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Art Grade 7 - 9 (1984)

© Alberta Education, Canada 
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 Table of Contents   Program of Studies
Rationale & Philosophy 
  
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Program Rationale & Philosophy

Art education is concerned with the organization of visual material. A primary reliance upon visual experience gives an emphasis that sets it apart from the performing arts. Acquiring proficiency in art requires systematic instruction in how we see, interpret and make sense of visual stimuli. It requires an understanding of how others interpret the visual messages which are products of this kind of activity. It requires an education in the use of traditional and contemporary tools, materials and media.

Art education is concerned with having individuals think and behave as artists. For the purposes of art education, the term "artist" is equally valid to describe one who has worked for a lifetime or someone who is a relative beginner. Ultimately, art is accessible to all individuals. Its practice results in changing the individual, in changing the relationship among individuals or in changing the social–physical environment.

Art education is concerned with pointing out the values that surround the creation and cherishing of art forms. Art is not merely created, it is valued. The relative values given to art products not only tell us about those who produce them, but introduce notions of how values have changed over time. Learning to see gives us the means to view the work of others and perhaps to relate that to our own works. In this case, however, searching for organization may be helped by knowledge about other people’s priorities.

Art education deals with ways in which people express their feelings in visual forms. Art takes the human condition as the focus of study. Persons involved in the visual arts reflect upon and externalize their personal feelings and intuitions or those of their fellow human beings. As artists, they share this ability with the writer, the poet and the musician. In making parallels and discovering relationships with the performing and literary arts we gain a sense of common purpose.

Art education deals with making and defending qualitative judgments about art works. Becoming a perceptive critic attunes the individual to the unique contribution of the artist. By adopting the stance of critic we can develop methods of qualitative differentiation. We gain a sense that not all art is the same, and we are able to articulate reasons for preferring one work over another.

Goals & Objectives

The goals of the junior high art program are:

Drawings
  1. Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to recording visual information.
  2. Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in their recorded images and in the environment.
  3. Students will express technical competencies and individual insights.
  4. Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.
Compositions
  1. Students will develop competence with the components of images: media, techniques and design elements.
  2. Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.
  3. Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.
Encounters
  1. Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.
  2. Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.
  3. Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.
Content
OVERVIEW

The secondary art program for Grades 7–12 is a unified sequential course which focuses on three major components of visual learning:

DRAWINGS or delineations

  • - all the ways we record visual information and discoveries.

COMPOSITIONS or structures

  • - all the ways images are put together to create meaning.

ENCOUNTERS with art

  • - where we meet and how we respond to visual imagery.

Since each of these divisions requires specific strategies to convey meaning, the course for Grades 7–12 emphasizes these skills. The three divisions are present throughout the entire sequence of Art 7, 8, 9, 10, 20 and 30 and form the basis for the organization of objectives and concepts for each grade level.

More specifically, Drawings encompasses the recording, investigating, communicating, evaluating and articulating aspects of making images. Compositions deals with the organizations, components and relationships involved in the creation of images. Encounters involves looking at images and artifacts: the sources of images (finding ideas for making art), transformations through time (learning about the art of other times and changing imagery), and the impact of images (learning to understand and appreciate the purposes and effects of art). Each of these aspects of Drawings, Compositions and Encounters can be seen to correspond to a program goal, and each has specific objectives associated with it for each grade level.

The first section of the program contains the Scope and Sequence charts of objectives for each grade separated into Drawings, Compositions and Encounters sections. These charts show the sequential, developmental nature of learning in these three areas from grade to grade and illustrate the relationships between the sections for each grade level.

The next section of the program contains the objectives and concepts for each grade level. Objectives and concepts need not be approached separately or sequentially as presented within a grade. Rather, they should be ordered and grouped according to the individual teaching situation. The objectives and concepts presented are designed to be a basic program at each grade level. All concepts should be touched upon in a year’s program; however, the extent to which any concept is combined, extended or summarized is a teacher decision. It is important to stress that teachers should integrate and balance all three approaches—Drawings, Compositions and Encounters—in their program.

