River Valley School District

RVMHS Art Classes:

6th Grade Art
Middle School Art
Fundamentals of Art
Dimensions of Art
Independent Study Art

Things to know about RV Art:

Grading Rubrics
Assignment Due Dates
6th and Middle School Class Participation Grade
HS Class Participation Grade
Project Fees
Image Use
Classroom Rules
Art Shows
Art Links

About Ms. Skaggs:

Education:

Bachelor of Arts in Art Education, Western Michigan University

Associate in Arts, Southwestern Michigan College

Graduated from Niles High School in 1994

RV’s Elementary Art Teacher 2002-2008

Why should a student take art or any arts class?

I teach art to develop the critical thinking, creativity and originality that a student will use throughout his or her lifetime. Studies have shown the following:

Arts education promotes creative problem solving and strengthens the ability to work with others; providing an invaluable link between arts education and workforce development.
Arts education nurtures the imagination the fuels innovation in today's competitive workforce.
Arts education increases students self-esteem by encouraging students to take risks and to be different by thinking creatively.

(Source: National Talking Points: Provided by Americans for the Arts 2010 Congressional Handbook)

"Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people." - John F. Kennedy

6th Grade Art is designed to present to a student a means of creative expression through art media. Students will work with techniques such as painting, drawing, collage and sculpting with subject matter consisting primarily of various life objects. The focus will be put on appropriate techniques of art in order to make the art expression effective.

Middle School Art is designed to present to a student a means of creative expression through art media. Students will work with techniques such as color blending, value study, painting, collage and sculpting with subject matter consisting primarily of various life objects. The focus will be put on appropriate techniques of art in order to make the art expression effective.

Fundamentals of Art is designed to present to a student a means of creative expression through art media. Students will work with techniques such as contour drawing, value study, painting, collage, printmaking and sculpting with subject matter consisting primarily of various life objects. The focus will be put on compositional arrangement using the elements and principles of art in order to make the art expression effective and meaningful.

Dimensions of Art is designed to present to a student a means of making art effective and meaningful through art media. Students will work with techniques such as pencil, charcoal and pen value studies, painting, proportional face studies, ceramic pottery, sculpture including plaster gauze and collage with subject matter consisting primarily of various life objects. The focus will be put on compositional arrangement using the elements and principles of art with techniques to create depth in order to make the art expression effective and meaningful.

Prerequisites: Completely subject to approval from Ms. Skaggs along with 1 year of Fundamentals of Art and 1 year of Dimensions of Art (preferred).

The main objective of Independent Study is for the student to create a variety of art that has been planned and made using their own originality and expertise. Based on the student’s own plans, at least four projects must be completed every nine weeks unless prior arrangements for a larger project have been made with Ms. Skaggs.

I have heard various comments from students along the lines of "it's art class, it doesn't count" The state of Michigan requires 1 year of fine arts for graduation. 6 elective credits are also required. This means that no matter what, taking an art class does count towards graduation.

Most art assignments are worth 100 points. These are divided by 4 separate grading criteria each worth 25 points. In general, most art assignments require the following 4 criteria. In the process of grading and shown on the grading sheet, students will see specific objectives pertaining to the lesson but related to the criteria listed below. Points I give mean the following for each specific criteria. On the grade rubric itself, there will be a number by the corresponding lesson objective.

Project Criteria #1
Main Art Lesson Requirements.
25-23 pts. - Planned carefully to include the lesson requirements, Showed an

22-20 pts. – The artwork shows some carefulness to include lesson requirements and

19-18 pts. – Lesson requirements are shown but there is a lack of planning and

17-15 pts. – The assignment was completed and turned in but shows little evidence of

25-23 pts. – The art work is outstanding, no sloppiness and is as good as hard work can

22-20 pts. – With a little more effort and patienence, the art work could have been

19-18 pts. – Shows average craftsmanship, careless and not as good as it could have

17-15 pts. – Showed below average craftsmanship, and there is a lack of pride is

25-23pts. – The project was continued until it was complete and gave effort far beyond

22-20pts. – The project showed hard work to complete project but with a little more

19-18pts. – Project is finished but shows just enough to finish it and shows an

22-20pts. – Shows some use new ideas but based idea on someone elses but solved problem logically.

19-18pts. – Shows some effort but lacks originality, guessed or used symbols instead of personal observation.

Due to changes in school grading policy, due dates for assignments will be set in order for students and parents to keep track of what assignments are missing. Generally, assignment due dates are set when I see an assignment is nearing completion by the class. If an assignment is not turned in by the beginning of another, a “M and a 0 ” will be placed in my gradebook. There are no penalties for late work but it will affect the cumulative grade online until assignments are turned in and the “M and a 0 ” are removed.

Every week 6th Graders and Middle Schoolers are awarded a free 10 points. At the end of every week I will evaluate student work effort and behavior. . Points, if needed, will be taken away based on how the student’s week in art went. This is what the points are worth every week:

All 10 points (A) - Student worked on his or her art and were respectful of others

9 points (A-) - Student talked more than worked but was still respectful of others

8 points (B) - Student ignored work at times and had to be talked to at least once about behavior.

Throwing Graded Art Assignments Away: It is expected that all graded art assignments will go home once they are returned to students. If any graded art assignment is found thrown away or destroyed, 50 points will be deducted from the nine weeks grade in which the offence occurs.

High school students are rewarded a free 100 points at the beginning of each 9 weeks. However, if a student has assignments that are not finished and he or she is observed not working during class time, 5 points will be deducted from this total. This 5 point deduction will occur every class time they are seen not working.

Rules are divided into expected behavior and intolerable behavior that could result in consequences from a verbal warning, detention, snap-suspension or in case of cell phones, confiscation.

On the first day of regular art class students will be assigned a bucket to keep unfinished art assignments in and be given one pencil. As a matter of responsibility, it is important that every student bring a pencil with them to art class. However, if they lose their pencil or forget it, they will be able to purchase one from me for 10 cents. Pencil cap erasures are free upon request.

Art in general only has one assignment fee. If a clay project is done in class by students, it will be kiln fired, glazed and I will grade it. However, if the student wants to keep the project, they must pay a fee of $3.

Often, students use images out of magazines or the internet to make their artwork. It must be understood that the image chosen must be changed in some way because flat-out copying is considered copyright infringement. River Valley School District and myself will not be held responsible for student use of images upon this warning given verbally the first day of school and in hard copy print of class syllabus.

During the school year student artwork will be displayed in several different art shows. Dates and times of art shows will always appear in RV News. To sign up for this email publication, please contact: rvnews@rivervalleyschools.org..