Unit 1 — Creating
Description
Students demonstrate understanding of elements and principles that govern the creation of visual and media arts. In Media Arts, students create visual representations using imagination and creative processes to communicate, challenge, and express ideas as both artist and audience. Students explore multiple art movements, cultural art throughout history, and diverse artists. In Visual Arts, students experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, and art-making approaches while balancing experimentation with safety and responsibility. The unit emphasizes that creativity is an essential skill developed through practice, innovation, and constructive reflection on work.
Essential Questions
- How do media artists generate ideas and formulate artistic intent, and how does collaboration affect the creative process?
- What conditions, attitudes, and behaviors support creativity and innovative thinking in art-making?
- How do artists learn from trial and error to improve their work?
- What role does persistence play in revising, refining, and developing artwork?
Learning Objectives
- Brainstorm and curate ideas to innovatively problem solve during artmaking and design projects.
- Individually and collaboratively set goals and choose diverse approaches to art-making that is meaningful.
- Experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making techniques and approaches through invention and practice.
- Demonstrate craftsmanship through safe and respectful use of materials, tools, and equipment.
- Individually and collaboratively represent environments or objects of personal significance through a process of peer discussion, revision, and refinement.
- Reflect, refine, and revise work individually and collaboratively, and discuss personal choices in artmaking.
- Generate ideas for media artwork using a variety of tools, methods, and materials.
- Collaboratively form ideas, plans, and models to prepare for media artwork and identify goals for a media art audience.
- Construct and arrange various content into unified and expressive media arts productions.
- Describe and apply principles such as movement, balance, contrast, and emphasis in media artworks.
Supplemental Resources
- Chart paper for collaborative brainstorming and planning for media artwork.
- Markers and colored pencils for sketching ideas and plans.
- Index cards for recording and organizing brainstorming notes.
- Printed images or photographs as visual inspiration and reference materials for artmaking.
Music - Creating
Media Arts - Creating
Students apply mathematical thinking and measurement concepts when designing and analyzing visual and media artworks, including use of geometric shapes, symmetry, patterns, and spatial reasoning to create compositions.
Students engage in scientific inquiry and design thinking processes when creating media and visual artworks, including observing patterns in nature, planning investigations, and testing solutions to design problems.
Students develop communication skills by discussing and describing artworks using formal and conceptual vocabulary, engaging in collaborative critiques, and writing reflections about artistic choices and cultural connections.
Formative Assessments
- Teacher observation of creative process and problem-solving strategies during art-making.
- Group discussions and peer feedback on emerging artworks and artistic choices.
- Student self-reflection on personal goals, choices, and revisions made during artmaking.
- Classroom discussions about how artists work and the roles of experimentation and safety in art creation.
Summative Assessment
Students apply skills and knowledge through collaborative and individual tasks. Media Arts: Students collaborate to generate ideas for media artwork using a variety of tools, methods, and materials, brainstorming with peers to create plans and models. Artwork assessed using digital rubric on learning management system. Visual Arts: Students complete tasks demonstrating understanding of elements and principles of art by identifying these components in artworks and creating original work employing elements and principles to express personal responses to creative problems. Artwork assessed using rubric or preferred summative assessment.
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through hands-on creation of artwork using adapted materials or simplified techniques that focus on one or two elements of art rather than multiple elements. Teacher-led conferences or recorded verbal explanations of artistic choices may substitute for written reflections or group discussions.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual supports such as step-by-step process charts, labeled examples of art elements and principles, and models of finished or in-progress work to support understanding during art-making. Teachers should offer flexible output modes — allowing students to express ideas through drawing, verbal explanation, or gesture rather than written reflection alone. Extended time for project completion and frequent check-ins during the creative process help students stay on track and build craftsmanship at their own pace. Breaking multi-step art-making tasks into smaller, clearly sequenced parts supports students in managing materials safely and responsibly.
Section 504
Students should be provided with preferential seating at shared work tables to minimize distraction during collaborative planning and hands-on art-making activities. Extended time for completing visual art projects and media arts planning tasks ensures students can demonstrate their understanding without time pressure. Clear, printed or visual directions for material use and safety procedures support consistent access throughout the unit.
ELL / MLL
Visual vocabulary supports — such as a word wall or illustrated reference card featuring key art terms like balance, contrast, emphasis, and movement — help students engage with the conceptual language of this unit. Teachers should pair verbal instructions with visual demonstrations when introducing new materials, tools, or art-making approaches, and allow students to discuss ideas with a partner in their home language before sharing with the group. Simplified, clearly sequenced directions for art-making steps support comprehension and independence during both individual and collaborative tasks.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting art-making prompts to students' personal environments, objects, or cultural experiences provides meaningful entry points into creative problem-solving and lowers barriers to participation. Teachers can offer partially completed planning templates or concept starters to help students organize ideas before beginning a project, reducing cognitive overload while maintaining creative agency. Focusing on one art element or principle at a time — with concrete visual examples — allows students to build confidence and craftsmanship through manageable, achievable steps.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate early mastery of art elements and principles should be encouraged to investigate how specific art movements or historical cultural traditions have applied those principles in complex or unexpected ways, deepening their contextual understanding. In media arts tasks, these students can take on expanded design challenges — such as developing a concept that intentionally subverts a principle like balance or emphasis — and articulate their reasoning through written or oral critique. Opportunities for peer mentorship during collaborative planning and revision discussions allow gifted students to develop leadership and communication skills while contributing meaningfully to the group's creative process.