Marist Brothers International School

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Education and Learning

The Arts

Marist Brothers International School

Arts Department

Arts Department Course Descriptions 2022- 2023

Upper School Visual Arts

Students are provided with a supportive group environment in which students can grow in self-confidence, creative daring, and technical ability. The program develops an in-depth understanding of the foundations of the elements and principles of design. Students have experiences in drawing, painting, sculpture, textiles, collage, printmaking, and 3D design. Students learn to express their ideas by using visual art as a form of communication. As the students work toward an appreciation and understanding of the arts, they learn to relate visual arts to various historical and cultural traditions. Students learn to respect their own ideas and artistic expressions as well as those of others as they analyze and evaluate works of art.
Students are provided with a supportive group environment in which students can grow in self-confidence, creative daring, and technical ability. Students will build upon prior visual art knowledge and experience developed through study at the elementary and middle school levels. Students will continue the study of materials, skills, and techniques of drawing and painting, printmaking and 3D design. Emphasis is on the exploration and development of individual expression, form, and content. Students will grow in their ability to describe, interpret, evaluate, analyze, and produce. They will continue to use a wide range of subject matter, symbols, art history content, and creative license in order to create unique works of art.
The visual arts are an integral part of everyday life, permeating all levels of human creativity, expression, communication, and understanding. The IB DP visual arts course encourages students to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course in which students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media. This course is designed for students who want to go on to study visual arts in higher education as well as for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts. The IB visual arts course holds additional assessment requirements that allow for breadth and greater depth in the teaching and learning. The assessment tasks require HL students to reflect on how their own work has been influenced by exposure and other artists and for the students to experiment in greater depth with additional art-making media, techniques, and forms. HL students are required to produce a larger body of resolved works and to demonstrate a deeper consideration of how their resolved works communicate with a potential viewer.

Music Programs

Our Kindergarten and Montessori music classes are all about musical exploration. Students will sing and move to folk music from across the world. Students attend music two times within a six day cycle. Students will dance and listen to many different genres of music while exploring musical form. Students will have opportunities to play percussive instruments both individually and as a group. Students will learn fingerplays and chants to develop language acquisition and articulation skills. Concepts in our early childhood music class Students will create new music by improvising lyrics in known songs. Students will have opportunities to perform formally in front of an audience and informally in class throughout the year.
Our Elementary Music program is inspired by Kodaly Music Methodology and guided by the California Common Core Educational Standards. Students attend music class two times within a six day cycle. Kodaly classrooms use the voice, a child’s first instrument, to explore music. Students will sing folk songs from around the world, and eventually use those folk songs to learn how to read and write music. Our classroom is active with many games and activities. Each grade level will build off of prior knowledge, and enable students to have a well-rounded view of music. Students will have opportunities to perform formally in front of an audience and informally in class throughout the year.
Beginner Band is held two times within a six day cycle. The students will learn how to apply their Elementary Music prior knowledge while performing on a band instrument. Our band class includes: Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, and Trombone. Students will learn how to play simple musical notation on their instruments, how to read fingering charts, how to listen critically to their performance, how to match pitch on instruments, and how to work collaboratively as a team. Students will have the opportunity to perform informally during class, and will perform formally at the end of the year Beginning Band Concert.
Concert Band is held five times within a six day cycle. With our schedule allowing for daily practice, students will see great improvement in a short period of time. Students are encouraged to have prior knowledge before joining this class, due to the degree of difficulty of the music. This ensemble is focused on introducing extended range melody, simple harmony, learning scales and techniques, self reflection on past performances, and working collaboratively as a team to create musicality while performing. It encourages further development of foundational performance skills such as: expanding instrumental range, articulation techniques, and breath control. Students will perform informally during class, and formally at concerts throughout the year.
Symphonic Band is held five times within a six day cycle. With our schedule allowing for daily practice, students will see great improvement in a short period of time. Students are encouraged to have prior knowledge before joining this class, due to the high degree of difficulty of the music. This ensemble is focused on further developing extended range melody, complex harmony, critical listening skills, intonation awareness, learning scales and techniques, self reflection on past performances, and working collaboratively as a team to create musicality during performances. It encourages further development of foundational performance skills such as: expanding instrumental range, articulation techniques, and breath control. Students will perform informally in class, and perform formally at concerts throughout the year.
Jazz Band is a music ensemble at Marist Brothers International School. The Jazz band plays many styles of jazz music: swing standards, Latin jazz, rock jazz, blues, etc. The Jazz band is a great opportunity for students to pursue different styles of band music, as well as a great way to work toward individual solos. The Jazz Band meets once a week and students in grades 8-12 are welcome to audition. Auditions are held once a year at the end of second semester.
Mr. Whitney and Mr. Carter have teamed up to create a new club at Marist – Rock club!! Do you play an instrument? Do you want to sing? Do you want to play in a band? Rock Club is for you! You don’t need to be an amazing musician, but some fundamental skills are preferred. We are not offering music lessons, but we are happy to show you how to play a few chords on the guitar, how to play a few notes on the bass, how to play a few beats on the drums, and of course how to play some songs. That being said, the goal of Rock Club is for you to form bands to play the songs that you want to play. Please note that we don’t provide instruments. We use the drums in the music room, and we have a few amplifiers, but you will need to bring your own guitar or bass. Contact whitneys@marist.ac.jp for more information

