NCAS.A.1National Core Arts StandardsArtsCreatingGrades 6-12
NCAS.A.1: Generating and Conceptualizing Artistic Ideas
In plain English: NCAS.A.1 is National Core Arts Standards anchor standard 1, in the Creating process, which asks students to generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work in any art form. Students first produce many possible ideas, then shape one into a clear concept: what the work is about and how it will look, sound or move. In grades 6-12 it applies to dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts.
Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
NCAS.A.1 is the first of three anchor standards in the Creating process, which the National Core Arts Standards define as "Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work." Anchor 1 is the start of that process: students generate artistic ideas (produce many possible starting points) and conceptualize them (shape one into a concept clear enough to build). Organizing and developing the work (NCAS.A.2) and refining and completing it (NCAS.A.3) come next.
This lesson works in any art form. Students read two short notes for painters by Leonardo da Vinci, written more than 500 years ago, in which he describes finding ideas in the stains on a wall and keeping a small sketchbook. They practice idea starters, then follow an invented grade 7 student, Rafa, from a ten-minute idea list to a concept note for a one-minute piece of music. Each activity offers a dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts option, with a grades 6-8 and a grades 9-12 version. Everything uses paper and everyday objects.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Explain the difference between generating ideas and conceptualizing them, using an example from any art form
Use at least three idea starters (observing, chance, a constraint, transforming or combining) to generate many ideas quickly without judging them
Tell an idea that can be made from a topic that only names a subject or feeling
Write a concept statement that names what a work is about, its art form and form, its key choices and what the audience should notice
Give a reason for choosing one idea and setting others aside
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Basic materials and actions of at least one art form (drawing, singing or playing, moving, acting or filming)
Looking closely at and describing an artwork NCAS.A.7
Writing a short explanation with a reason CCRA.W.2
"Look at the crumpled sheet of paper on your table for one minute. List everything it could become in a dance, a song, a scene, a short video or a drawing. Write fast and cross nothing out."
Ask each table for its count, then for its strangest idea. Point out that the ideas came from looking at one plain object, and that nobody was asked whether an idea was good. That is generating. Tell students that by the end of the period they will also conceptualize: choose one idea and make it clear enough that someone else could picture the finished work.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Terms for the whole period.
Generate: produce many possible ideas, quickly, before judging any of them.
Idea starter: a move that produces ideas. This lesson uses five: observing (looking or listening closely), chance (using an accident or random pattern), a constraint (a limit you set on purpose, such as "two notes only"), transforming (changing the size, speed or use of something familiar) and combining (putting two ideas together).
Topic: a subject or feeling, such as "the ocean" or "something sad." A topic alone does not yet tell an artist what to make.
Conceptualize: shape one idea into a concept.
Concept: a short statement of what the work is about, its art form and form (length, size, number of performers), its key choices and what the audience should notice.
An idea starter from more than 500 years ago. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the Italian painter, filled notebooks with advice for painters. The two notes in Text 1 come from the English translation by Jean Paul Richter. In Leonardo's time, an "invention" meant the idea for a picture, not a machine. Read the text aloud once, then ask students to underline what Leonardo tells a painter to look at and what he tells a painter to carry.
1I cannot forbear to mention among these precepts a new device for study which, although it may seem but trivial and almost ludicrous, is nevertheless extremely useful in arousing the mind to various inventions. And this is, when you look at a wall spotted with stains, or with a mixture of stones, if you have to devise some scene, you may discover a resemblance to various landscapes, beautified with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys and hills in varied arrangement; or again you may see battles and figures in action; or strange faces and costumes, and an endless variety of objects, which you could reduce to complete and well drawn forms. And these appear on such walls confusedly, like the sound of bells in whose jangle you may find any name or word you choose to imagine.
[...]
2When you have well learnt perspective and have by heart the parts and forms of objects, you must go about, and constantly, as you go, observe, note and consider the circumstances and behaviour of men in talking, quarrelling or laughing or fighting together: the action of the men themselves and the actions of the bystanders, who separate them or who look on. And take a note of them with slight strokes thus, in a little book which you should always carry with you. And it should be of tinted paper, that it may not be rubbed out, but change the old [when full] for a new one; since these things should not be rubbed out but preserved with great care; for the forms, and positions of objects are so infinite that the memory is incapable of retaining them, wherefore keep these [sketches] as your guides and masters.
