New York State Standards for Arts Education: Grade 6

NY.1. Intermediate: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts: Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.

1.1. Dance: Students will perform set dance forms in formal and informal contexts and will improvise, create, and perform dances based on their own movement ideas. They will demonstrate an understanding of choreographic principles, processes, and structures and of the roles of various participants in dance productions.

1.1.1. Students know and demonstrate a range of movement elements and skills (such as balance, alignment, elevation, and landing) and basic dance steps, positions, and patterns.

1.1.2. Students dance a range of forms from free improvisation to structured choreography.

1.1.3. Students create or improvise dance phrases, studies, and dances, alone and/or in collaboration with others, in a variety of contexts.

1.1.4. Students demonstrate the ability to take various roles in group productions and performances.

1.2. Music: Students will compose original music and perform music written by others. They will understand and use the basic elements of music in their performances and compositions. Students will engage in individual and group musical and music-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, recording, and producing music.

1.2.1. Students compose simple pieces that reflect a knowledge of melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, timbrel, and dynamic elements.

1.2.2. Students sing and/or play, alone and in combination with other voice or instrument parts, a varied repertoire of folk, art, and contemporary songs, from notation, with a good tone, pitch, duration, and loudness.

1.2.3. Students improvise short musical compositions that exhibit cohesiveness and musical expression.

1.2.4. Students, in performing ensembles, read moderately easy/moderately difficult music (NYSSMA level III-IV) and respond appropriately to the gestures of the conductor.

1.2.5. Students identify and use, in individual and group experiences, some of the roles, processes, and actions for performing and composing music of their own and others, and discuss ways to improve them.

1.3. Theatre: Students will create and perform theatre pieces as well as improvisational drama. They will understand and use the basic elements of theatre in their characterizations, improvisations, and play writing. Students will engage in individual and group theatrical and theatre-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, and producing theatre.

1.3.1. Students use improvisation and guided play writing to communicate ideas and feelings.

1.3.2. Students imitate various experiences through pantomime, play making, dramatic play, story dramatization, storytelling, role playing, improvisation and guided play writing.

1.3.3. Students use language, voice, gesture, movement and observation to create character and interact with others in improvisation, rehearsal, and performance.

1.3.4. Students create props, scenery, and costumes through individual and group effort.

1.3.5. Students identify and use, in individual and group experiences, some of the roles, processes, and actions for performing and creating theatre pieces and improvisational drama within the school/community, and discuss ways to improve them.

1.4. Visual Arts: Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes, and metaphors. Students will understand and use sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive images to communicate their own ideas in works of art. Students will use a variety of art materials, processes, mediums, and techniques, and use appropriate technologies for creating and exhibiting visual art works.

1.4.1. Students produce a collection of art works, in a variety of mediums, based on a range of individual and collective experiences.

1.4.2. Students know and use a variety of sources for developing and conveying ideas, images, themes, symbols, and events in their creation of art.

1.4.3. Students use the elements and principles of art to communicate specific meanings to others in their art work.

1.4.4. Students during the creative process, reflect on the effectiveness of selected mediums or techniques to convey intended meanings.

1.4.5. Students identify and use, in individual and group experiences, some of the roles and means for designing, producing, and exhibiting art works and discuss ways to improve them.

NY.2. Intermediate: Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources: Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

2.1. Dance: Students will know how to access dance and dance-related material from libraries, resource centers, museums, studios, and performance spaces. Students will know various career possibilities in dance and recreational opportunities to dance. Students will attend dance events and participate as appropriate within each setting.

2.1.1. Students demonstrate knowledge of sources for understanding dance technologies: live, print, video, computer, etc.

2.1.2. Students demonstrate knowledge of how human structure and function affect movement in parts of dances and dances that they know or have choreographed.

2.1.3. Students demonstrate knowledge of audience/performer responsibilities and relationships in dance.

2.1.4. Students demonstrate knowledge of differences in performance venue and the events presented in each.

2.2. Music: Students will use traditional instruments, electronic instruments, and a variety of nontraditional sound sources to create and perform music. They will use various resources to expand their knowledge of listening experiences, performance opportunities, and/or information about music. Students will identify opportunities to contribute to their communities' music institutions, including those embedded in other institutions. Students will know the vocations and avocations available to them in music.

2.2.1. Students use traditional or nontraditional sound sources, including electronic ones, in composing and performing simple pieces.

2.2.2. Students use school and community resources to develop information on music and musicians.

2.2.3. Students use current technology to create, produce and record/playback music.

2.2.4. Students identify a community-based musical interest or role and explain the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to pursue the interest or adopt the role.

2.2.5. Students demonstrate appropriate listening and other participatory responses to music of a variety of genres and cultures.

2.2.6. Students investigate some career options related to their musical interests.

2.3. Theatre: Students will know the basic tools, media, and techniques involved in theatrical production. Students will locate and use school, community, and professional resources for theatre experiences. Students will understand the job opportunities available in all aspects of theatre.

