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Marcia Daft, Moving Through Math, Spanish & English

Dance, Multidisciplinary, Multidisciplinary Art, Music / Sound, Performance

I believe every child benefits from learning through the Arts. All children are born with a natural curiosity and passion for investigating. Learning is innate in all human beings. I believe the ARTS encourage children to share themselves, their experiences, and their thinking. The ARTS foster attitudes and learning environments that support collaboration and open expression. The ARTS promote analyzing, synthesizing, and creating - the higher-order thinking skills we aim to develop in students. I believe the ARTS increase academic rigor while also motivating children to communicate and persevere - this results in intellectual and personal ownership. It is a privilege to share my decades of artistic training and my love of learning with children and educators!

About the Artist

Marcia Daft is a professional musician and arts educator. She works fluently in Spanish and English. She is the Founder of "Moving Through Math" and "Teaching the Music of Language." Marcia’s unique teaching methods have been energizing classrooms, performing arts centers, and school districts across the United States for over twenty-five years. Locally, Marcia's work is presented at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington Performing Arts Society, and the Wolftrap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts. Marcia produces award-winning instructional materials, videos, and children's books that support teachers as they learn to facilitate Arts Integration in their own classrooms. Explore Arts-Integrated learning with your students and transform the way you think about teaching!

Marcia Daft, Moving Through Math, Spanish & English website Moving Through Math Marcia Daft, Moving Through Math, Spanish & English website The 5 Pillars of Moving Through Math Marcia Daft, Moving Through Math, Spanish & English website Teaching the Music of Language

Featured Work

Photos

Have you ever heard that "Everything in Mathematics is a Pattern" and wondered how to find the patterns in numbers, addition, place value, multiplication, fractions and more? Moving Through Math: Pattern Foundations breaks down the patterns at every grade level, while making powerful connections to patterns in music and movement.
Students collaborate with partners and in small groups to create the hierarchy of triangles and quadrilaterals. Students show shapes in translation and in mirror reflection symmetry. ALL students are able to participate and succeed! No English language required!!
"Moving Through Math Toy Stories" are engaging tales with serious math concepts embedded in their narratives. When children collaborate with their classmates to retell the Math Story, mathematics is not isolated from oral language development - they work together! Social-emotional skills including sharing, speaking and listening, and performing for an audience are also integrated into mathematics instruction. "Moving Through Math" embraces the WHOLE CHILD.

Videos

  • Moving Through MATH: GEOMETRY

    See more information about Moving Through MATH: GEOMETRY
    Moving Through Math integrates the logic and thinking of mathematics with the creativity of music, movement, and creative drama. Enjoy this peek into the process of integrating geometry with creative movement!

  • Moving Through Math IN THE NEWS!

    See more information about Moving Through Math IN THE NEWS!
    CBS news story featuring Moving Through Math. Watch how students and teachers make powerful connections between pattern in music & movement and patterns in mathematics!

  • Teaching the Music of Language: 4th grade poetry writing

    See more information about Teaching the Music of Language: 4th grade poetry writing
    Teaching the Music of Language integrates the rhythm and fluency of music with student reading and writing. In this video you'll watch 4th graders explore the use of repetition, rhythm, and phrasing in writing. First, students brainstorm, draft, edit, revise, and publish their poem. Then, students set their poems with vocal expression using Word Painting. Finally, students perform their own work.

  • Teaching the Music of Language: 3rd grade poetry writing

    See more information about Teaching the Music of Language: 3rd grade poetry writing
    Teaching the Music of Language integrates musical expression with student reading and writing. The "Five Senses Remembering" poetry structure invites students to write for all five types of sensory images and make word choices that emphasize alliteration, assonance, and consonance. After students finish writing, they "Word Paint" their poem with vocal expression. Finally, students perform their own work.

Written Works

Booking

Booking Price: $1,001-$2,000

Please visit https://www.movingthroughmath.com/contact/ or email me directly to start a conversation about your needs. I look forward to working with you and your students!

I bring all materials needed for classroom activities and teacher training. I can work with or without a computer projection screen/smartboard.

For distances more than an hour's drive from Washington, D.C. I prefer to stay in a hotel and provide a week-long residency. For distances less than an hour's drive from Washington, D.C. we can schedule the residency dates more flexibly; for example, once a week, twice a week, or week-long.

Arts in Education

Audiences Types: Grades Pre-K – 2, Grades 3-5, English Language Learners, Educators

"Moving Through Math" and Teaching the Music of Language" are offered as online Professional Development for educators. Teachers have access to an online Video Library of Marcia Daft working with students, modeling the Arts Integration lessons that are taught during the training. Schools may elect to take a single on-line workshop, an online course, or an online summer institute. Schools may also select asynchronous online courses that allow teachers to progress at their own pacing.

"Moving Through Math" and Teaching the Music of Language" are offered as in-person residencies with students. Student Residences can be as short as 5 sessions and as long as 12 sessions.

Schools may choose to bring "Moving Through Math" or Teaching the Music of Language" as in-person Professional Development for educators. Marcia offers in-person demonstration teaching with students so that teachers can observe and videotape as part of their training. Teachers also have access to an online Video Library of Marcia Daft working with students, modeling the Arts Integration lessons taught during the training. Professional development includes single workshops, courses, and Summer Institutes. Marcia is available to coach selected teachers as "Strategy Keepers" who then provide Arts Integration leadership within a school or a school district.