Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Exploring the Sky with Van Gogh and Mozart

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

K, 1, 2

Overview

Students will identify tempo and dynamics in Mozart's “Ah vous dirai-je, maman.” They will analyze van Gogh's Starry Night and identify lines and colors.  They will discuss the night sky, stars, and constellations. Students will respond to music through scarves. They will create their own Starry Night interpretation.  

    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): KG - Music

    AE17.MU.K.1

    Explore and experience music concepts.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.K.1

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Steady beat
    • Long/ Short
    • One and two sounds per beat
    • Silent beat
    Melody
    • High and low
    • Pitch set: So, Mi
    • Musical alphabet
    Harmony
    • Accompaniment/ no accompaniment
    Form
    • Like and unlike phrases
    • Echo
    Expression
    • Speak, sing, shout, whisper
    • Solo/ Group
    • Unpitched percussion
    • Flute, trumpet, violin, piano
    • Loud/ Soft
    • Fast/ Slow
    Other
    • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette

    Essential Questions

    EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
    EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Chant, move, play, and sing grade level skills.
    • Echo simple rhythmic patterns.
    • Echo a three-pitch melodic pattern using the correct syllables and hand signs.
    Creating
    • Perform an improvised rhythmic pattern within a framework of four beats.
    • Perform an improvised melodic pattern on a pitched percussion instrument set to the pentatonic scale within a framework of four beats.
    • Improvise short songs and instrumental pieces using a variety of sound sources, including traditional or classroom sounds, body percussion, and sounds produced by electronic means.
    • Explore musical sources freely using found sounds, electronic sounds, or sounds from voice or instruments found in classroom, remembering to use sound and silence.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Create a visual representation of sound.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Respond to a musical call or question with an age- appropriate musical answer.
    • Evaluate peer performance to determine steady beat/no steady beat.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): KG - Music

    AE17.MU.K.16

    Demonstrate awareness of expressive qualities that reflect creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.K.16

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Steady beat
    • Long/ Short
    • One and two sounds per beat
    • Silent beat
    Melody
    • High and low
    • Pitch set: So, Mi
    • Musical alphabet
    Harmony
    • Accompaniment/ no accompaniment
    Form
    • Like and unlike phrases
    • Echo
    Expression
    • Speak, sing, shout, whisper
    • Solo/ Group
    • Unpitched percussion
    • Flute, trumpet, violin, piano
    • Loud/ Soft
    • Fast/ Slow
    Other
    • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette

    Essential Questions

    EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
    EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Perform songs of various genres while reflecting appropriate stylistic characteristics.
    Creating
    • Purposefully move to music and articulate why they made the movement choices they made based on the music they heard.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Discuss, using musical language, the characteristics of the music they hear and/or perform.
    • Discuss, using age/developmentally appropriate musical language, what sort of music they like personally and why.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Share ideas about musical selections of various and contrasting styles, composers and musical periods.
    • Describe how sounds and music are used in our daily lives.
    • Describe the difference between steady beat and rhythm.
    • Identify and connect a concept shared between music and another curricular area.
    • Identify and discuss various uses of music in the United States and the various meanings of the term "musician."
    • Respond to sound with a drawing of how the sound makes them feel.
    • Offer opinions about their own musical experiences and responses to music.
    • Aurally identify flute, trumpet, violin, and piano.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 1 - Music

    AE17.MU.1.17

    Demonstrate and identify expressive qualities that reflect creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.1.17

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Quarter note, quarter rest, paired eighth notes
    • Strong/ weak beat
    • Steady beat/ rhythm
    • Allegro/ adagio
    Melody
    • Pitch set: Mi, So, La
    • Steps/ skips/ repeated notes
    • Melodic direction
    • Modified staff
    • Line notes and space notes
    Harmony/texture
    • Rhythmic ostinati
    • Simple bordun
    Form
    • AB, ABA
    Expression
    • Legato, staccato
    • Piano (p), forte (f)
    • Classroom instrument classifications
    • Clarinet, trombone, cello, drum
    • Orchestral music: ballet
    • Non-Western music celebrations
    Other
    • Proper singing posture
    • Age-appropriate pitch matching (C4 - C5)1
    • Mallet/ drumming technique — hands together

    Essential Questions

    EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
    EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Select appropriate music for specific events such as school festivals, community events, and class or grade level performances.
    Creating
    • Create a rhythmic ostinato that reflects the style of the music performed (ex: finger cymbals/lullaby).
    Reading/ Writing
    • Identify repeated rhythmic passages in music and notate using iconic notation (ex: rhythm of repeated melodic phrase in "In the Hall of the Mountain King").
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Aurally identify clarinet, trombone, and cello in the context of an ensemble performance.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 2 - Music

    AE17.MU.2.17

    Demonstrate knowledge of music concepts and how they support creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.2.17

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Eighth note, eighth rest, half note, half rest, whole note, whole rest
    • Strong/ weak beat — 2/4; 3/4 meter
    • Accelerando/ ritardando
    Melody
    • Pitch Set: Do, Re, Mi, So, La
    • Five-line staff
    • Treble clef
    • Names of lines/ spaces (treble staff)
    Harmony
    • Melodic ostinati
    • Partner songs
    Form
    • AAB, AABA, Rondo
    • Verse/ Refrain
    Expression
    • Orchestral instrument families
    • Piano (p), forte (f)
    • Crescendo/ decrescendo
    • Orchestral Music: programmatic
    • Indigenous music: Native American
    • American music: slave songs, colonial folk songs
    Other
    • Age-appropriate pitch matching (B3-D5)1
    • Mallet/ drumming technique: alternating hands

