Welcome to Elementary Art, grades K-6 at the Falmouth Public Schools! We hope you enjoy seeing the creativity of our k-6 students and encourage you to learn more about our art program.
Visual Art Education Has Evolved Over the last few decades art education has changed, in fact it and may appear quite different from what many of today's adults experienced in school. The Falmouth visual art program refers to federal, state (1991), and district standards in visual art. A project that uses art materials - (let's make a volcano out of plaster) is NOT an art project, it simply uses art materials. Our visual art educators have the education and training to make this type of object connect to an art (and science) objectives and standards in very specific ways which increase knowledge, comprehension, analysis and synthesis. (return to top)
STEM to STEAM As our nation continues to adopt national core standards, and as Massachusetts continues to integrate STEM (Science, technology. engineering, and mathematics) many leading researchers are realizing that STEM leaders have mistakenly overlooked the arts! Imagine the Roman empire without the arts! A national push is currently under way in order to update STEM to STEAM (A is for ART!) in order to better prepare our students for the 21st century. Stem-not-Steam.com, states that: "Arts education is a key to creativity; Creativity is an essential component of, and spurs innovation; Innovation is, agreed to be necessary to create new industries in the future; New industries, with their jobs, are the basis of our future economic wellbeing." (For more on how the Falmouth Art Department is promoting STEAM, follow the link at the top of this page.) (return to top)
The Studio Thinking Framework Eight Habits of Mind The Falmouth Visual Arts Program can best be described as utilizing The Studio Thinking Framework Eight Habits of Mind developed Howard Gardner, co-founder of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Quoting directly from the organizations web site, “Project Zero's mission is to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity in the arts, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, at the individual and institutional levels.”
The Eight habits of Mind are:
1. Persistence 2. Expression 3. Making Connections 4. Observing 5. Envisioning 6. Innovating through exploring 7. Reflective self-evaluation 8. Developing a skill or craft
A Sequential Curriculum The Visual Art Program in Falmouth is a sequential curriculum which allows students to build upon and enhance their skills as they mature and develop. In the early years it helps to build motor skills and enhance current classroom learning. For example, the shapes being memorized in math units might be used for printing, tracing, and drawings. Students become very excited when they find these connections and recognize that their current learning expands outside of their classroom into the art studio, and vice versa. The visual arts transfers to other subjects in solving problems and using higher critical thinking skills
Grades 4-6 As student near the end of their 'elementary years' (grades 4-6) they begin to be introduced to materials, techniques, and tools more appropriate to their cognitive and motor development. These more mature materials combined with a greater sense of independence and responsibility, allow students to explore more advanced art projects, make more choices, engage in a longer creation time, and work in larger scale.
Students at this age commonly become much more innovative as they begin to independently integrate their learning across curriculum. This is an amazing age of discovery as students become excited and engaged about connections they discover. (return to top)
Whole Child Education www.wholechildeducation.org/aboutLaunched in 2007, ASCD's Whole Child Initiative is an effort to change the conversation about education from a focus on narrowly defined academic ...