Junior The Arts

Philosophy

A constructivist approach to teaching
is a “best practice” for learning
in the arts:

“[A] constructivist approach to teaching and learning argues that the goal of teaching is students’ understanding and that students construct knowledge, not simply reproduce it through memorization, recall, or routinized application.” (Sydney Walker)

This method of teaching is particularly applicable to education in the arts, as well as to the unique needs of gifted students.  The Arts Department of The Sage School is committed to utilizing this approach in planning for a year’s curriculum, varying curriculum as students’ needs unfold, and in the very nature of interaction between and among students and instructors. 

We believe:
a. All children deserve, can succeed in, and benefit from sequential education in music, visual art, dance, and theater
b. Our approach is intended to equip the child with lifelong habits/skills of arts appreciation
c. Arts participation teaches habits of mind that apply to all subject areas
d. Arts are particularly important for gifted students, in that the “right” answer is different for each individual, and must be discovered
e. The arts classrooms are social and cultural environments where the development of social and collaborative skills are important
f. Negotiating the process is much more important than the appearance of the product
g. The most important outcome is the growth in ability to construct, express, and share meaning

Visual Arts

A. Making
i. Painting
ii. Drawing
iii. Printmaking
iv. Collage/Mixed Media
v. Sculpture
vi. Design
vii. Technology

B. Literacy
i. Look at and Discuss Artwork
ii. Visual Art Vocabulary
iii. Read and write about art
iv. Sharing with others
v. Apply understandings

C. Context
i. Recognize the social, cultural, and historical significance of art
ii. Connect art to other disciplines
iii. Awareness of art-related institutions
iv. Approach contemporary art

Dance

Goals and Content

A. Making
a. Developing Skills and Technique
i. Demonstrate flex, extend and rotate swing bend and twist
ii. Balance
iii. Loco movements-changing shapes, dynamics and pathways
iv. Weight shifts, transition and flow
v. Basic Partner Skills

b. Improvise
i. Collaborate on improvisation
ii. Invent solutions to movement patterns
iii. Symmetric and asymmetric shapes
iv. Traveling actions
v. Contrasting dynamics
vi. Combine and layer elements
vii. Work alone or in groups- being aware of self in groups
viii. Respond to music

c. Choreography
i. Select themes, discuss, and plan
ii. Develop movement in collaboration with peers, partners, and small groups
iii. Create short dances
iv. Incorporate- beginning, middle, and end
v. Use unison movements In different directions and special patterns
vi. Choreograph structure- ABA, Cannon, Theme, Rondo, Retrograde
vii. Rehearse, evaluate, revise, and edit- with peers

d. Perform
i. Reproduce
ii. Multiple parts
iii. Entrance/Exit
iv. Dance with focus and intent
v. Dance with a range of expressive qualities
vi. Work in SILANCE or TEXT
vii. Self awareness and awareness of audience
viii. Dance with sensitivity to an ensemble
ix. Improve performance through repetition and correction
x. Stage directions
xi. Appropriate behavior in rehearsal and performance

B. Literacy
a. Dance as means of expression and communication
i. Story vs theme
ii. Movement components and effects
iii. Combining dance elements/body parts = meaning
iv. Stage areas
v. Music and Rhythm

b. Vocabulary and Symbols
i. Contrast words
ii. Contrast action words
iii. General dance concepts
iv. Styles, genres, artists…
v. Choreographic devices
vi. Motif
vii. Stage directions
viii. Muscles and bones

c. Analyze
i. Vocabulary
ii. Recognize style and genre
iii. Infer design and images that support
iv. Describe music/no music, costume choice
v. Personal reactions
vi. Verbal and written

d. Identify and compare styles and works
i. Use dance language to compare and contrast
ii. Identify elements related to own dance
iii. Recognize major works

