2025-2026 Saturday Synchronous Series
Join the Focus 5 team for an exciting year of interactive virtual arts integration sessions, where you’ll explore a wide range of arts-integrated teaching strategies, all designed to educate and engage.
This year we have single-presenter sessions, mash-up sessions where two art forms are brought together, and micro-sessions where two presenters share the 90 minutes with brief strategies. Focus 5 is THE most experienced arts integration professional development company for teachers!
Register for one or all of the Saturday sessions!
Bulk registrations are available.
Each arts integration Synchronous Zoom Session is taught by a nationally recognized, highly trained specialist in the arts and education fields including National Board Certified Teachers, certified reading specialists, professional artists, and teaching artists.
Appropriate for teachers of grades K-12 (varies by session, see below)
All classes are 90 minutes long:
Pacific: 10-11:30am | Mountain: 11am-12:30pm | Central: 12-1:30pm | Eastern: 1-2:30pm
2025-2026 Saturday Sync Series
Saturday, October 18, 2025
From Art to Argument: Using Visual Literacy to Strengthen Writing
For Teachers of Grades 3 - 8
with Paige Whelan & Melanie Rick
Want stronger student writing with clearer evidence and structure? Start with the power of pictures.
This interactive session shows how analyzing artwork builds critical thinking and supports evidence-based writing. You’ll leave with ready-to-use strategies that guide students from visual inquiry to compelling, standards-aligned responses.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Matter in Motion: Dancing the States of Matter
For Teachers of Grades 2 - 6
with Harlan Brownlee
What does a solid feel like? How does a gas move? Using the elements of dance- time, space, and energy-this session examines a creative process that helps students embody solids, liquids, and gases. You’ll guide learners to show temperature, density, and kinetic energy through movement, deepening science understanding in a joyful, physical way.
Discovering Music Elements through World Cultures
Discovering Music Elements through World Cultures
IN THE SAME SYNC!
TWO SESSIONS IN ONE!
IN THE SAME SYNC!
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Discovering Music Elements through World Cultures
For Teachers of Grades 2 - 6
with Imani Gonzalez
Help students connect and create by singing in another language while exploring how tempo and dynamics convey meaning and emotion. Through this process, they’ll discover how music can transcend words, inspire self-expression, and deepen their understanding of core musical elements. By engaging both intellect and emotion, students gain a richer appreciation for the power of music to communicate across cultures.
IN THE SAME SYNC!
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Drama as Dialogue: Growing Conversations that Matter
For Teachers of Grades 2 - 8
with Maria Schaedler-Luera & Kassie Misiewicz
“Turn and talk” isn’t enough. Let’s teach students to really connect.
Explore theater and improv techniques that build real communication—listening, empathy, and flexible thinking. Learn how to break down and teach these skills through creative structures that support multilingual learners and diverse classrooms.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Academic Songwriting: Creating Informative Songs in ELA and Science
For Teachers of Grades K - 4
with Sam Tidwell
What if your students could sing their way to stronger comprehension? In this interactive session, learn how Academic Songwriting turns science and ELA content into original songs co-created with students—boosting engagement, creativity, and standards-based learning. You’ll explore a simple five-step process—Explore, Brainstorm, Write, Sing, Move—that makes songwriting accessible to any educator, no musical background required. Along the way, you’ll guide lyric writing, incorporate movement, and use music to strengthen comprehension, social-emotional learning, and classroom community. Leave ready to help your students create joyful songs that stick long after the lesson ends.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Shape Shifters & Pattern Makers: Creating Math Through Dance
For Teachers of Grades PreK - 2
with Tanesha Payne
Struggling to make geometry and patterns stick? Help students feel the math.
Discover how movement brings concepts like shapes, patterns, and spatial reasoning to life. You’ll explore low-prep, high-impact strategies to help students embody geometry and develop fluency with visual patterns—all through dance. Perfect for engaging young learners in math that moves.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Character Quest: Bringing Writing to Life Through Character Design
For Teachers of Grades 3 - 12
with Garrett Brown
Unleash student voice through character and creativity.
Want your students to write with purpose—and joy? Start with character. This arts-meets-literacy session draws on the excitement of role-playing games to unlock imagination and narrative voice. Participants will design original characters through drawing, description, and storytelling. Discover how visual storytelling and backstory development align with writing, expression, and analysis standards. Whether you teach language arts, art, or enrichment, you’ll leave with playful yet purposeful strategies to engage even your most reluctant writers.
H
TWO SESSIONS IN ONE!
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Saturday, March 7, 2026
The Art of Paper Sculpture: Tangles with Triangles
For Teachers of Grades 3 - 12
with Kay Thomas
How can your students see and touch geometry?
Bring geometry to life by taking it off the page and into three dimensions. In this hands-on session, participants will create paper sculptures using two types of triangles as design components. Discover how to connect visual art and math in meaningful ways—and how to question students about their artwork to assess their mathematical understanding. This integrated visual arts lesson is one your students (and you!) will love.








