone was given the same instructions yet the pictures all looked different and we could use our own paintbrushes and see what worked well and what needed improved on. Below are pictures of the process of me creating my paintbrush and my actual painting.
**I have the freedom to discover and choose ways to create images and objects
using a variety of materials.
EXA 0-02a** (Scottish Government, 2004, p.61)

Reflection
Music: Using figure notes as an introduction to musical notation, is a great way to get children past the barrier of fear and unknown. I had no clue on how to read music, so the use of colours and shapes helped me a lot. The improvisation task was daunting, however, knowing that everybody was taking part settled my nerves. My reading and listening skills improved throughout the workshop. Working in pairs, we had to listen to each others music playing skills and help each other, which was a fun way of learning. Music and performing builds confidence in young people as they are showcasing their talents to an audience. Giving children constructive feedback is important so they can build in their confidence and improve their musical ability. Teaching children Music is important and engaging. Music is known to not only increase creativity levels in a classroom, but it also impacts other areas and aspects in Education such as Numeracy, Literacy, concentration, self-confidence and general attainment (Hallam, 2010). Children who struggle in subjects such as Maths, can prove themselves in Music and the Arts. All children have the capability to learn an instrument, they just need to focus and keep practising to become better each time. Teaching children, by using the likes of figure notes, is an effective way to learn the basics, like I did throughout the workshop. Using the improvisation task that I completed in the workshop, is a great way to get children past the initial stage of nerves. Giving pupils time to practise and learn will allow the children to have fun and learn music properly. Learning Music in schools can sometimes be difficult, due to the lack of resources. Not all schools have a large range of instruments for pupils to use, hence why, some authorities start up music projects, which allow children to be involved in music actively and even allow children to perform to large audiences, which would boost their confidence and pride in themselves.

Art: Creating my own paint brush, was a unique and fun experience. It took a lot of thinking from what materials would be helpful when painting to the decorating of it. It was interesting that, although everyone was given the same materials, all the paint brushes were different. This proved that allowing creativity in a teaching environment, allows all ideas to come to life, rather than producing many copies. Having a picture described and having to paint what you think it looks like was an engaging and fun task, and again, everybody had similar, yet different ideas. Using your own paintbrush to complete this task was effective, as you could see what worked from your plan, and what needed improved. My listening skills were put to the test during this workshop, as I had to listen to the description of a painting. Taking notes made this a bit easier, however, it was still quite difficult to decide what you thought the painting may have been. Being only given white, red, blue and yellow paint was also quite a difficult task, due to having specific colours in your mind for the painting. Mixing the colours with having very few resources was messy but fun. Teaching children Art is very important, and allowing them to take time to complete a task, is vital. After thinking, I discovered that my experience in taking part in Art in primary school, I never fully finished a piece of art as we were limited to time, and if I did complete it, that would be due to rushing my work. Teachers need to give time to children to fully engage in their work.

Link
The link for the workshops would be creating and developing. Creating your own resources and materials in Art, and creating your own songs with instruments in Music. Also, developing skills in Music through learning to read music, and developing in Art by creating your own resource and having to think about the different ways your resource would need to work.

References
Hallam, S. (2010) International Journal of Music Education. [Module Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on Moodle. [Accessed: 13 December 2017].

Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence [online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed: 18 December 2017]

Integrated Arts: workshop – art development in children throughout the years.
Art: We started by doodling during our lecture. We were given readings and were told to highlight important parts, without actually highlighting. We were given the freedom to draw over the words, whatever came to our minds. As a class, we then discussed what we had drawn and where the ideas came from. In the workshop, there were 3 tables filled with children’s art work from over many years. This was really helpful as we could see the improvements from early years to Primary 6/7. Each piece of work had a different story and you could tell they were all from different eras.

There are 4 main stages in child development in art (Lowenfeld and Brittain’s (1987)):

– 2 to 4 years // Identified scribbling stage.
Pictures are just marks on the page. Done for own enjoyment. Freedom to do whatever they wish.

– 4 to 7 years // Pre-schematic stage.
The world around the child is starting to take form in their pictures. Art work begins to become clear and has evolved from memories.

– 7 to 9 years // Schematic stage.
Children have a better sense of space in their drawings. Children now begin to judge and improve their art work.

– 9 to 12 years // Gang stage.
This is when children begin to copy art work of others, rather than letting their own creative ideas flow. At this stage, children have a lack of faith in themselves and their art work.

When looking at the art work in this workshop, you could clearly see the stages present in the art. The younger years art work was colourful and messy. There was a lot of paint used and colourful paper. This is most likely due to high levels of creativity and the imagination being at its best. In the middle years, there was a variety of colours and tones used. At this stage, the pictures began looking less like an imagination and more like a copied work, maybe from a teachers idea. At the upper years, the art work was very detailed and all pictures were similar from buildings to landscapes. This showed the lack of imagination for themselves. However, you could clearly tell there was an awareness of detail and filling up space.

