Unit 1 — Creating
Description
Students develop an understanding of the elements and principles that govern the creation of works of visual and media arts. In media arts, students create visual representations that communicate, challenge, and express their own and others' ideas as both artist and audience. Students connect with multiple art movements, a variety of cultural art throughout history, and diverse artists. Through exposure to these works, students generate ideas for their own artistic creations. Students learn to brainstorm and curate ideas, set goals, investigate diverse approaches to art-making, develop technical skills, represent environments and objects of personal significance, and reflect on their choices through peer discussion and revision.
Essential Questions
- What conditions, attitudes, and behaviors support creativity and innovative thinking?
- How do artists work, determine effective directions, and learn from trial and error?
- How do artists and designers develop excellence through practice and constructive critique?
- What responsibilities come with the freedom to create?
Learning Objectives
- Brainstorm and curate ideas to innovatively problem solve during artmaking and design projects
- Set goals individually and collaboratively, investigate, choose, and demonstrate diverse approaches to art-making
- 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
- Represent environments or objects of personal significance through a process of peer discussion, revision, and refinement
- Reflect, refine, and revise work individually and collaboratively, discussing 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
Supplemental Resources
- Posters for visual reference and inspiration
- Chart paper for collaborative brainstorming and planning
- Markers and colored pencils for sketching and design work
- Index cards for idea generation and organization
- Graphic organizers for planning artistic investigations
Music - Creating
Media Arts - Creating
Students apply mathematical thinking and problem-solving strategies when creating artworks, measuring materials, analyzing proportions, and organizing visual elements using geometric principles and spatial reasoning.
Students engage in design thinking and engineering practices when creating artworks, investigating material properties, and solving visual problems through experimentation and iterative refinement.
Students develop visual literacy and communication skills by discussing artworks using formal vocabulary, writing about artistic intent and meaning, and engaging in collaborative conversations about aesthetic and cultural analysis.
Formative Assessments
- Teacher observation of students during art-making processes
- Peer discussion and feedback on work in progress
- Self-reflection on personal choices in artmaking
- Group brainstorming sessions with diverse perspectives
- Question and answer sessions about artistic decisions
Summative Assessment
Students complete tasks demonstrating understanding of elements and principles of art. Tasks include identifying elements and principles from various artworks and creating original work expressing personal response to creative problems. Artwork is assessed using rubrics or preferred summative assessment tools.
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through visual demonstration, hands-on experimentation with art materials, or one-on-one discussion with the teacher about their artistic choices and problem-solving process. Simplified checklists, visual reference guides, or reduced project scope may be provided to support goal-setting and skill development.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual supports such as labeled diagrams of the elements and principles of art to reference during independent work and peer discussion. Providing step-by-step visual sequences for multi-stage art-making processes can reduce cognitive load and support task completion. Teachers should offer flexible output options — including verbal explanation, gesture, or demonstration — so students can communicate their artistic choices without relying solely on written reflection. Breaking goal-setting and brainstorming into shorter, structured segments with frequent check-ins supports sustained engagement and helps students self-monitor their progress.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time to complete art-making tasks and written or verbal reflections, particularly during the revision and refinement stages of the creative process. Preferential seating near the demonstration area ensures full access to teacher modeling of techniques and material use. A reduced-distraction workspace may support students during independent brainstorming or focused art-making periods.
ELL / MLL
Teachers should provide visual references — such as picture-supported vocabulary cards featuring the elements and principles of art with examples — to support understanding of content-specific language throughout the unit. Directions for multi-step art-making processes should be given clearly and concisely, with visual step sequences posted for ongoing reference. Students should be encouraged to brainstorm and discuss their artistic ideas in their home language before expressing them in English, and peer grouping that supports language development is recommended during collaborative discussions.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting art-making tasks to students' personal environments and objects of significance provides meaningful entry points and helps build engagement with the creative process. Teachers can reduce complexity by initially focusing on one or two elements or principles at a time, allowing students to build confidence before encountering the full scope of the unit. Offering structured brainstorming supports — such as graphic organizers with prompts and visual examples — helps students generate and organize ideas in a low-pressure format before committing to an approach.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate early mastery of the elements and principles of art should be encouraged to investigate how those concepts function within a specific art movement or cultural tradition in greater depth, moving beyond identification toward critical analysis and interpretation. These students can be challenged to curate a more complex personal creative process — setting ambitious goals, experimenting with less familiar media, and articulating detailed artistic rationale during reflection discussions. Opportunities to take on leadership roles in collaborative brainstorming or peer feedback sessions allow gifted students to deepen their own thinking while contributing meaningfully to the learning community.