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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year art shifts from making projects to making choices. Students plan their work on purpose, pulling from their own lives and what they see in the world around them. They learn to talk about why an artist made certain decisions and apply that thinking to their own pieces. By spring, students can prepare a finished artwork for display and explain what it means and why they made it that way.

  • Planning artwork
  • Art techniques
  • Talking about art
  • Meaning in art
  • Preparing a display
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

    Finding ideas worth making

    Students start the year gathering ideas from their own lives, memories, and things they care about. They sketch, brainstorm, and try out a few different directions before picking one to develop.

  2. 2

    Building skills with materials

    Students practice with paint, clay, paper, and drawing tools to get better at the basics. Expect more careful work and a willingness to redo a piece until it looks the way they wanted.

  3. 3

    Art across time and cultures

    Students look at artwork from different places and time periods and talk about why people made it. They use those ideas in their own projects, connecting what they see to what they create.

  4. 4

    Looking closely and judging art

    Students learn to slow down in front of a piece of art and describe what they notice before deciding what it means. They use simple criteria to explain why a work is strong or where it could grow.

  5. 5

    Preparing work to share

    Students choose pieces they are proud of, finish them carefully, and get them ready for a display or portfolio. They think about how the setup itself shapes what a viewer takes away.

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

    VA:Cn10.5

    Students pull from things they already know and moments from their own life to make creative choices in their artwork.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    VA:Cn11.5

    Students look at a painting, sculpture, or other artwork and connect it to the time period, place, or culture it came from. That context helps explain why the artist made the choices they did.

Creating

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    VA:Cr1.5

    Students brainstorm and sketch out original ideas before starting an art project, experimenting with different possibilities until they find a direction worth making.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    VA:Cr2.5

    Students take a rough idea or sketch and work it into a finished piece, making deliberate choices about composition, color, and materials along the way.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    VA:Cr3.5

    Students review their artwork, make deliberate changes based on what's working and what isn't, and decide when a piece is finished.

Performing/Presenting/Producing

  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    VA:Pr4.5

    Students choose which of their artworks to share and explain why a piece is ready to present. They practice thinking about their work the way an audience will see it.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    VA:Pr5.5

    Students practice and improve their artwork before showing it to others, adjusting details like color, texture, or composition until the piece is ready to display.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    VA:Pr6.5

    Students choose how to display their artwork and explain what they want viewers to notice or feel. The way a piece is shown is part of what it communicates.

Responding

  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    VA:Re7.5

    Students look closely at a piece of artwork and explain what they notice: the colors, shapes, lines, and choices the artist made. Then they describe what those choices do to the overall piece.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    VA:Re8.5

    Students look at a piece of art and explain what they think the artist meant, using details from the work to support their reading of it.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    VA:Re9.5

    Students look at a finished artwork, then use a set of agreed-on criteria to explain what works, what doesn't, and why. It's structured opinion-giving, not just "I like it."