I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. -- Georgia O'Keeffe

Overview

Prior to working for High Tech High, I taught at Stevenson PACT Elementary School, where my teaching partner and I taught to the California Content Standards for Visual Arts, and we were assisted by teachers from the Community School of Music and Arts. Stevenson also had a half-day program, called Arts Focus, which allowed students to work in multi-age classrooms and study a single medium once a week during two six-week sessions. In my current position, our grade-level team continues to use those standards to inform our work, and we are assisted by our exploratory team in art, engineering, and performing arts. With my students, I have developed success criteria for all classroom practices, including art assignments, and it is available here.
All visual aids were created by Celeste Le Duc from CSMA.

California Content Standards for Visual Arts

Second Grade

1.0 Artistic Perception
  • Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to the Visual Arts
  • Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
  • Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
    • 1.1 Perceive and describe repetition and balance in nature, in the environment, and in works of art.
    • 1.2 Perceive and discuss differences in mood created by warm and cool colors.
  • Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design
    • 1.3 Identify the elements of art in objects in nature, the environment, and works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, and space.
2.0 Creative Expression
  • Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts
  • Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
  • Skills, Processes, Materials, and Tools
    • 2.1 Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of basic tools and art-making processes, such as printing, crayon rubbings, collage, and stencils.
    • 2.2 Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of art media, such as oil pastels, watercolors, and tempera.
  • Communication and Expression Through Original Works of Art
    • 2.3 Depict the illusion of depth (space) in a work of art, using overlapping shapes, relative size, and placement within the picture.
    • 2.4 Create a painting or drawing, using warm or cool colors expressively.
    • 2.5 Use bilateral or radial symmetry to create visual balance.
3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
  • Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.
  • Role and Development of the Visual Arts
    • 3.1 Explain how artists use their work to share experiences or communicate ideas.
    • 3.2 Recognize and use the vocabulary of art to describe art objects from various cultures and time periods.
  • Diversity of the Visual Arts
    • 3.3 Identify and discuss how art is used in events and celebrations in various cultures, past and present, including the use in their own lives.
4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
  • Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
  • Derive Meaning
    • 4.1 Compare ideas expressed through their own works of art with ideas expressed in the work of others.
    • 4.2 Compare different responses to the same work of art.
  • Make Informed Judgments
    • 4.3 Use the vocabulary of art to talk about what they wanted to do in their own works of art and how they succeeded.
    • 4.4 Use appropriate vocabulary of art to describe the successful use of an element of art in a work of art.
5.0 Connections, Relationships, and Applications
  • Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in the Visual Arts to Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers
  • Students apply what they learn in the visual arts across subject areas. They develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills. They also learn about careers in and related to the visual arts.
  • Connections and Applications
    • 5.1 Use placement, overlapping, and size differences to show opposites (e.g., up/down, in/out, over/under, together/apart, fast/slow, stop/go).
    • 5.2 Select and use expressive colors to create mood and show personality within a portrait of a hero from long ago or the recent past.
  • Visual Literacy
    • 5.3 Identify pictures and sort them into categories according to expressive qualities (e.g., theme and mood).
  • Careers and Career-Related Skills
    • 5.4 Discuss artists in the community who create different kinds of art (e.g., prints, ceramics, paintings, sculpture).

Third Grade

1.0 Artistic Perception
  • Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to the Visual Arts
  • Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
  • Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
    • 1.1 Perceive and describe rhythm and movement in works of art and in the environment.
    • 1.2 Describe how artists use tints and shades in painting.
    • 1.3 Identify and describe how foreground, middle ground, and background are used to create the illusion of space.
    • 1.4 Compare and contrast two works of art made by the use of different art tools and media (e.g., watercolor, tempera, computer).
  • Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design
    • 1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, space, and value.
2.0 Creative Expression
  • Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts
  • Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
  • Skills, Processes, Materials, and Tools
    • 2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook.
    • 2.2 Mix and apply tempera paints to create tints, shades, and neutral colors.
  • Communication and Expression Through Original Works of Art
    • 2.3 Paint or draw a landscape, seascape, or cityscape that shows the illusion of space.
    • 2.4 Create a work of art based on the observation of objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value changes.
    • 2.5 Create an imaginative clay sculpture based on an organic form.
    • 2.6 Create an original work of art emphasizing rhythm and movement, using a selected printing process.
3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
  • Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.
  • Role and Development of the Visual Arts
    • 3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that have a similar theme and were created at different time periods.
    • 3.2 Identify artists from his or her own community, county, or state and discuss local or regional art traditions.
    • 3.3 Distinguish and describe representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational works of art.
  • Diversity of the Visual Arts
    • 3.4 Identify and describe objects of art from different parts of the world observed in visits to a museum or gallery (e.g., puppets, masks, containers).
    • 3.5 Write about a work of art that reflects a student's own cultural background.
4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
  • Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
  • Derive Meaning
    • 4.1 Compare and contrast selected works of art and describe them, using appropriate vocabulary of art.
  • Make Informed Judgments
    • 4.2 Identify successful and less successful compositional and expressive qualities of their own works of art and describe what might be done to improve them.
    • 4.3 Select an artist's work and, using appropriate vocabulary of art, explain its successful compositional and communicative qualities.
5.0 Connections, Relationships, and Applications
  • Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in the Visual Arts to Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers
  • Connections and Applications
    • 5.1 Describe how costumes contribute to the meaning of a dance.
    • 5.2 Write a poem or story inspired by their own works of art.
  • Visual Literacy
    • 5.3 Look at images in figurative works of art and predict what might happen next, telling what clues in the work support their ideas.
  • Careers and Career-Related Skills
    • 5.4 Describe how artists (e.g., architects, book illustrators, muralists, industrial designers) have affected people's lives.

