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MONTANA STANDARDS FOR ARTS: Music Focus
Arts have intrinsic value. They cultivate the whole child, building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, creativity, imagination, and dexterity into diverse forms of expression and communication.
The Arts enable students to make decisions and seek multiple solutions. They improve perception, reflection, and creative thought. They advance higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The Arts provide powerful tools for understanding human experiences and cultures—past, present and future.
Arts education engages students in a creative process that helps them develop the self-motivation, discipline, cooperation and self-esteem necessary for success in life.
The Arts consists of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. The content and performance standards for the Arts describe what all Montana students should know and be able to do in the Arts. Although literary arts are generally considered a part of the Arts, standards for the literary arts are integrated throughout the Communication Arts.
Content Standards indicate what all students should know, understand and be able to do in a specific content area.
Benchmarks define our expectations for students’ knowledge, skills and abilities along a developmental continuum in each content area. That continuum is focused at three points—at the end of grade 4, the end of grade 8 and grade 12.
Content Standard 1—Students create, perform/exhibit, and respond in the Arts.
Content Standard 2—Students apply and describe the concepts, structures, and processes in the Arts.
Content Standard 3—Students develop and refine arts skills and techniques to express ideas, pose and solve problems, and discover meaning.
Content Standard 4—Students analyze characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
Content Standard 5—Students understand the role of the Arts in society, diverse cultures, and historical periods.
Content Standard 6—Students make connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life, and work.
Arts Content Standard 1
Students create, perform/exhibit, and respond in the Arts.
Rationale
Students understand and express themselves in depth through an art form by:
• generating original art;
• participating, re-creating, and exhibiting; and
• reacting and placing value.
As a result, they arrive at their own knowledge and beliefs for making personal and artistic decisions.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. identify their own ideas and images based on themes, symbols, events and personal experiences.
2. use a variety of materials and sources to experiment with an art form.
3. present their own work and works of others.
4. collaborate with others in the creative process.
5. describe how a variety of materials, techniques and processes cause different responses.
End of Grade 8
1. create a work from their own ideas and images based on themes, symbols, events and personal experiences.
2. select a variety of materials and sources to demonstrate a specific art form.
3. prepare and/or revise works for presentation.
4. collaborate with others to make artistic choices.
5. describe and analyze artistic choices in their own work and works of others.
Arts Content Standard 2
Students apply and describe the concepts, structures, and processes in the Arts.
Rationale
The ability to use and share knowledge is fundamental to human experience. Music provides many of the tools for students to successfully interact with their world.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. COMPOSITION—Music: apply the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre/tone color, and form.
2. TECHNIQUES—Music: identify and apply the techniques of expressive devices, dynamics, tempo, phrasing, accompaniment, interpretation and improvisation.
3. MEDIUM—Music: perform vocal and/or instrumental solos, or in ensembles.
4. FUNCTION—Music: identify examples of music (e.g., ceremonial, celebration, concerts, theatre, dance, film, social, community, entertainment).
5. STYLE—Music: identify examples of music (e.g., folk, jazz, ethnic, popular, classical, time period).
6. PRESENTATION—Music: participate in performances.
End of Grade 8
1. COMPOSITION—Music: apply the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre/tone color, and form.
2. TECHNIQUES—Music: apply the techniques of expressive devices, dynamics, tempo, phrasing, accompaniment, interpretation, and improvisation.
3. MEDIUM—Music: perform vocal and/or instrumental solos, or in ensembles.
4. FUNCTION—Music: perform examples of music (e.g., ceremonial, celebration, concerts, theatre, dance, film, social, community, entertainment).
5. STYLE—Music: perform examples of music (e.g., folk, jazz, ethnic, popular, classical, time period).
6. PRESENTATION—Music: rehearse, perform, and critique musical performances.
Arts Content Standard 3
Students develop and refine arts skills and techniques to express ideas, pose and solve problems, and discover meaning.
Rationale
Artistic expression is a critical form of self-expression and communication requiring specific skills, knowledge, and techniques. In the Arts there is no one correct answer. Students must exercise judgment. This helps to develop the ability to weigh the benefits among alternative courses of action. This process yields multiple rather than singular solutions.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. use art materials, techniques, technologies, and processes to create general responses.
2. communicate meaning through the art forms from selected subject matter.
3. explore potential solutions to a given problem through the Arts.
4. use technical skills. Music—sing and play music using dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation.
