Art Curriculum Print

Components of the Adventure Scouts USA Art Curriculum

Classroom portion:

The classroom portion consists of a curriculum for various subjects, such as history, math, and science.  Each curriculum includes important details, such as ideas for group discussions, classroom activities, the estimated educational timeframe, character education, and information on assessment of students.

Visit portion:

During the visit portion, actual professionals from the community, such painters, glassblowers, and sculpters come into the school and work with the students, enabling them to acquire knowledge through learning by doing. We prefer that each student work one on one with a professional.

Standards Based
We have endeavored to create standards-based curriculums for students to be used in the classroom.  We encourage educators to make necessary modifications to ensure the curriculum meets standards in their district.

Experiential Education
As educators know, experiential education is an educational philosophy centered around learning-by-doing.  Local experts in a particular field come into the school and give learning-by-doing presentations about a subject matter.  Students are enabled to engage actively in hands-on activities. 

Leadership
Leadership is an important part of the program.  Students acquire knowledge while learning to communicate, how to be resourceful, and how to lead.
Structure of the Program
Our curriculum is designed to be implemented either as a stand-alone curriculum or as part of your already existing curriculum. 
Educator’s note: Please feel free to alter curriculum if necessary to fulfill district standards.  We provide examples for in-class discussion, assignments, a Character Education section, which is an opportunity to critically think about and discuss how good character relates to the subject.  

Program Name:

Art Curriculum

Educator's note:
Please feel free to alter curriculum if necessary to fulfill district standards.  We provide examples for in-class discussion, assignments, a Character Education section, which is an opportunity to critically think about and discuss how good character relates to the subject.

Curriculum Overview

Currently, we have a curriculum on four different subjects:  art, health and safety, home and auto improvement, and financial education.  Students develop their creative and critical thinking skills as well as their leadership skills while taking part.

Grade Level:

7-12

Sample Classroom Curriculum for the following subjects:

* History
* English
* Science
* Math

Subject: History

Estimated instructional time:
One class period, 15-50 minutes

Class Period 1:

Performance Standards:

* Learns from Models
* Reviews Progress
* Evaluates Performance
* Participation in the Establishment and Operation of Self-directed Work Teams
* Plans and Carries out Strategies for Introducing Students to New Concepts
* Explains the Structure of a System
* Analyzes the Way the System Works
* Develops and Tests Strategies
* Evaluates the Effectiveness of Strategies

Unit/ Focus Objectives:

*  By the end of this material, students will understand whether history affects art and art affects history.
* By the end this material, students will be able to determine sociological information about a culture based on its art, such as how the people lived, what their climate was, and how old the culture was or is.
 
Group Discussion:

Students break up in small groups.  Pictures or photos of different kinds of art from different cultures and different eras are passed out to the students.  Students discuss what sociological information can determined about a culture from their art be it a 16th century French painting or an Egyptian pyramid.
Discussion and Critical Thinking Questions
* What can we determine about a culture based on the materials they used to create their art?
* Was every piece of art created intended to be art, or was it intended to be something else, such as a burial site or a cooking pot?
* What affect does history have on art?
* What affect does art have on history?

Class Assignment:
Students write an essay on the influence of history on art or art on history.  Example:  How did ancient Roman expansion affect art?  Why is it that we see ancient Roman influence in art as far away as England?
Activities/ Materials:
*  Pictures or photographs of different kinds of art from many different cultures.
 
Class Format:

* Small group discussion
* Individual work

Character Education:

Art has changed hands quite often in history, due to many things, including wars.  Much art was stolen from Jewish families during the Holocaust.  If a collector has purchased one of these stolen pieces of art, does that collector own the art, or does the family from whom it was stolen own it?
Assessment: 
Test and Quizzes as Appropriate
Grading of essay

Subject: Science

Class Period 1:
Estimated instructional time:
One class period, 15-50 minutes

Performance Standards:

* Learns from Models
* Reviews Progress
* Evaluates Performance
* Participation in the Establishment and Operation of Self-directed Work Teams
* Plans and Carries out Strategies for Introducing Students to New Concepts
* Explains the Structure of a System
* Analyzes the Way the System Works
* Develops and Tests Strategies
* Evaluates the Effectiveness of Strategies
Unit/ Focus Objectives:
* By the end this material, students will know some of the ways to determine if an artwork is reproduction of an original artwork, or if it is the original artwork.
 
Group Discussion:

Students break up in small groups.  Pictures or photographs of art are passed out to the students.  They can be a variety of different kinds of art from paintings to statues.  Each group gets two pictures of the same artwork, only is the original and one is the reproduction.  Students discuss differences between the two.  Is it obvious something is different about the reproduction or are they identical? 

