Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:40:44 -0600WeeblyThu, 05 Sep 2013 15:24:19 GMThttps://www.teachingartiststudio.com/blog/colorado-standards-visual-arts-sixth-gradeNew Colorado P-12 Academic StandardsContent Area: - - Select Content Area - -  Comprehensive Health  Dance  Drama and Theatre Arts  Mathematics  Music  Physical Education  Reading, Writing and Communicating  Science  Social Studies  Visual Arts  World Languages  Grade Level: All  Preschool  Kindergarten  First Grade  Second Grade  Third Grade  Fourth Grade  Fifth Grade  Sixth Grade  Seventh Grade  Eighth Grade  High School  Current Display Filter: Visual Arts - Sixth Grade

Content Area: Visual Arts
Grade Level Expectations: Sixth Grade
Standard: 1. Observe and Learn to ComprehendPrepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Explain, demonstrate, and interpret a range of purposes of art and design, recognizing that the making and study of art and design can be approached from a variety of viewpoints, intelligences, and perspectives
• Analyze, interpret, and make meaning of art and design critically using oral and written discourse

Concepts and skills students master:

1. The characteristics and expressive features of art and design are used in unique ways to respond to two- and three-dimensional art

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Respond orally or in written format justifying and interpreting the characteristics and expressive features of art and design in a work of art (DOK 1-3)
2. Develop from oneself and various cultures a mental storehouse of images and the uses, symbolism, and meaning of those images (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How do underlying structures unconsciously guide the creation of works of art?
2. What might a historical master artist accomplish with the technology available today?

Relevance & Application:

1. Technology can be a tool in creating two- or three-dimensional art and provide infinite possibilities to manipulate characteristics and expressive features in works of art.
2. The characteristics and expressive features of art and design are used to express ideas and create images in various types of print and broadcast media and are distinct to many art and design careers.

Nature Of:

1. Underlying structures in art and society can be established via analysis and inference.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Recognize, articulate, and debate that the visual arts are a means for expression

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Art created across time and cultures can exhibit stylistic differences and commonalities

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Describe and discuss the general characteristics of a work of art from various historical periods (DOK 1-3)
2. Articulate how to be respectful and mindful of culturally sensitive themes. (DOK 1-3)
3. Compare and contrast works of art from various historical periods and world cultures by their components of style and design (DOK 2-4)
4. Analyze responses to works of art in terms of historical, cultural, and visual meaning (DOK 2-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. Does art define culture, or does culture define art?
2. What are commonalities in historical and cultural styles?
3. What are distinctive differences in historical and cultural styles?

Relevance & Application:

1. Changes in art movements relate to changes in science and technology.
2. Advancements in technology have broadened the function and purpose of art.
3. Belief systems influence the interpretation and analysis of works of art.

Nature Of:

1. Every artist and artistic period has a style.
2. History and culture affect self-expression.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Explain, demonstrate, and interpret a range of purposes of art and design, recognizing that the making and study of art and design can be approached from a variety of viewpoints, intelligences, and perspectives
• Analyze, interpret, and make meaning of art and design critically using oral and written discourse

Concepts and skills students master:

3. Specific art vocabulary is used to describe, analyze, and interpret works of art

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Describe the characteristics and expressive features of art and design in selected works of art (DOK 1-3)
2. Explain the aesthetic qualities of a specified work of art through multiple modalities (DOK 2-3)
3. Identify ways in which art is basic to thinking and communicating about the world (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. Explain the potential for boundaries in art and who defines these boundaries.
2. What is a defensible argument?
3. How does one critique a work of art?
4. What are the advantages or disadvantages to critiquing a work of art?

Relevance & Application:

1. The inquiry skill sets of analyzing, assessing, and evaluating are valuable in becoming informed consumers of visual images in marketing and in mass media.
2. Critique fluency encourages and develops higher-order thinking that builds a deeper awareness of details in the surrounding environment.

Nature Of:

1. Breaking away from acceptable and traditional norms often gives rise to new and more divergent forms of artistic expression.

Content Area: Visual Arts
Grade Level Expectations: Sixth Grade
Standard: 2. Envision and Critique to ReflectPrepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Critique personal work and the work of others with informed criteria
• Use specific criteria to discuss and evaluate works of art
• Recognize, articulate, and implement critical thinking in the visual arts by synthesizing, evaluating, and analyzing visual information

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Visual symbols and metaphors can be used to create visual expression

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Identify and correlate universal symbols in works of art (DOK 1-3)
2. Translate symbols into familiar settings such as community, billboards and store signage (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. What is a symbol?
2. How is a symbol universal, personal, and cultural?
3. How do symbols relate to art?

Relevance & Application:

1. The persuasive quality in art can be enriched by the use of traditional and new technologies.
2. A work of art allows the artist to communicate intended meaning to the viewer and evokes new meaning through the viewer's perspective.
3. Creating art work through the use of expanded media and technologies sharpens sophisticated ideas, feelings, emotions and points of view about art and design.