Since a large component of an art program involves media through which we make thought visible in images, it should be noted that this program leaves the choice of media and the associated techniques as an elective for the teacher. It is expected that teachers will use media of their choice but students should have opportunities to work in both two and three dimensions at each level of the program.

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
Drawings

Drawing is a visual search for meaning. Using a variety of materials and techniques, drawing is an individual expressive response to some specific experience. Such experiences may come from the individual or the group or may result from a problem to be solved or from direct inquiry.

GRADE 7
Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Students will record single images and simple units.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Students will select and identify line, value and texture in the natural and man-made environment for image making.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Students will learn to use the basic vocabulary of art criticism in descriptions of their work.
GRADE 8
Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Students will examine and simplify basic shapes and spaces.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Students will employ space, proportion and relationships for image making.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Students will use the vocabulary of art criticism to develop a positive analysis of their work.
GRADE 9
Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Students will record objects alone and in compositions.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Students will employ and arrange elements and principles to make compositions.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Students will use the techniques of art criticism for analysis and comparison of art works.
Compositions

Composition is a search for a unified visual statement. It articulates meaning through control of elements and their relationships. The student organizes visual material to generate thought and to make thought visible.

GRADE 7
Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Students will experiment with colour effects on compositions.
Students will experiment with techniques and media within complete compositions of two and three dimensions.
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Students will learn to use the basic vocabulary of art criticism in descriptions of their work.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Students will explore the transformation of form in composition: progression, alteration, exaggeration.
GRADE 8
Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Students will create compositions in both two and three dimensions.
Students will experiment with the transformation of space in compositions.
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Students will investigate the use of pattern and emphasis in the creation of compositions.
Students will use the vocabulary of art criticism to develop a positive analysis of their work.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Students will experiment with value, light, atmosphere and colour selection to reflect mood in composition.
GRADE 9
Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Students will create compositions in both two and three dimensions.
Students will become familiar with the use of transparency and opacity in the creation of compositions.
Students will investigate the effects of controlling form, colour and space in response to selected visual problems.
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Students will experiment with the principles of dominance, emphasis and concentration in the creation of compositions.
Students will use the techniques of art criticism for analysis and comparison of art works.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Students will investigate the effects of modifying colour, space and form to change pictorial style.
Encounters

Art-making articulates thought and imagination. Through images, we communicate with one another within our communities and across time and cultures. Encounters with the sources, transformations and impact of images are essential for understanding art.

GRADE 7
Sources of Images

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Students will identify similarities and differences in expressions of selected cultural groups.
Transformations Through Time

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Students will recognize the significance of the visual symbols which identify the selected cultural groups.
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Students will search for contemporary evidence relating to themes studied.
GRADE 8
Sources of Images

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Students will investigate form and structure of natural and man-made objects as sources of images.
Transformations Through Time

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Students will compare varying interpretations of natural forms and man-made artifacts through time and across cultures.
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Students will consider the impact of man-made structures upon human activity in the modern world.
GRADE 9
Sources of Images

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Students will consider the natural environment as a source of imagery through time and across cultures.
Transformations Through Time

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Students will identify thematic and stylistic variations of works as characteristics of certain artistic periods.
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Students will become aware of the importance society places upon various works of art.

Grade 7
Drawings

Drawing is a visual search for meaning. Using a variety of materials and techniques, drawing is an individual expressive response to some specific experience. Such experiences may come from the individual or the group or may result from a problem to be solved or from direct inquiry.

Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Grade 7 students will record single images and simple units.

  • A. Recording change and movement of figures is one of the purposes of drawing.
  • B. Describing the internal and external boundaries of forms is one of the purposes of drawing.
  • C. Describing the planes and volumes of forms is one of the purposes of drawing.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Grade 7 students will select and identify line, value and texture in the natural and man-made environment for image making.

  • A. Lines can vary in direction, location, quality, emphasis, movement and mood.
  • B. Value in drawing is affected by the qualities of surfaces and the qualities of light.
  • C. Texture as the character of a surface can be depicted in drawing by the arrangement of lines and marks.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Grade 7 students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.

