Visual Art: Fifth Grade

Standard 1.0  Media, Techniques, and Processes

Students will understand and apply media, techniques, and processes.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 1.1  Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of tools and materials used to create a work of art.
• 1.2  Develop skills in a variety of techniques and processes to produce original works of art that reflect ideas, concepts, symbols and themes.
• 1.3  Use tools and materials in a safe and responsible manner.
• 1.4  Demonstrate levels of craftsmanship.

Performance Indicator:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Use a variety of tools and materials to convey ideas in a work of art.
• Use techniques and processes to create an artwork that expresses ideas, concepts, symbols, and themes.
• Organize and manage tools and materials in a safe and responsible manner.
• Demonstrate improved craftsmanship.

Level 2

• Compare and contrast the effectiveness of tools and materials chosen to convey ideas in a work of art.
• Compose an original work of art that clearly communicates ideas, concepts, and themes using a variety of techniques and processes.
• Assume responsibility for the safe management of tools and materials.
• Consistently demonstrate improvement in craftsmanship.

Level 3

• Evaluate the effectiveness of tools and materials chosen to convey ideas in a work of art.
• Analyze an original work of art for its effectiveness in communicating ideas, concepts and themes.
• Assume responsibility for the safe use and management of tools and materials.
• Demonstrate appropriate levels of craftsmanship.

Sample Performance Task

Introduce patterns, textures, and lines in printmaking through the use of collagraph and styrofoam relief printmaking methods.  Discuss line quality and simulated texture using a reproduction of Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros.  Students will create a preliminary sketch of an animal using lines to show texture and will collect texture rubbings on their sketch.  The sketch will be used in both printmaking methods.  In succeeding lessons, the students will create a plate by building a collage on poster board with graduated levels of small shapes on top of large shapes.  They will also draw their animal on a Styrofoam plate. 

The teacher will demonstrate the proper use of printmaking tools and ink application. 

After the students have pulled prints from both plates, they will compare the images created from both methods by discussing the results with a partner or in a small group. The teacher will monitor the discussions and the studio sessions.

Integration/Linkages

Social Studies, Health and Safety, Measurement, Writing, Mathematics, Storytelling, Language Arts, Science

Standard 2.0  Structures and Functions

Students will use knowledge of structures and functions.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 2.1  Use the elements and principles of art to communicate ideas.
• 2.2  Discuss and analyze the functions of art in different environments.
• 2.3  Create artworks to meet various functions.

Performance Indicators:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Create an artwork using some elements and principles of art to communicate ideas.
• Identify different functions of art in various environments using assigned vocabulary.
• Describe an artwork to serve a function.

Level 2

• Create an artwork using a variety elements and principles of art to communicate ideas.        
• Examine the different functions of art in various environments using assigned vocabulary.
• Design and describe an artwork that serves a specific function.

Level 3

• Choose specific elements and principles in art to communicate ideas clearly.
• Compare and contrast different functions of art in various environments using targeted vocabulary.
• Design, describe and create an artwork that serves a specific function.

Sample Performance Task

The students will view the domestic architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright, Falling Water. Using both blueprints and exterior reproductions, the students will examine the building as both a work of art and a home.  The students will discuss the symbols used by an architect in a blueprint by using a teacher made architectural key.  Also, the students will discuss the necessary parts needed in a dwelling.  Each student will then design a dream home showing a bird’s eye view (blueprint of the interior) and an exterior façade.

To evaluate the success of the projects, the students will participate in a token response activity during which they vote on designs by classmates. This activity, created by educator Mary Erickson, asks students to use tokens to assign values to the works (e.g., a blue ribbon=my favorite, a $ symbol=most cost to build, a house shape=you would like to own, a light bulb shape=the most creative idea).

Integration/Linkages

Interpersonal Skills, Analysis Skills, Public Art, Entertainment, Museum, Writing Skills, Architecture, Journalism, Political Science, Industrial Design, Interior Design, History, Music, Physical Education, Dance

Standard 3.0   Evaluation

Students will choose and evaluate a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 3.1  Discuss artistic intent by evaluating subject matter, symbols, and ideas in works of art by others.
• 3.2  Experiment with subject matter, symbols, and ideas to create meaning in their own artworks.

Performance Indicators:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Discuss and interpret the artistic intent of a work of art.
• Utilize subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning in their artwork.

Level 2

• Discuss and interpret specific clues in a work of art to determine artistic intent.
• Relate and connect the subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate an intended meaning in their artwork.

Level 3

• Analyze and make connections from a work of art to other experiences.
• Compose an art work that communicates original meaning through the integrated use of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.

Sample Performance Task

In this lesson, students will discuss the intent of an artist by viewing works of art from the series The Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman Series of 1938-40 by African American artist Jacob Lawrence or Faith Ringgold’s The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles.  After viewing the art works chosen, have the students name some of the African American heroes and symbols included in the work.   Ask the students “Why did Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold choose these symbols as subjects for their art?”   “What mood is represented in these artworks and what are the clues?”  “What is the significance of the colors chosen by the artist?”  Additional questions can be asked based on student responses to what they see in the works.

