Ayres 123
Office hours:
Email address: SASmith@csuchico.edu
Art for the child is more than just drawing, painting and working with clay. It is a basic processes embodied in conceptualized learning and is a means of creative communication for the child. Many children find learning enhanced through the combining the processes of verbal and auditory presentation with manipulative activity involving the physical, visual and tactile aspects of artistic creation. Within each piece of child art is the "feelings, intellectual abilities, perceptual sensitivities, creative involvement, social development, and aesthetic awareness" of that child. This course will define the developmental stages that are typical for children throughout the pre-school and elementary school years. Involvement with art media and art processes appropriate to the developmental levels we are studying will, we hope, stimulate your awareness of the interactive components of the creative process. Those eight interactive components of creativity are "fluency in thinking, flexibility, originality, elaborate thinking, risk taking, complexity, curiosity, and imagination”. These components are primary to aesthetic growth and artistic production for both the child and the adult. Art, however, is not the same for the adult as it is for the child. Art for the adult focuses upon the product that is created while art for the child (and for the adult artist) most often focuses on the process that leads to the final art product. As adults, we will need to explore the creative process through making art products. The processes that we will go through will help us to better understand the child’s attitudes toward creativity. We will be looking toward the creative process as developing an openness toward "finding the unknown challenges, coming up with many thoughts and ideas, looking for differences and similarities," and," having unique and original thoughts." Finally, we will, through our interactive involvement in the creative process, attempt to enhance our own personal creative attitudes.
Class Format and Text:
This is a lecture/lab class that meets four hours each week. The format is based upon student involvement in the learning experience thus attendance is mandatory for both the lecture and the lab portions of the class. Lectures, slides and demonstrations will occur on either of the class meeting days whenever it is deemed to be most appropriate and would best meet the needs of the curricula. The text for this class will be “Artworks For Elementary Teachers: Developing Artistic and Perceptual Awareness” by Donald and Barbara Herberholz. The text is available at the student bookstore. The lab for this class consists of hands-on participation in the creative process. While it is understood that not all students enrolled in this class have had previous experience in the creative arts process; the student is expected to work to their highest potential. Focus is on both process and product.
Grading:
There will be three Quizzes and a Final Exam. The quizzes will be graded in class and the scores recorded by the teacher. The quizzes will be returned to the student to be held by them until the final exam date. The student will be given the opportunity to use, if desired, the total scores from these quizzes in lieu of taking the final exam. If that choice is selected then all quizzes must be turned in to the instructor. The grade for the Final exam (or the total quiz scores) will be weighted as one half of the final grade. The other half of the final grade will be based on the students’ attendance, the activity level and participation in class assignments and on the presentation of the class activity portfolio. The activity portfolio is an artistically presented compilation of all information and processes / activities experienced in the class. The initial construction of the portfolio will be started in class (completed at home) and will form a visual notebook of the students’ participation in the class. Each individual art products will not be letter-graded but will be part of the graded portfolio. The participation grade will include: attendance, punctuality, being ready with any individualized or specific materials, working throughout the entire lab period, active involvement in group activities (including clean up of individual and common areas, putting away tools and materials). The portfolio will be evaluated ‘in-progress’ at mid-term and as a completed unit at the end of the semester.
Activity Fee and recommended additional equipment
There is a $20.00 in-lieu fee for this class that has been included, if you pre-enrolled, in your fee packet. If you are adding the class you must pay the in-lieu fee within the first two weeks of class. The fee is payable at the cashiers window upstairs in Kendall Hall. The in-lieu fee is used to provide you with the majority of materials needed during the semester. This includes all handouts, computer supplies, paints, papers, clays, glazes, fabrics, glues and other art materials. Each student is required to have a 100 mb. Mac formatted Zip disk to be used to store the digital photographs of their art products. These digital photographs will be taken and processed in class. The digital photographs will become a major portion of the art portfolio.
Many of the art activities experienced in this class may be a bit messy. You may want to bring an apron or an old shirt to protect your clothing. While the materials that we use are all non-toxic some will stain your clothing and hands. You may, occasionally, want to provide yourself with a pair of disposable latex gloves.
