Art
Art
An education in the arts is an essential part of the academic curriculum of the Glen Ridge primary schools. It is important that our students learn to develop original ideas, increase their ability to solve problems, show motivation, and interact in partnerships, skills that are inherently learned through participation in the arts.
Art is a necessary component of our lives, a vital contributor to our learning. Art is basic to understanding. Art is academic. Art is communication that transcends the language barrier. Ability, effort, and achievement are inter-related.
In Kindergarten, students are introduced to creating and identifying objects in the environment that are visually pleasing and stimulating. They begin to become aware of differences and similarities as they apply to visual form. Basic art tools are used to interpret self in the world. The students experience combing basic geometric shapes. At this level, students gain a basic understanding of how an artist works, becoming aware of the ways in which an artist expresses ideas about self/others/people/places/events.
In Grade One, students develop an art vocabulary through experience/appreciation by highlighting symmetry, proportion, dimension, overlapping, angle, curve. They weigh conflicting ideas about art to achieve a personal cohesive viewpoint based on various subjects and expressions. They gain a wider experience of manipulating materials to build settings/atmospheres/environments that are real or imagined. Students develop an understanding of ways that people use art for a purpose in the community.
In Grade Two, students explore ways artists have used visual images to emotionally describe people and places. Areas of art education that will be responded to are asymmetry, contrast, design, positive/negative space, horizon. They will define and discover three-dimensionality through the use of varied building materials, developing the ability to translate familiar texture/pattern qualities into new visual forms. The students will identify ways that different artists represent the same subject, becoming aware of the ways in which artists put their unique stamp on their art.