I believe the early years are highly important as children are using their own ideas and seeing that art is actually fun. It also shows that it’s okay to be messy in art! Children can use their own ideas, rather than producing a copy. Looking at this art achieve was a helpful task as I now know to allow older pupils more freedom in what they create in Art, rather than restricting the creativity which should be there.
** I have the freedom to discover and choose ways to create images and objects
using a variety of materials.
EXA 0-02a** (Scottish Government, 2004, p.61)

Reflection

Art: Looking at the different stages of children’s artwork proved that as children develop and grow older, their art work becomes less creative and more of a copy. Children go through 4 stages of artistic development which have been listed previously. These stages showed that even though children were maturing in their art, they were losing the main focus, which is creativity. Young children in their art, draw lines and squiggles but could tell you exactly what their art work is supposed to be/represent. Whereas, older children are focusing on details and most likely, trying to reproduce a copy of art work which has been previously shown to them. The older children most likely do this due to being less confident in their own abilities. In this workshop, I have developed my own analysis skills. Analysing children’s art work and trying to guess what it actually is, is quite difficult. Hence, teachers should take note of what the art work is of. “Creativity is a process which generates ideas that have value to the individual” (Education Scotland, 2013, p.3). Teachers need to allow children to express themselves in Art lessons, rather than producing something for children to copy. Looking at the art achieve from a teachers point of view, showed me to be interested in the art work pupils are producing. Question the pupils, and take a note on the back of the work, what it is, what age the pupil was and the pupils name. Being interested will influence the child’s contribution and involvement. Giving children the chances to be creative in the classroom will give them a better view of the Arts. Allowing Arts in the classroom will increase the confidence of pupils and allow them to engage in all activities.

References
Education Scotland (2013) Creativity Across Learning 3-18 [Module Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on Moodle. [Accessed: 11-12 December 2017].

Lowenfeld, V. and Brittain, L. (1987) Creative and Mental Growth. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River N.J.:Prentice Hall.

Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence [online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed: 18 December 2017]

Integrated Arts: workshops – music and art // drawing.
Music:
We started with an introduction to music and discussed our views and opinions of learning music. What was learning music like at school? Did you have a positive experience? We then listened to 5 different genres of music and noted down how the music made us feel. Everybody seemed to have the same feelings towards the music, whether that was happy, peaceful or sad. We then split into small groups and listened to a piece of music // Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. This is well known for being in Disney’s Fantasia 2000. As a group, we had to listen to the piece and create a storyboard to go along with it. I thought this was a great lesson idea which I could take on board as I further my career as a teacher. My group decided to make our storyboard about a man on a winters day. We drew him sliding down icy hills and having snowball fights. This idea was initiated by the changes in the music.
** Inspired by a range of stimuli, and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities.
EXA 0-18a / EXA 1-18a / EXA 2-18a ** (Scottish Government, 2004, p.67)

Art: Firstly, we were given a decorated stick and asked what it was. At first it wasn’t clear but after investigating we discovered it was a paintbrush. This was to show us that you can create your own equipment and tools if you don’t have access to them in your school. This idea would definitely help enhance creativity. We then returned to the art room and discussed in groups our personal experiences of Art in school. There were a lot of mixed opinions such as limited, messy, fun and dreadful. We then copied a drawing from the wall. This showed us that we could all actually draw, even though many said they couldn’t.
** I can create and present work using the visual elements of line, shape, form, colour, tone, pattern and texture.
EXA 1-03a ** (Scottish Government, 2004, p.61)

Reflections
Music: Music can be used to help create feelings for the listener. Happiness, sadness, anger etc. can all be felt after listening to a certain song which has memories behind it. During the Music input, it was evident that Music can be used across the curriculum. We used the example of Music, Art and Literacy being connected through listening to music, drawing a storyboard then completing a short story from the ideas given after listening to a song. Music not only helps creativity but also “musical skills correlated significantly with both phonological awareness and reading development” (Anvari et al, 2002, cited in Hallam, 2010, p.272). Music extends life skills and parts of the brain which may not always be used. Learning to read musical notation at a young age would be helpful for children to adapt their reading skills. In the Music workshop, I developed my listening and teamwork skills as we listened to various songs and worked in groups to share ideas. Listening to others and sharing ideas is vital in teaching, so this workshop was important. Allowing children to participate in Music throughout their time in school is not only helpful academically, but also fun and engaging. Children can create their own songs and perform them for their class and even their school. This would majorly increase their self-confidence, a thing which a lot of children are lacking in the modern day. However, finding the time and confidence for teaching Music can be difficult. This is why we should use Music to teach, for example, the 9 times table. Pupils could create their own songs and teach them to their class, which would also help with group-learning.

Art: People believe they have no ability in Art, which is not true. Everybody has different strengths, abilities and weaknesses. Art, again, can be used across the curriculum, with creating stories to do with a piece of art which was either created or viewed. In this workshop, my confidence in my own Art capability was increased. I could actually draw to the best of my ability, which was good enough. Communication skills were also improved as we had to create a picture copying 4 easy art concepts such as lines and curves. Some children may believe that they cannot draw, however, using the exercise that we did today, would should those children that they can draw and be creative. Allowing children to draw and sketch as a calm down activity could improve their drawing skills or allow the pupils to see their capabilities. There are a number of barriers to teaching Art in schools, for example, if a teacher has a negative view of the arts, then there will be a lack or even no reflection of the Arts in their class (Garvis and Pendergast, 2010, cited in Lemon and Garvis, 2013). Teachers need to put the children and creativity first and allow pupils to engage in Art as its beneficial and fun for the pupils.

Link
The link for the workshops would be having confidence in yourself. Believing that you are capable to learn an instrument or to create a piece of Art. Teachers need to give their pupils confidence in order for those to succeed.

References
Anvari, S. H., Trainor L. J., Woodside J. & Levy B. Z. (2002). Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 83, 111–130. In: Hallam, S. (2010) International Journal of Music Education. [Module Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on Moodle. [Accessed: 13 December 2017].

Garvis, S. & Lemon, N. (2013) What is the Role of the Arts in a Primary School ?; An Investigation of Perceptions of Pre-Service Teachers in Australia. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(9).

Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence [online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed: 18 December 2017]