  • A. Mood or emotion in an image can be affected by the balance of values and the quality of lines.
  • B. Characteristic qualities of a person or object can be emphasized by the quality of line used in an image.
  • C. Unusual combinations of shapes can suggest the invention of fantasy or mysterious images.
  • D. Strong, definite use of line suggests energy and clarity of images.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Grade 7 students will learn to use the basic vocabulary of art criticism in descriptions of their work.

  • A. The skill of describing materials and techniques used in creating an image is part of learning to talk about art.
  • B. The skill of identifying design elements used in creating an image is part of learning to talk about art.
  • C. Identifying and discussing one’s problems in drawing and composing images is part of learning to talk about art.
  • D. Discussing one’s responses to one’s own drawings and images is part of learning to talk about art.
Compositions

Composition is a search for a unified visual statement. It articulates meaning through control of elements and their relationships. The student organizes visual material to generate thought and to make thought visible.

Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Components 1: Grade 7 students will experiment with colour effects on compositions.

  • A. Primary colours combine to create secondary and tertiary colours.
  • B. Colour schemes create certain moods in images.
  • C. Colour schemes direct attention.

Components 2: Grade 7 students will experiment with techniques and media within complete compositions of two and three dimensions.

  • A. Sculptures can be formed using materials in additive and subtractive ways to demonstrate formal and informal balance.
  • B. Relief compositions can be assembled or formed using materials in additive or subtractive ways.
  • C. Two-dimensional materials can be used to make compositions demonstrating simple pictorial space.
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Grade 7 students will learn to use the basic vocabulary of art criticism in descriptions of their work.

  • A. Terms describing materials, techniques, subject matter and design elements comprise the basic vocabulary of art.
  • B. Identifying problems associated with image making is part of learning to analyze and criticize one’s own art works.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Grade 7 students will explore the transformation of form in composition: progression, alteration, exaggeration.

  • A. The concept of change over time can be expressed through a series of drawings.
  • B. Imaginary forms can be created by altering or rearranging parts of images.
Encounters

Art-making articulates thought and imagination. Through images, we communicate with one another within our communities and across time and cultures. Encounters with the sources, transformations and impact of images are essential for understanding art.

Sources of Images   

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Grade 7 students will identify similarities and differences in expressions of selected cultural groups.

  • A. Symbolic meanings are expressed in different ways by different cultural groups.  
  • B. Different cultural groups use different materials to create images or artifacts.  
Transformations Through Time   

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Grade 7 students will recognize the significance of the visual symbols which identify the selected cultural groups.

  • A. Artifacts can have religious, magical and ceremonial meanings.  
  • B. Power and authority can be symbolized in various ways.  
  • C. Visual symbols are used for identification and status by people in groups.  
  • D. External influences may have modified the imagery of a cultural group over time.  
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Grade 7 students will search for contemporary evidence relating to themes studied.

  • A. Religious, magical or ceremonial images used in contemporary society can be identified.
  • B. Authority, power or politics in contemporary society may be described in image form.
  • C. The ways people generate visual works can be influenced by a number of factors.  
Grade 8
Drawings

Drawing is a visual search for meaning. Using a variety of materials and techniques, drawing is an individual expressive response to some specific experience. Such experiences may come from the individual or the group or may result from a problem to be solved or from direct inquiry.

Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Grade 8 students will examine and simplify basic shapes and spaces.

  • A. Shapes may be organic or geometric.
  • B. Geometric and organic shapes can be used to create positive and negative spaces.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Grade 8 students will employ space, proportion and relationships for image making.

  • A. The size of depicted figures or objects locates those objects in relationship to the ground or picture plane.
  • B. Overlapping figures or objects create an illusion of space in two-dimensional works.
  • C. The amount of detail depicted creates spatial depth in two-dimensional works.
  • D. Parallel lines meeting at a vanishing point create linear perspective in two-dimensional works.
  • E. Proportion can be analyzed by using a basic unit of a subject as a measuring tool.
  • F. The principles of repetition or emphasis can be applied to achieve unity in two-dimensional works.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Grade 8 students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.