5. identify and use an appropriate symbol system. Music—use standard symbols to identify meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics.
End of Grade 8
1. use art materials, techniques, technologies, and processes to create specific responses.
2. communicate intended meaning based on their own ideas and concepts from other sources.
3. use improvisation/experimentation to determine solutions.
4. use technical skills. Music—use accepted performance and expressive techniques (e.g., breath control, posture) while singing and playing music in small and large ensembles.
5. understand and use symbol systems. Music—identify and define standard notation symbols including pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
Arts Content Standard 4
Students analyze characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
Rationale
Reflecting on the Arts heightens critical thinking and qualitative judgment. Students practice and use higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to understand works of art.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. use vocabulary of the discipline to describe a variety of works of art.
2. describe personal works to others.
3. devise criteria for evaluation.
4. recognize a variety of different responses to specific works of art.
End of Grade 8
1. evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their own and other art works by applying specific criteria appropriate to the style and
offer constructive suggestions for improvement.
2. describe the influence of personal experience on the interpretation of works of art.
3. develop and apply criteria for evaluating quality and effectiveness of the work of art.
4. describe and compare a variety of individual responses to works of art.
Arts Content Standard 5
Students understand the role of the Arts in society, diverse cultures, and historical periods.
Rationale
It is important for students to be knowledgeable about the nature, value, and meaning of the Arts in the context of their own humanity with respect to community, environment, and culture, including the distinct and unique cultural heritage of Montana’s American Indians.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. recognize ways in which the Arts have both a historical and distinctive relationship to various cultures (e.g., American Indian) and media of expression.
2. identify and describe specific works of art belonging to particular cultures, times and places.
3. recognize various reasons for creating works of art.
4. recognize common emotions, experiences, and expressions in art.
5. demonstrate appropriate audience behavior for the context and style of art presented.
6. explore their own culture as reflected through the Arts.
End of Grade 8
1. demonstrate how history/culture and the Arts influence each other.
2. identify, describe, and analyze specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times and places in the context in which they were created.
3. compare various reasons for creating works of art.
4. describe how people’s emotions and experiences influence the development of specific art works.
5. demonstrate appropriate audience behavior for the context and style of art presented.
6. determine the connection of a work of art to societal and cultural change or preservation, including American Indian culture and art.
Arts Content Standard 6
Students make connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life, and work.
Rationale
Arts are part of everyone’s daily experience. The Arts reflect the culture that produces them. As students work in the Arts, it is important to understand how the Arts disciplines relate to one another, to other subjects, and to their life.
Benchmarks
Students will:
End of Grade 4
1. identify similarities and differences in the meanings of common terms/elements used in the various Arts.
2. identify interrelated elements among the Arts and other subject areas.
3. identify the role of the Arts in the world of work.
4. identify how art reflects life.
End of Grade 8
1. explain how elements, processes (e.g., imagination, craftsmanship) and organizational principles are used in similar and distinctive ways.
2. connect and analyze interrelated elements of the Arts and other subject areas.
3. experience the elements of art careers in a professional setting.
4. analyze how works of art reflect the environment in which they are created.
Arts Performance Standards: A Profile of Four Levels
The Arts Performance Standards describe students’ knowledge, skills and abilities in the Arts content area on a continuum from kindergarten through grade twelve. These descriptions provide a picture or profile of student achievement at the four performance levels—advanced, proficient, nearing proficiency and novice.
Advanced This level denotes superior performance.
Proficient This level denotes solid academic performance for each benchmark. Students reaching
this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including
subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and
analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter.
Nearing Proficiency This level denotes that the student has partial mastery or prerequisite knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at each benchmark.
Novice This level denotes that the student is beginning to attain the prerequisite knowledge and
skills that are fundamental for work at each benchmark.
Grade 4 Arts
Advanced A fourth-grade student at the advanced level in the Arts demonstrates superior performance. He/she:
(a) independently creates, performs/exhibits in and responds through a minimum of one art form;
(b) consistently applies, with confidence, the concepts, structures and processes in Music;
(c) uses a variety of skills and techniques to express ideas and poses and solves problems in the Arts;
(d) independently practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) analyzes the characteristics and merits of their work and the works of others in the Arts;
(f) consistently recognizes and respects the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods; and
(g) consistently finds and shares multiple connections among the Arts, other subject areas and life.
