Guntersville Middle School 

About My Classes 


 COURSE SYLLABUS

GUNTERSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL 
INSTRUCTOR: MS. VAL JONES  2009-2010 School Year

We will explore both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional realm of artistic expression. We will accomplish this through four components- studio art, (production) art history, art criticism, and aesthetics. Various media and techniques will be explored and mastered. All class instruction, processes and projects are based and aligned to the Alabama State Course of Study for Visual Arts, The National Visual Arts Standards and The National Board For Professional Teaching Standards.


Creating Art (production processes)
Through experiences in creating art, students learn information about the characteristics of visual art forms - such as sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, fiber arts, ceramics, jewelry, architecture, design and the media, tools, equipment, processes, methods, techniques and facts associated with each art form. Students will also learn about artists and their ways of working. This repertoire of information related to the content area of creative art production facilitates choice in the student's art production and his or her response to works of art by others.


Art History
Art history focuses on contextual information about works of art across cultures, time and places - who made it , where, why, under what conditions or influences, and so forth. We are able to relate art to geographic conditions and the influences of political, economic, social and philosophical institutions that are common to all evolving cultures. Contextual information, although extrinsic to the work of art, can enhance one's interpretation of its meaning. Art history helps us to organize knowledge of our art heritage and contemporary art world by periods, styles, countries, regions, artists, and time.


Art Criticism
Art Criticism is examination of works of art to perceive them fully, understand their meaning, and judge their merit. Careful description and analysis enable interpretation of the meaning and making judgments about a work of art.


Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a philosophic discipline that addresses questions about the nature and value of art, and other art -related issues. Aesthetics help us to clarify concepts used in discussing art, aesthetic experience, meanings, artist's intent, and circumstances that bear on claims that an "entity" is art.


Students will be expected to have learned the following skills by the end of the year
• Know about art and artists
• Show competency in use of art tools, equipment, processes, and techniques
• Effectively give visual form to ideas
• Differentiate visual qualities of the natural or human - made environment
• Actively participate in all art activities - complete assignments
• State relevant reasons to support positions about art issues
• Become perceptive in analyzing works of art and interpreting their meanings
• Show positive attitudes toward art and the relevance of art in life
• Are curious, inventive, innovative, reflective, open to new ideas
• Clearly express ideas, orally and in writing about art
• Relate and synthesize ideas in art discussions ore creative art production

Evaluation

Your grade will be determined by completion of art projects including written reports, reflective writing and tests. Student artwork is NOT graded comparatively but rather upon the growth and achievement of the individual as well as completion of specified criteria for each project. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and project failure will result. Creativity is encouraged and applauded – remember appropriate subject matter and themes are required. All projects will adhere to criteria of evaluation or rubric establishing the points and value of each measurable objective. A student may re- submit any project for re- evaluation as long as the original rubric is submitted with it so changes may be noted.  You must work on artwork assigned during class – not participating during class time will result in a lower evaluation.

Due Dates

Due dates are to be adhered. If you miss an assignment due to absence you are required to make up the work in the appropriate time frame stated in the hand book. Any project not turned in for evaluation will receive a 0 for that particular assignment. Consequences for late work – reduction of points on the project. (Number of points will be listed on the rubric for the assignment).

Art Fees

Art Fees are due promptly at the beginning of each semester. It is important that you pay your art fee as it provides supplies for you to work with in the art room. Art fees not collected will result in usage limitations of materials in the art room (this will not reflect in your grade). Failure to pay art fees will result in office notification at the end of the school year.

$30.00  per year

 

Alabama Course of Study Content Standards for Visual Arts 

http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?subject=AE&lgid=6&hgid=8&ccode=VIA&summary=5

Grade 6-8 

 

National Content Standards VISUAL ARTS (5-8)

Students in grades 5-8 continue to need a framework that aids them in learning the characteristics of the visual arts by using a wide range of subject matter, symbols, meaningful images, and visual expressions. They grow ever more sophisticated in their need to use the visual arts to reflect their feelings and emotions and in their abilities to evaluate the merits of their efforts. These standards provide that framework in a way that promotes the students' thinking, working, communicating, reasoning, and investigating skills and provides for their growing familiarity with the ideas, concepts, issues, dilemmas, and knowledge important in the visual arts. As students gain this knowledge and these skills, they gain in their ability to apply the knowledge and skills in the visual arts to their widening personal worlds.

 

These standards present educational goals. It is the responsibility of practitioners to choose among the array of possibilities offered by the visual arts to accomplish specific educational objectives in specific circumstances. The visual arts offer the richness of drawing and painting, sculpture, and design; architecture, film, and video; and folk arts -- all of these can be used to help students achieve the standards. For example, students could create works in the medium of videotape, engage in historical and cultural investigations of the medium, and take part in analyzing works of art produced on videotape. The visual arts also involve varied tools, techniques, and processes -- all of which can play a role in students' achieving the standards, as well.

To meet the standards, students must learn vocabularies and concepts associated with various types of work in the visual arts. As they develop increasing fluency in visual, oral, and written communication, they must exhibit their greater artistic competence through all of these avenues.

In grades 5-8, students' visual expressions become more individualistic and imaginative. The problem-solving activities inherent in art making help them develop cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills. They select and transform ideas, discriminate, synthesize and appraise, and they apply these skills to their expanding knowledge of the visual arts and to their own creative work. Students understand that making and responding to works of visual art are inextricably interwoven and that perception, analysis, and critical judgment are inherent to both.

Their own art making becomes infused with a variety of images and approaches. They learn that preferences of others may differ from their own. Students refine the questions that they ask in response to artworks. This leads them to an appreciation of multiple artistic solutions and interpretations. Study of historical and cultural contexts gives students insights into the role played by the visual arts in human achievement. As they consider examples of visual art works within historical contexts, students gain a deeper appreciation of their own values, of the values of other people, and the connection of the visual arts to universal human needs, values, and beliefs. They understand that the art of a culture is influenced by aesthetic ideas as well as by social, political, economic, and other factors. Through these efforts, students develop an understanding of the meaning and import of the visual world in which they live.

Content Standard #1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
bulletStudents intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas

Content Standard #2: Using knowledge of structures and functions

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents generalize about the effects of visual structures and functions and reflect upon these effects in their own work
bulletStudents employ organizational structures and analyze what makes them effective or not effective in the communication of ideas
bulletStudents select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of their ideas

Content Standard #3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks

Content Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures
bulletStudents describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts
bulletStudents analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art

Content Standard #5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents compare multiple purposes for creating works of art
bulletStudents analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific artworks through cultural and aesthetic inquiry
bulletStudents describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras and cultures

Content Standard #6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

Achievement Standard:

bulletStudents compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter, historical periods, or cultural context
bulletStudents describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts

 
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