Idea Box Integrated Arts

Collaborate. Create. Connect.

Idea Box programs use a combination of visual and performing arts to help students in grades 6 and up embody and internalize key concepts in math, science, engineering, language arts, social studies, and social emotional learning.

Student Work Samples

Click each image for more information about the residency in which it was created.
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During on-line learning, students at Prescott Elementary School created their own version of the “GoNoodle” videos they had been watching in class. Press play to learn more!

7th graders at Acero Roberto Clemente integrated Engineering into their storytelling of The Phantom Tollbooth as they built 6 foot tall pop-up books.

Students at Mahalia Jackson Elementary created “movie trailers” for their own versions of Alice in Wonderland.” Enjoy this behind-the-scenes footage of student artists in action!

Case Study: Prescott Elementary

Emily sees grades K through and 3 at Prescott Elementary for one hour a day, every day, for a full quarter. We’ll take a look at the curriculum for one of our 1st grade classrooms.

Emily met with the classroom teacher and learned that she’d love help reinforcing concepts from their “light and sound” science unit. Starting from this integration point, students created materials for a 15 minute performance for their parents.

In their Theater Performance unit, students learned diction, projection, expressing emotion through character face/vocal tone, and group story-telling. Using these skills, they acted as emcees for their own performance.

In their Music unit, special guest teaching artist Mr. Michael joined us for a mini Songwriting residency, in which students will explore rhythm, rhyme, and verse/chorus structure. Working together students wrote a song about the ways we communicate with light and sound.

In their Visual Arts unit, students studied technical theater, taking on the specialized roles of electricians, lighting designers, and “shadow dancers” for a shadow-screen movement performance (pictured). Students who elected to be “electricians” turned lights on and off on cue. Performers improvised inventive shadow shapes, and “lighting designers” selected colored gel filters that they believed matched the mood or tone of the shape the dancers created.

In the Dance unit student studied modern dance theory, including levels, lateral and sagittal locations and movements, pathways, tempo, and energy. They next used repetition, sequence, and pattern to create their own choreography for their original song.

Tech + Teamwork 1st Graders at Prescott Elementary learned to work as lighting designers, electricians, and shadow-screen performers during their “Light and Sound” residency.

Tech + Teamwork 1st Graders at Prescott Elementary learned to work as lighting designers, electricians, and shadow-screen performers during their “Light and Sound” residency.


Sample Curriclum

Take a look at a sample curriculum outline for a high-school level “Science of Art” Curriculum here.


Sample Assessment

Sample rubric for the Stomp rhythm project, designed for students in Grades 5-8.