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Upper Elementary, Grades 3-5
Students in grades 3-5 are ready to explore increasingly complex ideas, situations and relationships. They delight in understanding processes and acquiring technical proficiency.
ArtsConnection's approach gives students the opportunity to develop skills in an art form improving critical thinking by emphasizing the processes of art-making including cause and effect, multi-step techniques, and breaking down complex projects into manageable increments. Arts activities:
- Support the development of gross and fine motor skill, the ability to control impulses and constructively focus physical energy
- Help children work out effective ways of interacting in small groups, manage their natural competitiveness, share their thoughts and ideas, negotiate artistic choices, and support each other's contributions
- Allow students to explore diverse cultures and experience cultural, racial and linguistic differences in constructive ways as they strive to understand who they are an what they might become
Upper Elementary Dance
Dance provides opportunities for the development of strength, flexibility, coordination, endurance, the ability to control impulses and the constructive focus of physical energy. Students learn about rhythm, sequencing, patterns and phrasing as well as how to express themselves creatively – communicating themes, concepts and ideas through movement. Working in groups, students understand spatial relationships, express choices, negotiate differences and learn from each other.
Sample dance residencies for students (10 sessions):
- Learn the basics of creative movement and modern dance
- Study traditional Chinese folk dance and its connections to China’s history and art
- Discover the movement vocabulary of West African dance
- Experience Mexican culture through the country’s dance traditions
- Explore the roots of Afro-Caribbean percussion, song and dance as expressed in the cultures of Puerto Rico, Liberia, Haiti, Cuba or the Dominican Republic
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Upper Elementary Music
Students explore basic concepts such as dynamics, tempo and expression as they sing or play folk songs, children’s songs or jazz classics and experiment with creating their own rhythms. They learn the value of task persistence and risk-taking while working over time to create a polished performance, which may be shared with the school community.
Sample music residencies for students (10 sessions):
- Sing folk songs from many cultures
- Learn about the Jazz Age and sing classic songs
- Compose and perform original songs
- Learn to play the recorder or percussion instruments
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Upper Elementary Theater
Students use their imaginations to create narratives that explore cause and effect and deepen their understanding of characters’ lives. Students transition to more self-directed work, expanding analytic skills and concentration through acting and playwriting. Theater residencies support and enhance Reading and Writing Workshop activities and facilitate understanding different cultures and historical periods.
Sample theater residencies for students (10 sessions):
- Invent original stories or retell stories adding their own details and expression
- Create puppets and act out stories, emphasizing story structure and character development
- Learn the art of writing plays, either in groups or individually
- Learn the basics of improvisational theater
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Upper Elementary Visual Arts
Using paint, ink, crayons, fabric, clay, yarn, wood, plastics or hand-made paper, students engage in individual and collaborative projects that require discussion, negotiation, planning, and step-by-step execution. Students work toward a polished final product that explores design concepts such as scale and composition and can be linked to specific elements of the social studies curriculum. Students build descriptive language, judgment and analytical skills as they discuss their own work as well as reproductions of works of art.
Sample visual art residencies for students (10 sessions):
- Learn about masks and make their own handmade paper or papier maché mask project
- Create a quilt or fabric banner of their own design
- Learn about clay and build objects such as pinch pots, coiled pots and sculptures
- Construct hand-made books using a variety of techniques
- Photograph their community or explore other themes with disposable film cameras or the school’s digital cameras
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What it Costs
ArtsConnection programs are custom designed for each school or site. The cost of residencies is based on the number of classes participating, the art form chosen and the length of the residency.
# of classes
Minimum of 2/Maximum of 5 per day
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Afterschool groups of up to 25 students |
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Rate per 45-minute session
$117 - $187 |
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# of sessions
5 - 25 |
Click here for a list of performances and their prices. |
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