Grade 4 Visual Arts

Artistic development at ACS is guided by the National Core Arts Standards. In the Elementary division, these standards are taught in Drama and Dance, Music, and Visual Arts (Art) classes. The standards are divided into 4 key areas: Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Responding, and Connecting.

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that...

• Artist and designers develop excellence through practice and constructive critique, reflecting on, revising, and refining work over time.

• People gain insights into meanings of artworks by engaging in the process of art criticism.

• People evaluate art based on various criteria.

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Use the drawing tools correctly and safely

• Turn a flat 2D shape into a 3D Form by drawing objects with depth and value

• Locate the basic outline of any object and how to break down the image into basic shapes

• Show depth and texture in their work through various shading techniques, using both graphite and colored pencils

• Apply one set of criteria to evaluate more than one work of art

• Critique others as well as be critiqued using the P.Q.P method (Praise, Question, Propose)

• "Look like a Scientist" when analyzing a picture

• Use the "See- Think- Wonder- Change" Practice

• Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches

• Revise artwork in progress on the basis of insights gained through peer discussion

• Interpret art by referring to contextual information and analyzing relevant subject matter, characteristics of form, and use of media

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that...

• Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative art-making goals.

• Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media, and art-making approaches.

• Artists, curators and others consider a variety of factors and methods including evolving technologies when preparing and refining artwork for display and or when deciding if and how to preserve and protect it.

• Objects, artifacts, and artworks collected, preserved, or presented either by artists, museums, or other venues communicate meaning and a record of social, cultural, and political experiences resulting in the cultivating of appreciation and understanding.

• Visual imagery influences understanding of and responses to the world.

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Utilize and care for materials, tools, and equipment in a manner that prevents danger to oneself and others

• Analyze and critique famous works of art

• Analyze components in visual imagery that convey messages

• Give a presentation before the class

• Reproduce a famous painting or create in the same style as the famous artist

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that...

• Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed.

• People create and interact with objects, places, and design that define, shape, enhance, and empower their lives.

• People develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and history through their interactions with and analysis of art.

• Artists, architects, and engineers face challenges when building from a design.

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Brainstorm multiple approaches to a creative art or design problem

• Build a 3D sculpture out of various materials and glaze or paint the finished piece showing texture, balance, and good craftsmanship

• Through observation, infer information about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that...

• The value and importance of the arts in our lives and in the world.

• That art can be created collaboratively for a variety of purposes.

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Categorize artwork based on a theme or concept for an exhibit

• Brainstorm collaboratively multiple approaches to an art or design problem

• Engage collaboratively in exploration and imaginative play with materials

• Create, develop, and refine artistic works