Community Arts Partner

Teaching Approach

Teaching Philosophy + Approach

SAM provides creative learning opportunities for students and educators that ignite curiosity, foster critical thinking, and develop environments that are challenging, inclusive and collaborative. SAM offers resources and experiences that contribute to building a community of life-long learners. Every learning opportunity can be customized to meet the needs of each student, school or educator. Each lesson—at the museum, in your classroom, and during PDs—are aligned with Washington State Learning Standards, Common Core Learning Standards, National Core Art Standards, and 21st Century Skills.

Curriculum Integration Possibilities

The majority of SAM’s residency projects are arts integrated lessons, designed to build understanding of key concepts and connections in both the arts and non-arts disciplines.SAM has experience developing integrated arts lessons for K- 12 classrooms in math, science, language arts, social studies, history and ELL. For example, last year SAM conducted a multi-session residency in a high school Social Studies class focused on the Civil Rights Era. Developed collaboratively with the teacher, the residency integrated photography with the core curriculum. As a second example, SAM collaborated with a math teacher to create a geometry lesson focused on balance and ratios using the work of artist Alexander Calder. Students explored key artistic concepts of balance and composition, paired with math concepts such as angles, ratios and forms to create their own 3-d sculpture based on equations.

Special Skills and Areas of Expertise

SAM has a strong history of experience providing:

• Professional development for K-12 teachers
• Arts integrated lessons for k-12 teachers across subject areas
• Culturally relevant curriculum development and delivery
• Educator co-planning and coaching
• Direct student services and instruction

What does this mean for you? Contact us to learn more!

Testimonials from Schools