Pine-Richland School District

Course Title: Art-Grade 3   Department:  Art

Grade Level: 3  

Time Per Day/Week: 40 minutes- once a week   Length of Course: Year

Primary Resources:  https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Units of Study:

Drawing

Painting

Printing

Clay

Textiles

Fiber Arts

Sculpture

Design

Studio Habits of Artists

Curriculum-Based Assessments:  Formal assessments through observation and oral responses. Summative assessments through project completion.

Standardized Assessments: N/A

Description of Course:

Third grade art is aligned with the National Core Art standards:  Creating, Presenting, Responding, and Connecting. Third grade art is composed of the following content areas:  drawing, painting, clay, printmaking, fiber arts, sculpture, studio habits, and studio care.  Third grade will be encouraged to foster a continuing appreciation, keen interest, and enthusiasm for the visual arts through active participation and informed application. Third grade will be introduced to and will identify works of art and artists from other cultures and time periods.  Third grade will be able to describe and identify different types of art.  Third grade will continue to develop the art skills introduced in second grade.  Third grade will use a variety of media and be encouraged to express themselves in creative and individual ways as they create their own masterpieces using the elements of art and principles of design.  Cross-curricular lessons are organically incorporated into the grade-level curriculum.

• Pitch: Discover and practice pentatonic (five-tone) and later diatonic (major scale) music using simple melodies and/or melodic patterns.  Learn and use absolute pitch names ABCDEFG on the treble staff.
• Rhythm: ¾ Time Signature, dotted half note

Unit 2: Performance Skills: 

• Tuneful singing
• Playing instruments (percussion and recorder)
• Movement/dance

Unit 3: Listening and Analysis: 

• Form (Call/Response, 12-Bar Blues)
• Music Vocabulary (tempo and dynamics)
• Evaluating Performances, Instruments Families (Identification/Classification)

Unit 4: Musical Contexts: Different focus at each grade level

• Connections to History (Composers, Styles of Music)
• Connections to Culture (Patriotic Music, Music of other countries)
• Connections to other disciplines (Dance, visual arts, math, literature)

Unit 5: Creativity: (Personal application of literacy and performance skills)

• Improvisation
• Composition
• Artistic Synthesis (incorporate movement, literature, and visual art)

Students will enhance performance skills by learning multiple parts (3-4 parts) arrangements (pitched and unpitched percussion) to familiar songs. Additionally, students synthesize performance and music literacy skills by learning to play the soprano recorder. This experience applies and develops multiple elements of musicianship at once and serves as an introduction to performance on another instrument family, the woodwinds.

Music creativity is explored through the above performance and literacy units as students improvise and compose their own music. In third grade, students take composition skills to the next level by applying a combination of different skills (note reading/identification on the musical staff, musical form, all known rhythms) to create larger original compositions, usually to be played on their recorders. Creativity also happens as they arrange familiar songs, choosing their own instrumentation (percussion and recorder) and incorporate original poetry or other literature as part of the performance. These activities are in line with the Orff-Schulwerk approach. 

Throughout the year, students will discover how repertoire and concepts connect with the history of music, including famous musicians/composers, styles of music, music from other countries and how music is related to other areas of learning and culture.  Students will continue to build their music vocabulary to describe what they hear using appropriate musical terminology.

Fitness - This unit is designed to physically engage and challenge each student at their individual level of fitness and foster a desire to improve over time. Fitness focuses on basic concepts of muscular endurance, muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility.  Fitness activities are performed during stations and game activities during class. Some examples of exercises include jumping rope, push ups, sit-ups, pull ups, jogging and burpees.
Cooperative Games and Activities - This unit is designed to cognitively engage each student with higher-order thinking, decision-making skills, cooperation, teamwork, and problem-based activities designed to promote growth, both physically and mentally.  These activities establish a foundation of resiliency, social skills, interpersonal skills, and conflict management.   Learning the aspects of good sportsmanship and fair play during game play is a focus. Some examples of a cooperative play during this unit would be scooter tag, scooter handball, among various other group activities.
Locomotor Movement -  Demonstrate various locomotor movements while engaged in various games and activities. Some examples include: hopping, skipping, running, leaping, jumping, galloping, and walking.
Team Sports- Provide an exposure to a wide range of team sports through lead up games and activities.  Students utilize particular skill movements such as throwing, kicking, dribbling and catching while participating in game situations.  Some examples of team sport activities would be lead up games for football, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
Manipulatives- Focus on proper body mechanics by utilizing specific movements.  Student engage in various activities while aiming for  a target, kicking a ball, or catching an object while incorporating these skills  into game and practice sessions. 

This course is aligned with the PA Academic Health, Safety and Physical Education Standards. The standards are comprised under 5 main areas of focus: Physical Activity, Concepts  of Health, Healthful Living, Safety and Injury prevention, and Concepts, Principles & Strategies of Movement.