"The arts must be at the core of education for all children, because they represent the most powerful single channel for humanizing the curriculum, for reaching the innermost feelings and responses of every child, and for motivating the desire to learn, to create, to express."

Vivienne Anderson,
ART EDUCATION, March, 1971

This Annotated Bibliography consists of works that have contributed to the development of my vision for SpArCs.

Armstrong, T. (1995). Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory translated into a set of detailed descriptions of applications and teaching strategies for use in the classroom.

Armstrong, T. (1995). Brain theory and the multiple intelligences. Moscow, Idaho: University of Idaho.
Armstrong relates recent research on brain growth and development to the Multiple Intelligence theories of Howard Gardner.

Begley, S. (1996). Your child's brain. Newsweek, February 19, 1996, 55-62.
Discusses recent brain research, emphasizing the importance of childhood experiences in the formation of the brain's neural connectors. Describes strategies for enhanced brain development in children, focusing on the value of the arts and their integration into the curriculum.

Berger, John. (1980). About looking. New York: Pantheon Books.
A collection of essays that delve into the meanings within and behind the visual world. Berger describes how the mental context of the viewer affects the way an object is seen and interpreted. The context of the object, its relationship to the surrounding environment similarly influence the way it is perceived.

Brewer, C. & Campbell, D. G. (1991). Rhythms of learning: creative tools for developing lifelong Skills. Tucson, AZ: Zephyr Press.
In-depth discussion of the relationship between highly developed listening skills and lifelong learning. Includes many activities to help sensitize teachers as well as students to their auditory worlds, and to their natural inner rhythmic patterns of physical and intellectual energy. Offers fascinating interpretations of recent brain research, and links it to the benefits of music in the classroom.

Bunchman, J. & Briggs, S. B. (1994). Pictures and poetry. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, Inc.
This book is full of color photographs of works by such visual artists as Diego Rivera and Georgia O'Keefe, coupled with the poems of e.e. cummings, Lilian Moore, and others. The idea is that the visual language of art and the verbal language of poetry complement one another, revealing the connections amongst the lives, cultures and ideas of the people who represent these different creative disciplines. Each page serves as a jumping-off point for an activity that gives children an opportunity to explore connections betweenvisual art and poetry for themselves.

CABC: The Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum, Inc. (1997). The balanced mind: An educational and societal imperative. Hingham, MA.
This booklet describes and promotes the central value of the arts in education. CABC's premise for the publication of this and other papers is that public and professional support for the arts in education is contingent upon better community understanding of how children learn, the nature of intelligence, and the need to allow time in teachers' schedules for professional development in the arts.

Caduto, M.J. & Bruchac, J. (1989). Keepers of the animals: native american stories and environmental activities for children. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum, Inc.
A rich resouce of Native American animal stories with accompanying indoor and outdoor learning activities that help relate the stories to the study of ecology. In this book, folklore is a pathway for children to become conscientious stewards of the earth. It provides a wonderful basis for the integration of science and storytelling.

Caduto, M.J. & Bruchac, J. (1989). Keepers of the earth: native american stories and environmental activities for children. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum, Inc.
A companion to the above, this book is a wealth of stories and activities that provide an interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the earth and Native American cultures.

Calkins, L. (1986). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.
Rationale for the integration of the arts into the curriculum to enhance student learning and promote excellence in education. Focus on teaching writing as a means of authentic self-expression and self-discovery for children.

Campbell, P. S., WcCullough-Brabson, E. & Tucker, J.C. (1994). Roots and branches: A legacy of multi-cultural music for children. Danbury, CT: World Music Press.
Excellent source of songs (with CD) and games from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Each section of the book establishes a cultural context for the songs with a map and a sketch of the geographic, economic, historical and cultural attributes of that region of the world. Additionally, each section features a biographical portrait of the person from that region who contributed their native song(s) to the collection.

Coalition of Essential Schools (1995). Looking to the future: from conversation to demonstration. Providence, RI: Brown University.
Educator and school reform leader, Theodore R. Sizer conducted a five-year inquiry into the state of our high schools, and came up with a list of nine principles of effective educational practice. The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) was established as a means of support to schools that sought to implement these principles within that school's particular social and economic context. This booklet examines the accomplishemts and the lessons to be learned from the first ten years of CES' existence. The accounts of some of the 900 schools in 32 states and abroad, provides insight into the processes of grass-roots school reform.

Cush, A. (1991). The spirit of creativity. Yoga Journal, Sept./Oct., 1991, 43-51.
The author gives seven guidelines for entering into and cultivating the creative process in one's life. Includes references to artists and writers who teach art forms with emphasis on creativity as a process of self-discovery and meaning-making.

East, H. (1989). The singing sack: 28 songs and stories from around the world. London: A & C Black.
This book, with its companion tape, "Songs from the Singing Sack", is a wonderful resource for a multi-cultural storytelling unit. Most of the stories, with their songs, were transcribed from live storytellings which were collected on tape by the National Folktale Centre in Great Britain. Most of the songs are given in their original language. Replete with inspired, print-like illustrations.

