Common Core connections
Common Core Standards are a set of research-based, well informed and high-quality academic standards in the areas of Mathematics, English Language Arts and Literacy, Technical Sciences and History. The standards have been adopted by 45 states and are a wonderful guideline for helping student achievement in paramount areas of learning. It is through these areas, especially ELA, that all other content matter flows. In years past, educational benchmarks and standards have varied greatly from state to state, with a cacophony of opinions regarding what benchmarks students should reach and when. However, with the adoption of the new Common Core, there is now much more unity and agreement regarding these learning goals. Every subject students learn each day are ripe with potential for Common Core learning and achievement. Even subjects seemingly unrelated to math or literacy have many many potential connections and inclusions for Common Core standards. Art is no exception to this. In the art room, we cover four basic disciplines of art education: Art History, Aesthetics, Art Production, and Art Criticism. Under each of these categories lies an abundance of English Language Arts and even mathematics connections. Following this introduction, you will find a bullet pointed list of connections in each of the four disciplines of art education, and finally, several sample projects involving the Common Core.
For more information on the Common Core, please visit:
For more information on the Common Core, please visit:
Art Education disciplines and common core connections
*Following is a comprehensive list of all the Common Core Standards for the areas of English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. They apply to grades K-12, with differentiating benchmarks for each grade, respectively. Read these and then see how they are applied to the Art Education Disciplines.
Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting
details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well
as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Common Core Standards for Writing:
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Common Core Standards for Speaking and Listening:
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Common Core Standards for Language:
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective
choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues,
analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in
gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
Common Core Standards for Mathematics:
Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting
details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well
as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Common Core Standards for Writing:
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Common Core Standards for Speaking and Listening:
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Common Core Standards for Language:
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective
choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues,
analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in
gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
Common Core Standards for Mathematics:
- Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
- Model with mathematics.
- Use appropriate tools strategically.
- Attend to precision.
- Look for and make use of structure.
- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Following is a list of Art Education Disciplines and how the Common Core Standards connect to these areas
Art history
1. When learning about art history and movements through reading, writing, technology, and class discussions students will...
- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning in regard to patterns and variations (Common Core Standard Math #8).
- Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text (CCS ELA #1).
- Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric (CCS Speaking and Listening #3).
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCS Language #1).
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate (CCS Language #4).
- Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others (CCS Writing #6).
art criticism
When holding class critiques regarding the work of famous artists as well as our own, students will...
When critiquing a painting independently, students will...
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. (Common Core Standard Math #3.)
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively (CCS Math #2).
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCS Language #1).
- Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening (CCS Language #3).
When critiquing a painting independently, students will...
- Look for and make use of structure (CCS Math #7).
- Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach (CCS Writing #5).
- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content (CCS Writing #2).
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience (CCS Writing #4).
- Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole (CCS ELA Literacy #5).
Art production
When creating works of art, students will...
- Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them (CCS Math #1).
- Model with mathematics (CCS Math #4).
- Use appropriate tools strategically (CCS Math #5).
- Attend to precision (CCS Math #6).
- Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively (CCS Speaking and Listening #1).
- Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally (CCS Speaking and Listening #2).
- Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations (CCS Speaking and Listening #5).
Aesthetics
When thinking critically about the philosophies of art through discussions, reflective writing, and in-depth reading, students will...
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively (CCS Math #2).Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others (CCS Math #3).
- Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings (CCS Language #5).
- Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression (CCS Language #6).
- Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric (CCS Speaking and Listening #3).
- Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally (CCS Speaking and Listening #2).
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence (CCS Writing #1).
- Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence (CCS ELA Literacy #8).
sample projects and activites integrating common core
7th Grade American Sign Language Project!
7th grade students create contour drawings of American Sign Language letters to spell a word of their choice.
For this project, 7th graders watched a short documentary on American Sign Language and the Deaf Community. We then held a class discussion surrounding questions for critical thinking. Students analyzed a ASL vocabulary sheet and chose a meaningful word to spell using ASL hand drawings. Using the blind contour drawing method, students drew their hands assuming the positions of each letter in their word until they had spelled the whole word across their paper. Finally, students chose various method of paint application to paint each hand or letter in a unique way. At the conclusion of the project, students filled out a self-evaluation and we held a class critique. This project integrates multiple Common Core Connections. Here are just a few:
- Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings (CCS Language #5).
- Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally (CCS Speaking and Listening #2).
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. (Common Core Standard Math #3.)
- Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening (CCS Language #3).
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience (CCS Writing #4).
4th Grade Rube Goldberg Machines
For this project, students worked with partners to design a chain reaction-based machine that was responsible for a particular function of your brain. Student art was based on the ideas and work of Rube Goldberg, a political cartoonist published in countless newspapers in the 1950's. After reading aloud a short history of Rube Goldberg and analyzing/ evaluating samples of his work, students viewed a student-built Rube Goldberg machine in action! Check out the video following this overview!
With this preparation established, students began to create the blueprints for their own machine. At first, each student worked independently on their blueprints, and when they were finished, they worked in partners to pick and choose the best parts of each of their machines. Their questions for critical thinking were, "How can this machine be entirely connected?" and, "How will you use various materials that will help each part of you machine come to life?" Their final copy is created inside a profiled face. At the end of this lesson, students participate in a group critique. This lesson emphasizes and integrates many Common Core Standards. Here are a few:
With this preparation established, students began to create the blueprints for their own machine. At first, each student worked independently on their blueprints, and when they were finished, they worked in partners to pick and choose the best parts of each of their machines. Their questions for critical thinking were, "How can this machine be entirely connected?" and, "How will you use various materials that will help each part of you machine come to life?" Their final copy is created inside a profiled face. At the end of this lesson, students participate in a group critique. This lesson emphasizes and integrates many Common Core Standards. Here are a few:
- Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally (CCS Speaking and Listening #2).
- Look for and make use of structure (CCS Mathematics #7).
- Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences (CCS Writing #3).
- Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively (CCS Speaking and Listening #1).
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCS Language #1).
7th and 8th Grade Art Criticism
7th and 8th Graders participate and practice their art criticism skills throughout the year through class discussions and writing their observations, analyses, interpretations, and evaluations of various artwork. Here is a sample packet they complete that integrates the Common Core Standards.
7th and 8th Graders participate and practice their art criticism skills throughout the year through class discussions and writing their observations, analyses, interpretations, and evaluations of various artwork. Here is a sample packet they complete that integrates the Common Core Standards.
Here is a list of Common Core Standards this art criticism packet integrates:
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively (CCS Math #1).
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others (CCS Math #2).
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCS Language #1).
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (CCS Language #2).
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence (CCS Writing #1).