Welcome Administrators

Bridges integrates arts, literacy and social emotional learning in every activity and lesson.
Students using their bodies to act out the characters, problems and solutions listed on a chart behind them.
 
 

What is it?

Bridges uses multidisciplinary arts experiences to teach literacy and SEL. Includes arts residencies for students, workshops for teachers and teacher resources – including standards aligned activities, classroom tools, and strategies.

 
  • Bridge 1: Multisensory Literate Expression means children explore ideas and tell stories through multisensory activities using physical expression, vocal/sound exploration, visual art and puppet play. Bridge 2: Notice, Describe and Ask Protocol means children's artistic choices are at the center of this conversation protocol which involves richly descriptive and non-judgmental language. Bridge 3: An Artist's Work Process means children discover their own ways of thinking and working through a process in which they imagine, experiment, problem-solve, collaborate, self-reflect and revise.
    3 Bridges Model
    • Bridges children’s curiosity, and imagination and the world of school learning.
    • Connects literacy, the arts, and social emotional learning.
    • Builds a foundation in essential working and thinking skills children need in all their endeavors.
    • Increases agency, belonging, and cultural humility.
    Learn More about what the 3 Bridges Model teaches
  • Four kids exuberantly playing with puppets they drew and taped to wooden sticks in front of background settings they made form torn paper.
    Literacy and Metacognitive Skills

    How does Bridges teach literacy and metacognitive academic learning skills through authentic arts activities? How can our work compliment your reading and writing programs?

    Literacy Connections
 

Why teachers love it

Learn about it
 
  • A diagram web with the word

    Supplements HMH, EL, and Wit and Wisdom

    Bridges students made significantly better progress on literacy development than a comparison group.
    Learn More: Formal Research Results
  • Teaching artist holds up a puppet face with a crescent shape smile off to the side to the emotion mapping tool in the

    Sustainable and Ongoing

    A vast library of resources, lesson plans, and tools support Teacher engagement and use beyond the arts residency increasing impact.
    Activity Library
  • Kindergarten teacher sitting playing side by side three students with torn paper puppets and backgrounds in folders.

    Engages Young Children

    Engages students in rigorous learning by building on the capacity students already have using bodies, voices, classroom space and play.
    Bridges Model Overview
  • Students playing the Emotion Statue Game and making expressive poses to show different feelings.

    Differentiated and Aligned

    Lesson plans include accomodations for diverse learners (SwD and MLs), and different grade levels, and alignment with Arts and ELA standards.
    Activity Library
 

Our Pedagogy

Bridges engages three approaches – Multisensory Literate Expression, Notice, Describe, and Ask, and An Artists Work Process.

 

Learn more about
 
  • Four cute kindergartners practice raising their eyebrows to show facial expressions.

    Multisensory Literate Expression

    Be it, make it, play it! An arts integration approach to literacy that builds on the many ways that children communicate.
    Multisensory Literate Expression
  • Two students at desks sitting across from each other hold up paper puppets they drew with colored pencils and attached to straws making them talk to one another.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/tjoQtkVXZhg

    Teachers Say...

    “My students were able to comprehend complex concepts and stories through multisensory immersion in location, character and narrative…”
    Evaluation Results
  • One girl whispering in another's ear about the contrasting puppet faces they're working on at their desks.

    Notice, Describe and Ask

    Talk about work in rich detail, without judgment, and engage in nuanced conversation, building language and observation skills.
    Notice, Describe, Ask
  • Teaching artist Donna Maria DeCreeft listens with enthusiasm as a student describes what she is working on.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/-vqJlpZWJOU

    Teachers Say...

    “The children would use vocabulary…’shocked, broken-hearted, slanted, thrilled, annoyed.’ throughout the day with deeper understanding”
    Evaluation Results
  • A proud young girl holding up a pink and purple life size puppet made out of construction paper.

    An Artists Work Process

    Children work and think like artists as they imagine, experiment, problem-solve, collaborate, self-reflect, and revise.
    An Artist's Work Process
  • Classroom teacher Hope Kamal crouches down to get a better look at a torn paper collage backdrop that her student is working on. Although, she is masked, her enthusiasm and attention to his work is evident. The student is describing his choices.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/qNsK3FBROVw

    Teachers Say..

