Art Lessons for Teachers

An intensive art institute is being offered to elementary school educators to teach new and innovative ways to integrate the arts into their classrooms.

During the two-day program Oct. 23-24, educators will be taught how to marry subjects such as reading and math with the arts.

The program, which targets teachers through the fifth grade, is organized by the California Arts Project.

“A lot of people don’t get in-depth arts training and CAP does that,” said Terry Brenner-Farrell, a teacher and coordinator of the event.

One teacher from the institute shows how to use folk dancing to teach children how to join concepts of visual recognition with music to build basic reading skills.

Another technique uses spatial information and mathematics to teach drawing. By starting with a Polaroid of a well-known artist, the teacher dissects the photo into quadrants. Students then are taught to draw each image within the quadrant. The lesson teaches about the artists and drawing as well as fractions.

The two-day institute costs $40 per person and will be held at McKevett School, 955 E. Pleasant St., Santa Paula, from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24.

College credit is available through Cal Lutheran University.

For more information, call 933-5332.