BROOKLINE VISUAL ARTS |
“The Visual Arts Department provides students in grades K-12 with a curriculum that allows students to develop personal expression, engage their imaginations, follow their intuition, make choices, and reflect on the outcomes through visual imagery. Students develop artistic skills, observational skills, critical thinking skills, as well as an appreciation of the arts and their importance in all cultures.”
The Brookline Art Department worked together to develop grade-level art standards for students in grades K-12. These benchmarks guide my lesson planning for the projects we do in class. Click here to access grade-level learning expectations. (Scroll to the bottom to see Visual Art) |
STUDIO HABITS |
Learning art techniques is only the beginning! Throughout the year, I teach students to develop strong studio habits of mind to improve their creative thinking and artistic growth. Habits of mind are tools and strategies that help people solve problems. Developing strong habits of mind helps us learn, succeed, and understand ourselves and our world better.
Click here for a definition of each of the Studio Habits. |
ART CLASS |
Art classes meet once a week for 40 minutes (K-3) or 45 minutes (4-8). Throughout the year, students engage in collage, drawing, sculpture, painting, and printmaking lessons. During class time class, I plan time to:
Motivate/Research: Students are inspired by their personal interests, children's books, group discussions, connections to prior knowledge, slideshows, and teacher demonstrations. Create: Students demonstrate their understanding of concepts and use Studio Habits of Mind to create preliminary sketches, experiment with materials, and create 2D and 3D artworks. Share/Reflect: Students reflect on their decisions by asking questions and discussing their artistic choices. Students are expected to come to class ready to learn. Following classroom expectations helps ensure that all students enjoy their time in the art studio. The rules in my class are: Be Safe, Be Kind, Work Hard, Help Others, and Have Fun! Please be mindful of what your child wears to school on art days. (Save your fancy outfit for the spring art show!) |
ARTISTIC GROWTH |
"Like French or Spanish, art is a language that can be learned and understood. It is a form of communication that one can learn to read and speak through study and practice. Reading art means understanding a visual statement. Speaking art means creating a visual statement. When art seems strange or meaningless, it is only that this language is yet to be understood."
--John Goldonowicz (1985) The development of visual language, like the acquisition of other languages (verbal, musical, bodily, mathematical, etc.) is a process. Beginning at birth, and continuing into adulthood, we can develop and enrich our artistic skills through exposure to visual stimuli, and practice using materials (paint, paper, clay, cardboard, etc.) and tools (paint brushes, scissors, clay tools, etc.) Click here to learn more about the stages of children's artistic growth. |
SYLLABUS & GRADING |
The skills I cover are determined by the Brookline Learning Expectations for each grade level. Our syllabus is ambitious. Depending on student productivity, early release days, snow days, field trips, or other scheduling changes, we might not cover every single assignment listed. Assignments are subject to change.
Click here for an example of our 6th Grade Lesson Map Click here to access the 7th Grade Lesson Map Click here to access the 8th Grade Lesson Map In addition to letter grades, I will also assess students effort and behavior each grading period. Review the Visual Art Grading Sheet for more information about how art grades are earned. |
OFFICE HOURS |
Office Hours/Open Studio is a time when I will be available after school to meet with students or for students to come in and work on independent projects. If you are interested in coming after school, please sign up with me the week before. Otherwise, I might be out of the classroom (making copies or meeting with other teachers.)
Office Hours: Thursdays from 2:30-3:00 |
ANNUAL ART SHOW |
“Celebration of the Arts Week” (also known as Visual Arts Week) at FRR occurs in late spring. The mission of Arts Week is to promote the arts in the FRR community by showcasing student artwork and providing a venue for visual art, music, and performing arts to shine.
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