Grade 10 students are beginning their ePortfolios, in which the IB provides teachers with unit plans and the students upload their completed unit work for external assessment. Since music and visual art are both MYP Arts classes, they both receive the same unit plan and Mr. McBirnie and I have therefore decided to teach it together.

Our unit is all about emotion in art, so we began with a list of vocabulary words that describe some of the subtler feelings that we can have. For example, instead of simply saying they feel happy, students might be content, elated, delighted, or enthusiastic. Students then worked in small groups to listen to four chosen songs and look at four paintings in a variety of styles. They responded to each piece with a feeling and a comment about what technique the artist used to evoke that mood. Through the activity, we learned that one artwork can inspire a number of different reactions. We also learned that we can use similar language to describe both music and visual art.

Soon, students will begin to research their favorite artworks, and finally create one of their own. This work will require a lot of independence, but it also gives everyone a lot of freedom to investigate the art styles and techniques that they enjoy best!