C. Context
a. Dance history/social dance
i. Different dance genres- ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hip hop
ii. Cultural dance styles- Irish, African, Japanese, Folk, Spanish, Mexican
iii. Major choreographers and dancers such as- Balanchine, Aliey, Taylor, Graham, Fosse

b. Connections to other Arts and Subjects
i. Recognize the intersections of the “arts world”
ii. Identify themes such as cannon, pattern and repetition

c. Technology
i. Introduction to dance notation programs such as Labarwriter
ii. Watch recorded images of student work

d. Health and Well-being
i. Understand basic body parts and the key idea that the body is a dancers instrument
ii. The value of a warm-up
iii. Strength and Flexibility
iv. Personal and general space

e. Career Awareness
i. Know the many areas of a dance career: such as choreographer, dancer, notator, dance critic.

f. Engage with community (field trips, visiting artists)
i. Attend theatrical and dance events
ii. Participate in on-campus visiting artist workshops

“ If all children in every school from their entrance until graduation…were given the opportunity to experience dance as a creative art, and if their dancing kept pace with their developing physical, mental, and spiritual needs, the enrichment of their adult life might reach beyond any results we can now contemplate.”
~ Margaret N. H’Doubler


Music

A. Making
a. General
i. Singing: Sing alone and with others: unison, rounds and partner songs.
ii. Playing: Play traditional and non-traditional instruments to recognize different pitches and timbres.
iii. Expressive movement and response: Demonstrate through movements rhythms and patterns related to walking, jogging, running and skipping.
iv. Improvise and create: Create a soundscape based on a story, attempting to capture its essence.

b. Choral
i. Production: Vocalize using warm-ups and exercises that reinforce such areas as musical expression, pitch, breathing and vocal range.
ii. Ensemble: Perform choral pieces in English and foreign languages, developing cultural context. Sing unison songs, rounds and two part songs.
iii. Improvise/Create: Use poetry or lyrics created to develop musical compositions that could be performed.

c. Instrumental
i. Technique: Develop instrumental technique through group exercises including realization of rhythm and dynamics.
ii. Ensemble: Perform with attention to dynamics, rhythm, and other expressive elements. Participate in an instrumental ensemble.
iii. Improvise and create: Develop a strong grasp on call and response method.

B. Literacy
a. General
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Listen to musical selections and discuss the feelings evoked.
ii. Listen Critically/Analyze works: Discuss how composers use dynamics, tempo and instrumentation to tell a story in a piece of program music.
iii. Musical notation: Recognize, identify and notate the pitches of the treble staff. Sight sing melodies using whole, half and quarter notes, including their corresponding rests.
iv. Vocabulary: Develop and use descriptive vocabulary of comparatives in music such as melodic structure and phrasing.

b. Choral
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Experiment  with contrasting dynamics.
ii. Listen critically/Analyze works: Listen to performances of choral ensembles, with attention to tone quality, sense of ensemble and voicing.
iii. Musical Notation: Sight-sing a simple melody which incorporates stepwise motion, ascending and descending intervals.
iv. Vocabulary: Examine a piece of choral music with attention to pitch, dynamics, meter and rhythm.

c. Instrumental
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Listen to instrumental selections and respond imaginatively through movement. Experiment with contrasting dynamics.
ii.Listen Critically/Analyze works: Listen to a short instrumental excerpt and use appropriate terminology to describe tempo and dynamics.
iii. Musical Notation: Be able to identify visually the pitches of the C Major scale on the treble clef.
iv. Vocabulary: Pitch, dynamics, form and timbre.

C. Context
a. General
i. Understand the role of music: Articulate how the musical setting affects the feeling of a story: melody, texture and culture. Understand call and response, use of rhythmic pulse and improvisation. Listen to songs from a variety of cultural heritages and historical periods. E.g. While learning “Swing low, Sweet chariot”, examine the role and function of spirituals during the time of slavery in the United States. Discuss the indigenous musical characteristics that inform the performance of spirituals such as: Call and response, use of rhythmic pulse, and improvisation.
ii. Apply musical concepts and skills: be able to discuss the relevance of certain concepts and skills. Be able to understand ABA, Rondo and Binary forms. Identify phrases as same/different. Use theme and variations, introduction, first and second endings. Learn about the impact of spirituals on the development of American music to the present.

b. Choral
i. Understand the role of music: Explore universal qualities of lullabies in diverse cultures.
ii. Apply musical concepts and skills: Discuss relevance of certain concepts and skills with regard to texture, expressive elements and personal response.