  • A. Line can be used freely and rhythmically to add mood or movement to a two-dimensional image.
  • B. Points of view can be developed to express certain ideas such as mood or proximity in two-dimensional works.
  • C. Scale drawings and simple systems can communicate architectural ideas in drawing form.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Grade 8 students will use the vocabulary of art criticism to develop a positive analysis of their work.

  • A. Identifying and describing techniques and media is part of learning to talk about art.
  • B. Dominant elements and principles or applications of media can be discussed by students in relationship to the effective solving of their visual problems.
  • C. Discussing the most appealing or favorite part of a student’s own work is part of learning to talk about art.
Compositions

Composition is a search for a unified visual statement. It articulates meaning through control of elements and their relationships. The student organizes visual material to generate thought and to make thought visible.

Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Components 1: Grade 8 students will create compositions in both two- and three-dimensions.

  • A. Two-dimensional tableaux can be used to depict groups of people in action.
  • B. Low relief tableaux can be used to depict groups of people in action.
  • C. Man-made or natural objects can be represented in a variety of three-dimensional media.

Components 2: Grade 8 students will experiment with the transformation of space in compositions.

  • A. Three-dimensional figures or units may be presented as open forms.
  • B. Value or colour can emphasize negative space over positive space.
  • C. Space can be altered or distorted for special effects in two-dimensional works.
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Relationships 1: Grade 8 students will investigate the use of pattern and emphasis in the creation of compositions.   

  • A. A pattern or motif can be repeated to create certain spatial effects.
  • B. Motifs can be designed to convey personal identity as in popular or folk-art images.  

Relationships 2: Grade 8 students will use the vocabulary of art criticism to develop a positive analysis of their work.

  • A. Techniques and media that students have used to make their images can be identified and described.
  • B. Dominant elements and principles of media applications can be discussed by students in relation to the effective solving of their visual problems.
  • C. Discussing the most appealing or favorite part of a student’s own work is part of learning to talk about art.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Grade 8 students will experiment with value, light, atmosphere and colour selection to reflect mood in composition.

  • A. Mood in composition can be affected by proximity or similarity of selected figures or units.
  • B. Mood in composition can be affected by the selection of various colour schemes such as intense, aggressive schemes or harmonious, pastel schemes.
  • C. Mood in composition can be enhanced by the intensity of the light source and the value of the rendered shading.
Encounters

Art-making articulates thought and imagination. Through images, we communicate with one another within our communities and across time and cultures. Encounters with the sources, transformations and impact of images are essential for understanding art.

Sources of Images

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Grade 8 students will investigate form and structure of natural and man-made objects as sources of images.

  • A. Skeletal structure affects the shape and surface of an object, artifact or the human figure.
  • B. Mass structure has an affect on the shape and form of an object or artifact.
Transformations Through Time   

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Grade 8 students will compare varying interpretations of natural forms and man-made artifacts through time and across cultures.

  • A. Comparisons between natural forms and architectural systems illustrate the functional aspects of natural structure.
  • B. Natural forms and structures have been interpreted by artists of various cultures for decorative and artistic purposes.  
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Grade 8 students will consider the impact of man-made structures upon human activity in the modern world.

  • A. Natural forms and structures provide sources for environmental design in the modern world.  
  • B. Structural design of shelters may enhance or inhibit human activities.
  • C. Decorative and functional works enhance public and private buildings.
Grade 9
Drawings

Drawing is a visual search for meaning. Using a variety of materials and techniques, drawing is an individual expressive response to some specific experience. Such experiences may come from the individual or the group or may result from a problem to be solved or from direct inquiry.

Record

Students will acquire a repertoire of approaches to record visual information.

Grade 9 students will record objects alone and in compositions.

  • A. Careful observation of form and surface qualities is necessary for the realistic recording of natural objects.
  • B. Concepts of positive and negative space can be employed when drawing people in groups.
  • C. The illusion of depth is created partly by the kinds of lines and marks used in creating an image.
Investigate

Students will develop the ability to investigate visual relationships in the environment and in their recorded images.

Grade 9 students will employ and arrange elements and principles to make compositions.

