Fine Art half credit question

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

My 12th grader is doing a half credit of fine arts this semester. For this student, "art" is a check off the box subject. We did one AO LifePac as a starting place and he has been watching Khan Academy, taking notes, and making an art "notebook". I had planned a couple of field trips to art galleries and a couple of short papers based upon library books.

 

Sounds good.

 

Except.

 

He is completely NOT interested at all! He tolerated the workbook. Because this art half credit is at the bottom of the priority list and at the bottom of the "interest" list, it gets neglected lots of days. I don't want him to spend the entire academic year on this half credit!

 

Any ideas ? I will have him draw a few things. And he'll probably do one painting.

 

I'm mainly looking for things that will "BUILD TIME" so I can assign a grade after we hit 75 hours. I did grade the LifePac, I will grade the notebook, and I'll probably assign a short paper that will be graded. Other than that I am counting hours.

 

Should we just keep plugging along (bored to tears almost) on my plan to just "git-er-done"?

 

Thanks for all suggestions!

[Jenny in Florida]

I know nothing at all about the LifePac stuff.

 

But isn't there any kind of art that interests him? Does he have to study visual art, if that isn't getting him? Could he study music? Theatre? Dance? Would any of those be more fun for him?

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

He has already done a half credit of music appreciation.

And, no. :)

Nothing in "art" seems interesting to him.

:)

[Melissa B]

Does your library have any Teaching Company or Modern Scholar lectures that he could watch? The Teaching Company's series, How to Look at and Understand Great Art, alone would cover 18 hours.

[SkateLeft]

Since he already has a 1/2 credit of fine art in that music class, does he really need an art credit? Are the colleges that he's interested in requiring more than a half-credit in fine art? Maybe he could take another 1/2 credit music class instead, if he prefers music over art?

 

My daughter currently only has a semester credit in fine art. She took 3D Art Modeling through Giant Campus in 9th grade. None of her colleges require any more than that, though she'll probably take another art course through dual enrollment next semester.

[Barbara H]

I agree that it may make more sense to do another 1/2 credit of music if that's a stronger interest. Film would also be an option if that's of greater interest.

 

One option might be to add in some lectures. That may add some interest and at least it doesn't require a lot of output from him. Anneburg has several free options available online for art, music, and film. We used both the Art of the Western World and Art through Time series. They have some other supportive materials free online as well. http://www.learner.org/resources/browse.html?discipline=1

[Lori D.]

Does he have enough art for 0.25 credit, or is close to it? If so, call that part good, add it to the 0.5 credit of music and then do some other subject for the remaining 0.25 credit. You could call the combined credit something like: 1.0 credit Survey of Fine Arts, or, General Fine Arts, or, Introduction to Fine Arts Appreciation.

 

 

As for what that other 0.25 credit could be:

- Film Appreciation

- Theater Appreciation

- Theater Production (volunteer 35 hours working backstage on a community theater production)

- Fine Arts hands-on (Parks & Rec class; lessons/projects from a local person; volunteer work for a local artist; volunteer at a silk screening shop...)

 

Are unusual arts a possibility for fine arts "hands-on" hours? (glass blowing; wood carving; jewelry making; metal welding/sculpture; blacksmithing; printmaking/silkscreening...)

 

What about digital arts for hands on? (graphic design/layout software; photoshop; photo elements; 3-D animation...)

 

If your son is at all interested in photography, this $149 download course (20 hours of instruction) is *incredible* = Creative Live: Fundamentals of Digital Photography. It is 20 hours of instruction -- 10 weeks of 2 hours of instruction, and add 1 hour a week where you assign DS to go out and shoot photos based on whatever was learned in that week's lesson; add the FREE 2-hour Photographing Fireworks session, and you've got a 0.25 credit course!

 

 

Rough calculation of credits by hours:

 

1.00 credit = 120-180 hours . . . . 150 hours = 1.0 credit

0.75 credit = 90-135 hours . . . . . 107 hours = 0.75 credit

0.66 credit = 80-120 hours . . . . . 100 hours = 0.66 credit

0.50 credit = 60-90 hours . . . . . . 75 hours = 0.5 credit

0.33 credit = 40-60 hours . . . . . . 50 hours = 0.33 credit

0.25 credit = 30-45 hours . . . . . . 37-38 hours = 0.25 credit

 

 

 

BEST of luck in figuring out how to finish up that last credit! Warmly, Lori D.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

He does NEED the half credit. We are in an umbrella program that REQUIRES a full credit of "fine arts" on the transcript.

 

He is not interested in music. Other than listening that is. :) We had a textbook w/CDs on our shelf. We did music because we had the materials, NOT because he was interested. :) He did not finish the music, for lack of interest again, and his "grade" reflected that. :(

 

I like the idea of watching Teaching Co lectures. A trip to the library is in order!

 

Maybe reading biographies of artists?

 

What are the different TYPES of art in general? Maybe we could research a type of art, watch some sort of video documentary or lecture, experience the form in a gallery or concert, and make an attempt at doing that type of art ourselves?

 

Thanks everyone!

[Jenny in Florida]

What are the different TYPES of art in general?

 

Visual art (painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, mosaics, fiber arts)

Dance

Theatre

Film

Architecture

Opera

 

My son is doing a credit of arts this year, half music and half visual arts. We're focusing on American artists and composers to align with history. One of the things I plan to do with him is to visit local museums and then having him write a brief report about the exhibits. Would your son be open to that kind of thing?

[Lori D.]

Here's a Wikipedia article to get you started on finding out about the different types of fine art (fine art media).

 

 

A book to look for at your library, even though it is at a middle school level, is the Usborne Internet Linked Introduction to Art. It is very visual, and is a great overview of art history -- really helps you see that art styles are connected to the social/political/historical events and attitudes. The other nice thing about the book is those internet links it provides for more information and research. Might give you ideas, too, for specific artists or art styles to learn a bit more about.

 

Our DSs were not the least bit interested in art, but they did find this book fairly interesting because it showed the connections between art styles and what was going on in the times the artist lived in.

 

The Sister Wendy videos are kind of funky, but she brings out some interesting points about specific works of art, so that might be another art video/DVD series to look for. She has done about 6 series; for your purposes, I would recommend "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting" (1997) to see what you think...

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Sherry in OH]

How does he feel about Lego?

 

http://architecture.lego.com/en-us/products/

He could select one of the sets, research the building and architect, write a brief paper, and build a replica. There's a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Tennessee, would a field trip be possible?

 

What does interest him? You might be able to relate the art to one of those interests.