Curriculum

  • Kutztown Middle School Art Curriculum

     

    One of the most important parts of my profession in being an art educator and practicing artist is to help students "see" what they need to respond to in life, through ART.  I teach every student in the building each week and every year they are in the middle school, encompassing three years.  I utilize differentiated instruction to provide access to their success focusing on their individual strengths and weaknesses.   I run an inquiry based classroom that is student-centered, allowing students to work through their assignments with self-esteem building individualization, while taking ownership of their work and "making it real", relating it to real situations or stories.

     

    For a Comprehensive Art Education, I teach with themes utilizing Units, Core Lessons and follow up activities.  Each Unit has objectives that follow the National Standards. The units consist of multitudes of references that include the following:  featured artists, historical insight, multicultural art education, vocabulary, integration of technology, and studio lessons.  Skills and techniques are reinforced to explore different tools and media to encourage the student’s art skills and techniques.  The studio lesson is the prime factor in the middle school philosophy of giving the students ways to foster solutions and challenges one faces in life through art.  I want my students to enjoy art as an experimentation of knowledge and opportunity with encouragement and to know that their accomplishments are valued.  The importance of relevancy in art affects students in helping to generate their own questions while helping them to be reflective and inquiry-based learners. 

     

    The content of art in the middle school is based upon the knowledge in the various disciplines of art:  art production, art history, art criticism, aesthetics, multicultural and global content, contemporary art, content knowledge, disciplined inquiry and learning for life.


    Each year all grades participate in the following lessons:


    • The Visual Journal—Drawing from Life:  Journal as Art
    • Reading and Writing—Interpreting Art though reflection, wonderings and responding.
    • Looking at ART through a personal journey, a community connection and through a global pursuit.
    • Community-Based Art
    • Recycled ART—and looking to recycle trash into art.
    • Free Choice Project to encourage high-level thinking.
    • Freethinking curriculum on a daily basis as to what is happening in our local community and beyond.
    • The curriculum has fresh lessons every year depending upon the choices from my early field students and teacher candidates from Kutztown University.

     

     

    Examples of what can be accomplished during the school year:

     

    6th Grade:

     

    • Who Am I—Journal and Personal Logo
    • Op Art—Geometric Art---Doodle Art
    • Color Wheel—Intro to Painting and color mixing
    • Printmaking with Insects
    • Keith Haring—Dare Influence—Pop Art
    • Judy Chicago—The Dinner Party Women and Families
    • Ceramics—Tile
    • Animation
    • Wildlife Drawing—Collaborative /Hawk Mountain Trip
    • Trimals
    • Tapesty Weaving

     

    7th Grade:

     

    • Who Am I? —Journal and Personal Logo
    • Sacony Creek Marsh—Sketching—Mixed-media Nature Journals—Outdoor Classroom collaborative initiative with 6th and 7th grade science.
    • Line---Value---Doodle Art
    • Van Gogh—Impressionism…tapestry weaving
    • Northwest Coast Indian Art
    • Wire Sculptures
    • Japanese art—Passport with Kanji, Ceramics teacup, Brushwork with Scrolls, and Formal Tea Ceremony.
    • Heraldry
    • Op Art—Circles—Collaborative initiative with 7th grade Science—microscope
    • 50 Arrows--Design

     

    8th Grade:

     

    • Who am I?  Journal—Personal Logo
    • Photo Collage
    • Picasso—Cubism
    • Dali—Watercolor and Mixed-Media Landscape
    • Masks—Crafts
    • Exquisite Corpse Drawing
    • Ceramics—Vessels
    • Figure Drawing—Portraiture
    • Calligraphy
    • Printmaking/ with our new Canon Printing/etching press.