Title:  Arts and the Brain
Producer: Emily Halevy
Feed: CWKN #383, April 30, 2008
Time: 1:31
SUGGESTED LEAD: WHILE SOME SCHOOLS HAVE CUT BACK ON ARTS CLASSES AND PROGRAMS TO MAKE WAY FOR OTHER MORE ‘ACADEMIC’ SUBJECTS, SOME EXPERTS ARGUE THAT’S EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD BE DOING.  THEY CLAIM THAT ART CLASSES CAN ACTUALLY MAKE KIDS SMARTER.  THAT STORY IN TODAY’S CONNECT WITH KIDS.
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NATS: piano (:00)

NARR:  PLAYING PIANO, PAINTING A LANDSCAPE, PERFORMING IN A PLAY … (:04)

NATS: students in play (:05)

NARR: CAN ART HELP STUDENTS IN THEIR CORE CLASSES- READING, WRITING AND MATH? (:04)

SUPER: Adrian Dallas, 12 years old (:12)
“I remember one time I went to art and I came back and had a test and I got an ‘A’ on it so…”

NARR: DID ART CLASS HELP HIM GET THAT ‘A’? 

RESEARCHERS AT U-C SANTA BARBARA STUDIED BRAIN IMAGING AND BEHAVIOR AND FOUND THAT STUDYING THE ARTS IMPROVES OVERALL BRAIN FUNCTION: INCLUDING SHORT AND LONG-TERM MEMORY, MATH, AND LITERACY. (:14)

SUPER: Becky Sharpe, K-12 Art Specialist (:34)
“When they’re learning about drama, they’re also incorporating story telling.  When they’re making a picture, they’re also learning about different cultures so they’re bringing in history, social studies.  When we learn about linear perspective, it’s geometry.” 

NARR: WHAT’S MORE, EXPERTS SAY, ART HELPS DEVELOP CREATIVITY. (:03)

SOT: Becky Sharpe, K-12 Arts Specialist (:50)
“And whether you’re in math, whether you’re in science class, you’re looking at the world as a creative problem solver.  And I think that’s very liberating and it makes learning exciting.”

NARR: AND ONE MORE THING: A LOT OF KIDS LIKE MUSIC OR ART OR ACTING … AND THOSE CLASSES SIMPLY HELP THEM ENJOY GOING TO SCHOOL. (:08)

SOT: Becky Sharpe, K-12 Arts Specialist (1:13)
“They are the flame in the belly, the fire in the belly as they call it- that keeps children coming to school.  This is the place where I can be me. Be accepted as an individual.”

SUPER: Alex Smith, 9 years old (1:26)
“Yea cause like if you do a really good job, you’ll feel better about yourself.”

NARR:  I’M COLLIN SIEDOR FOR CONNECT WITH KIDS. (:03)

SUGGESTED TAG:   FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS AND OTHER STORIES LOG ONTO WWW.CONNECTWITHKIDS.COM.