MADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Grade 6 Art (Cycle Course)
Authored by: Kate Gebstaedt
Reviewed by: Dr. Barbara Sargent
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
Board of Education approval: July 2008
Members of the Board of Education:
Dr. Richard Noonan, Superintendent
Lisa Ellis, President
Patrick Rowe, Vice-President
David Arthur
Kevin Blair
Linda Gilbert
Shade Grahling
George Martin
James Novotny
Madison Public Schools
359 Woodland Road, Madison, NJ 07940
www.madisonpublicschools.org
I. OVERVIEW
Grade 6 Art is a required semester-long art program designed to build a transition from elementary school
art to the early adolescent art of the Junior School. Drawing, painting, printing, and sculpting are
presented, and students are exposed to a wide variety of media. Classroom time is devoted to hands-on
art production in a serious studio setting, with occasional references to art history woven in. And
although each assignment is evaluated and graded, students are encouraged to embrace the concept of
personal self-expression as they create art.
II. RATIONALE
Art is particularly pertinent to students entering a new and rigorous school environment. Grade 6 Art
provides students a challenging art content tempered by a studio atmosphere that stresses heavy use of
fine motor skills, stimulation of the imagination, exploration of emotions, and development of both
pleasure and pride in producing art. Art assignments are displayed on a regular basis for the school
community to view and admire, and this further fosters student self-confidence in a new school setting.
III. STUDENT OUTCOMES (Linked to New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards)
1. Students will recognize and employ line as a basic unit of drawing. (Standards 1.1, 1.3, 1.5)
2. Students will make use of overlapping line to produce depth in a drawing. (Standards 1.5)
3. Students will become aware of the way the body compensates for a lack of vision while drawing.
(Standards 1.2)
4. Students will know the difference between flat shapes and three-dimensional forms. (Standards 1.1,
1.2)
5. Students will recognize, name, and draw three-dimensional forms: sphere, cylinder, cube, pyramid,
rectangular prism. (Standards 1.1, 1.2)
6. Students will create form in a drawing by adding value or shading, and by taking value away with an
eraser. (Standard 1.5)
7. Students will memorize color wheel order and know color wheel vocabulary. (Standards 1.1, 1.3)
8. Students will create designs that are symmetrical in both design and color. (Standards 1.2, 1.3, 1.5)
9. Students will master the ability to mix shades and tints of colors. (Standards 1.1, 1.2)
10. Students will learn to use non-traditional tools with which to paint and print. (Standards 1.5)
11. Students will paint landscapes with horizon lines, foregrounds, mid-grounds, and backgrounds.
(Standards 1.4)
12. Students will construct a relief sculpture. (Standards 1.2, 1.5)
13. Students will recognize the importance of using reference material in producing art. (Standards 1.1,
1.4, 1.5)
14. Students will embrace the concept of “mixed-media” to enliven their art. (Standards 1.4, 1.5)
15. Students will consider the concept of “found objects” as a legitimate sculptural medium. (Standards
1.1, 1.5)
IV. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS AND CONTENT
Unit 1: Drawing Warm-Ups (2 – 3 weeks)
Obj. 1: Produce lively and fluid drawings solely using line.
QUESTION: How does the student artist capture the power of line in a contour drawing?
Suggested Activities:
A. Elevator Game – Students create depth in a line drawing by overlapping drawings of
characters riding in a crowded elevator car. (Sharpie marker on white paper)
B. Drawing “Blind” – Students are instructed to draw everyday object (e.g., a blender) with
their eyes shut, using one continuous contour or outline. (Crayon on construction paper)
C. Alphabeast – Students design a beast or monster that incorporates one letter of the
alphabet using just line. (Thin sharpie on white paper)
Obj. 2: Add and eliminate value to and from a drawing in order to create the illusion of three
dimensions.
QUESTION: How does the student artist communicate “form” in a drawing?
