by Kimberly Jarvis

Arts integration is more than a teaching strategy—it is a commitment to engaging the whole child through creative learning. This approach values both the arts equally as a core subject, weaving it together with other core subjects and enriching student understanding and expression.

At a recent workshop held by The Ohio Arts Council called Destination Arts Integration, Karen L. Erickson of Creative Directions, shared a lesson in arts integration that reinforced that it isn’t just an add-on in the classroom it’s a powerful method to deepen both academic and artistic understanding. As the Chicago Public Schools define, Curriculum Integration is “the equal and meaningful connection of essential content in one learning area with the essential content in one or more other subject areas”. When applied thoughtfully, dance becomes more than movement. It becomes a pathway to richer learning in every subject.

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1. Choose a dance principle + vocabulary

A foundational concept in dance is “plié,” a simple bending of the knees that grounds the body and releases tension. Essential vocabulary to teach includes:

• Plié – bending of knees with alignment
• First position – heels together, toes turned outward
• Core engagement – activating abdominal muscles to stabilize movement
• Tempo – speed of the movement
• Dynamic shifts – movements with varying energy (e.g., smooth to sharp)

By introducing and practicing these terms, students gain body awareness and heritage-based movement skills before applying them creatively.

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2. Select a science lesson + vocabulary

Let’s say the science concept is energy transfer in potential and kinetic energy, using a simple pendulum. Key terms include:

• Potential energy – stored energy, e.g., at the highest swing
• Kinetic energy – energy of motion, at the lowest swing
• Inertia – tendency for objects to continue moving
• Gravity – force pulling the pendulum downward

These terms provide the vocabulary students need to begin thinking in scientific language.

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3. Teach both with intention

Using an Arts-Integrated approach:

1. Explain each dance and science term. Demonstrate a gentle plié and discuss core engagement. Then show a pendulum or ball swing to illustrate potential ↔ kinetic energy.
2. Explore together: Have students perform pliés while imagining a pendulum gathering potential energy as they bend, then releasing kinetic energy when they straighten.
3. Make connections: Ask them to observe and hypothesize. “What did your body feel when plié peeked at its lowest point? What’s happening to your core muscles like gravity pulling the pendulum?”
4. Apply it: Students create short movement “experiments”—they vary depth or tempo of pliés and describe how their body (energy) changes. Connect language: “My kinetic energy slowed when…”
5. Reflect: In writing, drawing, or discussion, have students describe both the movement and the science: “I felt my energy build at the bottom of the plié—just like a pendulum slows as it reaches its highest point.”

A Case in Point: Adverbs in Motion

Karen L. Erickson, founder of Creative Directions, provided a vivid example of authentic arts integration in action during a professional development session with Ohio Teaching Artists. She led the group through a movement-based lesson titled Adverbs in Motion, originally designed to meet National Language Standard L.3.1, with the objective: “Students will distinguish verbs from adverbs.” The room—filled with artists trained in diverse disciplines—engaged in the activity with creativity and clarity, fully meeting the objective through physical exploration of movement and descriptive language.

Then, Karen demonstrated the power of integrating a second discipline. She repeated the same activity, but this time aligned it with National Theater Standard Cr.1.a., adding the objective: “Students will demonstrate actions and qualities of actions an actor might use to portray a character in a drama.” She defined acting at the outset of the lesson and introduced theatrical etiquette and audience accountability into the mix, prompting a richer, more specific performance.

“Do actors leave it up to the audience to determine how their character feels?” she asked (framing the lesson with a sense of purpose rooted in performance). The result? More precise embodiment of adverbs, deeper interpretation of movement, and greater awareness of how actions communicate meaning.
During the reflection that followed, teaching artists realized just how much more students could discover when the lesson objectives intentionally included both Language Arts and Theater. What had begun as a simple grammar activity now became a full dramatic exploration. Young students typically struggle with movement lessons without the parameters of the stage directions and etiquette, especially when they’ve never been shown how actors make choices or how important clarity is for an audience.

By holding students accountable for how well their adverbs were expressed to the “audience,” Karen revealed the power of clear dual objectives. She didn’t just enhance the lesson—she transformed it. She taught that arts Integration is not assuming the arts will naturally support the subject—it’s planning for both.

May 2025 From Destination Arts Integration in Columbus, Ohio

Why this works

• Academic rigor + creative engagement: Students learn vocabulary in both movement and science, weaving two areas into one coherent experience.
• Embodied cognition: Moving through a concept, rather than hearing or seeing about it, enhances memory and understanding.
• Whole-student development: This integration supports cognitive, physical, and linguistic growth.

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Tips for Success

• Start small, with one dance principle and one science concept.
• Be explicit about both vocabularies. Never assume students will pick up on the science just by moving.
• Use questioning to push connections: “How did your body move when you plié like a pendulum?” “What does core engagement have to do with energy?”
• Allow experimentation: let students adjust tempo, depth, or direction and report how their experience changes.
• Invite reflection: Use drawing or journaling to record both the movement and the science, tying both languages together.

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Final Thoughts

Integrating dance into academic lessons like this follows a model of balanced, meaningful integration. It’s not a performance—it’s a process. Students walk away knowing plié not just as a step, but as a lived example of energy transfer. That’s the magic of arts integration: when dance and science enhance each other, learning becomes richer, more memorable, and endlessly creative.