Visual Arts

Meet the Teacher

Mrs. Walsh

Melissa Walsh is a graduate of Plymouth State University with a degree in Art and minor in Art History. She has her masters in Elementary Education from the University of Phoenix. She worked for 7 years as a classroom teacher in both Fairfax and Stafford county of Virginia, and Northern California. Prior to joining Conway, Mrs. Walsh primarily taught third grade at Anne Moncure Elementary School in Stafford. She loves working with children and has spent time teaching private art classes to homeschool students and tutoring students in language arts and math. Mrs. Walsh is a native of Massachusetts and she has two children that attend Conway and a little one in preschool.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten art serves as a foundation for further visual arts instruction. Emphasis is placed on cognitive, affective, sensory, and motor development and the appropriate manipulation of materials. Students will begin to recognize basic art concepts and use art as a means for creative expression. Students will become aware of art from other time periods, places, and people. Students come to understand that works of art are developed using a creative process.

First Grade

Fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination development continue in first grade art. Students will begin to perceive spatial relationships, identify primary colors, and distinguish line variation. The standards continue to emphasize ways that art communicates ideas, opinions, and emotions. Art production focuses on increased communication, creative thinking, and the depiction of stories, poems, ideas, and themes. Students explore why people have different responses to works of art.

Second Grade

Continued development of motor skills and observational abilities occurs in second grade art as students begin to illustrate those observations and realize narrative qualities in art. Students build an expanding vocabulary while describing their work and the work of others. Students focus on applying a creative process for artmaking and expanding their creative thinking, collaboration, and communication skills. Finally, students express ideas using an increasing variety of art materials, skills, techniques, and processes.

Third Grade

Through observing and recording details, students' work will become more complex. The curriculum emphasizes learning through a creative process that involves brainstorming, problem solving, planning, and self-assessment. Students explore and identify historical and cultural influences of artwork while also investigating the integral role of art and architecture within various cultures. Through imaginative, expressive, and collaborative strategies, students continue to create personal works of art.

Fourth Grade

The elements of art (e.g. color, form, line, shape, space, texture, value) and principles of design (e.g. balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity, variety) as tools for visual communication, creative expression, and production continue to be emphasized in fourth grade art. Further application of student skills include an awareness of proper portion and illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface. Students examine influences of art of the past on contemporary culture. Students will explore a continued range of art tools and subject matter as they engage in the creative process.

Fifth Grade

In fifth grade art, students use their knowledge and skills to solve problems creatively. Students gain fluency in understanding and applying elements of art and principles of design as they relate to artistic expression and communication. Through artistic choices, students communicate personal ideas, images, and themes. They also improve application of critical thinking skills when interpreting, describing, analyzing, and judging art.

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