Kingsville Elementary School

Karen Ghassemieh Art Teacher

Educational Background
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Maryland Institute College of Art Masters of Education –Goucher College Maryland State Advanced Professional Certification in Art Kindergarten – Grade 12

Program Highlights
The Elementary Art Program at Kingsville is aligned with all the visual arts programs in Baltimore County, which are based on Maryland State Standards and National Standards for the Visual Arts. There are five Standards they are:

Students will demonstrate the ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to ideas, experiences, and their environment through visual art.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of visual art as a basic aspect of history and human experience.
Students will demonstrate the ability to organize knowledge and ideas for expression in the production of their own art.
Students will demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze and apply criteria for making visual aesthetic judgments.
Students will demonstrate productive artistic behaviors and habits of mind.

There are twelve emphasis areas that are introduced to students at levels appropriate to their developmental stages.
1.working from observation
2 working from memory
3understanding design, style, and meaning of art
4 understanding that art expresses ideas and feelings
5.understanding the purposes of art, how it reflects society,and the
factors that influence art
6.Understanding style and context
7.Making interdisciplinary connections
8.Working with media
9.Problem solving through design
10.applying processes for idea development
11.Identifying and generating criteria
12.Valuing one’s own and the work of others.

KINGSVILLE’S ART PROGRAM
Curriculum reference: AN ART PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN GRADES 1-5 and Developing Language Through the arts.

Kindergarten
Kindergarten children engage in open-ended art experiences where creativity is encouraged. Developing Language Through the Arts, Part II is also a part of the kindergarten program. It features works of art from the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Grades1 and 2
During these formative years, children are provided with experiences to guide them in exploring and discovering the potential of art materials and ideas in learning about their world, themselves and others. Students are involved in a variety of art experiences that enable them to develop coordination and skill in using tools and materials.

Grade 3
In this transition year, students become better able to understand the organizational patterns that occur within and among nature and man-made forms. Boys and Girls at this age begin to have greater understanding of cause and effect relationships and are able to apply this knowledge in considering the environment, their own art expression, and the art of others.

Grade 4
As students enter the intermediate years, they become increasingly able to discriminate among visual characteristics of their world and to apply these abilities in analyzing and understanding visual form. These students are increasingly adept in using a variety of art tools and materials and demonstrate an awareness of the many possibilities of art media for personal expression.

Grade 5
Students at this level demonstrate increased interest and ability to organize their ideas in responding to what they see, think and feel. They are increasingly able to understand the use of a plan as part of a problem solving process in developing original works of art.

ART VOCABULARY IS DEVELOPED AT EVERY GRADE LEVEL

ASSESSMENT
At all levels art students are assessed using a variety of assessment approaches and methods that are performance based. Students are encouraged to keep artwork starting in Kindergarten and maintain a portfolio that shows their personal growth from year to year.

ART LINKS
Baltimore County Art Programs
http://www.bcps.org/offices/visual arts