    "It gave them an opportunity to try things out, to discuss, revise & edit; & use a higher level of vocabulary to describe what they’re doing."
    Evaluation Results
 

Academic Learning

The arts inherently integrate academic learning. Bridges builds on this by offering pedagogy, protocols, tools, & activities to explicitly teach the overlapping concepts and skills.

What does Bridges teach?
Literacy, SEL, Arts
Standards Alignments
For Bridges activities
Emotion Statues (core)
Emotion Statues (advanced)
Emotion Mapping
Notice, Describe & Ask
Explore & Describe Pencil Drawing
Explore & Describe Torn Paper Collage
Explore & Describe 5 Shapes Many Emotions
 
  • Two students stand above their settings they have put together playing the story of Charlotte's Web with their character puppets they hold from above.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFnDxZfd-JI
    Helps access difficult content

    In this video,  challenging content and language from the book “Charlotte’s Web” are made accessible through puppet play activities and abstract literacy concepts like revision are made concrete through a peer to peer feedback process. For more examples of how teachers use bridges to tackle challenging content and concepts visit the page for

    Multisensory Expression
  • Three students seated at a table look at, point to and discuss one of their drawings.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/7GMWg7V7EPs
    Creates a Language Rich Environment

    Notice, Describe & Ask Protocol makes language an exciting tool for children. It engages them in talking about artistic choices, process, and ideas, using specific vocabulary to describe their observations. It builds community as children converse freely about their work, asking each other questions and describing what they see. Visit the page for

    Notice Describe and Ask
 

Social Emotional Learning

Bridges taps into the power of connecting with your emotions visually, verbally, and kinesthetically, and gives teachers tools to guide students through emotional exploration, recognition and communication.

 
  • Boy holding up and mirroring his puppet's emotions with his own face, happy and shocked.
    Teach Literacy, SEL and Arts together

    Bridges offers approaches and curriculum to build on the inherent connection between emotions, literacy and arts learning.  Children connect to complex content and concepts when their emotions are acknowledged and respected. Resources help teachers address frustration, support joy and make space for their students emotions.

    Working with Emotions Page
  • A group of studnets each expressing the emotion vocabulary word 'frustrated' in their own way using their face and body.

    Emotion Identification Strategies

    Students learn about their own emotions through full body multisensory experiences.
    Emotion Statues
Two kids happily play with the table top puppets that they made.

My Emotions, Character Emotions

As students learn to recognize their own emotions they transfer these skills to understand character emotions, deepening comprehension.
5- Shapes Many Emotions Activity
  • Student uses emotion mapping tool to get ideas for how to draw expressive puppet faces.

    Emotion Mapping: clarify and connect to vocabulary

    Facilitate physical exploration and conversation about how emotion words feel and what they mean. Activity resources videos, supports on the
    Emotion Mapping
  • Two children embody the feeling of nervous while playing The Statue Game
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/QEckRG-hR3E

    Builds on what kids know as individuals

    Everyone experiences emotions differently. Emotion Mapping connects how emotions feel in your body with language to describe your experience.
    Teachers Say... Emotion Mapping
  • One student smiling at their peer who is embodying an emotion vocabulary word in the Statue Game
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/sfcMDXhbR-c

    Facilitates peer to peer learning

    An Emotion Map is a resource that students build collectively to reflect the diverse perspectives & experiences of the classroom community.
    Teachers Say... Emotion Mapping
 

Bridges Professional Development

ArtsConnection has a long professional development practice, engaging educators as researchers in their classrooms. Through a process of deep noticing and collaboration, teachers, artists and administrators innovate their teaching and learning.<

 
  • Workshop facilitator leading a group of TAs in a physical warm up. The featured Teaching artist smiles, leaning over mid movement. The teachers facing her have their arms thrown up and forward fingers outstretch engaging in some sort of movement activity.
    Bring Bridges professional development workshops to your school

    In-Person and virtual workshops are available for Bridges Arts Integration Training and Resources.

    Email: Info@ArtsConnection.org

    More info about Educator Workshops
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