- Literacy in the Arts, Apr 2001

Discusses five guiding principles (from scholars' work in semiotics) for helping teachers explore the arts and literacy instruction, intended as a framework for understanding representation of meaning, in whatever sign system or art form. Discusses why understanding semiotic systems is important to language arts instruction that represents meaning visually, musically, and/or dramatically, along with written texts.

Uses the work of three kindergarten students to cast light on the integral relationship between the creation of visual art and the development of written and oral language. Shows how children use art as a tool for composition. Looks at stages of literacy development and the arts, and examines the acquisition of skills and the arts.

Chronicles how the author first used creative drama in a summer reading program with first graders, and then over the years developed a much broader understanding of how drama is an important teaching tool. Describes writing “scaffolded” plays with sixth-grade students. Discusses implications for language arts teachers. Describes her annual thematic dinner theater in which students perform their plays.

Describes the author's work in his fifth-grade class as he helps his students understand the importance that culture plays in their representations of meaning. Shows how opportunities to transcend language by using other sign systems allow multiculturalism to flourish. Describes a schoolwide celebration of cultures through various arts and sign systems, and discusses the need to balance celebration and critique.

Reflects on three articles in this themed issue written by classroom teachers, describing how and why they incorporate the arts into the heart of their language arts instruction. Concludes that sign systems and the arts are powerful tools for thinking, whether they are used efferently, to represent specific information, or aesthetically, to create vicarious, lived-through experiences.