Fourth Grade

1.0 Artistic Perception
  • Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to the Visual Arts
  • Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
  • Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
    • 1.1 Perceive and describe contrast and emphasis in works of art and in the environment.
    • 1.2 Describe how negative shapes/forms and positive shapes/forms are used in a chosen work of art.
    • 1.3 Identify pairs of complementary colors (e.g., yellow/violet; red/green; orange/blue) and discuss how artists use them to communicate an idea or mood.
    • 1.4 Describe the concept of proportion (in face, figure) as used in works of art.
  • Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design
    • 1.5 Describe and analyze the elements of art (e.g., color, shape/form, line, texture, space, value), emphasizing form, as they are used in works of art and found in the environment.
2.0 Creative Expression
  • Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts
  • Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
  • Skills, Processes, Materials, and Tools
    • 2.1 Use shading (value) to transform a two-dimensional shape into what appears to be a three-dimensional form (e.g., circle to sphere).
    • 2.2 Use the conventions of facial and figure proportions in a figure study.
    • 2.3 Use additive and subtractive processes in making simple sculptural forms.
    • 2.4 Use fibers or other materials to create a simple weaving.
  • Communication and Expression Through Original Works of Art
    • 2.5 Use accurate proportions to create an expressive portrait or a figure drawing or painting.
    • 2.6 Use the interaction between positive and negative space expressively in a work of art.
    • 2.7 Use contrast (light and dark) expressively in an original work of art.
    • 2.8 Use complementary colors in an original composition to show contrast and emphasis.
3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
  • Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.
  • Role and Development of the Visual Arts
    • 3.1 Describe how art plays a role in reflecting life (e.g., in photography, quilts, architecture).
  • Diversity of the Visual Arts
    • 3.2 Identify and discuss the content of works of art in the past and present, focusing on the different cultures that have contributed to California's history and art heritage.
    • 3.3 Research and describe the influence of religious groups on art and architecture, focusing primarily on buildings in California both past and present.
4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
  • Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts
  • Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
  • Derive Meaning
    • 4.1 Describe how using the language of the visual arts helps to clarify personal responses to works of art.
    • 4.2 Identify and describe how a person's own cultural context influences individual responses to works of art.
    • 4.3 Discuss how the subject and selection of media relate to the meaning or purpose of a work of art.
  • Make Informed Judgments
    • 4.4 Identify and describe how various cultures define and value art differently.
    • 4.5 Describe how the individual experiences of an artist may influence the development of specific works of art.
5.0 Connections, Relationships, and Applications
  • Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in the Visual Arts to Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers
  • Students apply what they learn in the visual arts across subject areas. They develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills. They also learn about careers in and related to the visual arts.
  • Connections and Applications
    • 5.1 Select a nonobjective painting, work in small groups to interpret it through dance/movement, and then write a paragraph reporting on the arts experience.
    • 5.2 Identify through research twentieth-century artists who have incorporated symmetry as a part of their work and then create a work of art, using bilateral or radial symmetry.
  • Visual Literacy
    • 5.3 Construct diagrams, maps, graphs, timelines, and illustrations to communicate ideas or tell a story about a historical event.
  • Careers and Career-Related Skills
    • 5.4 Read biographies and stories about artists and summarize the readings in short reports, telling how the artists mirrored or affected their time period or culture.

Arts Focus

Teams of parent volunteers planned and facilitated Arts Focus lessons in art mediums, including collage, dance, drawing, painting, photography, performing arts, printmaking, and sculpture. Over the three years, I supported parents in the stop-motion animation and ceramics classes. Following each Arts Focus class, I asked students to write a reflection in a Google Doc in order to encourage them to contextualize their learning.

Arts Focus Drawing Exemplars

Following each of our Arts Focus sessions, I asked students to create a visual reflection as a Google Drawing in addition to their written reflections to further encourage them to contextualize their learning.

2014-2015

2013-2014

2012-2013
I believe that education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. -- John Dewey