Structure and presentation
The content of the visual arts curriculum for fifth and sixth classes is presented in two sections:
- a section entitled 'Concepts and skills development', which outlines the concepts and skills the child should develop as he/she engages in art activities
- a section comprising six strands, each of which is a medium for visual expression. Two interrelated strand units form the strands, the first of which suggests a range of ar t-making activities. The second suggests activities in looking at and responding to the visual environment and to art works. Activities in one strand unit inform activities in the other and together they provide the context for learning in art. Exemplars are shown in italic type throughout the content section. They are suggestions, and therefore not prescriptive.
The strands for fifth and sixth classes
The child at fifth and sixth-class level will have lots of opportunities to work from observation, to use a viewfinder to draw aspects of his/her surroundings, to arrange and draw or paint a still life and to draw or paint a classmate in some detail. Devices such as overlapping and aerial and linear perspective will be used to suggest space in depth on a page. He/she will enjoy drawing and painting futuristic fashion, designing and sketching a plan for a three-dimensional model with moving parts, and inventing cartoon characters.
The child will experiment in using harmonious and complementary colours for their effects in compositions. Print-making techniques will include relief prints, monoprints, pictorial rubbings and silk-screen prints . There will be opportunities to model the human head in clay and to make exotic heads of a variety of creatures in papier mâché. Construction activities will include wire structures and a model with moving parts . Collage, knitting, we aving, chara c ter toys and costume-making are among the activities sugges ted for fabric and fibre.
Work will be enriched by opportunities to study how artists express ideas and solve problems similar to his/her own while avoiding the deadening effect of direct copying.
Selecting content
The programme should be broad and balanced and should be planned to ensure continuity and progression and to obviate significant gaps. During the two-year period, the child should experience interrelated activities, as suggested by the strand units, in all the strands.
Linkage and integration
Opportunities for linkage (i.e. within the visual arts curriculum) and for integration (i.e. cross-curricular integration) are indicated at the end of each strand. Linkage can be achieved in the following ways:
- through concepts and skills development in the different media, for example developing awareness of colour through painting and printmaking and through work in fabric and fibre
- through activities that develop a theme, for example interpreting the theme 'the beach' in drawings, colour sketches and papier mâché and as a semi-abstract mixed-media piece.
Opportunities for integration (especially with music, drama and dance) should be identified when the visual arts programme is being planned. Careful planning will ensure that visual arts objectives are clearly defined within integrated activities.