• Course Description

    In each unit in fourth grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, fibers, and curation.

    Grade Level(s): Fourth Grade

    Related Priority Standards (State &/or National):  Missouri Fine Arts Standards

    Essential Questions

    • What do people show by how they choose to decorate the things they own?               
    • What does a community show by the art and design they emphasize?
    • How do artists use proportion to create a portrait?
    • How do the properties of fibers influence how artists use them?
    • What different effects can be created by adding fibers to an environment?
    • How does the collection and exhibitions of works of art create a mood, a commentary, or a conversation?
    • How can the choices a curator and an artist make increase people's engagement with and understanding of art?

    Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas

    • Art can be both decorative and functional.                                
    • People communicate important ideas about themselves in how they decorate the things they show the world. 
    • Communities communicate their values in the artwork and designs they emphasize.
    • Artists make choices about what to include and what to emphasize in an image to create a particular effect.
    • Working with the same materials as an artist will help you understand the choices they make in creating art.
    • Artists use proportion and facial mapping to layout facial features.
    • People make art out of whatever resources are abundant in their environment.
    • Fibers can be woven, knotted, connected, cut, and frayed in a variety of ways that create different structures and effects.
    • Fibers are used throughout our environments for decoration and functional use.
    • Artists and curators design the environments for displaying artwork by considering their goals and purposes. 
    • Artists and curators create displays to engage people and increase their understanding and appreciation of artworks.
    • Artists and curators create and contribute to the discussion of topics important to a community by gathering, selecting, and organizing works of art for display and commentary.

    Course-Level Scope & Sequence (Units &/or Skills)

    Unit 1 - Clay Coils and Forms

    • Students will view examples of functional and decorative clay artwork. They will make decisions about the purpose of their artwork and create a design that matches their decision. 
    • Students will learn specific tools and strategies to manipulate clay coils into a form. 
    • Students will apply characteristics of form like unity, form, and balance in describing their designs and responding to peers' artworks. 
    • Students will evaluate artworks using characteristics of form.

    Unit 2 - Portraits: Self-Portraits

    • Students will plan, draft, and revise self-portraits. 
    • Students will discuss how the images an artist chooses to represent themselves and the communities they belong to. 
    • Students will observe themselves, notice the visible elements of culture, and make choices about how to represent themselves in a self-portrait.

    Unit 3 - Fibers

    • Students will learn processes for using fibers like yarn, fabric, plant materials, cotton, paper, and ribbon to create and invent works of art. 
    • Students will find examples of fibers used functionally and decoratively in built environments.  
    • Students will explore how the physical and aesthetic properties of fibers influence how they are used and presented.

    Unit 4 - Museum: Major Museums, Terms, & Careers

    • Students will study a variety of museums and public art displays.
    • Students will develop a model or an actual display for specific works, considering all the design elements and roles.

    Course Resources & Materials: Art of Education, Flex Curriculum & Pro Learning

    Date Last Revised/Approved: 2022