We Are Wyoming: an arts integrated teaching and inquiry project

ABSTRACT

This article is about a year-long teaching and research project conducted with 696 4th graders (mostly 10-year olds) and their 36 teachers in Wyoming/USA. The researchers employed an action research approach. They planned and taught a two-day, Wyoming-themed, interdisciplinary unit, We Are Wyoming, which integrated Social Studies, Language Arts, and Visual Art. The research focused on students’ engagement and resultant learning. This article includes a discussion of project goals; description of methodology; an overview of unit activities; analysis of student and teacher learning; and thematic findings and recommendations. The inquiry documented high levels of engagement and standards-based learning, as well as learning and professional growth for the teacher educator/researchers.

KEYWORDS:

• Art integration
• elementary education
• action research