How Our Art Lesson Plans Address The US Art Curriculum

Here’s a universal in any art room!
The number of pencils I’ve purchased this year = 700
Number I currently have in the art room = 5!

What is not the same everywhere is the curriculum or standards we need to teach. So, how do they vary?

US Standards for Elementary School

The US standards for elementary school for Kindergarten to 6th grade are similar to the Australian primary school art curriculum for Kindergarten to year 6 known as ACARA standards.

Creative Kids Art Lessons cover the outcomes from Foundation to Year 6 within the Australian standards, these align closely with the US Art curriculum. There is a comprehensive range of art projects that cover the full range of Visual Arts outcomes. Our lesson plans provide specific activities and include clear rubrics, which provide teachers with a structure and specific points to assess students. The art lesson plans are structured for each specific age range, and cover a variety of topics, concepts, skills, techniques, styles and contexts, providing a broad selection of activities to enhance students’ skills, understandings and confidence within the Visual Arts both as artists and as audiences of the Visual Arts.

The Australian curriculum (ACARA) for the Visual Arts is divided into Making and Responding. These categories cover a broad variety of skills and knowledge. If we compare this to the US Art curriculum, we can see similarities.

Creating and Presenting

Creating and Presenting within the US art curriculum aligns very closely with Making in the Creative Kids Art Lessons curriculum details, as they are about the generation of ideas, the creation of artworks and the display of art.

In the US, Creating and Presenting cover skills and abilities including generation and conceptualisation of ideas, organisation and development of ideas as well as refinement and completion of the artwork.

In Presenting, analysis and interpretation of work is covered as well as the development and refinement of art for presentation. This is very similar to the ACARA standards, where Making covers the ideas to create artworks, use and experimentation with materials, techniques, technologies and processes, the creation of artwork for display and the planning of the display.

Responding and Connecting

Responding and Connecting in the US curriculum aligns very closely with Responding in the Australian curriculum. Both focus on analysis, evaluation and interpretation of artworks based on contextual factors to encourage the development of understanding. In both cases, students are taught a broad range of skills and techniques that look at the conceptualisation, creation and display of artworks and the analysis and interpretation of artworks.

Examples of how the art lessons align with US curriculums

A great example of the curriculum content of our art lesson plans and the US curriculum can be found in the Halloween art lesson plan for 3rd and 4th grade. If you are teaching the cutest pumpkins in the patch, you will enjoy our Halloween art projects! These can be found in the Celebrate and Remember unit.

In the Halloween art lesson, children create their own Halloween house using collages and mixed media. The art lesson addresses the US curriculum Making, Responding and Connecting standards. The lesson addresses the standards of generating and conceptualising artistic ideas, shaping artistic investigations, and experimenting with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media and art-making approaches. Within the Responding and Connecting standards, the lesson plan addresses interpreting intent and meaning in artistic work and relating artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context.

Another great example of our art lesson plans aligning with the US Art Curriculum is the Valentine’s Day art lesson plan for elementary students. In this art lesson for 5th and 6th graders, students use printmaking and mixed media to create a colourful Valentine’s Day heart.

The art lesson plan addresses the standards of Making, Responding and Connecting. Within the Making standard, the lesson plan addresses the generating and conceptualising artistic ideas and work, organising and developing artistic ideas and work and balancing experimentation, safety, freedom and responsibility while making artwork. Within the Responding standard the art lesson addresses the conveying of meaning through the presentation and in the Connecting standard, it addresses interpreting intent and meaning in artistic work.

Our art lesson plans for art teachers are a great option for elementary school teachers, as they not only align well with the US curriculum but also provide a range and depth of topics, ideas, skills and processes that will engage students, no matter where they are in the world!

If you’ve made it to the end of this article here’s something you can relate to…. when I started teaching art I was young and cool, now I am just a hoarder of everything… for when I do that one art project!