Nature Of:

1. Art is about communication.
2. Throughout history, Art has communicated meaning, relevance, and a multitude of viewpoints.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Recognize, articulate, and implement critical thinking in the visual arts by synthesizing, evaluating, and analyzing visual information

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Key concepts, issues, and themes connect the visual arts to other disciplines such as the humanities, sciences, mathematics, social studies, and technology

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Research and explain how the arts are influenced by other content areas (DOK 1-3)
2. Create works of art around concepts, issues, and themes from other disciplines through cross-curricular experiences (DOK 3-4)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How do the visual arts connect to other disciplines?
2. How is a connection between the visual arts and non-art disciplines important?

Relevance & Application:

1. The cross disciplinary skills found in the study of visual art provide advantages for marketable career opportunities.
2. Art can be found in architecture throughout time and culture, giving insight to the form and function needs of various historical and cultural contexts.
3. Scientific, medical, and technical drawing communicates ideas and information.
4. There is a direct correlation between mathematics and engineering in the creation of stable and kinetic sculptures.
5. The aerospace industry relies on artistic talent in order to design and build air and space vehicles.

Nature Of:

1. Visual art reflects, documents, and encapsulates time periods, cultures, geography, and the status of a region's inhabitants.

Content Area: Visual Arts
Grade Level Expectations: Sixth Grade
Standard: 3. Invent and Discover to CreatePrepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Recognize, interpret, and validate that the creative process builds on the development of ideas through a process of inquiry, discovery, and research
• Create works of art that articulate more sophisticated ideas, feelings, emotions, and points of view about art and design through an expanded use of media and technologies

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Plan the creation of a work of art

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Use planning tools to create works of art (DOK 1-2)
2. Use the characteristics and expressive features of art and design to plan works of art (DOK 1-3)
3. Evaluate the redirection and revision during the creative process (DOK 3-4)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How do you start a work of art?
2. What are the steps involved in finishing a work of art?
3. How do you depict intent in a work of art?

Relevance & Application:

1. The marketable skills of problem-solving, planning, and creating generate a pathway from the art room to future careers, particularly in the areas of leadership such as project management, military command, education, and graphic and interior design.
2. The ability to use sketches and planning strategies helps to organize within the creative process - much like planning and hypothesizing helps to inform the scientific process.

Nature Of:

1. The visual arts allow for the actualization of an object, surface, or space. They transform materials and environments into representations of aesthetic, functional, or contextual value.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Recognize, interpret, and validate that the creative process builds on the development of ideas through a process of inquiry, discovery, and research
• Create works of art that articulate more sophisticated ideas, feelings, emotions, and points of view about art and design through an expanded use of media and technologies

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Explore various media, materials, and techniques used to create works of art

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Identify the use of media by analyzing the inherent physical properties (DOK 1-3)
2. Recognize and utilize the individual characteristics of each medium (DOK 1-3)
3. Identify and differentiate the relationships among media choice, art processes, and final solutions (DOK 1-3)
4. Create works of art using a wide variety of contemporary and available media (DOK 3-4)
5. Define and evaluate appropriate media choices to achieve desired results in works of art (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How do you use various tools, materials, techniques, and processes in the specific mediums?
2. How do you know which tool, material, technique, or process to choose when creating a work of art?
3. How can a certain media give a distinctive feeling or express a particular characteristic in a work of art?

Relevance & Application:

1. The translation of knowledge into the many aspects of daily life is facilitated by the skills learned in art experiences such as trial and error, the process of elimination, comparing and contrasting, and problem-solving.
2. Once a skill such as drawing, painting, ceramic work, sculpting, printmaking, weaving, and computer imaging is achieved in art, it can transfer inherent applications and conceptualizations to other disciplines.

Nature Of:

1. Materials, processes, and techniques complement each other.
2. Art-making is interdisciplinary and draws on the synergistic trans-disciplinary nature of aesthetic understanding.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Develop and build appropriate mastery in art-making skills using traditional and new technologies and an understanding of the characteristics and expressive features of art and design

Concepts and skills students master:

3. Utilize current, available technology to refine ideas in works of art

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Evaluate the use of various technological processes use to make art (DOK 1-3)
2. Recognize and discuss how technology operates in the creation of works of art (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How is technology restricted?
2. How is art manipulated beyond computers?
3. What, besides computers, is considered technology?
4. What are some philosophical questions regarding the use of technology to create art?

Relevance & Application:

1. Digital and electronic media manipulation and the use of a projector, chemical reaction, or specific process to produce or manipulate an image provide many avenues for refining and adapting works of art.
2. Copyright and legalities of image reproduction impact visual resources and free access to works of art.
3. Technological advances allow for the computerized, digital analysis of works of art by the great masters as well as the authentication of works of art in major collections, holdings, and museums.