Proficient A fourth-grade student at the proficient level in the Arts demonstrates solid academic performance. He/she:
(a) demonstrates the ability to create, perform/exhibit and respond through a minimum of one art form;
(b) applies a basic understanding of the concepts, structures and processes Music;
(c) uses skills and techniques to express ideas and poses and solves problems in the Arts;
(d) practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) communicates an understanding of the characteristics and merits of their work and the works of others in the Arts;
(f) recognizes and respects the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures and historical periods; and
(g) finds and communicates connections among the Arts, other subject areas, and life.
Nearing Proficiency A fourth-grade student at the nearing proficiency level demonstrates a partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills fundamental for proficiency in the Arts. He/she:
(a) creates, performs/exhibits in and responds with specific directions and assistance through a minimum of one art form in a limited way;
(b) identifies, but has difficulty demonstrating concepts, structures and processes in Music;
(c) identifies skills and techniques in the Arts and sometimes expresses ideas and poses and solves problems in the Arts;
(d) sometimes practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) sometimes identifies and demonstrates the characteristics and merits of his/her work and the works of others in the Arts;
(f) sometimes recognizes the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods; and
(g) finds and shares limited connections among the Arts, other subject areas, and life.
Novice A fourth-grade student at the novice level is beginning to attain prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental at each benchmark in the Arts. He/she:
(a) has difficulty creating, performing/exhibiting in and responding through a minimum of one art form;
(b) demonstrates a limited understanding of concepts, structures, and processes in Music;
(c) identifies with assistance some of the skills and techniques but does not express ideas or pose or solve problems in the Arts;
(d) has difficulty practicing responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) seldom identifies the characteristics and merits of his/her work or the works of others in the Arts;
(f) has limited recognition of the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods; and
(g) has difficulty finding connections among the Arts, other subject areas, and life.
Grade 8 Arts
Advanced An eighth-grade student at the advanced level in the Arts demonstrates superior performance. He/she:
(a) effectively creates, performs/exhibits in and responds through more than one art form;
(b) consistently applies with confidence concepts, structures and processes in Music;
(c) applies a variety of skills and techniques to effectively express ideas and to pose and solve problems in the Arts;
(d) independently practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) evaluates the characteristics and merits of his/her work and the works of others in the Arts ;
(f) effectively and consistently analyzes the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods; and
(g) synthesizes and evaluates connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life, and work.
Proficient An eighth-grade student at the proficient level in the Arts demonstrates solid academic performance. He/she:
(a) effectively creates, performs/exhibits in and responds through a minimum of one art form;
(b) applies concepts, processes and structures in Music;
(c) uses a variety of skills and techniques, to express ideas and to pose and solve problems in the Arts;
(d) practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) analyzes the characteristics and merits of their work and the works of others in the Arts;
(f) analyzes and clearly describes the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures and historical periods; and
(g) analyzes and describes connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life, and work.
Nearing Proficiency An eighth-grade student at the nearing proficiency level demonstrates a partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills fundamental for proficiency in the Arts. He/she:
(a) sometimes creates, performs/exhibits in and responds through a minimum of one art form;
(b) applies, with some assistance, a basic understanding of the concepts, structures, and processes in Music;
(c) identifies skills and techniques and sometimes expresses ideas and poses and solves problems in the Arts;
(d) sometimes practices responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) describes, with assistance, some of the characteristics and merits of his/her work and the works of others in the Arts; (f) sometimes identifies the role of the Arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods but has difficulty describing that role; and
(g) identifies and describes, with some assistance, limited connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life, and work.
Novice An eighth-grade student at the novice level is beginning to attain prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental at each benchmark in the Arts. He/she:
(a) seldom creates, performs/exhibits without specific direction, and sometimes responds in a limited way through one art form;
(b) applies, with much assistance, a basic understanding of some of the concepts, structures, and processes in Music;
(c) identifies, with assistance, skills and techniques, but has difficulty expressing ideas and posing and solving problems in the Arts;
(d) has difficulty practicing responsible, safe and appropriate personal and group behavior in the Arts;
(e) seldom recognizes the characteristics and merits of his/her work or the works of others in the Arts;
(f) identifies, with assistance, the role of the arts in his/her society, diverse cultures, and historical periods; and
(g) identifies, with difficulty, limited connections among the Arts, other subject areas, life and work.
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