An Investigation of How Integrating Visual Art Into the Language Arts Curriculum Affects Children's Reading Achievement in a First Grade Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate how integrating visual art into the language arts curriculum affected children's reading achievement. The study included 2 classes of first graders. The control group followed the first grade art curriculum, which consists of learning to use different media, learning about the elements of art, and creating art. The experimental group participated in arts activities that reinforced the content of children's literature stories used as part of the language arts program. The experimental research study was analyzed using quantitative methods. A comparison of the running reading records of both groups for the two month time frame was done to determine if there were any changes in the reading achievement of the experimental group. A t-test was used to determine if any changes in achievement was due to the one variable of the integrated arts.