Excerpt from upcoming concert: Feliz Navidad

Lower School Visual Arts

In the lower school Visual Arts program, students learn ways to express themselves through art and how to let their creativity flow. Each grade level works with art techniques and media like painting, drawing, clay, mixed media, digital art and textiles.

In each grade level’s art studies, the central goals are to foster a positive, constructive, and fun learning environment where your child can have the freedom to enjoy creating art while also learning about various techniques and traditions in art, both past and present. The foundation of learning is centered in fostering self-awareness, cultural understanding, and social skills through developing visual arts and critical thinking skills.

Children are engaged and inspired in activities that introduce art materials and tools through explorative and structured play. The creative process is applied in classwork, from inspiration to planning through to completion encouraging reflective practices in both thinking and working. Students are encouraged to create independently and to develop collaborative skills through the sharing of materials and creating works in groups.
Children are engaged and inspired in activities that introduce art materials and tools through explorative and structured play. The creative process is applied in classwork, from inspiration to planning through to completion encouraging reflective practices in both thinking and working. Abstract concepts, extended thinking, and making connections about content and form are introduced. Students are encouraged to create independently and to develop collaborative skills through the sharing of materials and creating works in groups.
The first grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity. Through a variety of art activities students learn the fundamentals elements and principles of design such as line, texture, value and colour. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history.
The second grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity. Through a variety of art activities students learn the fundamentals elements and principles of design such as shape, space, and form. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history.
The third grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity. Through a variety of art activities students learn the fundamentals elements and principles of design such as balance, emphasis, and unity. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history.
The fourth grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity. Through a variety of art activities students learn the fundamentals elements and principles of design such as movement, proportion, and rhythm. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history and make critical assessments of their own works and the works of others.
The fifth grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity. Through a variety of art activities students review the fundamentals elements and principles of design with an increased focus on composition, process and studio practices. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history and make critical assessments of their own works and the works of others.
The sixth grade program engages students in making art, viewing and discussing art, learning about contexts in which art has been created, and pondering fundamental questions about art. Emphasis is placed on familiarizing students with a wide variety of studio materials and processes while refining motor dexterity, and a further development of individual and collaborative creative processes. Through a variety of art activities students review the fundamentals elements and principles of design with an increased focus on process and studio practices. Students explore the art of many cultures and artistic styles throughout history and make critical assessments of their own works and the works of others.

Film

In this class, we will explore the world of the moving image and what it can tell the viewers about various times in the history of our world. Films are reflective of the times and people who make them; they can teach students about not only the time we currently live in, but also different societies and cultures of the past. As the class moves through the year, the students will learn about the techniques of filmmaking and how to use these in order to make their own films. This will help the students become better film consumers and, hopefully, learn to appreciate the time spent watching Films/Television/Youtube and more in our digital world. Secondly, this also encourages our students to learn a new medium in which to express themselves. This course will push the students to develop many skills, including creativity, logical thinking, time-management, and team building. Through various activities and projects such as our monthly television show, Marist Monthly Mornings, students will use these real-life skills to learn how to connect the world around them.