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You
are here: Recommended Reading
The Power of the Arts: Creative Strategies for Teaching Exceptional Learners
by Sally L. Smith
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, 2001
ISBN 1557664846This is a remarkable book by a gifted educator, who is devoted to helping all children to learn through a specially designed program called "The Integrated Arts and Academic Club Program." Sally Smith is director of the highly successful Lab School of Washington. She has been nationally recognized as a leader in the field of learning disabilities.
In her preface, she notes that "it is not surprising that school boards often elect to cut art programs from education budgets when money has to be saved. They certainly donšt see the arts as allies for exceptional learners. But they are. The arts can be organizers. They can be employed to teach reorganization and reasoning. They can provide pictures for students who cannot learn just from hearing, and they can provide sounds and movement for those who cannot learn just from seeing."
Smith's book deals with the power of the arts to identify both abilities and disabilities, offers numbers of specific examples of how the multi-sensory approach through the arts can make a difference in the ability to learn for students at all ability levels, and describes the program of the Lab School, referring to specific outcomes achieved. The reader will find numerous illustrations, practical/creative examples of effective strategies, lesson plans, and statistics supporting the success of the arts in achieving higher academic standards for all.
Cheers! The more we focus on raising standards and achieving higher test scores, the more we need the humane, hands-on learning experiences the arts provide as described in this valuable book.
Copyright © July 2001 New Horizons for Learning, all rights reserved.
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