Integrating art into language arts lessons is an effective way to reach all students. Many children's books lend themselves to artistic expressions. Teachers and/or students can read "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt" and then make their own map quilts. Classes can do an author/illustrator study and make their own versions of books, including illustrations like the author's. Eric Carle's well-known and beautifully illustrated books work well for this kind of study. Students can even see a slide show of how he makes his illustrations on his website. Another option is for students to create illustrations for books that are not illustrated.
Patterns and shapes are two popular topics in both art and math. Teachers can create integrated activities by encouraging students to develop their own patterns. The patterns can be used in different shapes or as borders for classroom bulletin boards. Students can also make tessellations (pattern repetition over a flat surface with no gaps, also known as tiling) by hand or on the computer. Students can also use drawings to illustrate math concepts, such as drawing 8 rows of 4 squares each to represent 8 x 4.
Art and social studies complement each other at the elementary level. Teachers can encourage students to make pottery like the Native Americans did, dye material like the Colonists did and create African masks. Other options include making posters to illustrate an historical period (such as political posters during the Civil War), another culture (such as a travel poster for India) or social issue (such as protecting the environment), painting murals to depict different geographical areas and creating models of Native American, colonial or other homes.
Elementary scientists can integrate art into their science curriculum through drawings of the world around them. They can make field guides to ecosystems complete with illustrations of local flora and fauna and diagrams of the human body, the solar system or the earth's core. Students can sculpt the brain or other organs using clay. They can use leaves to make prints (by dipping the leaves into paint, then pressing them onto paper) or as paintbrushes.