Edwards, C., Forman, G., & Gandini, L. (1995). The hundred languages of children. Norwood, New Jersey: Abler Publishing Company.
Compilation of the reflections of the Italian educators who founded the Reggio Emilia system, and the North Americans who have studied there. Includes history, philosophy, curriculum, and methods of teaching. An excellent guide to a remarkable system of early childhood education.

Eldredge, C.C. (1986). Nature symbolized: American painting from Tyder to Hartley. In The spiritual in art: abstract painting 1890 - 1985. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Abbeville Press, Inc.
Eldredge describes how, at the onset of the Twentieth Century, certain groups of artists began to move away from the representation of physical reality, towards abstraction, in an effort to express spiritual, utopian, or metaphysical ideas that they couldn't translate into traditional pictorial terms.

Furman, L. (1990). Creative drama handbook. Denver, Colorado: Pioneer Drama Service, Inc.
Full of ideas, games and activities for "stretching" and strengthening self-expressive capacity, particularly in children. Activities target such facilities as concentration, observation, perception, movement, vocalization, group cooperation, and sense of trust. Clear, concise, and readily adaptable in elementary through middle-school classrooms.

Gilbert, A. G. (1992). Creative dance for all ages. Reston, VA: The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
Anne Green Gilbert is a long-time proponent of teaching academic subjects through creative dance. This book spells out the theory of creative dance, and gives detailed lessons which focus on one dance element at a time. The appendixes contain guides for assessment, ideas for integrating dance into the curriculum, a list of music and of dance history videos.

Goldberg, N. (1986). Writing down the bones: Freeing the writer within. Boston: Shambhala.
Goldberg's map to becoming a writer by establishing a daily practice, unhampered by inner critics; a self-allowingway of tapping into a flow of personal expression through language. Inspiring guide for those who fear and yearn to be writers.

Goldwater, R. & Treves, M. (Eds.).(1945). Artists on art. New York: Pantheon Books.
An anthology of writings by painters and sculptors of the past seven hundred years. This book takes the reader inside the minds and hearts of the artists whose products are well known, but whose processes of creating those works are little understood. It is fascinating and heartening, for example, to read a passage from 1856, by the painter Corot, who wrote in detail about the process and the struggle of painting.

Hamilton, M. & Weiss, M. (1990). Children tell stories. Katonah, New York: Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc.
This book walks teachers through the process of using storytelling as an educational tool by teaching children to tell stories themselves. A very thorough handbook which can be used to create an in-depth unit. Includes twenty-five simple stories for children to tell.

Healy, J. M. (1990). Endangered minds: Why our children don't think. New York: Simon and Schuster.
An examination of possible causes for perceived changes in the ways that children learn and don't learn, think and don't think. Healy looks at brain research in the context of changing sociological conditions, and identifies media and technology as primary factors in a trend of declining critical thinking and problem solving capability in our children.

Joyce, M. (1994). First steps in teaching creative dance to children. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
This book introduces the theory and methods of teaching creative movement, and gives a rationale for its use in the classroom. Her detailed lesson plans are particularly helpful because of the author's "scripting" of the precise language she uses to teach them. Thanks to this "spoon feeding" approach, almost anyone could pick this book up and teach a lesson in creative movement. Includes many wonderful photographs of children caught up in the spirited moments of their dance.

Kent, C. & Steward, J. (1992). Learning by heart: Teaching to free the creative spirit. New York: Bantam Books.
Activities, insights, and revelations that challenge students' ways of thinking and perceiving as they open themselves up to creative processes in new ways. Since the ultimate aim of the authors is to inspire process, if activities from this book result in a tangigle and aesthetically satisfying end product, it is of secondary importance. Nevertheless, the descriptions of projects are tantalizing enough to peak one's interest in teaching them as a means of seeing what artistic wonders students might come up with!

Kline, P. (1988). The everyday genius. Arlington, VA: Great Ocean Publishers.
For parents as well as teachers, this book is packed full of simple, yet effective games, activities and ideas for encouraging learning at home and at school. Very enjoyable and inspiring reading that could instill fresh perspectives in even the most tired and synical of teachers.

London, P. (1989). No more second hand art: Awakening the artist within. Boston: Shambhala Press.
London tears the lid off of the contemporary idea that art is something that is defined by, and reserved for the highly trained or the exceptionally talented. He encourages the reader to "awaken the artist within", and describes a series of "explorations" through which anyone might tap into their own source for creativity and artistic self-expression. London stresses the value of art-making as a process of making meaning over the making of aesthetically pleasing products.

McCaslin, N. (1996). Creative drama in the classroom and beyond. New York: Longman Publishers.
Presents strong rationale for use of creative drama in the curriculum and many lesson, game and activity ideas for creative drama with elementary students.

McKim, E. & Steinbergh, J. (1992). Beyond words: Writing poems with children. Brookline, Massachusetts: Talking Stone Press.
Written by poets to help teachers and parents make poetry a part of their own and their children's lives. Many approaches to and examples of poetry by children and adults. Inspiring and useful resource for K - 12 teachers.

