Background Curriculum Theory & Practice: Arts is a course required for ALL student teachers in the Mulitple Subject (Elementary) Credential Program in the Department of Education at CSU, Chico. The course addresses how to teach dance, drama, music, and visual art in the elementary classroom. Writing a thorough arts lesson plan that is aligned with state and national standards is one of the required assignments for the student teachers. Students begin with information from the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California's K-12 Public Schools. Then specific grade level expectations are explored in the CA Content Standards for Visual and Performing Arts. Further comparisons and explanations of benchmarks follows with the National Standards for Arts Education.

Impact of Use on Teaching and Learning By constructing this site and inviting students to peer review and edit their lessons for possible inclusion, the motivation and quality of this particular lesson plan assignment has greatly improved. Providing clear examples in a centralized,accessible arena students are more efficient in their lesson development and I am readily have several different types of examples ready for any instructional situation. The site is a very good resource for educators worldwide. Monitoring related links on the site for currency is the biggest challenge. The student lesson plans are growing and changing as the technology does and they are always available. New lessons are added at the end of each semester. Here are two examples of student teacher work. Rain Orchestra Warm Sun and Too Cool Moon

Learning Activities After review of the lesson format, a model lesson, the rubric for assessing the lesson plan and online peer reviews at this web site, student teachers are assigned to write drafts of their arts lessons. On the day the drafts are due, the instructor goes through the lesson plan format reinforcing what was introduced in a previous session. Student teachers edit, revise, and question. Then peer reviews can also occur. Now student teachers have some things to revise and improve on the drafts.

Tips for Teaching This web site serves three main purposes for instruction: concrete, higher end examples for student teachers as they learn how to write a complete lesson plan; instantly accessible data for student teachers to conduct peer reviews of lessons during an in-class session on lesson plan troubleshooting; and resources for lessons and ideas that have been field-tested by peers.

Reflections Since this website has been developed, student teachers have been able to view, review, and actually field-test a wider range of peer-developed arts lessons in a shorter amount of time. Costs for printing hard copies for use during in-class instruction have been completely eliminated. Since our teacher education classroom has seven computer stations available for small group work, the web site has proven to be both efficient and expedient. Student teachers like looking at peers' lessons, and seeing the purpose in the assignments they do. Many former student teachers return to this site to check on resources and review recent contributions that may be useful to them in their current teaching job. They are familiar with the format and how to review the ever-growing database. Teachers, especially beginning teachers, in schools across the country and from around the world have sent e-mail indicating their appreciation and thanks for providing organization, a format, and direction for finding and using the K-6 arts lessons.

Database Construction The database for the K-6 Arts Lesson Plans was constructed using FileMaker Pro and Tango. FileMaker Pro provides for the construction of the data "cards." Tango provides the interface between the CGI script and the web server. The instructor adds new cards to the database as lesson plans become available for uploading. The fields in the database include the arts that the lesson addresses, which specific state instructional components are featured, K-3 or 4-6 focus, and a brief description of the lesson which was taken directly from the actual lesson topic in the selected lesson plan.