The Art Program at St. James Regional has been designed to adhere to Archdiocesan Curriculum Standards and Guidelines with the goal of developing and nurturing the creative potential and artistic skill set of each student. An Art History component is attached to many of the Art lessons throughout the year to add greater depth and enrich learning. In addition to Art History, correlations to other academic areas are frequently made via the implementation of STREAM lessons which involve a collaboration and partnership with other teachers across grade levels. I often make connections to Math, Science, ELA, and Religion during my Art lessons to help integrate learning and enhance each student's understanding of a particular topic.
Listed below is an overview of the Art year spanning Grades K through 8:
GRADE K
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Line as an art element, Shape, Pattern, Symmetry, Printmaking, Introduction to Primary Colors, Color-Mixing
MEET THE ARTIST:
Various Children's Book Illustrators, Prehistoric Artists
MEET THE CULTURE:
Prehistoric Art/Cave Paintings
GRADE 1
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Line as an art element, Shape, Pattern, Symmetry, Introduction to Primary Colors, Warm Colors, Cool Colors
MEET THE ARTIST:
Children's Book Illustrators Crockett Johnson & Ed Emberley
MEET THE CULTURE:
Ancient Egyptian Portraits, Classical Greek Vase Paintings, Classical Greek Architecture
GRADE 2
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Line, Pattern, Shape, Primary & Secondary Colors, Warm & Cool Colors, Still Life, Symbols, Heraldry & Medieval Shields, Knights in Armor, Tapestry, Castles, Landscapes, Medieval Churches/Architecture, Religious Art
MEET THE ARTIST:
Paul Cezanne
MEET THE CULTURE:
Early Christian Art, European Art of the Middle Ages
GRADE 3
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Line, Pattern, Shape, Color Wheel, Primary & Secondary Colors, Warm & Cool Colors, Still Life, Subject, Background, Composition, Negative-Positive Space, Symmetry, Shades & Tints, Symbols, Sculpture, African Masks, Native American Totem Poles
MEET THE ARTIST:
Native American wood carvers, African Mask-makers
MEET THE CULTURE:
Native American Art, African Art
GRADE 4
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Creative Lettering, Pattern, Warm & Cool Colors, Color Wheel, Primary & Secondary Colors, Silhouettes, Subject, Negative-Positive Space, Composition, Pointillism, Landscape, Ground Line, Spatial Perspective, Background, Middle Ground, Foreground, Portraits, Proportion, Light & Shadow, Shading, Value, Texture
MEET THE ARTIST:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Georges Seurat, Leonardo da Vinci (Mona Lisa), John Copley, Charles Wilson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, Grant Wood
MEET THE CULTURE:
Classical Art of Greece & Rome, Renaissance Art, American Neoclassicism
GRADE 5
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Advertising in Art (Commercial Art), Slogans, Thumbnail Sketches, The 5 Steps of Creating & Publishing a Card Design, Typography, Font, Calligraphy, Illuminated Manuscripts, Pattern, Contrast, Composition, Shades & Tints, Symbols, Personification, Watercolor Techniques, Mosaics
MEET THE ARTIST:
5th & 6th Century Mosaic Artists from Italy, 12th Century Monks
MEET THE CULTURE:
Early Christian Art, The importance of 12th Century Monks in recording and teaching history (Book of Kells)
GRADE 6
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Human Figure Drawing, Gesture Drawing, Action Lines, Proportion, Caricatures, Form, Sculpture, Critique
MEET THE ARTIST:
Michelangelo, El Greco, Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin, Alberto Giacometti, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Nast
MEET THE CULTURE:
Classical Greek & Roman Figures vs. Modern depictions of the human figure, Political cartoons
GRADE 7
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Spatial & Linear Perspective, Horizon Line, Vanishing Point, Optical Art, Tessellations, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Texture, Contrast, 20th/21st Century Architecture, Skyscrapers
MEET THE ARTIST:
Leonardo da Vinci (The Last Supper), Claude Monet, Bridget Riley, M.C. Escher
MEET THE CULTURE
Modern Art
GRADE 8
ART THEMES & TERMS:
Linear Perspective, Horizon Line, Vanishing Point, Shading, Value, Contrast, Symbolism in Art, Expressionism, Abstract Art, Pop Art, Portraits, Complementary Colors
MEET THE ARTIST:
Stonehenge builders, Edvard Munch, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol
MEET THE CULTURE:
Modern Art