Nature Of:

1. Technology is a tool, not a way to replace the craft of creating art.

Content Area: Visual Arts
Grade Level Expectations: Sixth Grade
Standard: 4. Relate and Connect to TransferPrepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Transfer the value of visual arts to lifelong learning and the human experience
• Explain, compare and justify that the visual arts are connected to other disciplines, the other art forms, social activities, mass media, and careers in art and non-art related arenas

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Critical thinking in the arts transfers to multiple lifelong endeavors

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Compare and contrast how art is incorporated into contemporary careers (DOK 2-3)
2. Discuss ways that the visual arts create lifelong learning opportunities (DOK 1-3)
3. Explain the contributions of art historians, cultural anthropologists, philosophers of art, engineers, computer designers, and software designers (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. How are the visual arts important to various careers?
2. Why do the visual arts impact career cultures?
3. How do the visual arts connect to and enhance other career options?

Relevance & Application:

1. The inventive responses and critical decision-making skills generated by the visual arts can influence our contemporary market and establish the foundational elements for future applications in commerce beyond this century.
2. Visual art skills can be useful in jobs within and outside of the creative industry.

Nature Of:

1. The visual arts foster divergent thinking and multiple applications.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Transfer the value of visual arts to lifelong learning and the human experience
• Explain, compare and justify that the visual arts are connected to other disciplines, the other art forms, social activities, mass media, and careers in art and non-art related arenas

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Visual arts impact community, cultural traditions, and events

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Explain and create works of art that incorporate everyday life, traditions, customs, and special events (DOK 1-4)
2. Compare and contrast the visual traditions of personal and foreign culture within their sphere of individual experience such as public and community art, and important buildings in the community (DOK 2-3)
3. Draw conclusions, and honor personal and other cultural representations of ancestry in works of art (DOK 3-4)
4. Identify and discuss the contributions artists make to their community and to society as a whole (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. What are cultural events, and where do they occur in your community?
2. How do the arts exist in your family celebrations and daily life?
3. What are familiar cultural events?
4. Why is it impossible to separate art from culture?

Relevance & Application:

1. The arts bring families and communities together to share, explain, and celebrate traditions.
2. Cultural fairs and events express specific customs, protocols, and understandings that should be respected.
3. Rites of passage that often are captured through the arts provide ways for cultures to classify maturity, social acceptance, and leadership.
4. Art such as magazine covers and poster designs often marks the passage of time, style, and norms.

Nature Of:

1. Art is present in many different types of cultural representations.
2. Art is an integral part of cultural events, rituals, and ceremonies.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Transfer the value of visual arts to lifelong learning and the human experience
• Explain, compare and justify that the visual arts are connected to other disciplines, the other art forms, social activities, mass media, and careers in art and non-art related arenas

Concepts and skills students master:

3. Eco-art is a contemporary response to environmental issues

Evidence Outcomes21st Century Skill and Readiness CompetenciesStudents Can:

1. Use and discuss nature as a source of inspiration for works of art (DOK 1-2)
2. Use reclaimed and recycled materials to create works of art (DOK 1-3)
3. Discuss the motivation for works of art such as those by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Goldsworthy, and Smithson who use natural materials, the natural environment and earthscapes (DOK 1-3)
4. Discuss the motivation for works of art by artists such as Calder and Butterfield who use recycled and reclaimed materials (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

1. Who are artists who use recycled and reclaimed materials?
2. Why would an artist use recycled materials?
3. How does using reclaimed materials affect an artwork's value in material and aesthetic terms?
4. What are some benefits or disadvantages to an artist choosing to create art in a natural environmental setting rather than in a traditional art setting?

Relevance & Application:

1. Technological advances have created new types of environmental art.
2. Architects, public art planners, builders, and developers utilize processes that are fundamental to ecological art to inform decisions about new building designs and the purposes for structures and their environmental sustainability.

Nature Of:

1. Nature has been a source of artistic inspiration throughout history.
2. Art imitates nature, and now with the help of technology, nature is made into art.

]]>Thu, 22 Aug 2013 00:14:44 GMThttps://www.teachingartiststudio.com/blog/august-21st-2013What is good teaching?

Research at the Harvard School of Education, the National Academy of Sciences, and the University of Chicago, and reports by professional associations of educators in science, math, language arts, social studies, early childhood, and the National Board for Teaching Standards share common findings about teaching methods and learning theory. The research and reports distinguish good teaching from much of what happens in American schools. Good teaching fills classrooms with challenging, authentic, and collaborative work focused on deeper exploration of a smaller number of subjects. The characteristics of good teaching cluster in three categories:

 Good teaching is student centered. It starts with students’ interests and what they already know, offers them real challenges, choices and responsibilities, and features curriculum that connects, rather than fragmenting, ideas across subject areas.

 Good teaching is cognitive. Learning is the consequence of thinking and making work that demonstrates mastery of meaningful ideas and compelling problems. Good teaching employs the range of communicative media – including the arts – and makes student reflection a regular part of the learning experience.

 And good teaching is social. Students learn better together. The classroom is a community, and students are its citizens. Teachers nurture the community and provide intellectual, emotional, and social supports to students. (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000) (Perkins, 2010) (Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2005) (Smith, Lee, & Newman, 2001)

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