Teaching & Learning in a Pandemic: Spring 2021

Supporting Student Participation in Extracurricular Art Activities

By Michelle Jamison

What will students learn after the lesson?

At the end of the lesson, students will have retained information during story time due to moving or acting similar to the characters in the story.
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain the 3 ways that Mrs. Cleo taught about creativity.

· Improv activities help with creating performance independence such as reading out loud.

· Music can help with memorization.

· Improv activities help with creativity both inside and outside the classroom.

What Are Extracurricular Art Activities? How Do They Impact A Student's Academics?

The findings I have found are in agreement that extracurricular art activities such as music, theatre, or dance have a positive impact on a student’s academics. According to one research study, the percentage that correlates GPA’s between music and art extracurricular activities versus sport activities has shown that there is an increase in GPA when students have music and art as activities rather than just sports. (Meadows, 2019) Another research has found that extracurricular art activities such as music, dance, or art is a helpful tool with helping students with being solely virtual during the pandemic. (Extracurriculars Play a Vital Role During the Pandemic, 2020) These extracurricular activities give students something to look forward to each day or each week. (Extracurriculars Play a Vital Role During the Pandemic, 2020) Therefore, I have seen that there is a positive correlation in having students participating in extracurricular art activities. I believe that supporting students through extracurricular art activities will help with a student’s academic skills as well as social skills.

So, this bears the question of, Should We Support Student Participation in Extracurricular Art Activities? Should We Support Extracurricular Art Activities Participation in All Schools?

The answer to this question comes from my interview. My interviewee says that we all need to support the extracurricular arts in all schools. So, I would like to introduce my interviewee. My interviewee is Mrs. Cleo Lynch. She is a k-8 music teacher, but she also teaches choir at her school. She also teaches a fine arts club and teaches an elective of either choir or musical theatre where she directs a Fall/Spring show and does improv activities. She has been teaching for the past few years and she has set up this department in her school where there was no form of extracurricular art activity. She is important to the topic that I chose because she is a teacher who is supporting student’s participation in extracurricular art activities.

How can Extracurricular Art Activities help students learn in the classroom? Wouldn't it be too much fun for the students?

Extracurricular Art Activities can help students learn in the classroom by many different methods. For example, improv activities help with creating performance independence such as reading out loud. These activities can help with a student’s confidence for reading a story out loud to the teacher or to the class. In addition, these activities can help with the student’s fluency with reading a script or reading a line in a story. For example, a student can read a story, then try to act like the character before the class. If the student does not remember the words, then they can improv by acting out what the character is doing. Therefore, the student still does the assignment while building up their confidence in retaining the information about the story.

Music can help with memorization. Music is a helpful tool in the classroom where it can help students with memorizing or retaining information. Music can also help with teaching a new concept to students. For example, a teacher can teach a new concept of weather or the life cycle of a butterfly, but they can use music as the method of teaching. The teacher can find a video or a piece of music that has lyrics pertaining to weather or butterflies.

Improv activities can also help with creativity both inside and outside the classroom. Improv can increase a student’s creativity either by helping them find creative ways to handle the stress of a test or to help them memorize information for a class. Improv can also help a student outside of the classroom by helping them memorize their parent’s phone number or get creative in getting them out of danger. For example, a student may be stressed out about a test, but she has found a creative way of breathing to help her relax and to focus on her test. Another example, a student could be walking home from school, but is lost. However, he found a creative way to help him remember his way home, so he found his way home safely. All in all, Extracurricular Art Activities can be a useful tool in the classroom and it's not "too much fun" for the students. The students would be looking forward to these activities to learn.

In addition, this video will also explain, in more detail, on how extracurricular activities help students in the classroom.

In Conclusion

Based on the information I reviewed, I believe that extracurricular art activities are important in a student’s life both inside and outside of the classroom. These activities will help not only with a student’s academic career and GPA. (Meadows, 2019) In addition, these activities also help with increasing a student’s mind in creativity in testing and with their peers. (C. Lynch, personal communication, February 19, 2021) Therefore, it is important for teachers to support extracurricular art activities and to get students participating in these activities. With support and participation, student’s will succeed in their academics and have the motivation to further their curiosity of learning.

FIN

Now, Time For A Pop Quiz!

In what areas do extracurricular art activities help students?

A. Math

B. Science

C. Literacy

D. All The Above

Why are extracurricular art activities important for schools?

A. Helps with Students Academics and Life Skills

B. Helps with Getting Funds for the Schools

C. Helps with Creating Breaks for Teachers

D. Helps with Parents Understanding the School's Curriculum

Answers to the Pop Quiz:

References:

Extracurriculars Play a Vital Role During the Pandemic. (2020, November 13). Retrieved from Edutopia.org : https://www.edutopia.org/article/extracurriculars-play-vital-role-during-pandemic

Meadows, A. (2019). The Impact of Participation in Extracurricular Activities on Elementary School Students. Retrieved from Southern Edu Web Site: https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=jiur

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