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What does a student learn in ?

This is the year students start making media projects with a real audience in mind. They plan out an idea, build it with video, sound, or images, and then go back to fix the parts that fall flat. Students also start talking about why a video or ad was made and how it lands with viewers. By spring, they can plan, finish, and share a short media project and explain the choices behind it.

  • Planning a project
  • Video and sound
  • Editing and revising
  • Sharing finished work
  • Talking about media
  • Audience and purpose
Source: Maryland Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
  1. 1

    Brainstorming media ideas

    Students start the year coming up with ideas for short videos, animations, podcasts, or digital images. They pull from their own lives and from things they have watched or listened to, then sketch out plans before building anything.

  2. 2

    Building and organizing projects

    Students move from plans to real media. They shoot clips, record sound, draw frames, or arrange digital pieces, and learn to organize files and layers so a project stays workable as it grows.

  3. 3

    Editing and refining work

    Students revise their projects with feedback in mind. They trim clips, fix audio, adjust images, and practice techniques that make the final piece clearer and more polished.

  4. 4

    Sharing work with an audience

    Students choose which pieces to share and prepare them for others to watch or hear. They think about how the setting, order, and small choices change what an audience takes from the work.

  5. 5

    Responding to media

    Students look closely at their own projects and at media made by others. They describe what they notice, guess at the maker's intent, and use simple criteria to judge what works and what could be stronger.

  6. 6

    Media in the wider world

    Students connect their projects to life outside the classroom. They look at how media reflects communities, history, and culture, and notice how their own experiences shape the work they make.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 5.
Connecting
  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art

    Students connect something they already know or have lived through to a media arts project. The work reflects a real idea or experience, not just a technical exercise.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    Students connect media art they study or create to the time period, place, or culture it came from. Understanding that context helps them read the meaning behind creative choices.

Creating
  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    Students brainstorm and develop original ideas for media art projects, deciding what story, image, or message they want to create before they start building it.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    Students plan and refine a media project by making deliberate choices about images, sound, and layout before calling it finished.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    Students review a media project they've made, fix what isn't working, and finish it to a standard they're satisfied with.

Performing/Presenting/Producing
  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    Students review a collection of media projects, decide which ones are worth sharing with an audience, and explain why those pieces work better than others.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    Students practice and improve a media project, like a short video or digital image, until it is ready to share with an audience. The focus is on making deliberate choices about how the work looks, sounds, or moves.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    Students choose how to share a finished piece so the audience understands the idea behind it. The way a project is presented is part of the message.

Responding
  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    Students look closely at a media artwork (a photo, video, or website) and explain what choices the creator made and why those choices work or don't work.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    Students explain what a media artwork is trying to say and why the creator made specific choices, such as the colors, sounds, or images used.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    Students review a piece of media art using a clear set of criteria, like whether the message comes through or whether the tools were used well. They explain what works, what doesn't, and why.