The students will write a short paragraph explaining their interpretation of the artist's intent in these works or create an original painting based on ideas from this lesson.

Integration/Linkages

Symbolism, Human Relationships, Human Development, Careers, History, Nature, Urban and Rural Environments, Intellectual Property and Copyrights, History, Social Studies, Science, Traffic Safety, Language Arts, Communication Skills, Writing

Standard 4.0   Historical and Cultural Relationships

Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 4.1  Relate works of art to different times, civilizations and places.
• 4.2  Demonstrate how art, history, and cultures influence each other.
• 4.3  Recognize how artists are influenced by cultures, history and movements in art.

Performance Indicators:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Recognize connections between historical events and art development.
• Research connections between art, cultures, and history.
• Explain cultural and historical influences on an artist.

Level 2

• Inventory artworks according to different times, civilizations and places.
• Diagram connections between art, cultures, and history.
• Describe and place a few artists and works of art in their contexts in culture, time and place.

Level 3

• Organize artworks according to different times, civilizations and places.
• Construct theories of how art is influenced by history and culture.
• Compare and contrast a variety of artists and works of art in their contexts within culture, time and place.

Sample Performance Task

In this lesson, the students will study the effect of inventions on the artistic process of the 1800’s and the style of Impressionism.  During this period, paints were manufactured and sold in tubes for the first time allowing artists to more easily transport materials and leave their studios to begin painting out doors, al fresco. Also at this time, the mass production of cameras and photographic chemistry influenced composition and use of light in painting.  An important cultural influence was trade with the Far East. After discussing this information, students will view a pre-Impressionist painting such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and compare it to paintings by Mary Cassatt and Claude Monet.  Students will look for evidence of changes in art styles and methods due to historical events.

Students will create a time line of these events as an assessment.

Integration/Linkages

History, Geography, Social Studies, World Cultures, Industry and Design History, Current Events, Journalism, Communication Skills

Standard 5.0   Reflection and Assessment

Students will reflect upon and assess the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 5.1  Compare multiple purposes for creating works of art.
• 5.2  Appraise the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
• 5.3  Examine different responses to artworks.

Performance Indicator:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Interpret purposes intended by the artist for a work of art.
• Interpret how their work and the work of others meet intended criteria.
• Examine varied viewer responses to artwork.

Level 2

• Analyze the purposes intended by the artist for works of art.
• Evaluate the merit of an artwork based on intended criteria.
• Debate various viewpoints when responding to an artwork.

Level 3

• Analyze and compare purposes of works by different artists.
• Judge the merit of an artwork based on intended criteria and support the judgment based on characteristics of the artwork.
• Collect and organize various viewpoints in response to an artwork.

Sample Performance Task

The students will role play people from the art community such as artist, art collector, museum curator, art critic, art historian, and the artist’s family.  The students will debate from these viewpoints after viewing several works by Marcel Duchamp (Nude Descending a Staircase, Fountain, Bicycle Wheel) and learning about Surrealism and the Dada movement.  The focus of the debate will be Marcel Duchamp’s Dada artwork, In Advance of a Broken Arm, a snow shovel.  The students will wear name tags defining their role and the teacher will supply the shovel as a prop as well as definitions for each role. 

Assessment of the activity will be based on student participation and understanding that viewers have different responses to artworks.

Integration/Linkages

History, Social Studies, Literature, Interpersonal and Social Skills, Career Goals, Music, Science, Mathematics, Language, Communication Skills, Art Professions

Standard 6.0   Interdisciplinary Connections

Students will make connections between visual arts and other disciplines.

Learning Expectations

The student will

• 6.1  Find relationships between the visual arts and other arts disciplines.
• 6.2  Examine ways in which other disciplines are interrelated with the visual arts.

Performance Indicators:  Evidence Standard is Met

The student is able to

Level 1

• Compare similarities and differences in the visual arts and works from other arts disciplines using common vocabulary.
• List activities in which connections can be found between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum.

Level 2

• Propose activities that combine the visual arts and other arts disciplines.
• Plan a visual art activity that makes connections to another discipline in the curriculum.

Level 3

• Propose and construct a project that combines the visual arts and other arts disciplines.
• View other disciplines from the perspective of the visual arts.

Sample Performance Task

During art class, students will create a web of other disciplines in the curriculum.  Start with a listing of daily subjects, such as, math, language, science, social studies, PE, and spelling.  Students will list current grade level topics covered in each of these areas.  An example would be that in science the students are currently studying the rain forest environment.  Students will now brainstorm visual art activities that make connections to this area of study.  Each student designs a visual art activity for a specific topic.

The finished products are displayed, and students are asked to explain the connections between the visual artwork and the chosen subject.

Integration/Linkages

Music, History, Science, Mathematics, Language, Communication Skills