Round Valley Arts Curriculum

FIRST GRADE ART

I. ARTISTIC PERCEPTION AND RESPONSE

Students become aware of visual and tactile properties of artworks and other objects in their environment. As their own experiences with media increase, and as they look at art created by themselves and others, including professional artists, they see and talk about:

1. lines, shapes, colors, texture, patterns, and space in works of art and in the environment,

2. lines, shapes, and colors that are repeated in works of art,

3. textural and experience qualities of artworks, such as rough and smooth.

Additional awareness develops through experiences such as:

1. free choice, painting, either on an easel or in an art work center,

2. group work on murals,

3. drawings or painting out of doors,

4. constructing with blocks, legos, etc.,

5. visualizing pictures in their minds as they listen to songs, dreams, poems, music, and stories.

Students will be exposed to these terms:

background	drawing	imaginative	museum
cool colors	fantasy	line	painting
curved	foreground	middleground	primary colors
design	illustration	mural	smooth
straight	thin	weaving	warm colors
stripes	thick	zigzag	textures

II. CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Students create art based on their imaginations and on places, activities, and situations they know. They explore with media and solve artistic problems as they develop basic skills.

Drawing	crayon, pencil, felt pen, and other media draw lines with many varied widths and lengths draw lines that are curved and straight create textures that are rough and smooth draw people with body, head, arms, legs, feet, hands, hair, clothing illustrate a story
Painting	tempera paint, fingerpaint wet paint on dry paper wet paint on wet paper
Color	primary colors, secondary colors
Printmaking	found objects (gadget, leaf, sponge, fingers)
Folding	even halves; fourths; crumpling
Cutting	more than one thickness; with and without lines
Tearing	repeated, similar shapes
Designing	repeat designs: single lines and shapes, regular and irregular repetitions with letters and numbers as shapes
Construction	with construction paper; with found materials and glue
Puppets	paper bag and shadow puppets
Modeling	clay or dough; texture; pinch techniques
Fastening	use of paste, glue, and tape
Weaving	with paper

III. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT

Students continue to learn about types of art. They learn that artists can influence others through their art. Through looking at art, listening, and talking, they:

1. become familiar with fantasy in art,

2. continue to broaden their awareness of illustrations as an art form (based on core literature series),

3. become acquainted with lives and works by these artists, or others who demonstrate the above themes.

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) A French painter who never went to school to study art, but began painting as a hobby when he was 40 years old. His style of painting is called Primitive because it has a directness and innocence associated with art from primitive cultures. Rousseau produced an art of dreams and fantasy in which you will see gypsies, lions, jungles, deserts, and people in exotic settings. He is known as one of the greatest untaught primitive painters.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) A highly popular and influential artist. Born in Russia, the son of a Jewish merchant, he spent most of his life in Paris. Both Paris and his Russian-Jewish background provided a lasting influence on his art. Chagall's early work was influenced by Cubism, and during this period he was closely associated with Delaunay and Modigliani. Then his personal style developed, characterized by poetic subject matter, fantasy, and rich color. The influence of his Jewish heritage wove a spiritual, mystical pattern through his art that, along with his fanciful juxtapositions, has led some critics to call him a forerunner of the Surrealists. In later years, Chagall employed his religious motifs in graphic arts, designs for opera and ballet, and ceramics and stained-glass windows. These works bought him a vast international following, exceeded only by Picasso's.

Elsie Allen (1899-1990) was born near Santa Rosa, California and as a child learned Pomo basketweaving from her mother, Annie Burke, and her aunt Susie Billy. Her mother, an accomplished basketweaver, feared that Pomo basketry would disappear, and asked Elsie to save her baskets after her death, breaking the Pomo tradition of burying a basketweaver with her baskets. Elsie Allen did so and expanded her mother's basket collection, both creating and acquiring work of other Pomo basket artists, often members of her extended family. She also continued her mother's practice of showing the collection at fairs and community events to educate the public about Pomo artistry.

Pomo basketmaking consists of more than actual creation , as the materials, willow, sedge, and other reeds, must be collected, worked, and dried for up to three years. This calls for a long learning process and is more a way of life than an interest. Like her mother, Elsie Allen was determined that Pomo basketmaking be kept alive. She wrote a book Pomo Basketweaving: A Supreme Art for the Weaver, and broke another tradition in order to maintain it. She began teaching interested whites Pomo basketweaving techniques, which caused controversy, but ultimately led to increased recognition of Pomo basketry and Elsie Allen herself. One of her students was her niece, Susan Billy, grandaughter of Susie Billy, who had taught Elsie to make feathered baskets. Susan Billy continues her family's tradition of creating Pomo baskets and educating all interested in the artistry involved

IV. AESTHETIC VALUING

Students reflect on experiences with works of art and feel free to express their preferences, talking about:

1. (Knowledge) Which kind of art form is this? (painting, drawing, sculpture)

2. (Comprehension) What do you see in this art work? (subject matter)

3. (Application) What do you see first when you look at this art work?

4. (Analysis) What do you see first when you look at this object/painting?

5. (Synthesis) What could you add or change in this art work?

6. (Evaluation) Where would you put this in your home? Why?

V. CONNECTIONS, RELATIONS, APPLICATIONS

Students can connect, relate, and apply various types of arts knowledge and skills within the art form, across the arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre and visual arts), and with disciplines outside of the arts.

Links | Arts Alive! | Curriculum