Valentine Elementary’s Whole-Child Education: Integrating Visual and Performing Arts

Valentine Elementary School maintains a steadfast dedication to nurturing the whole child. Their comprehensive curriculum is crafted to foster intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, and social growth among students. Emphasizing active engagement and citizenship, teachers at every grade level inspire students to excel academically and develop critical intellectual skills.

Visual and Performing Arts Program

The arts are a critical and integrated part of our Valentine curriculum. Students learn the arts as discrete subjects, each with its own unique content, and, where appropriate, connect the arts to concepts and themes from the academic curriculum. The introduction to the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for the California Public Schools describes very well our own beliefs at Valentine Elementary School about the importance of the arts in our students’ educational experience:

“The arts are a dynamic presence in our daily lives, enabling us to express our creativity while challenging our intellect. Through the arts, children have a unique means of expression thatcaptures their passions and emotions and allows them to explore ideas, subject matter, and culture in delightfully different ways. Achievement in the arts cultivates essential skills, such as problem solving, creative thinking, effective planning, time management, teamwork, effective communication, and an understanding of technology.”

For each of the four arts disciplines- Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts- Valentine Elementary School’s state content standards have identified five strands to guide its instruction: artistic perception; creative expression; historical and cultural context; aesthetic valuing; and connections, relations, and applications. At each grade level, kindergarten through grade five, content standards are specified for each strand. Our instruction and the experiences we plan for our students are guided by our goal to provide our students with the opportunity to gain competence in each of the four disciplines and five strands as identified by California State Board of Education.

Visual Arts

Our classroom teachers at each grade level use our art curriculum to teach visual arts vocabulary, the elements of art (line, color, shape, form, texture, space & value), principles of design, historical and cultural dimensions, and to help our students develop perceptual skills and the ability to identify aesthetic qualities in works of art. Our students then have the opportunity in the Art Room to apply the artistic processes and skills learned in their classrooms. In the Art Room students are able to create their own original works using a variety of media including pencils, paints, crayons, clay, watercolor, and tempera.

Our Spring Art Festival held during Open House is an opportunity for every student in our school to have their artwork beautifully displayed. It is an event not to be missed! Parents, students and relatives are provided with the unique opportunity at our Spring Art Festival to order notecards using their own children’s artwork.

Visual Arts Content Standards:

The California Visual Arts Standards are available by grade level at the links provided below:

Kindergarten – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vakindergarten.asp
First Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vagrade1.asp
Second Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vagrade2.asp
Third Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vagrade3.asp
Fourth Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vagrade4.asp
Fifth Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vagrade5.asp

Music

Valentine students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade participate in music instruction taught by our Music Specialist using the Spotlight on Music Instructional Materials for K-5.

All of these students participate in performances each year to showcase the music skills they have learned.

Music Content Standards

The California Music Content Standards are available by grade level at the links provided below:

Kindergarten – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mukindergarten.asp
First Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade1.asp
Second Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade2.asp
Third Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade3.asp
Fourth Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade4.asp
Fifth Grade – http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade5.asp

California Content Standards for the Arts

The complete Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools for Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts for Grades Prekindergarten through Eighth Grade are available at the link provided below.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/vpastandards.pdf

Valentine Elementary School, 1650 Huntington Drive, San Marino, (626) 299-7090 or visit www.valentineschool.org.