    Essential Questions

    EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
    EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Demonstrate understanding of musical intent when performing, through attention to expressive markings.
    Creating
    • Demonstrate understanding of cultural authenticity by performing music with appropriate stylistic expression
    Reading/ Writing
    • Identify repeat signs and multiple verses in a verse/refrain song
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Explain musical decisions that contribute to the expressive intent of the music.
    • Describe the context of lyrics in a verse/refrain song.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): KG - Visual Arts

    AE17.VA.K.1

    Engage in self-directed exploration and imaginative play with art materials.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.VA.K.1

    Vocabulary

    • Art
    • Artwork
    • Collaboratively
    • Collage
    • Cool colors
    • Warm colors
    • Elements of Art
      • Color
      • Line
      • Shape
    • Imaginative play
    • Play
    • Portfolio
    • Primary colors
    • Principles of design
      • Pattern
    • Printmaking

    Essential Questions

    EU: Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed.
    EQ: What conditions, attitudes, and behaviors support creativity and innovative thinking? What factors prevent or encourage people to take creative risks? How does collaboration expand the creative process?

    Skills Examples

    • Create two-dimensional artworks using finger painting, watercolors, paper collage, and rubbings.
    • Create three-dimensional artworks using techniques such as rolling, folding, cutting, molding, pinching, and pulling clay.
    • Work with a partner to create works of art.
    • Working in small groups, use recycled materials to create artworks.
    • Explore the books Why is Blue Dog Blue? by G. Rodrigue and My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss to understand color meanings and moods.
    • Read the book Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman to explore different styles of line.
    • Safely use and share scissors, pencils, crayons, markers, glue, paints, paintbrushes, and clay.
    • Use symbols to help tell a personal or make-believe story.
    • Manipulate art media to create textures and patterns.
    • Identify and use organic and geometric shapes to create works of art.
    • Show respect for self and others while making and viewing art.
    • Use the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) to create a free-style painting while singing the names of the colors.
    • Use patterns in designing colored stripes on the shirt of a person you know.
    • Collect found objects such as paper tubes, forks, and pieces of cardboard. Press them in shallow tempera paint, and stamp them on paper to show printmaking.
    • Create a T-chart that separates cool (blue, green, and purple) and warm (red, yellow, and orange) colors in different columns. Use the symbols of water waves for the cool column header and the sun for the warm column header.
    • Work with a partner to find colors, lines, and shapes in art and tell each other what you see.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 1 - Visual Arts

    AE17.VA.1.2

    Explore and experiment with a range of art materials.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.VA.1.2

    Vocabulary

    • Complementary colors
    • Contrast
    • Curator
    • Elements of Art
      • Texture
    • Landscapes
    • Portrait
    • Positive/ negative space and shape
    • Principles of design
      • Repetition
      • Variety
    • Secondary colors
    • Still life
    • Technique
    • Venue

    Essential Questions

    EU: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative artmaking goals.
    EQ: How does knowing the contexts, histories, and traditions of art forms help create works of art and design? Why do artists follow or break from established traditions? How do artists determine what resources and criteria are needed to formulate artistic investigations?

    Skills Examples

    • Work with a partner or small group to create an artwork.
    • Use the book Perfect Square by Michael Hall to help "thinking outside the box" skills.
    • Create two-dimensional artworks using a variety of gadgets for printmaking.
    • Use paint media to create paintings of family portraits or a favorite memory.
    • Create three-dimensional artworks such as clay pinch pots or found-object sculptures.
    • View a step-by-step demonstration of an artistic technique.
    • Properly clean and store art materials.
    • Use Mouse Paint book by Helen Walsh to teach color mixing of primary to achieve secondary colors.
    • Create a painting inspired by Piet Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie.
    • Create a "Pop Art" inspired artwork of positive and negative spaces and shapes by using colored paper cut-outs and gluing to different background squares.
    • Make a color wheel and identify the complimentary colors (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple).
    • Draw different forms in the school environment: cones in the gym, cubes in math center, and sphere used for a globe.
    • Create texture rubbings by placing paper over different surfaces and rubbing with a crayon or oil pastel. Use a rough brick wall, a smooth table, bumpy bubble wrap, or soft felt shapes.
    • Use repetition in art by looking at the designs on a shell or the stripes of a zebra for inspiration.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 2 - Visual Arts

    AE17.VA.2.2

    Explore personal interests and curiosities with a range of art materials.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.VA.2.2

    Vocabulary

    • Principles of design
      • Balance
    • Brainstorming
    • Composition
    • Concepts
    • Characteristic
    • Elements of art
      • Space
      • Value
    • Expressive properties
    • Foreground
    • Middle ground
    • Neutral colors
    • Resist

    Essential Questions

    EU: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative artmaking goals.
    EQ: How does knowing the contexts, histories, and traditions of art forms help create works of art and design? Why do artists follow or break from established traditions? How do artists determine what resources and criteria are needed to formulate artistic investigations?

    Skills Examples

    • Create two-dimensional artworks such as drawing or painting by using a variety of media.
    • Use the book, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L.
    • Blood & Martin Link to learn about weaving.
    • Use clay or pipe cleaners to create small animal sculptures.
    • Work in groups to brainstorm ideas for a collaborative art project.
    • Use a book about clay, When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor to study Native Americans and their traditions.
    • Use the book A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle to explore collage techniques.
    • Create a real or imagined home using two-and-three-dimensional media.
    • Learn how to properly use and store brushes, close glue bottles and marker tops.
    • Use found objects such as leaves, rocks, paper tubes, egg cartons, etc.
    • to create artworks.
    • Use the book A Day with No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch to explore different colors and values.
    • Create a landscape showing depth by placing the foreground, middle ground and background in their correct positions.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Link to Resource

    CR Resource Type

    Lesson/Unit Plan

    Resource Provider

    San Francisco Symphony
    Accessibility
    License
    ALSDE LOGO