Upper Moreland School District

9.1 Production, performance and exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts

9.2 Historical and Cultural contexts

9.3 Critical Response

9.4 Aesthetic Response

National Art Standards:

NS1. Understanding and apply media, techniques, and processes

NS2. Understanding of structures and functions

NS3. Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

NS4. Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

NS5. Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

NS6. Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

Course Description:

The goal of the Visual Art program is designed to enhance the artistic, creative and expressive qualities of all students. Art opportunities are provided for every child to learn the skills of creating, analyzing, interpreting and evaluating works of art. The Visual Art program will enable students to understand that art is a universal language interconnected to other content areas and cultures.

In this course, the students will be working with the designing and construction of functional pottery ware. The processes of hand building techniques: pinch pot, slab, and coil, will be introduced through a variety of assignments. The students will go through the creative process to design and create their ware through sketching and research with the use of books and the internet. Emphasis will be placed on craftsmanship, creativity, aesthetics, and art history. Along with hand building assignments, the students will be throwing pottery vessels on the pottery wheel throughout the year. Stoneware clay will be used for all construction of pottery ware. Exploration of surface decoration using glazes and various glazing techniques, such as wax resist and sgraffito will be an important component of this course. Students will be introduced to the firing processes employed with the creation of pottery when running a pottery studio, such as loading and unloading a kiln, and understanding the firing temperatures of the ware. The students will learn about the safety issues involved with handling clay and glazes.

Specific and measurable objectives directly related to the academic standards to be achieved by students:

Specific course objectives are related to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities and the National Visual Arts Standards.

Content to be used to reach objectives:

In order to offer a comprehensive, balanced art program, students are offered a wide variety of materials at varied levels and interests.

Materials:

In order to offer a comprehensive art education in which students will actively view, create, analyze, interpret and critique art and incoming visual stimuli, students are offered a wide variety of materials at varied levels and to accommodate many interests.

Instructional Activities:

A standards-based Visual Arts program requires that our students develop viewing and thinking processes that are self-directed, collaborative, creative, critical, and reflective. Development of skills in art production, art history, aesthetics, and art criticism, and in visual literacy will be developed through the following instructional activities:

Estimated instructional time to be devoted to achieving objectives:

This course will meet every day for 36 weeks.

Procedures for measurement of student progress will include:

A variety of oral, written and performance assessments will be used to determine student progress.

An explanation of how student grades will be determined:

A student's grade will be determined by levels of participation, completion of projects, engagement with learning opportunities, critical thinking, and demonstration of skills. Assignments will vary in weight and will be used collectively to determine a student's grade.