Black and red figure pieces

Classwork: students finished, or attempted to finish, their Greek pottery-style drawings today. These are looking beautiful! Some are checking out markers over the weekend; please make sure they are returned on Monday.

Homework: Read Study Guide and write down any questions for Monday. We will go over questions about the final exam, take home old artwork, and finish the figure pieces.

FInal Exam Study Guide

Sixth Grade Fine Arts Final Exam Study Guide

The exam is divided into four parts, one per Fine Arts subject area. Here's what you should know for each part.

I. Poetry

In this section, you'll be asked to list some terms and examples of how you would use them in your writing. You'll also write some poetry.

Know the different types of figurative language and how to use each one. These include: alliteration, onomanopoeia, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, and personification.

Know the rhythm and rhyme schemes of haiku (17 total syllables, 5/7/5, no rhyme) and limericks (AABBA rhyme scheme). Know what a rhyming couplet is and how to write one. Know what a stanza is.

II. Music

Think back on the different activities we did during the music unit. We watched some video from the documentary "Music From the Inside Out;" took a listening walk around the school; listened to, discussed, wrote about, and made music maps charting different selections of recorded music; clapped and made rhythmic noises together, created our own rhythms and instruments, and learned about graphic scores. Know your vocabulary from this unit:

tempo, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tone, composer, musician, graphic score, orchestral instruments, music map

III. Visual Art

This section is mostly performance tasks - things you already know how to do, for which you will need to remember proper vocabulary. You will most likely spend the greatest amount of time on this section, since you will be asked to do some drawing. You should know:

Color wheel: primary, secondary, and tertiary/intermediate colors.

What is value, and what techniques can you use to create it?

Know your line and shape types! Organic, geometric, regular, irregular, broken, thick, thin, angular, wavy, etc.

Know line directions: vertical, horizontal, diagonal

We've done two types of drawing from life: contour and gesture. Know the difference.

IV. Drama

You'll need to remember a lot of vocabulary for this section. It's all words that we used all the time in drama. You will be asked to fill in the blanks of a story about directing a play with the appropriate words, and occasionally to write short answers responding to questions about the story.

Vocabulary: pantomime, actor neutral, improvisation, projection, diction, ensemble, pace, props, stage directions, monologue, dialogue.

Review terms from the Greek Tragedy unit as well. Know the parts of a Greek theatre (orchestra, parodos, theatron, skene) as well as the parts of a Greek tragedy (prologue, parodos, episode, stasimon, exodos). Review your notes on the essential elements of Greek tragedy, including late pont of attack, tragic hero, tragic flaw, chorus, masks, etc. I know you know this!

Greek Red and Black Figure Style Drawings

Students handed in their rough sketches and started working on their final drawings on red construction paper. I was so impressed by how well everyone has been working today - every person spent the entire period drawing. We went over some tips and tricks for proportion and started using the black permanent markers.

Tomorrow: finish drawings, go over Fine Arts Final Exam study guide.

Studio Day - 2 Sketches

We quickly reviewed heroic proportion and the requirements for sketches, then spent the entire period drawing. I love studio days! Every student is working hard to master proportion and the rules of Greek pottery art. I think we'll have a group of beautifully finished drawings on Friday.

Homework: finish sketches and bring tomorrow to prepare for final drawing.

Greek Art - Pottery and Proportion

Homework: On the sheet with the skeleton, use a colored pencil to mark head lengths down the length of the skeleton.

Background: Artists developed a system for representing the "ideal" human body in their paintings, pottery, and sculptures throughout the history of Ancient Greece. By the flowering of the Classical period, around 500 B.C., every representation of the body had standard proportions, measured in heads. A head is the distance from the crown, or the top of the skull, to the point of the chin. Most adults are about 7 1/2 heads tall. The Greek artists used "heroic" proportions, making their figures a majestic 8 heads tall.

Classwork today: Students received their group and individual grades for the Greek tragedy project.

We looked at and discussed a slide presentation on Greek black figure and red figure pottery, examining artworks that depicted the Labors of Heracles. Many students pointed out the similarities they saw between Greek and Egyptian art: feet pointing in one direction while the torso faces forward, faces seen in profile with one eye visible. One big difference is that the Greeks used overlapping to show depth.

Some sections had time after the presentation to make some gesture drawings using willow charcoal on newsprint. Thanks to the student "models"! You did a good job of holding still.

Down to the Wire: Dress Rehearsals

Homework: Write four questions (and answers) to be used for the Fine Arts Final Exam, one question per subject area (i.e. one for visual arts, one for drama, one for music, one for poetry). These can be in any format you like: multiple choice, essay, short answer, matching, fill in the blank, definitions of vocabulary, true or false, or a performance task (shade in a circle so it looks like a three-dimensional sphere, for example).

Classwork: complete all masks/props. Dress rehearsals; pair groups.

We are on the home stretch! Performances are tomorrow and Thursday after school. Everyone has worked very hard towards this goal, and I've seen so much improvement since we began.