Middle School Integrated Arts Curriculum
South Valley Academy offers a middle school integrated arts curriculum and visual arts education aligned to the Arizona State Grade Articulated and National Standards, as well as the National Standards for Arts Education. Courses offered include disciplines within the performing and visual arts. Students in grades K-12 experience and create as they progress through the programs of dance (ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop and lyrical dance), theater, music, multiple-medium and -dimension art, photography, graphics, and beyond. Students create, relate, and evaluate from the beginning through the advanced level by practical, written, and performance-based assessments.
Our middle school integrated arts curriculum functions in students’ daily schedules in the same way as athletic programs to provide students with stimulation around the arts. Years of research shows that art is closely linked to almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity (Smith, Edutopia,org).
Keep art alive in Education!
visual arts
Offering an integrated arts curriculum for middle schoolers provides an opportunity for students to learn about the world in a different way than other academic disciplines. Students will have hands-on experience creating art with a variety of media such as drawing, painting, clay, and other 3 – D materials. Through these projects this course will incorporate Art History, learning about other cultures, social topics, as well as a sense of identity and self – expression. Students will learn presentation skills as well as responding to their own and others’ artwork.
Students will design with a variety of media, objects, and creations in 1, 2, and 3D design. Students will be responsible for all aspects of their design, which includes pop and historical creations. Students will create a portfolio to show at the art exhibitions. Advanced students will create their own art and designs to be displayed at Art Walks.
Skyline Education offers photography courses with a focus on artistic development and technique, as well as History of Film. This course will guide students to think critically about what they see in film, and to consider the film – making process and decisions made along the way. It also helps students place films in a historical context, using them as a springboard for conversat ions about social issues. Course content includes a variety of genres of films, study of different photography angles that will give a film a certain feeling, discussion of directors and what made them great (Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, George Lucas etc.) and actors like Sidney Poitier, Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Grace Kelly.
PERFORMING ARTS
This program will focus on the fundamentals of cheerleading techniques, safety procedures, stunting, professionalism, and performance etiquette. Our cheerleading program is offered to students grades Pre-K through 12th grade working with various skill levels from beginning, intermediate and advanced technique and training. All cheerleaders are representatives of our school, and learn the skill sets to becoming great leaders and role models for those around them.
Our cheerleading program takes pride in teaching lifelong skill sets which include: professionalism, organizational skills, positive body imaging, punctuality, teamwork, leadership skills, dedication, planning, preparation and performance etiquette skills.
Students focus on work in various techniques and styles of dance including Ballet, Modern, Broadway Jazz, Lyrical and Hip Hop. Consistent dance study develops the following skills and understandings:
- Physical: Further refinement of movements, building strength in various dance techniques, and coordinating spatially and rhythmically complex sequences.
- Social/Affective: Overcoming awkwardness, building trust among peers, working independently and taking risks.
- Cognitive: Distinguishing, manipulating, synthesizing, analyzing, evaluating and creating dance.
- Aesthetic: Accurately executing different styles of dance, considering multiple factors leading to aesthetic effect.
- Metacognitive: Reflecting on their own qualities as dancers in relation to their training and world dance styles.
This program will focus on the fundamentals of cheerleading techniques, safety procedures, stunting, professionalism, and performance etiquette. Our cheerleading program is offered to students grades Pre-K through 12th grade working with various skill levels from beginning, intermediate and advanced technique and training. All cheerleaders are representatives of our school, and learn the skill sets to become great leaders and role models for those around them.
Our cheerleading program takes pride in teaching lifelong skill sets which include professionalism, organizational skills, positive body imaging, punctuality, teamwork, leadership skills, dedication, planning, preparation, and performance etiquette skills.
