Arts Alive is an inclusive, arts-based enrichment program designed to support classroom teachers integrating the arts, pre-literacy skills, reading and language arts into their curricula. The inclusive nature of the program makes it an ideal tool for teaching children in both general and special education settings.
Participating teachers attend two full days of Start with the Arts training and professional teaching artists visit the classrooms to work directly with the students while modeling the inclusive, arts-based lessons. Teaching artists also lead a series of in-school workshops for parents, encouraging storytelling and hands-on art making activities to support their children’s learning.
Outcomes for the program include: improved student social skills, improved academic performance, improved overall school climate and an increase in parental involvement.
Because of its emphasis on literacy and language development, Arts Alive is a excellent teaching tool for students learning English as a second language. The program operated successfully in this mode for four years in the Ysleta ISD in El Paso and was funded in El Paso and Austin classrooms in 2006–2007 by the Texas Education Agency under the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Limited English Proficiency Pilot program.
Arts Alive for English Language Learners (ELLs) is based on the Prism Model of effective second-language acquisition developed by Virginia P. Collier of George Mason University. The program provides a culturally supportive environment that allows cognitive and language development to flourish through the use of traditional and folk arts reflecting the English Language Learner’s culture of origin. This approach allows students to maintain their primary language while advancing their proficiency in English.
Eager students in the Arts Alive! program at Zavala Elementary.