2.3.1. Students visit theatre technology facilities, including the local high school facility, and interact with professionals and theatre students to learn about theatre technology (e.g., lighting, staging, sound, etc.).

2.3.2. Students use the school or community library/media centers and other resources to develop information on various theatre-related topics.

2.3.3. Students know about local theatrical institutions, attend performances in school and in the community, and demonstrate appropriate audience behavior.

2.3.4. Students discuss vocations/avocations with theatre professionals and identify the skills and preparation necessary for theatre vocations/avocations.

2.4. Visual Arts: Students will know and use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques, and processes. Students will know about resources and opportunities for participation in visual arts in the community and use appropriate materials. Students will be aware of vocational options available in the visual arts.

2.4.1. Students develop skills with a variety of art materials and competence in at least one medium.

2.4.2. Students use the computer and other electronic media as designing tools and to communicate visual ideas.

2.4.3. Students take advantage of community opportunities and cultural institutions to learn from professional artists, look at original art, and increase their understanding of art.

2.4.4. Students understand the variety of careers related to the visual arts and the skills necessary to pursue some of them.

NY.3. Intermediate: 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.

3.1. Dance: 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.

3.1.1. Students demonstrate knowledge of the technical language used in discussing dance performances.

3.1.2. Students demonstrate knowledge of choreographic principles and processes.

3.1.3. Students express to others their understanding of specific dance performances, including perceptions, descriptions, analyses, interpretations, and evaluations.

3.2. Music: 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.

3.2.1. Students through listening, analyze and evaluate their own and others' performances, improvisations, and compositions by identifying and comparing them with similar works and events.

3.2.2. Students use appropriate terms to reflect a working knowledge of the musical elements.

3.2.3. Students demonstrate a basic awareness of the technical skills musicians must develop to produce an aesthetically acceptable performance.

3.2.4. Students use appropriate terms to reflect a working knowledge of social-musical functions and uses (appropriate choices of music for common ceremonies and other events).

3.2.5. Students use basic scientific concepts to explain how music-related sound is produced, transmitted through air, and perceived.

3.2.6. Students use terminology from music and other arts to analyze and compare the structures of musical and other artistic and literary works.

3.3. Theatre: 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.

3.3.1. Students use the techniques and vocabulary of theatre criticism, both written and oral, to discuss theatre experiences and improve individual and group performances.

3.3.2. Students examine and discuss the use of other art forms in a theatre production.

3.3.3. Students explain how drama/theatre experiences relate to other literary and artistic events.

3.4. Visual Arts: 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.

3.4.1. Students discuss and write their analyses and interpretations of their own works of art and the art of others, using appropriate critical language.

3.4.2. Students identify, analyze, and interpret the visual and sensory characteristics that they discover in natural and human-made forms.

3.4.3. Students 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.

3.4.4. Students 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.

NY.4. Intermediate: Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts: Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.

4.1. Dance: Students will know dances from many cultures and times and recognize their relationship to various cultural, social, and historic contexts. Students will recognize that dance is performed in many different cultural settings and serves many functions in diverse societies.

4.1.1. Students identify the major dance forms of specific world cultures past and present.

4.1.2. Students identify some of the major dance artists from diverse cultures.

4.1.3. Students show how specific dance forms are related to the culture from which they come.

4.2. Music: Students will develop a performing and listening repertoire of music of various genres, styles, and cultures that represent the peoples of the world and their manifestations in the United States. Students will recognize the cultural features of a variety of musical compositions and performances and understand the functions of music within the culture.

4.2.1. Students identify the cultural contexts of a performance or recording and perform (with movement, where culturally appropriate) a varied repertoire of folk, art, and contemporary selections from the basic cultures that represent the peoples of the world.

4.2.2. Students identify from a performance or recording the titles and composers of well-known examples of classical concert music and blues/jazz selections.

4.2.3. Students discuss the current and past cultural, social, and political uses for the music they listen to and perform.

4.2.4. Students, in performing ensembles, read and perform repertoire in a culturally authentic manner.

4.3. Theatre: Students will gain knowledge about past and present cultures as expressed through theatre. They will interpret how theatre reflects the beliefs, issues, and events of societies past and present.

4.3.1. Students improvise scenes based on information about various cultures.

4.3.2. Students create intercultural celebrations using props, settings, and costumes.

4.3.3. Students explain how drama/theatre experiences relate to them-selves and others.

4.4. Visual Arts: Students will explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures to discover the roles that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place and to understand how the time and place influence the visual characteristics of the art work. Students will explore art to understand the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of human society.

4.4.1. Students demonstrate how art works and artifacts from diverse world cultures reflect aspects of those cultures.

4.4.2. Students demonstrate the ways in which some particular art works and artifacts reflect important aspects of the diverse cultures of the United States.

4.4.3. Students create art works that reflect a particular historical period of a culture.