Suggested Activities:
A. Charcoal Bunnies – Students use gum erasers as drawing tools to create form and volume
when drawing stuffed rabbit toys from observation. (Charcoal and erasers on neutraltoned construction paper)
B. 3-D Form Creatures – Students “build” a creature using simple three-dimensional forms,
incorporating shading to make creatures look 3-D. (Charcoal and stumps on large colored
construction paper)
Unit 2: Color Conventions (4 - 5 weeks)
Obj. 1: Identify and use basic color wheel vocabulary: primary, secondary, complementary,
analogous, warm, and cool.
QUESTION: How does the student artist use color wheel theory to achieve color harmony?
Suggested Activities:
A. Leaf Kaleidoscope – Students use leaf shapes to create circular and symmetrical design
in color wheel order. (Pencil, tracing paper, large square white paper, craypas, tempera
paint)
B. Starburst Quilt – Students use set quilt pattern and color wheel theory to cut and paste a
paper quilt in a starburst design. (Pencil, oaktag pattern, large colored construction paper,
patterned paper, glue)
C. Islamic Circle Designs – Students use Islamic circle motif to create intricate symmetrical
design. (Circle patterns, pencil, ruler, acetate, sharpie markers, permanent marker color
sets)
D. Rose Window – Students use heavy gauge foil to design rose window relief that is
symmetrical in design and color. (Tracing paper, pencil, foil squares, felt for cushion, ball
point pen, permanent marker color sets)
Obj. 2: Paint shades and tints of colors using black and white paint in appropriate amounts to create a
color value scale.
QUESTION: How does the student artist use black and white paint to achieve value with color?
Suggested Activities:
A. Paint Scales – Students use one color of tempera paint plus small increments of black, then
white, to paint two color value scales. (Pencil, ruler, long white paper, tempera paint,
brushes)
B. Landscape Painting – Students use non-traditional painting tools and techniques to create
a landscape painting of shades and tints with three picture planes. (Large white paper,
tempera paint, sponges, q-tips, cardboard pieces, string, etc.)
C. Santa Bellies – Students use red, black, white, and yellow tempera to paint Santa’s midsection, including red velvet suit, black patent leather belt, gold buckle, and white cotton
trim. (Pencil, half-sheets of oaktag, paint, and brushes)
Unit 3: Multi-Media Sculptural Relief (5 weeks)
Obj. 1: Demonstrate the ability to use reference material to create a relief based upon drawing
accuracy.
QUESTION: How does the student artist use reference material and drawing skills to create a relief
that is a cross between 2-D and 3-D art?
Suggested Activities:
A. Dinosaur Relief – Students use reference to draw large dinosaur contour, then fill interior
of dinosaur with papier-mâché, almost like a relief map. (Step-by-step dinosaur drawing
book, large white paper, papier-mâché paste, paper towel or newspaper strips)
B. Insect Relief – Students use reference to draw insect, then use modeling compound to
“translate” drawing into an insect relief. (Step-by-step insect drawing book, model magic)
Obj. 2: Create a mixed-media background upon which to affix sculptural relief.
QUESTION: How does the student artist use a variety of unrelated materials in a non-traditional yet
compelling way to create a multi-media “setting” for a relief sculpture?
Suggested Activities:
A. Crumpled Paper Resist – Students crumple and dye paper to achieve a texture that
resembles cloth, then apply a resist. (Brown craft paper squares, black tempera paint,
craypas)
B. Woven Borders – Students use yarn, colored string, wire, and paper to create border or
frame around relief. (Large construction paper; colored string, wire, yarn; large needles;
hole punch)
Obj. 3: Use “found objects” to embellish finished relief.
QUESTION:
sculpture?
How does the student artist make use of scavenged treasures in his or her relief
Suggested Activities:
A. Scavenger Hunt – Students will comb school grounds for natural found objects. (Bags for
collecting)
B. Group Mosaics – Students will work in small groups to create found object mosaic. (Precut square and round construction paper, scissors, glue)
C. Completion of relief sculpture – Students will affix relief to background, then use found
objects to embellish piece. (Feathers, beads, sequins, etc.)
