Standard 3: Responding
to and Analyzing Works of Art
Students will respond critically to a
variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other
aspects of human endeavor and thought.
Dance
Key Idea 1
Students will express through written and
oral language their understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of dances they see, do,
and read about. Students will acquire the critical vocabulary to talk and write about a
variety of dance forms.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- demonstrate knowledge of words and symbols
(kinetic, visual, tactile, aural and olfactory) that describe movement
- express to others their understanding of
specific dance performances, using appropriate language to describe what they have seen
and heard
Middle Level Students:
- demonstrate knowledge of the technical
language used in discussing dance performances
- demonstrate knowledge of choreographic
principles and processes
- express to others their understanding of
specific dance performances, including perceptions, descriptions, analyses,
interpretations, and evaluations
Commencement Level
Students:
- make comparisons of the nature and
principles of dance to other arts
- analyze and describe similarities and
differences in different dance forms and styles
- describe and compare a variety of
choreographic approaches used in the creation of dances
Commencement Major
Sequence:
In addition to the General Education
performance indicators, students:
- express to others theories about the
nature of dance and the underlying assumptions that people have about dance
- describe and analyze similarities and
differences between individual performances, and between forms and styles of dance, past
and present
- describe and defend an explanation of why
people dance, based on experience in dance, witnessing others, and studying contexts
Music
Key Idea 1
Students will demonstrate the capacity to
listen to and comment on music. They will relate their critical assertions about music to
its aesthetic, structural, acoustic, and psychological qualities. Students will use
concepts based on the structure of music’s content and context to relate music to
other broad areas of knowledge. They will use concepts from other disciplines to enhance
their understanding of music.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- through listening, identify the strengths
and weaknesses of specific musical works and performances, including their own and
others’
- describe the music in terms related to
basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.
- discuss the basic means by which the voice
and instruments can alter pitch, loudness, duration, and timbre
- describe the music’s context in terms
related to its social and psychological functions and settings (e.g., roles of
participants, effects of music, uses of music with other events or objects, etc.)
- describe their understandings of
particular pieces of music and how they relate to their surroundings
Middle Level Students:
- through listening, analyze and evaluate
their own and others’ performances, improvisations, and compositions by identifying
and comparing them with similar works and events
- use appropriate terms to reflect a working
knowledge of the musical elements
- demonstrate a basic awareness of the
technical skills musicians must develop to produce an aesthetically acceptable performance
- use appropriate terms to reflect a working
knowledge of social-musical functions and uses (appropriate choices of music for common
ceremonies and other events)
- use basic scientific concepts to explain
how music-related sound is produced, transmitted through air, and perceived
- use terminology from music and other arts
to analyze and compare the structures of musical and other artistic and literary works
Commencement Level
Students
- through listening, analyze and evaluate
their own and others’ performances, improvisations, and compositions and suggest
improvements
- read and write critiques of music that
display a broad knowledge of musical elements, genres, and styles
- use anatomical and other scientific terms
to explain the musical effectiveness of various sound sources– traditional,
nontraditional, and electronic
- use appropriate technical and
socio-cultural terms to describe musical performances and compositions
- identify and describe the contributions of
both locally and internationally known exemplars of high quality in the major musical
genres
- explain how performers, composers, and
arrangers make artistic decisions
Commencement Major
Sequence:
In addition to the General Education
performance indicators, students:
- assess, describe, and evaluate the
development of their personal contributions to their own, their school’s, and their
community’s musical life by appropriately using musical and socio-cultural terms and
concepts (contributions and skills of musicians, functions of music in society, etc.)
- demonstrate a practical knowledge of sound
production and architectural acoustics to predict the general effects on sound of room
shapes, building construction practices, and common absorbers
Theater
Key Idea 1
Students will reflect on, interpret, and
evaluate plays and theatrical performances, both live and recorded, using the language of
dramatic criticism. Students will analyze the meaning and role of theatre in society.
Students will identify ways in which drama/theatre connects to film and video, other arts,
and other disciplines.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- discuss their understanding,
interpretation, and evaluation of a theatrical performance, using basic theatre
terminology
- identify the use of other art forms in
theatre productions
- explain the relationship of theatre to
film and video
Middle Level Students:
- use the techniques and vocabulary of
theatre criticism, both written and oral, to discuss theatre experiences and improve
individual and group performances
- examine and discuss the use of other art
forms in a theatre production
- explain how drama/theatre experiences
relate to other literary and artistic events
Commencement Level
Students:
- articulate an understanding,
interpretation, and evaluation of a theatre piece as drama and as a realized production,
using appropriate critical vocabulary
- evaluate the use of other art forms in a
theatre production
- explain how a theatrical production
exemplifies major themes and ideas from other disciplines
Commencement Major
Sequence:
In addition to the General Education
performance indicators, students:
- develop a critical vocabulary through the
reading and discussion of professional criticism
- explain the meaning and societal function
of different types of productions
- design a plan for improving performances,
using past and present critiques
- explore various other art forms and
technologies, using them in theatre projects
- explain how theatre can enhance other
subjects in the curriculum
- compare and contrast theatre, film, and
video
Visual Arts
Key Idea 1
Students will reflect on, interpret, and
evaluate works of art, using the language of art criticism. Students will analyze the
visual characteristics of the natural and built environment and explain the social,
cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students will
compare the ways in which a variety of ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through
the visual arts with the ways they are expressed in other disciplines.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- explain their reflections about the
meanings, purposes, and sources of works of art; describe their responses to the works and
the reasons for those responses
- explain the visual and other sensory
qualities (surfaces, colors, textures, shape, sizes, volumes) found in a wide variety of
art works
- explain the themes that are found in works
of visual art and how the art works are related to other forms of art (dance, music,
theatre, etc.)
- explain how ideas, themes, or concepts in
the visual arts are expressed in other disciplines (e.g., mathematics, science,
literature, social studies, etc.)
Middle Level Students:
- discuss and write their analyses and
interpretations of their own works of art and the art of others, using appropriate
critical language
- identify, analyze, and interpret the
visual and sensory characteristics that they discover in natural and human-made forms
- compare the ways ideas and concepts are
communicated through visual art with the various ways that those ideas and concepts are
manifested in other art forms
- compare the ways ideas, themes, and
concepts are communicated through the visual arts in other disciplines, and the various
ways that those ideas, themes, and concepts are manifested within the discipline
Commencement Level
Students:
- use the language of art criticism by
reading and discussing critical reviews in newspapers and journals and by writing their
own critical responses to works of art (either their own or those of others)
- explain the visual and other sensory
qualities in art and nature and their relation to the social environment
- analyze and interpret the ways in which
political, cultural, social, religious, and psychological concepts and themes have been
explored in visual art
- develop connections between the ways
ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts and other disciplines in
everyday life
Commencement Major
Sequence:
In addition to the General Education
performance indicators, students:
- using the language of art criticism,
describe the visual and functional characteristics of works of art and interpret the
relationships of works of art one to another, to describe the impact of the work on the
viewer
- demonstrate an understanding of art
criticism, art histories, and aesthetic principles and show their connections to works of
art
- give evidence in their Commencement
Portfolios that they have researched a theme in-depth and that in their research they have
explored the ways the theme has been expressed in other disciplinary forms
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