Chelsea Public School 2015-2016
Art Seminars and Yearbook Design Course Syllabus- 4th Block
Contact Information:
Damariscotta C Miller
Chelsea Public School
6 School Street
Chelsea, VT 05038
802-685-4551 Ext. 143
dmiller@chelseaschoolvt.org
Course Overview:
This course provides students with opportunities to examine, explore, and manipulate
different ways artists work and design, craft and create the Chelsea School yearbook. Art
Seminars are structured around the big ideas and essential questions in a chronological order
paying close attention to understanding art historical concepts and traditions. Each week, students
will be working in Art Seminars 3X a week and using downtime in Yearbook Design to complete
projects. Yearbook Design is a commitment by the students in this course to create an authentic
and accurate record of all the events, students, faculty, and staff in the school year. Students will
use the year to accurately and ethically report in words, artwork, and photographs the events of
the school community in an attractive, informative, and creative way. Students will take into
consideration the needs, desires, and tastes of the yearbook’s audiences.
 This course satisfies our school’s requirement for one credit in Fine Art that fulfills
requirements for high school graduation.
Art Seminars Objectives- Students will:
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Understand how art plays a role in humanity from art making to human response.
Develop an understanding of works of art from diverse cultures and historical
periods.
Practice and develop essential skills of visual thinking, verbal communication,
project making and writing about art.
Work individually and in groups.
Keep all sketches and will complete projects and coursework to show their
learning and growth.
Show understanding and skills in technology, and the 21st century tools of
communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Show respect for the cultures and belief systems that are part of the global Art
culture.
Identify and transform knowledge they are learning in their works produced in
class.
Create the ability to talk about Art through the ages through dialogue, class
participation and writing projects.
Yearbook Design Objectives- Students will:
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Understand the responsibilities of appropriate coverage material for our
yearbook’s audience.
Create a true, authentic, and relevant record of the school community and the
school year.
Learn the basics of photography composition, apply critical thinking strategies to
brainstorm, use writing composition skills, develop organizational skills, and
make decisions based on design and coverage of events.
Use the skills learned and necessary to plan and create a publication.
Conduct research using a variety of sources such as interviews, the Internet, and
other publications.
Conceive coverage ideas and create multifaceted visual presentations of the
material and data for our yearbook.
Find a variety of ways to provide a balance of coverage without being biased to
any event, staff, or students.
Compose all stories accurately providing information that is up to date, honest,
and dedicated to promoting the school year.
Critique the publication and find its strengths and weaknesses and work towards
improving it based on our discussions.
 Independent artwork or work from other teachers is not a part of this class. The art room is
a studio space for students to be working on projects stemmed from the curriculum in Arts
Seminars and Yearbook Design.
Materials and Resources:
Respectful Phone Contracts- attached
Art Seminars – all materials are provided including access to the textbooks online, videos, PDF
documents, and the 250 images we are studying.
Yearbook DesignAdobe Photoshop and Illustrator program, iPads, digital camera (provided).
Major Course Projects:
Art Seminars projects include creating a digital timeline of
Attendance and Discipline:
I adhere to the rules as stated in the Chelsea Public School Student Handbook regarding
attendance and discipline. I fully expect all students to review the material and follow it. As
always, I maintain discretionary rights and will follow up on all issues and concerns.
Classroom policies:
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Come to class prepared to learn and on time.
Phones are allowed for taking photos and/or interviewing. Students will sign a Respectful
Phone contract that simply states that they will use their phone to promote learning and
fulfill project requirements and essentials.
The Art room is a safe haven for everyone who enters; adhere to this policy always.
Respect yourself and your fellow classmates.
Do not use foul language or bring unnecessary attention to yourself in a derogatory way.
No hats
Do not misuse materials or supplies. Doing so will result in the loss of usage.
Do not damage another student’s work. Doing so will result in writing a letter of apology
to your classmate and myself signed by parents or guardians.
IMPORTANT:
I invite any of you who have any disability, either permanent or temporary, or any other special
circumstances that might affect your ability to perform in this class, to inform me, so that together
we can adapt methods, materials, or assignments as needed to provide equitable participation and
success.
Weekly Assignment Schedule:
I will provide students a weekly schedule that will have weekly updates, class assignments, and
due dates for all assignments.
Course grading will be based upon the following percentages:
Yearbook Design Weekly Rubric- 50% of total Grade
Art Seminar Assignments- 50% of total Grade
Make-up work:
Students will be given point totals for all assignments in Web2School. Students wishing to
improve on the point total assigned for projects may continue to work on pieces on their own time
rather than in class. I will give fair warning of assignment improvement due dates to students who
need to improve their grade. It is students’ responsibility to take the initiative to do this if they
choose to. At the end of the quarter, all work will be handed in for final grading before the end of
each quarter.
Expectations for Students:
Students are expected to:
 Participate in all class discussions and activities
 Contribute and collaborate on ideas from classmates
 Follow the Art room rules:
We have three rules for the Art room Take care of people
 Take care of stuff
 Behave like an artist
-What does this mean? Playing and experimenting with art materials are artistic
behaviors. Talking about art ideas with classmates is an artistic behavior. Making
sketches first and not making sketches first are artistic behaviors. Artistic
behaviors look like many things and art is not always being completed in every
class or is always being finished. Artistic behavior is unique to each of us.
Academic Integrity Policy:
We, as members of the Chelsea Middle and High School community value personal integrity and
believe all aspects of cheating and/or plagiarism are not ethically or socially acceptable ad will
not be tolerated.