Unit 4: Faces and Families (4 – 5 weeks)
Obj. 1: Use classic Renaissance proportion in rendering the human face.
QUESTION: How does the student artist make use of simple facial feature proportions to draw more
human-looking faces?
Suggested Activities:
A. Face Monoprints – Students use quick print technique of drawing into finger paint-coated
paper with finger, then pull a print. (Finger paint paper, finger paint)
B. Styrofoam Prints – Students find drawings of the Old Masters from which to make linear
studies of the face, then print their drawings. (Pencil, tracing paper, styrofoam, brayers,
ink, assortment of colored construction paper)
C. Face Books – Students design a mix-and-match face book that creates humorous faces
when features are mixed and matched. (White paper, pencil, ruler, sharpie markers,
colored pencils, crayons)
Obj. 2: Create a family portrait using contours of family members’ faces.
QUESTION: How does the student artist use overlapping figure contours (with emphasis on the face)
to tell the story of his or her family?
Suggested Activities:
A. Students examine early-American family portraits to observe placement of figures and use
of symbols that tell the family story. (LCD projector)
B. Students sketch their own families, paying close attention to overlapping position of
figures. (Large newsprint paper and sharpie marker)
C. Students trace over final figure composition and use Renaissance proportion in rendering
of family members’ faces. (Large white paper and pencil)
D. Students invent a pattern for the background of the portrait. (Colored pencils or crayons)
E. Students color family faces and use collage with patterned paper to fill in clothing of
figures. (Patterned paper, scissors, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, light box)
V. STRATEGIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Teacher demonstration
Guided practice
Posting of visual aides on bulletin board
Multi-media presentation
Reading short articles about artists
Individual projects
Class discussion
Group critique
Written self-evaluation
VI. EVALUATION
Students in Grade 6 Art are assessed through formal and informal measures. Frequent informal
assessment and feedback are provided on a daily basis by the teacher. The studio art tradition of fostering
a relaxed, yet creatively charged, environment is followed so that students create art that is their own; that
is, students are encouraged with each assignment to “find their own way.” The following are areas to be
assessed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Knowledge of basic vocabulary
Utilization of art tools and supplies, or technique
Demonstration of willingness to clean up
Participation in class discussion
Display of original or creative thinking
Evidence of pride in craftsmanship
Methods of Evaluation and Assessment:
 Observation
 Individual critique
 Participation in class activities
 Group critique
 Self evaluation
VII. REQUIRED RESOURCES
Take Five Poster Series: Landscapes
Take Five Poster Series: Pop Art
Take Five Poster Series: Portraits
Poster: Color Wheel
Scholastic Art Magazine, Andy Goldsworthy
Scholastic Art Magazine, Leonardo da Vinci: Working with Line
Scholastic Art Magazine, Louise Nevelson
Daily Warm-Ups: ART, Shari McMahon, Walch Publishing
Draw Dinosaurs, Doug Dubosque, Libri
Draw Insects, Doug Dubosque, Libri
Making Faces, Norman Messenger, Dorling Kindersley
Middle School Art Sampler, Gene Mittler, Glencoe
VIII. SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
The Units and Objectives of Grade 6 Art are designed to expose students to basic elements of art. They
are also intended to provide a rich sampling of art media to the youngest students in the school
population. Both “Suggested Activities” and the time allotted for each unit of study are flexible;
additional activities may be added or substituted, and activities may be stretched or condensed to
accommodate classroom climate, learning styles of individual students, and practical scheduling
considerations.
Unit 1: Drawing Warm-Ups (2 – 3 weeks)
Unit 2: Color Conventions (4 – 5 weeks)
Unit 3: Multi-Media Sculptural Relief (5 weeks)
Unit 4: Faces and Families (4 – 5 weeks)