BC Arts Education Report Card Comments, Grades 4-9
Arts Education covers dance, drama, music and visual arts through four curricular competencies: exploring and creating, reasoning and reflecting, communicating and documenting, and connecting and expanding, including learning about First Peoples artistic traditions with respect for protocols and permission.
Below are 9 sample sentences for Grades 4-9: one strength and one next step for each of the 4 comment levels (Extending / Proficient / Developing / Emerging), plus a tip for families. They are a small selection from the 144 arts education sentences in the full pack. Copy one, then add a detail only you know about the student.
Jump to: Extending · Proficient · Developing · Emerging · Writing tips
Fills in the name and pronouns on this page. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Extending X
Strengths
- While playing in a music ensemble, [Name] reads notation on the five-line staff and holds [his/her/their] own part securely while others play a different part.Grades 4-7
Next step
- A further challenge in dance is to choreograph a piece inspired by another subject, such as a food chain, and explain how the movement represents the idea.Grades 4-7
Proficient P
Strengths
- In drama, [Name] can combine layered sounds, overlapping voices and writing from a character's point of view to explore a theme and share it with the class.Grades 8-9
Next step
- Moving forward, [Name] could build a body of arts work around one personal theme, documenting how ideas and techniques change from piece to piece.Grades 8-9
Developing D
Strengths
- When presenting arts work, [Name] shares a finished piece with the class and, with a question from the teacher, can explain one artistic choice to the audience.
Next step
- Building a personal list of symbols and what they mean will help [Name] plan arts pieces that communicate a clear idea.
Emerging E
Strengths
- In dance, [Name] is working to be able to link two or three movements, practising a short sequence alongside a partner who models it.Grades 4-7
Next step
- In music, clapping rhythms from flash cards in small steps will help [Name] begin to read notation on the five-line staff.Grades 4-7
Support at home
- Collecting leaves, stones or clean recycled materials on a walk outdoors gives your child free materials for collage and sculpture.
How to write arts education comments for Grades 4-9
- Use the vocabulary of the art form in plain words: contrast, emphasis and balance in visual art, dynamics and tempo in music, levels and pathways in dance, or tableaux (frozen scenes) in drama.
- Describe the creative process: how the student develops an idea, experiments with materials or techniques, uses feedback and refines the work. A next step can target one stage, such as trying several sketches before choosing one.
- In Grades 8-9, include how the student interprets meaning and context, such as symbolism in an artwork or how a piece reflects its time and place, and how they document and explain their own artistic choices.
Watch out: Avoid comments about natural talent or how well a student draws. The curriculum assesses exploring, reflecting, communicating and connecting, so describe the process and choices, not innate ability.
The Ministry's guidelines describe Emerging as an initial understanding of the concepts and competencies, Developing as partial, Proficient as complete and Extending as sophisticated. Proficient is the goal and does not mean perfect; Extending is about depth and complexity, not extra work or work from a higher grade. Here the four names only choose the wording: report the indicator itself in your reporting tool, and let the comment describe the learning behind it.
What Arts Education covers
Big ideas and curricular competencies for arts education:
- Exploring and creating: creates and performs in dance, drama, music and visual arts, using the elements and principles of each
- Reasoning and reflecting: observes, listens, describes and responds to their own and others' work
- Communicating and documenting: shares and documents ideas and artistic choices
- Connecting and expanding: connects the arts to self, community and culture, including First Peoples artistic traditions (with respect and permission)
More British Columbia subjects comments
- English Language Arts, Grades 4-9
- Mathematics, Grades 4-9
- Science, Grades 4-9
- Social Studies, Grades 4-9
- Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies, Grades 4-9
- Arts Education, K-Grade 3
- Physical and Health Education, Grades 4-9
- Opening and closing sentences
- All British Columbia subjects skills and grade bands
- For the same report: BC Core Competencies Report Comments, K-9
- Build a comment with the comment picker
How these sentences were made, and what has been checked: About these comments.