ARTS MATTER: Key Features
ARTS MATTER
The new curriculum is being carefully piloted by five teachers during
SY 2007-2008 and will be revised based on this field experience.
The Arts Matter introductory course
is designed for all 9th or 10th grade
This course can be taught by one trained arts teacher; the course will not
require specialists in each art area.
students entering Visual and/or
FTF provides initial and mid-year training, as well as on-going technical
assistance to new teachers. In addition, teachers from the pilot sites
will be available to help new schools.
Performing Arts small learning
All videos, graphic images, sound recordings, and resource materials are
provided with the curriculum. Student handouts and readings are
organized into classroom sets. Teacher lesson plans are provided in a
binder for each unit. Art materials and supplies are listed in the
curriculum and are reasonable in terms of what schools can provide.
taken by all students in the community.
Even though students will have varying degrees of academic skills and
artistic talent, they are consistently encouraged to explore the art
domains and are held to a high standard of work, commitment, and
production.
Students are taught to reflect on their work; they write about and orally
describe its meaning and their design choices.
A variety of evaluation techniques are used to measure student progress
such as unit tests, self assessments, portfolios, peer assessments,
student viewing logs, individual and group projects, products,
demonstrations and performances.
Assessment rubrics measure student understanding of the assignment
and effort, not talent.
communities. When the course is
first introduced at the school, it can be
Mexican folk art collaborative class painting
The course offers students a
project-based introduction to four
key areas (or domains) of the arts:
dance, music, theater, and visual arts.
Students are exposed to common art
vocabulary terms, materials, techniques
and skills for each art area. They learn
how some of the basic elements and
principles are found in all of the arts:
color, line, movement, focus, and space.
Students are encouraged to explore arts in their community and will be
provided with community experiences that reflect arts career options as
well as the work of community-based artists.
Japanese paper cut collage
Students explore the arts from a
Visiting artists will participate and field trips to live performances and
exhibits are a regular feature of the curriculum.
cross-cultural perspective and consider
the place of arts in the community.
Careers in the arts are studied throughout
the year. Students demonstration their
First Things First is a national school reform initiative operated by the
Institute for Research and Reform in Education.
knowledge, skill and interests through
For more information about Arts Matter, contact Susan Bloom, Project Director at:
[email protected]
projects and performances, writing and
Word Weave collages personalize students’
portfolios
self-assessment, unit tests and portfolio
reviews.
ARTS MATTER: Curriculum at a Glance
Visual Arts
Purpose: Students learn to use color,
Arts and You
Purpose: This unit introduces students to the
course and each of the art areas - dance, theater,
visual arts and music - and fundamental elements
and principles underlying all of the arts.
Summary: Students first share their personal
art interests and then discover the array of types
and styles within each domain. Students learn to
elicit sense memory to write and paint about their
Sense Memory Story project
lives. Using the lens of color, line, movement,
focus and space, students see how each of these
elements contributes to the expression of art in its many forms.
Music
Purpose: This unit explores the meaning behind the music – from the
Middle Ages to the present day.
line, movement, space and focus as tools
to communicate their own thoughts, ideas
and feelings. They make art inspired by
many cultures and periods. They learn
how to use the lens of aesthetic scanning
to analyze their own creations and art
made by others.
Aboriginal stories and dot paintings
Summary: Beginning with how the eye perceives color, students learn to put
color theory in action in their own work. They experience the importance of
each of the art elements through direct hands-on projects as they create
artwork inspired by Mexican folk art, Japanese notan collages, Australian
aboriginal dot paintings, African American artist Romare Bearden’s collages,
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and George Seurat’s Pointillist paintings. By
the end of this unit, students will be able to use their new-found tools to identify
sensory, formal, technical and expressive properties in artworks viewed on a
gallery or art museum field trip.
Theater
Summary: Students begin by exploring personal responses to a variety of
Purpose: This unit introduces students
musical excerpts. Next they compare and contrast four different versions of
Summertime by George Gershwin. Students learn the main characteristics
of music from the 7th century to today and write rap songs to explain each
musical period. Using their knowledge of music terms, periods and
elements, students stage a NASA Voyager “Hearing” in which they
nominate, evaluate and choose musical selections which would best
represent our planet.
to the world of theater in stage, film, TV
and radio.
Dance
Summary: The unit begins with
Magazine Monologue project presentation
Purpose: This unit balances the study of
dance history and appreciation with learning
dance steps from a wide range of styles:
ballet, modern, tap, jazz and Eastern.
Summary: Students focus on the origin and
history of dance in many cultures through an
exploration of major choreographers,
dancers, and dance styles. They trace the
Students create their own
evolution of dance from the 16th century to the
modern dance choreography
present time through viewing, movement,
research and writing. After learning and
practicing the 5 basic ballet positions, basic steps of tap dance, modern
dance warm-ups, and the stylistic characteristics of dance in several Asian
countries, students create their own choreography to illustrate these
important genres.
improvisation activities, illustrating how to
make character portrayals and scenes
believable. Students then take their
characterization skills further in a Readers’
Theater production of Langston Hughes’
Thank You Ma’am. In addition, students
research and write play plot summaries, create and present character
monologues, apply vocal interpretation to a favorite children’s’ book and create
a Greek theater performance with chorus and actors.
Arts in the Community
Purpose: To increase student understanding of the importance of art in their
own communities and how art can change the world around us.
Summary: In this unit, students explore why artists make public works and
how interaction with those works impacts them personally. They discuss and
analyze the design of their small learning community’s space to discover the
impact of design on learning. Students see how artists have made art to
express political statements for centuries, and explore various examples of art
as protest. Students learn how artists make art to heal themselves and others
through the examples of gospel singing and a New Orleans jazz funeral
procession. Students finish the unit by identifying an important community issue
and addressing it by creating their own art-based performance or presentation.