Prime 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
Goals and Content
A. Making
i. Painting
ii. Drawing
iii. Printmaking
iv. Collage/Mixed Media
v. Sculpture
vi. Design
B. Literacy
i. Look at and Discuss Artwork
ii. Visual Art Vocabulary
iii. Sharing with Others
C. Context
i. Recognize the social and cultural significance of art
ii. Connect art to other disciplines
iii. Exhibiting
Dance and Physical Education/Creative Movement
Goals and Content
A. Making
a. Developing Skills and Technique
i. Body parts
ii. Shapes
iii. Balance
iv. Loco movements
v. Control
vi. Range of dynamics
vii. Personal and General Space
viii. Levels
ix. Directions
x. Pathways
xi. Relation to others
B. Literacy
a. Terminology and Vocabulary
i. Respond to action words with movement
ii. Express basic elements of dance
iii. Name and demonstrate
C. Context
a. History
i. Folk Dance
b. Health and Wellness
i. Understand the value of a warm-up/cool-down
ii. Personal space = Safety and well-being
iii. Strength and Flexibility
iv. Breathing while moving
“ 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: Learn, sing and perform unison songs/games in English and Foreign languages.
ii. Playing: Play pitched and non-pitched instruments to discover and explore different timbres.
iii. Expressive movement and response: explore melodic and rhythmic patterns related to familiar songs through loco-motor movement. Articulate body parts, shapes an actions discovering personal space, balance, levels and directions and pathways. Understand the value of a warm-up and cool down.
iv. Improvise and create: Improvise simple songs or chants to accompany play activities and create a thematic soundscape to accompany a story.
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 and rounds.
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.
B. Literacy
a. General
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Listen to musical selections and respond through movement to change in tempo, meter, dynamics and styles.
ii. Listen Critically/Analyze works: Distinguish between the steady pulse and rhythmic patterns of familiar songs. Recognize and identify timbre of instruments.
iii. Musical notation: Read and perform a simple rhythmic pattern using quarter notes, half notes and quarter rests.
iv. Vocabulary: Develop and use descriptive vocabulary of comparatives in music.
b. Choral
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Experiment with contrasting dynamics.
ii. Listen critically/Analyze works: Listen to performances of choral ensembles.
c. Instrumental
i. Respond imaginatively to expressive quality: Listen to instrumental selections and respond imaginatively through movement.
ii. Listen Critically/Analyze works: Distinguish between steady pulse and rhythmic patterns.
iii. 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.
ii. Apply musical concepts and skills: be able to discuss the relevance of certain concepts and skills.
b. Choral
i. Understand the role of music: Explore the text of musical selections. E.G. Music is organized into phrases. Phrases can be the same or different. Identify songs that help us celebrate holidays, seasons, etc.
ii. Apply musical concepts and skills: Discuss relevance of certain concepts and skills.
