Grade 6
Art and Design
Grade 6 students begin the MYP Arts programme by exploring key elements of Art such as line, colour and texture. Later in the programme, students will also design a mask, after a field trip to the Museum of Ethnology in Munich, and study Indigenous Art and the environment. The finished Art work will be used in the following Drama unit. The emphasis here is on observation, design and the practical application of ideas.
Drama
This is the first year of Drama for students at MIS and the course offers an introduction to the skills needed in the Drama classroom such as movement, awareness of space, successful group work, focus and communication. These skills are likewise the focus of the following units on communication or story telling and masks and identity, or character.
Music
The MYP Music programme follows seamlessly on from Music in the PYP. Here, the focus of the programme lies on understanding rhythm and melody. Practical application of these principles happens as the students learn to play the guitar and read tabs as well as in drumming exercises.
Assessment in the Arts at MYP
Assessment in MYP Arts follows one set of four criteria: Knowledge and Understanding; Application; Reflection and Artistic Awareness and Engagement. The criteria will be adapted and modified according to each different task in each different Arts subject.
Grades 7 and 8
The Arts programme in Grades 7 and 8 runs slightly differently to Grade 6 in preparation for the Arts programme in 9 and 10. Students are divided anew into six Arts Groups that rotate through 6-8 week Arts blocks three times a week. An Arts rotation student will, therefore, have 2-3 classes a week of only Art and Design for six weeks, for example, before rotating to the same number of classes in Music, or Drama. There is also a further option in Rotation Arts for two Arts groups to be working together on one project as, for example, a movement piece with music. During these two years, students continue to develop and explore their understanding, appreciation of and practical creativity in each subject.
Art and Design
Students at 7 and 8 will begin to look at 3D artworks including ceramic work and sculpture. Portraiture in 2D and 3D focus on the concept of identity and the reproduction of one’s self in different media.
Drama
In Drama, the focus lies on building the skills of realistic performance through character building techniques. Improvisation and scripted Drama offer the student the chance to explore different stimuli and performance techniques. In Grade 8, students prepare every aspect of a short performance, including lighting, costume and set to perform to a Junior School audience.
Music
The Music programme in Grades 7 and 8 seeks to refine and develop the student’s understanding of rhythm, melody and harmony through guitar playing, music theory and percussion.
Assessment
Arts assessment in Grades 7 and 8 follows the same 4 Arts criteria as in Grade 6: Knowledge and Understanding, Application, Reflection, Personal Awareness and Engagement. These MYP Arts criteria follow the students into Arts courses in 9 and 10, where the MYP programme culminates. Emphasis is on the student’s own artistic growth and learning and there are no written exams at the end of this course.
Developmental Workbook
In the Arts, from Grades 6-8, the way a piece of work develops is not seen as a linear process, and students are encouraged to observe, experiment and reflect on existing artworks, and to practice and develop techniques driven by the simple need to express an idea. The creative cycle model encourages planning, drafting, creating, evaluating, planning and re-creating. The developmental workbook is the place where students gather their ideas and inspirations as well as being the place where final art works are recorded. It is a key tool in the process of exploring all three Arts subjects and work from all three subjects is collected here. The courses are not product or performance driven.