  • A. A consideration of balance and contrast may be applied to drawings that depict forms in nature.
  • B. Repetition of shape in nature can suggest patterns and motifs.
  • C. A changing point of view can allow a more thorough analysis of the subject matter of drawing.
Communicate

Students will demonstrate technical competencies and express individual insights.

Grade 9 students will use expressiveness in their use of elements in the making of images.

  • A. The subjective perception of the individual student affects the way he/she expresses action and direction.
  • B. Mood and feeling as perceived by the individual student can be expressed in colour drawings.
  • C. Exaggeration of mood characteristics in drawings of nature and people can help to emphasize a personal point of view.
Articulate and Evaluate

Students will apply visual, analytical and critical skills and develop control and competency.

Grade 9 students will use the techniques of art criticism for analysis and comparison of art works.

  • A. Making comparisons about mood and feeling between one’s own works and works by other students is part of learning to talk about art.
  • B. Knowing the terms of design, media and techniques used in one’s own drawings helps in description and analysis of one’s own and others’ works.
Compositions

Composition is a search for a unified visual statement. It articulates meaning through control of elements and their relationships. The student organizes visual material to generate thought and to make thought visible.

Components

Students will develop competence with the components of image: media, techniques and design elements.

Components 1: Grade 9 students will create compositions in both two and three dimensions.

  • A. Manipulation of colour emphasis can help express mood in two-dimensional compositions.
  • B. Organic shapes derived from natural objects can be developed into three-dimensional forms.

Components 2: Grade 9 students will become familiar with the use of transparency and opacity in the creation of compositions.

  • A. The qualities of transparency and opacity suggest relationships of space and form in compositions.
  • B. The qualities of transparency and opacity suggest the presence or absence of light in compositions.

Components 3: Grade 9 students will investigate the effects of controlling colour, space and form in response to selected visual problems.

  • A. Variation of form: natural objects exhibit wide variation of form within a single type.
  • B. Control of colour and space: certain colours advance and recede, according to the colours around them.
  • C. Control of space: a sense of distance or close proximity can be conveyed through the amount of detail used in compositions (micro–macro images).
Relationships

Students will analyze the relationships among components of images.

Relationships 1: Grade 9 students will experiment with the principles of dominance, emphasis and concentration in the creation of compositions

  • A. Cluster and concentration of design elements in compositions tend to suggest compression and/or movement.
  • B. Differences in size or value of design elements in compositions suggest dominance and emphasis of larger, stronger elements.

Relationships 2: Grade 9 students will use the techniques of art criticism for analysis and comparison of art works.

  • A. Making comparisons about pictorial styles between one’s own works and the works of other students is part of learning to talk about art.
  • B. Knowing the terms for design, media and techniques used in one’s own compositions helps in description and analysis of one’s own and others’ works.
Organizations

Students will express meaning through control of visual relationships.

Grade 9 students will investigate the effects of modifying colour, space and form to change pictorial style.

  • A. The same composition, when executed with different colour schemes, communicates a different mood or feeling.
  • B. The same forms, when composed with different spatial relationships, present different visual effects.
Encounters

Art-making articulates thought and imagination. Through images, we communicate with one another within our communities and across time and cultures. Encounters with the sources, transformations and impact of images are essential for understanding art.

Sources of Images

Students will investigate natural forms, man-made forms, cultural traditions and social activities as sources of imagery through time and across cultures.

Grade 9 students will consider the natural environment as a source of imagery through time and across cultures.

  • A. Images of individual people change through time and across cultures.
  • B. Images of nature change through time and across cultures.
Transformations Through Time

Students will understand that the role and form of art differs through time and across cultures.

Grade 9 students will identify thematic and stylistic variations of works as characteristics of certain artistic periods.

  • A. A particular concept of beauty can be discerned in works of a specific historic period.
  • B. Landscape works of different periods reveal man’s changing view of nature.
Impact of Images

Students will understand that art reflects and affects cultural character.

Grade 9 students will become aware of the importance society places upon various works of art.

  • A. The ways people use art changes through time.  
  • B. Society has various ways of preserving and displaying public and private art works.





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