I am sending this packet home to you to review at your leisure to insure that everyone in the Central School community learns about the curriculum and standards in the area of the Visual Arts. This packet includes our district’s Philosophy and Content Standards in the Visual Arts. We have been working as a department to align the National Standards for Arts Education with the Vermont Framework and our Visual Arts Curriculum. There are Learning Expectations under each of the seven standards that are grouped for K-2 and grades 3-5 students. This curriculum was adopted by the South Burlington School Board.

        Assessment is performance based and to document that we utilize a portfolio system. All students at Central School are now using a view binder as their Visual Arts portfolio. These binders were originally purchased through a variety of grants, and now our PTO provides them for incoming students. This portfolio houses art work that correlates to the seven standards. Each year students will do a benchmark drawing that includes a person/people in motion and an animal(s) in a scene/landscape. We also do a self-portrait after discussing lines, shapes, and textures of our face. These two drawings go into our portfolio as a means of assessing where students are as to fine motor and observation skills as well as spatial relations and problem solving. Throughout the year assignments specific to the standards are also placed into our portfolios. These assignments cover the elements and principles of Art and Design, various techniques such as collage, the study of history and various cultures, and show the relationship between Art and other curriculum areas.

        For the last few years, students in grades three through five have been doing a mid year and year end assessment where they select one piece they feel they did well on and one they would like to have the opportunity to do again. Students are asked to assess their own work as it relates to craftsmanship, originality, and impact as well as their work habits. Students also have the option of writing comments about their art work and how well they had done. Their written comments are very insightful and help formulate their progress report. Classes will be doing more in the area of critique ... learning to question their own choices and observing various styles and methods. At the primary level, critiques take on the feel of "show and tell" as students share their work with classmates. Always ask your child about their work. You will be amazed at the stories that their work will tell!

        Our classes are off to a terrific start! We are currently completing portfolio assignments and creating our Art Envelopes for use in storing our work in progress. During our first class, we discussed what expectations the students had for our time together in Art. We arrived at similar conclusions ... respect for our self, each other, the Art Room and materials we use. They discussed productive use of our Art time, the value of positive comments, and the need to always try to do our best while enjoying what we are learning. These student expectations closely mirror Standard #1.

WELCOME BACK
The school year has started much like where it left off. Students have settled into our daily routine and it often feels like summer was a mere few days. We have been very busy doing portfolio assignments, and creating envelopes to organize our work on a daily basis. We have also being working on a special PTO fundraiser that you will be hearing about soon. Some of these assignments relate to our Connections Standard and will become the covers of our portfolios.

  SCHEDULE 
Our schedule this year is a Monday to Friday schedule so it should be easy for you and your students to know which day is Art day. Our schedule is as follows: Monday classes are Mrs. Potash, Mrs. Pennington/Ms. McLean, Miss Bremer, Mrs. Gulizio and Mrs. Bliss; Tuesday classes are Mrs. Petersen, Mrs. Parmelee, Miss Lindemann, Mrs. Bailey, and Mrs. Agne; Wednesday classes are Miss Gilfoil, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Farnham, Mrs. Belisle, and Mrs. Smith; Thursday classes are Community Service, Mr. Brakeley, Mrs. Caruso, Mrs. Weaver and Adaptive; and Friday classes are Mrs. Kulhowvick, Miss Dattilio, Mrs. Pecor, and Mrs. Baker/Mrs. Dollard.              

Projects vary and some are messier than others, so it’s always wise to have students wear washable clothes to class. We order so-called “washable” paint but I am finding that even some of these stain, especially the watercolors. Students are required to wear smocks when we paint, do clay or paper mache but accidents happen and it’s best to be prepared. If you want to send in a smock for your child’s own use, please label it and it can be kept in their class cubby here in the Art Room.

ARTIST OF THE MONTH 
We have had an Artist of the Month display area here at Central School for a number of years now. This bulletin board is located in the hall way outside the Main Office. Each month students are invited to submit art work that they would like to have displayed there. The criteria for work is originality, presentation, and execution. They need to submit more than one piece. Work may be from their classroom, the Art Room, or home. Any media is accepted. Students drop their work off in the basket by the Art Room or give it to their classroom teacher or to me. Everyone is invited to participate. We have displayed adult art work in the past as well so if you and/or your child is interested just start working and bring it in!

COMMUNITY SERVICE 
 Our fifth graders have begun a community service project. I have enlisted their help in hanging up and taking down our Art work in the hallways and in the cafeteria. These fifth graders are a tremendous help with displaying the Art work we generate. They have also made storage envelopes for our Kindergarten and first grade students to keep their work in and have helped with the Artist of the Month display area. We also hope to enlist their help with painting life-size action figures in the gymnasium. Mr. Day liked our paper dancers last year and asked us for figures that are participating in a variety of sports and leisure time activites.

WANTED                                                                                                                    
We are in need of more smocks for our messy projects. We have enough for a class but teachers often borrow them and if some become wet, students in the next class are reluctant to wear them. So more is always better! Old shirts work great, so if you are cleaning out closets and drawers please consider donating them to the Art Room. Thanks.

  SUMMER T’s
Hope you have had a chance to look at some of the art displays currently hanging up in hallways and in the cafeteria. These were done by our students at the end of last year. They left them here so we could hang them up for the beginning of the school year. Look around and check out “Summer T’s,” “Hair-Raising”, an assignment on line; and “Little People.”

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Send questions or comments to pmccarthy@sbschools.net