Miller, T. (1988). The holistic curriculum. Toronto, Ontario: OISE Press.
Surveys a range of existing educational models and philosophies, arguing for a holistic approach in which curriculum is based upon the development of self-knowledge within each student, and a vital connection between the classroom and the real world. Holism is a vision of the universe as made up of integrated wholes that cannot be reduced to a sum of fragmented parts. A holistic curriculum, such as in Waldorf Schools, is a value-centered curriculum, seeing values as absolute and as centrally important in education.

Miller, T. (1995). Joining in: An anthology of audience participation stories and how to tell them. Cambridge, MA: Yellow Moon Press.
Storyteller Laura Simms states in her introduction to this book that, "a `joining in' story is like a sacred incantation. The uplifted feeling of being carried by the story refreshes mind and heart". This collection of stories from many cultures contains annotated margins with detailed cues that suggest ways for the storyteller to draw the audience into the telling of each tale. These stories are best suited to upper elementary through middle-school students, though enjoyable for any age.

Moyers, B. (1995). The language of life. New York: Doubleday.
Book transcriptions of Moyers' PBS documentary interviews with contemporary American poets. The format includes conversations, photographs, and poetry that has been selected within the context of each of the probing conversations.

Oddleifson, E. (1997). Teaching intelligence through the arts. An address to the Seattle Alliance for Education, Seattle, WA.
This address describes a holistic vision of the nature of intelligence, and argues for the placement of the arts at the center of school reform. Oddleifson describes ATLAS-PLUS-ARTS, a comprehensive framework for PreK-12 schools, with an emphasis on the arts.

Page, N. (1995). Music as a way of knowing. Los Angeles, CA: The Galef Institute.
Strong, clear rationale for music in schools, Includes chapters on writing songs and raps, integrating music into the academic curriculum, and step-by-step directions for teaching songs.

Pearce, J.C. (1977). Magical child. New York: Bantam Books.
Jean Piaget's work on the development of human intelligence provides the foundation for Pearce's examination of our under-developed potential for creative intelligence. This is more of a book on parenting--on attending to the needs of our children from birth--than a book on teaching, Magical Child describes the critical link between parent-child bonding, and the our ability to develop our intellectual capacity.

Pearson, C. (1989). The hero within: Six archetypes we live by. New York: Harper and Row.
An important source of perspectives on life's ever-unfolding confusion, mystery, and discovery, I have returned to Hero Within repeatedly through the months of my Lesley College journey. This book has helped me to understand the intricate ways that my graduate-schooling and my life's path are woven together.

Reimer, B. (1980). Designing effective arts programs. In J.J. Hausman (Ed.), Arts and the schools. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Objectives and procedures for formulating curricula in the arts. Examines the key issues to be defined and agreed upon, both in terms of long-range philosophical visions and short-term curricular objectives. The article describes three "modes of programming" for the fulfillment of arts curriculum objectives; and the author suggests that a balance amongst the three different modes would be the most successful model.

Roszak, T. (1986). The cult of information: The folklore of computers and the true art of thinking. New York: Pantheon.
Roszak takes a hard, critical look at the effect of computers on human consciousness and on our information-hungry society.

Rushing, J. (1986). Ritual and myth: Native American culture and abstract expressionism. In The spiritual in art: Abstract painting 1890 - 1985. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Abbeville Press, Inc.
Rushing writes about artists, including Jackson Pollack who, believing that atavistic myth and primitive art forms were a means to reaching the unconscious mind, were passionately interested in Native American art.

Sivin, C. (1986). Maskmaking. Worster, MA: Davis Publications.
Many photographs of intriguing hand-made masks representing a wide range of techniques and cultural traditions. The not-so-detailed instructions for the techniques used in making most of the masks provide a rough map for an exploratory venture into the processes of mask- making, requiring that teachers spend sufficient time working out the details of technique and materials for their students in advance of a lesson.

Stoll, C. (1995). Silicon snake oil: Second thoughts on the information highway. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.
A witty and readable critique of the computer in our culture. Stoll is a high-tech wizard who creates computer models of the atmospheres of other planets; yet he is as highly critical as he is cognizant of the degenerative effects of technology on human communication and consciousness. This and other books and articles by self-admitting"techies" who understand the serious problems presented by technology in our society, have affirmed my deep mistrust of the computer, especially for use in elementary education.

Veenema, S. Hetland, L. & Chalfen, K. (1997). The project zero classroom: New approaches to thinking and understanding.
Harvard Graduate School of Education. A workbook for helping teachers create classrooms that foster understanding, not simply knowing. The concept of "understanding" is defined in terms of poetry and visual art, and the explanation ends with an exercise for helping the teacher comprehend this concept through an experience of viewing a work of art. The book includes an interview with Howard Gardner about his theory of multiple intelligences, which is followed with a series of examples of lessons and activities which activate the different intelligences. Includes a chapter on portfolio assessment, and concludes with a chapter which guides teachers in creating classrooms that encourage students to develop seven "dispositions" that characterize good thinking.