Ireland · NCCA Curriculum Specifications
3rd Class Creative Explorations: The Artist's Eye
This course guides 3rd Class students through the fundamental strands of the Irish Visual Arts curriculum, emphasizing personal expression and technical skill. Students engage in making and responding to art while exploring diverse media from drawing and paint to construction and clay.
Lines, Marks, and Making
Students explore the versatility of drawing and printmaking to express ideas and observations. This unit focuses on developing control over line, tone, and texture using various dry and wet media.
Investigating how different types of lines can convey movement, rhythm, and emotion in a composition.
Exploring the tactile world by creating surface rubbings and translating those textures into printed patterns.
An introduction to the transfer process of printmaking, allowing students to create unique impressions and repeated designs.
Color and Light
A deep dive into color theory and painting techniques where students learn to mix secondary and tertiary colors. Students will explore how light affects the appearance of objects and landscapes.
Mastering the art of color mixing to create a wide spectrum of hues from the three primary colors.
Using paint to create depth and distance, focusing on how colors fade and change in the background.
Exploring how color can be used non-literally to express the inner feelings of a subject in a portrait.
Form and Space
Moving from 2D to 3D, students work with clay and construction materials to build structures and figures. This unit emphasizes balance, stability, and the manipulation of three-dimensional media.
Learning the properties of clay through pinching, coiling, and slab building to create imaginative animals.
Using recycled materials to design and build stable structures that explore the concept of internal and external space.
Creating wire or cardboard armatures to represent the human body in various active poses.
Threads and Textures
Students explore the tactile world of fabric and fiber, learning basic weaving, sewing, and fabric collage techniques. This unit connects traditional crafts with contemporary art practices.
Introduction to the loom and the process of interlacing threads to create a woven textile.
Using fabric scraps and simple stitches to create a narrative picture or a decorative wall hanging.
Designing wearable art that explores identity and character through the use of textiles and found objects.
Looking and Responding
A dedicated focus on art appreciation and criticism. Students visit galleries (virtual or physical) and learn to articulate their reactions to famous works of art.
Learning how to observe art in a formal setting and understanding the role of the curator.
Exploring the work of significant Irish artists and how they captured the landscape and culture of Ireland.
Developing a vocabulary to describe, analyze, and interpret artworks from different cultures and eras.