Abstract
The author is a second grade teacher at an urban elementary school in one of the largest school districts in northern California. The author has used the district-adopted Open Court Reading Program, which is a scripted reading program that follows a strict pacing guideline and does not allow for the integration of the arts into the curriculum. After teaching Open Court Reading for five years, the author has found the program to be dull, routine, and disconnected from her students’ life experiences. Therefore, the author is seeking a way to bring back the passion and love in teaching as well as make learning alive and enjoyable for her students. The author has concluded that integrating the arts into the curriculum is the solution to this dilemma. Thus, the author has developed an Arts Supplemental Handbook to go with the Open Court Reading Program. The author will use the Arts Supplemental Handbook to bring back the joys of teaching for herself and for her students.