Montague Township School District
Visual Arts Curriculum Guide
Kindergarten
2025-2026
Melissa Neamand
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Description
This Grade K Media and Visual Arts curriculum introduces students to artistic creation, presentation, response, and connection across visual art and media arts disciplines. Students explore materials, ideas, and diverse artists to develop creative and critical thinking skills. The program is organized around four interconnected units—Creating, Producing/Presenting, Responding, and Connecting—that operate throughout the year. Students engage with multiple art movements, cultural traditions, and contemporary artists while building foundational skills in observation, experimentation, and reflection. The curriculum emphasizes the role of the arts in understanding self, community, and the world.
Big Ideas
- Creativity and innovative thinking are essential skills developed through exploration, experimentation, and constructive critique.
- Artists use a variety of materials, processes, and ideas to communicate meaning and express personal and cultural perspectives.
- Engagement with art develops aesthetic awareness, critical thinking, and deeper understanding of diverse cultures and historical periods.
- Art-making and art analysis connect to personal experiences, community life, and global contexts.
Essential Questions
- How do artists and designers generate ideas, develop creative processes, and refine their work?
- How are artworks selected, presented, and valued within communities and cultures?
- What can we learn about ourselves, others, and our world through analyzing and responding to art?
- How do personal experiences and cultural contexts shape artistic creation and meaning-making?
Music - Connecting
Music - Creating
Music - Performing
Music - Responding
Media Arts - Connecting
Media Arts - Creating
Media Arts - Presenting
Media Arts - Responding
Students engage in identifying elements and principles of art, counting and categorizing visual properties, and recognizing shapes and spatial relationships in artwork.
Students observe patterns in natural and constructed environments, investigate materials and their properties, and explore how design solutions work through experimentation with art materials and tools.
Students create art that tells stories about home, school, and community life, compare and contrast artwork from different cultures and time periods, and understand how art reflects societal values and beliefs.
Students discuss and describe artwork using visual arts vocabulary, ask and answer questions about artistic choices, and express ideas and responses through drawing, writing, and oral communication.
Students are assessed throughout the year using formative, summative, and alternative approaches. Formative assessments include group work, discussions, question-and-answer sessions, and observations during creation and analysis activities. Summative assessments involve student projects, presentations, and end-of-year art shows. Students complete transfer tasks that demonstrate their understanding of artistic elements, principles, and cultural contexts. Assessment emphasizes both the creative process and the finished work, with rubrics and critique serving as tools for objective evaluation.
| Unit | Formative | Summative | Benchmark | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Creating | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 02Producing/Presenting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03Responding | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 04Connecting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 4/4 | 4/4 | 2/2 | 4/4 |
| Unit | IEP | 504 | MLL | At-Risk | Gifted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Creating | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 02Producing/Presenting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03Responding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 04Connecting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 |