I am currently teaching a 6th-grade art class at an International School in Hong Kong. The curriculum the school uses is based on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. These standards are a Nation Wide set of Standards that are used in the United States. The NCCAS focus on four main points that all art subjects use to help guide educators provide unified quality art education for their students. The focus is on creating, performing/presenting/producing, responding, and connecting. The standards are designed to give educators a structure to help scaffold the lessons to build upon each year. They also contain Enduring Understandings as well as Essential Questions. These are helpful to teachers when it comes to backward planning. Backward planning isn't backward at all when you think about it. It focuses on the end goal, what does the educator want the student to accomplish at the end of a unit, what is the objective of the whole unit. Once the instructor has chosen the goals based on the Standard, they can then focus on ways to deliver the content in a way that best suits the student and their needs.
Standard
The art standard I have chosen to focus on for the Unit is the anchor standard 2:" Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
The substandard "VA:Cr2.1.6a: Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design."
This standard was chosen for my Introductory Unit in 6th grade, the first unit that they experience as a middle schooler. The goal for the unit is that sets the tone and the standard for the entire Middle School experience. At the school that I teach, the 6th-grade art class is an introductory art course where students are exposed to new ideas and concepts in art. It is also where we set expectations for our students when it comes to the organization and development of these new ideas and approaches. What better standard to focus on than having students focus on the demonstration of openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design. Up until now, students have not been given a chance to branch out to contemporary art or use complicated mediums such as Acrylic. To figure out how to structure the instruction and learning, I first look at the enduring understanding statements and essential questions for the standard. The enduring understanding is Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks. And the Essential Questions are How do artists work? How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective? How do artists and designers learn from trial and error? This information helps me better plan my lesson. It gives me a "take away" for the unit.
So what are the new ideas, new materials, and methods as well as approaches will I be focusing on for this unit? The new ideas will be based on the color wheel that they had already learned in grade four, only taken to the next level where they will learn aboutAnalogus, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes, how to identify the color schemes and why artists decide to use those schemes in their work. The new materials and methods will be acrylic painting, a more difficult medium for students to use, especially when it comes to mixing color. The new approaches will be graffiti art; students have never been taught about modern or contemporary art before 6th grade, and this will be the unit that helps get their toes wet in deeper thinking when it comes to art.
Focus
I will be focusing on three proficiencies that what students will be able to do once the unit is completed.1. By the end of the unit, the students will be expected to identify and create Analogous, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes.
2. Students will explore and apply a range of acrylic paint techniques and brushwork.
3. Students will have an increased awareness of contemporary art forms such as graffiti and street art.
Instructional Strategies
Three instructional plans I intend on using to help the students learn the concepts are:1. To help the students understand the more complex color schemes, I plan on playing a Color Theory Card game. The game requires a deck of color theory cards that contain the colors of a color wheel. Students will be delt a card and then stand in the circle. I will call out different color terminologies starting from the basics such as primary and secondary color to the most challenging concepts such as split complementary. As the students try to pair or trio up, this gives them a chance to make mistakes to help them learn without the fear of failing and without over lecturing.
2. Paint by dice game - To help the students practice their painting techniques in a structured yet fun way the students will be playing a paint by dice game. Each table will have paints, brushes, paper as well as a game sheet. The game sheet is a guide sheet where you can try different techniques based on what number your role; the students also roll the dice to determine the color they will use. The aim of the game is to roll until your page is filled up and all the techniques have been tried. The game creates a broad range of different style paintings, but the end goal is to get the student to attempt to try all the different techniques while having fun.
3. Virtual Field Trip- The school I currently teach at has a one to one program for computers, and thanks to Google Earth and culture I can take the students on guided field trips around the world. To expose the students to a wide range of art, I will select a field trip of an appropriate context for the students to attend. The great part about Google Art and Culture is a lot of specific excursions already exist. The one I will take them on is one around London where a famous graffiti artist uses his name to tag buildings. A guided visual experience helps increase their awareness of different art styles and opens the class up to discussions such as "How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective?" as well as some other Essential Questions for the standard.
Assessment
I will be using three ways to assess the students to help me and them know if they are learning the concepts. The assessments are a tool to help me measure if the students are learning and if not, how I can adjust the lesson to help them learn.1. First assessment the students will be given is a Color Theory Quiz. It is a simple formative quiz that goes over the vocabulary and the color theory to show if a student has absorbed the new information or not. If they did? Celebrations all around! If not? Let's dust us off, and I will find a more suitable way of instructing the content.
2. Another assessment is the final project. This project is a summative assessment that uses a rubric to give students guidance on the project. The students choose a color scheme that they would like to use based on triadic, split complementary, or analogous. The student then designs their name using graffiti, inspired by their field-trip to England. And finally, the student demonstrates their brush skills that they have been learning in applying the paint that they have mixed from only primary colors into the color scheme they have chosen. This final project shows the teacher and the students what information in the end made it and what didn't. I use the rubric given to them at the beginning of the project to grade them. If they don't do well, I give them feedback and a chance to make adjustments on their project. The object isn't if the student gets it right the first time, it's if the student learns the required content.
3. The third assessment that I will use will be an artist statement. An artist statement is a piece of written work that helps students reflect on the objectives and goals. I give students a flow chart, taken from The Art of Education assessment tools.Students must follow for writing their artist statement at the end of the unit. They start with 1. Describe your artwork. 2. How did you create your art? 3. What is the big idea behind your artwork? 4. What were your goals for this artwork? 5. What are your overall thoughts of your artwork? Each of these questions has some questions to consider to guide the students. This helps the students to become aware of their choices as an artist and communicate their learning process and production of creative works effectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion my goal was to create a unit that was focused on a standard and used backward planning, to give students an achievable target that students will be able to attain in their pursuit of education.References:
Creating. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/
Recent Articles - The Art of Ed. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.theartofed.com/recent-articles/page/10/
Sign In - Rubicon International. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://ics-hk.rubiconatlas.org/Atlas/Portal/View/Default
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