STUDENT EVALUATIONS of ARTS-INFUSED HISTORY LESSONS

HONORS WORLD HISTORY Gr. 9 block 3A class:

“…the (Native American) posters were really intensive. Other projects we worked on that took me by surprise were the global warming ads (pastel paintings) and creative movement. One creative movement was to express words with only movement…I like when we were dancing about how to say “no” in movement. I like the way you interact and communicate with us, not keeping yourself isolated from us. You joined in the dance instead of sitting back and watching us. It is also good how you interact with the students (in general). The second movement was to tell a story. The arts infusion things were really good for the class. It was a chance for us to move around and not just sit and learn…(You) kept us active and awake instead of having us learn straight out of the textbook and not moving. ” -- Phantaisha Cheatham

“Having art infusion in our class is a lot of fun and we learn a lot more when we actually get to act it out. When we are putting these activities together we are not just learning about history but also how to work together and deal with all the different personalities. I had a great time when we used the pastel paintings to create environmental posters and as an art major, it was fun to incorporate my major and I like pastel paintings a lot. Besides, using art infusion helps the class experience other majors such as drama, dance… It is a blast to be able to do that.
I also had a lot of fun doing the creative movement and playwriting which helped us work on our team work because we really worked together and we not only enjoyed it, we also learned many things out of it. This class is really fun because we are able to incorporate all majors all the time… Art infusion is a great way for us to learn and actually understand world history better. We did not just learn history. We also learned how to work together as a class. Many teachers think that learning is all in books but I believe we can learn in many ways. Incorporating all the activities we did really is an amazing way to learn and get a better understanding of the lesson. Overall, I had a great time in this class. I had a great year. Thank you.” --Ariela Silva

“Art infusion has truly brought out another type of learning process in me. When we learn things visually it’s more understanding to me maybe because I’m a visual learner. My most enjoyable art infused activity was “the Trial of Atalhualpa.” We had to make our own conclusion to the play. Playwriting helped my team and I think outside the box or be imaginative. This broadens my view on different topics rather than just learning definitions and meanings out of a book. Another benefit to art infusion is really understanding team work. I have now experienced that when one falls we all fall. I also enjoyed the group (drawing) activity on comparing the societies of the Mayan, Aztecs, and Pueblos.” --Malissa Hanson


“ I like the art infusion in our history class because it is different from our everyday class work. I also like how we don’t do it every day because it makes it more spontaneous and makes the activity more fun. The art infusion activities are always different so we don’t just draw nor do acting. I really like when we did “The Mock Trial of Columbus et. al.” because I like to do role- playing. I think that the art infusion activities are great because they incorporate all of our majors at Arts High.
I love the creativity that you bring in every assignment. They are different from other classes. For example, ‘the (Personal History) Scrapbook assignment’ from the first cycle was my favorite because I got to use my creativity while doing my homework. ”
--Quincy Jones