Discussion and Critical Thinking Questions

* What are some of the reasons reproductions of artworks are created?  What are some honest reasons why reproduction might be created?  What are some dishonest reasons?
* What are some of the primary ways to spot an artwork reproduction?

Class Assignment:

Students write an essay on the various ways in which reproductions are made, why some are higher quality than others, and some of the reasons behind creating reproductions of artwork.

Activities/ Materials:

* Pictures or photographs of artwork:  two of each individual artwork, one is the original and one is the reproduction.
 
Class Format:

* Small group discussion
* Individual work
Character Education:
Selling of art reproductions by passing them off as genuine has had a negative influence on art dealers, collectors who purchase the art, and the public.  What is the effect of the loss on the part of art dealers, museums, collectors who lost money, and the public who never get to see the true work of art?

Assessment: 
Test and Quizzes as Appropriate
Grading of essay

Subject: Math

Class Period 1:
Estimated instructional time:
One class period, 15-50 minutes

Performance Standards:

* Learns from Models
* Reviews Progress
* Evaluates Performance
* Participation in the Establishment and Operation of Self-directed Work Teams
* Plans and Carries out Strategies for Introducing Students to New Concepts
* Explains the Structure of a System
* Analyzes the Way the System Works
* Develops and Tests Strategies
* Evaluates the Effectiveness of Strate gies

Unit/ Focus Objectives:

* By the end this material, students will be introduced to the role proportion plays in works of art.

Group Discussion:

Students break up in small groups.  Pictures or photographs of art are passed out to the students.  They can be a variety of different kinds of art from paintings to statues.  Each group discusses the role proportion played in that artwork.
Discussion and Critical Thinking Questions
* What role did proportion play in the work of art the students are studying?
* If the figure or figures in the artwork are portrayed as different sizes, what may be some of the reasons this was done?
* If one of the figure or figures in the artwork is portrayed as being "larger than life", what are some of the reasons the artist may have chosen to portray them that way?
* If one of the figure or figures in the artwork is portrayed as small, what are some of the reasons the artist may have chosen to portray them that way?
* If different stories are being told, or different parts of the action are portrayed, in different portions of the artwork, is it obvious in what percentages the artist split the artwork?  Is half of the artwork telling one story, and the other half telling another story?  Is the artwork split into thirds or fourths?
* What role did geometry or trigonometry play in the artwork?

Class Assignment:

Students write an essay on the various ways in which proportion played a role in the artwork they have viewed.

Activities/ Materials:

* Pictures or photographs of artwork.

Class Format:

* Small group discussion
* Individual work

Character Education:

Art is sometimes unappreciated in its time.  Works of art that sold for a few dollars a century ago may now be worth more than a million dollars, and the artist or the family of the artist rarely profits from the sale.  Students choose a couple of their favorite works of art and research online the prices that artworks sold for originally and what they sell for now.  What was the net loss or gain?  Do you think it is fair that the family of the artist does not receive compensation?

Assessment: 

Test and Quizzes as Appropriate
Grading of essay

Subject: English

Class Period 1:
Estimated instructional time:
One class period, 15-50 minutes

Performance Standards:
* Learns from Models
* Reviews Progress
* Evaluates Performance
* Participation in the Establishment and Operation of Self-directed Work Teams
* Plans and Carries out Strategies for Introducing Students to New Concepts
* Explains the Structure of a System
* Analyzes the Way the System Works
* Develops and Tests Strategies
* Evaluates the Effectiveness of Strategies
Unit/ Focus Objectives:
* By the end this material, students will be introduced to writing art reviews.

Group Discussion:

Students break up in small groups and discuss art reviews.  What is art?  Who determines what "good art" is?  Is it possible to dislike an artwork and still appreciate it as art?
Discussion and Critical Thinking Questions
* What information would a person need in order to write a fair review of an artwork?
* What role does personal taste play in a fair review of an artwork?
* What role does personal knowledge of art play in a fair review of an artwork?
Class Assignment:
Students pick a work of art and write a review about it, including what their criteria were for the review and whether they personally like the artwork or not.

Activities/ Materials:
• Pictures or photographs of artwork.

Class Format:

* Small group discussion
* Individual work
Character Education:
What is the effect of bad review of an artist?  Monet received very poor reviews when he introduced Impressionism to the world.  Today, he is one of the best known artists in the world.  Most of his works are in a museum, while others sell for millions of dollars.  What can we deduce about Monet as a result of him refusing to change his art?  What do you think of his decision?  What would the world have lost if Monet had listened and stopped painting?

Assessment: 

Test and Quizzes as Appropriate
Grading of essay
 

 

 

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 January 2008 03:32 )