This required semester long course introduces students to the elements and principles of the visual language. Students learn to recognize and apply these concepts through the practical use of a variety of media and techniques. The structure of this program will emphasize the traditional art disciplines of drawing, painting, printing, sculpture and a variety of crafts. IT (information technology) is also incorporated as part of a various projects, when appropriate. Projects will continually be linked to various periods in art history while recognizing how art relates to both the students lives and other cultures. Students also learn to critically compare and contrast the styles of various artists, both traditional and contemporary, as well as understand the asthethic value of the visual image.
This required a semester-long course serves as a follow-up program to the Visual Arts Six course. This program is similar to its predecessor in terms of content, however the students are provided with more challenging assignments, both practical and theoretical. Drawing on more developed technicals skills, together with maturing thinking and motor skills, students will explore the elements and principles of the visual language in greater depth, recognizing and applying these concepts through the practical use of a variety of techniques and media in a more sophisticated and challenging manner.
In this course students will have the opportunity to plan, develop and produce a story told through art. Working with words to create character is one talent; developing character through pictures is quite another. Students will learn about setting, conflict, and conflict resolution, all told through the magic of illustrations. This is a semester long course with a product assessment at the end.
The curriculum will include looking at responsible and informed research on the Internet, critical viewing of advertising in the media, and examining violence and gender biases in current entertainment (television, film, computer games).
In this course, students learn about all aspects of producing a yearbook. This relatively small class works closely as a team to learn about and partake in these various stages; photography,theme development, layout, the principle of design, use of Adobe Photoshop and Pagemaker programs, marketing and sales and the basics of the printing process. These students make decisions as a team, about the yearbook and the direction it will take for that year. Participating students experience a great sense of accomplishment and ownership of the finished book.
The arts course in the eight grade is designed to build on what the student has learned in the sixth and seventh grade art classes.
The course focuses on the four main visual arts disciplines of art making, art criticism, art history and aesthetics. This means that through the development of ideas in the artistic media the student will not only be learning about art media and techniques but will also learn about art from the perspective of an art historian, critic and philosopher.
The projects are designed in such a way that he/she is asked to question their own views about art and develope personal work based on their ideas, interests and preferences. Developing and recording ideas in the sketchbook is emphasized to a greater extent in the eight grade course as the student takes ideas, concepts and skills to a higher level.
In this course, students will be exploring a variety of art processes in conjunction with appropriate computer software programs to create original and contemporary works of art. There will be a strong emphasis on the study of the design principles and how ‘good’ design is essential when communicating with a mass audience.
Students will explore the media, how it influences our lives and how we, as designers can manipulate the media to convey visual messages. The art processes to be explored include drawing with a variety of media, painting, photography. The software used will be determined by the respective projects.
Students in this semester long course learn the fundamentals of web design. They examine principles of effective design and develop their own style. Students develop their own web sites and join the global web community as effective communicators using professional level web design software such as Macromedia Dreamweaver MX and Adobe Photoshop.
This semester long course teaches students to learn how to work as team to develop the Middle School Newspaper. Students writing skills and technology application will be combined to publish a variety of materials for the midlle school program.
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