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Art
Each middle school student has art for 45 minutes per week. Within each grade level, a theme is used to narrow the focus on history, techniques, and ideas. Students investigate ideas, history, artists, design concepts, and a variety of two and three dimensional art processes. Each grade level is aligned with a big idea or concept. Big ideas are broad, important human issues that span areas of study and encourage deeper levels of thinking. While providing complexity and boundaries, big ideas allow students to make personal connections to their own art making.
5th Grade: The Natural World
Big Idea: Change
How do artists depict nature? Students investigate how nature and change are related by creating a series of artworks related to natural structures. A few of the artworks we study are the illustrations by John James Audubon, prints and drawings of M.C. Escher, and paintings by Grant Wood and Paul Klee.
6th Grade: Around the World in 40 Weeks
Big Idea: Community
How do communities and cultures influence each other? How do the materials and techniques an artist use reflect personal and cultural identity? Students travel around the world creating artworks inspired by art work from a variety of cultures. A few of the artworks we study are Australian aboriginal painting, Nkisi Nkonde of the Democratic Republic of Congo, molas of Panama, architecture from around the world, and printmaking of Japan.
7th Grade: Message to the World
Big Idea: Power
How can art serve as a vehicle for social change? Students explore methods to express themselves and ideas that reach outside of the art room. A few of the artists we study are Claes Oldenburg, Jose Clemente Orozco, Emil Nolde, Laylah Ali, Vincent Van Gogh, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein.
8th Grade: Inner Worlds
Big Idea: Identity
How is identity a result of personal experiences and heritage? Students analyze their own identities and the identities of others in a variety of artworks. A few of the artists we study are Tony Fitzpatrick, Howardena Pindell, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell, Frida Kahlo, and Rene Magritte.
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