Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum Interim Thoughts on the Draft VISUAL ARTS K-4 Curriculum* 14 August 2020 William French * CONFIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATION TO THE MINISTER and her designates Please accept my profound apology that I have taken so long to submit this feedback. I aim to fulfil two purposes: I.) outline a suggested approach, in light of various aspects to address; and II.) address part of that, concretely, by showing how the CKF materials work, both as a functional model, as well as for their suggestions as to content. Once we have addressed the major structural design questions to do with one of the Fine Arts, we have (content aside) also done the other three. I. I have been comparing three schemes (AB K-4 Draft, CKF K-8 Sequence, and the Ontario 1-8 Arts Curriculum) and concluded that it might be best to employ Ontario’s very clear organizational scheme, while adding in elements from MOSL, AB K-4 Draft, and the model offered by CKF. Ontario has four components (CKF equivalent in brackets): 1. 2. 3. 4. List of the Elements (Elements), supplemented with related grade-level concepts; Creating and Performing (Creative), wherein the elements are learned and applied, with emphasis on creativity and active participation; Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing (Analytical); and Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts (Historical). CKF presents Elements and Creative all in one; however, I think there is real advantage in Ontario’s List that breaks out the elements and can be checked from year to year, by element, and then treats creativity with greater care. Ontario is missing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. MOSL’s emphasis on emulation of great works and appreciation of beauty, etc. (incorporation presumably in note at top) CKF linkages to other curriculum subjects, such as History and ELA (incorporate presumably in Reflecting & Forms) though there might be some linkage – just not as much. CKF explicit emphasis on Orchestra (presumably in Reflecting & Forms) AB Draft has perhaps a bit more explicit emphasis on Indigenous art forms (incorporate presumably in Reflecting & Forms) I am wondering about an element to do with protocols and conventions of arts participation and learning, etc. (along the lines that I developed at the top level of the ELA files I submitted). Ontario has a long bit on the creative process, up front, but it’s not really what I am talking about, I think. CKF has the heading “Listening and Understanding” under which it more or less subsumes Reflecting etc and Exploring Forms etc. Subsuming them is not a good idea, I think, and Ontario does better in breaking them out explicitly; however, I wonder if this could be part of a protocol item and/or it could tie into the MOSL emphasis on learning from great works. 6. A note that Ontario has in its long introduction to the Arts curriculum has to do with Community Partners. I think something needs to be said along these lines, which would include the possibility of bringing artists and arts organisations into schools, or even training teachers, among other forms of alliance to advance school-community cooperation for the arts. II. Below, I have projected the CKF model onto the template that most SMEs seem to be using (so far as I understand). It’s just a model, but a helpful one to understand. Throughout, I have inserted little notes that CKF provides to show linkages; however, these tend to be to American History, so I include them just to suggest how we might show linkages. At the bottom of the tables, I provide a list of all the CK ELA, History & Geography, and Science domain series each year, again, just to suggest where linkages across the curriculum need to be considered. It’s just another tool for putting that top of mind. That’s probably it for the moment. On the weekend, I will try to see what it would look like to build other elements into something like Ontario’s structure. Best regards, William French Arts Education – Visual Arts Grade 3 Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 1 Grade 4 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum Essential Understanding Exposure, Creativity, and Analysis in Visual Arts Guiding Questions Learning Outcomes ELEMENTS OF ART Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Students will know: In order to understand: And do: Students will know: In order to understand: And do: COLOUR COLOUR LINE LINE SHAPE SHAPE TEXTURE TEXTURE LIGHT LIGHT Observe how artists use light and shadow (to focus our attention, affect our emotions, etc.) in… James Chapin, Ruby Green Singing Jan Vermeer, Milkmaid SPACE Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 2 SPACE Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum Understand the following terms: two-dimensional (height, width) and three-dimensional (height, width, depth) Observe relationship between twodimensional and three-dimensional shapes: square to cube, triangle to pyramid, circle to sphere and cylinder Observe how artists can make twodimensional look three-dimensional by creating an illusion of depth, and examine the foreground, middle ground, and background in paintings, including….. Jean Millet, The Gleaners Pieter Bruegel, Peasant Wedding DESIGN: HOW THE ELEMENTS WORK TOGETHER Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 3 DESIGN Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum • Become familiar with how these terms are used in discussing works of art: Figure and ground Pattern Balance and symmetry • Examine design— how the elements of art work together—in…. Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair Mary Cassatt, The Bath Early American quilts Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom Henri Matisse, cutouts: Icarus Edvard Munch, The Scream Horace Pippin, Victorian Interior Faith Ringgold, Tar Beach HISTORICAL Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Students will know: In order to understand: And do: Students will know: In order to understand: And do: AMERICAN INDIGENOUS ART Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 4 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum • Become familiar with American Indigenous works, including… Kachina dolls (Hopi, Zuni) Navajo (Dine) blankets and rugs, sand paintings Jewellery ANCIENT ROMAN & BYZANTINE • Become familiar with artworks of ancient Roman and Byzantine civilization, including….. Le Pont du Gard The Pantheon Byzantine mosaics Hagia Sophia MEDIEVAL ART IN EUROPE Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 5 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum • Note the generally religious nature of European art in the Middle Ages, including…. Examples of medieval Madonnas (such as Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne—13th century Byzantine) Illuminated manuscripts (such as The Book of Kells) Tapestries (such as the Unicorn tapestries) • Become familiar with features of Gothic architecture (spires, pointed arches, flying buttresses, rose windows, gargoyles and statues) and famous cathedrals, including…… Notre Dame (Paris) ISLAMIC ART & ARCHITECTURE Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 6 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum • Become familiar with examples of Islamic art, including illuminated manuscript and illumination of the Qur’an (Koran). • Note characteristic features of Islamic architecture, such as domes and minarets, in ….. Dome of the Rock (Mosque of Omar), Jerusalem Alhambra Palace, Spain Taj Mahal, India ART OF AFRICA • Note the spiritual purposes and significance of many African works of art, such as masks used in ceremonies for planting, harvesting, or hunting. • Become familiar with examples of art from specific regions and peoples in Africa, such as…. Antelope headdresses of Mali Sculptures by Yoruba artists in the city of Ife Ivory carvings and bronze sculptures of Benin ART OF CHINA Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 7 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum • Become familiar with examples of Chinese art, including….. Silk scrolls Calligraphy (the art of brush writing and painting) Porcelain ART OF A NEW NATION: THE UNITED STATES • Become familiar with famous portraits and paintings, including….. John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere Gilbert Stuart, George Washington Washington Crossing the Delaware • Become familiar with the architecture of…… Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello CKF DOMAIN ALIGNMENT CHECK Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Understanding Perceptual Understanding Students will know: In order to understand: And do: Students will know: In order to understand: And do: Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 8 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum Legend: Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Core Knowledge History & Geography (CKHG) Core Knowledge Science (CKSci) CKLA: → The Wind in the Willows ReadAloud (R-A) [Skills: Classic Tales & More Classic Tales Reader & Workbook] → Classification of Animals R-A [Rattenborough’s Guide to Animals R & WB] → The Human Body – Systems and Senses R-A [How Does Your Body Work? R & WB] → The Ancient Roman Civilization R-A [Stories of Ancient Rome R & WB] → Light and Sound R-A [Adventures in Light and Sound R & WB] → The Viking Age R-A [Gods, Giants, and Dwarves R & WB] → Astronomy – Our Solar System and Beyond R-A [What’s in Our Universe? R & WB] → Native Americans – Regions and Cultures R-A [Native American Stories R & WB] → European Exploration of North America R-A [The Age of Exploration R & Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 9 CKLA: 1. Brown Girl Dreaming: A Memoir 2. The Middle Ages 3. King Arthur and the Round Table 4. Listen, My Children (poetry) 5. Geology 6. American Revolution 7. The United States Constitution 8. Treasure Island CKHG: 1. Using Maps 2. World Mountains 3. Medieval Europe 4. Medieval Islamic Empires 5. Early and Medieval African Kingdoms 6. Dynasties of China 7. The American Revolution 8. The United States Constitution 9. Early Presidents 10. American Reformers CKSci: 1. Energy Transfer and Transformati on Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum Competency(ies) Literacy Numeracy Arts Education – Visual Arts Grade 3 Grade 4 Essential Understanding Guiding Questions Learning Outcomes Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge Conceptual Knowledge Procedural Knowledge Explicit Knowledge Conceptual Knowledge P r o c e d u r a l Explicit Knowledge Knowledge Learners know that To demonstrate knowledge and understanding learners Learners acquire explicit knowledge Learners know that To demonstrate knowledge and understanding learners Learners understand that To demonstrate knowledge and understanding learners Learners understand that To demonstrate knowledge and understanding learners Competency(ies) Literacy Numeracy Arts Education K–4 Curriculum April 2020 Page 10 Learners acquire explicit knowledge