Leonardo da Vinci, translated by Jean Paul Richter, Text 1: Leonardo da Vinci, two notes for painters (sections 508 and 571 in Richter's numbering; the notes in between are omitted) (1888). Public domain (published 1888). Source text.
Generate with chance, in dance
A dance student borrows Leonardo's wall method from paragraph 1 of Text 1, but uses the cracks in a sidewalk photo the teacher draws on the board.
Result: She traces three cracks with a finger and turns each into a floor path: a zigzag, a long curve and a short line that stops. In two minutes she has six travel patterns. None is judged yet. This is generating: chance supplies the shapes, and the dancer reads movement into them, as Leonardo read landscapes into stains.
Generate with a constraint, in media arts
A media arts student must make a 20-second video of the school entrance. She sets one constraint: the camera may not move.
Result: The limit pushes her toward ideas she would not have listed: a fixed shot where people enter and leave the frame; a shot of only shoes; a shot where the light changes as a cloud passes; a shot through the glass door, so reflections mix with the people. The constraint did not choose for her; it gave her more ideas to choose from.
From topic to concept, in theatre
A theatre student writes the topic "waiting." Is that a concept?
Result: No: it names a subject but no work. Generating gives her: a scene at a bus stop with no bus; two actors who never speak; a scene played backward. She chooses the second and conceptualizes: "A two-minute scene for two actors on a bench who never speak. They pass one umbrella back and forth as it starts and stops raining. The audience should notice how much a pause can say." Now someone else could picture it.
Transform and combine, in visual art
A visual art student keeps a pocket sketchbook, as Leonardo advises in paragraph 2 of Text 1. On one page she has a sketch of a paper clip; on another, a sketch of a staircase.
Result: Transforming: she draws the paper clip 50 times larger, so it fills the page. Combining: she bends the giant paper clip into the staircase from her other sketch. Her concept: "A pencil drawing, 30 by 40 cm, of a staircase made from one giant bent paper clip, drawn from below so the viewer feels small. Viewers should notice an ordinary object turned into a place."
Ask: in each example, where does generating stop and conceptualizing start? (When the student stops adding ideas and chooses one to describe in detail.) Show Diagram 1 to fix the picture: go wide, then narrow.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Class idea storm. Use this invented prompt: "Our town's train station is 100 years old. Make a short piece in any art form for its birthday."
Generate (6 minutes). Go around the room. Each student gives one idea and names its starter; the teacher writes it on the board with a starter tag. Aim for at least 15 ideas. Ban the words "good" and "bad" for now.
Spot the topics (2 minutes). Circle any entry that only names a subject ("trains") and ask the class to turn it into something makeable ("a dance where the dancers become the doors opening and closing").
Choose (2 minutes). Each student puts a dot next to two ideas they could start making tomorrow. Take the idea with the most dots.
Conceptualize together (5 minutes). Write a concept statement on the board with the four parts: what it is about; art form and form; key choices; what the audience should notice. Ask: "Could someone who was absent picture this work from our statement?" Revise until the answer is yes.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Read one artist's process, then try it. Texts 2 and 3 were written for this lesson. Rafa is an invented grade 7 student who chose music for a one-minute showcase piece. Students read his idea list and his concept note; the quiz uses both texts and Text 1.
Assignment: a piece of about one minute for the grade 7 showcase. Theme: "the building we spend our days in." Any art form. I chose music.
My ten-minute idea list (no crossing out yet): 1. Play the rhythm of a locker door: clang, click, clang. 2. A song about the cafeteria. 3. Turn the pattern of the hallway floor tiles into a rhythm: long, short, short, long. 4. Only use sounds made with a pencil: tapping, scratching, drumming on the desk edge. 5. The school bell, played very slowly, as the start of a melody. 6. Footsteps that get faster and faster before the bell, then silence. 7. A piece that uses only two notes. 8. The hum of the water fountain as a long, low sound under everything. 9. Something about the gym. 10. Turn the stain on the ceiling tile in Room 12 into a map, and play the map: each dark spot is a loud note.
SVHS (original model text; the student is invented), Text 2: Rafa's idea list (written for this page; Rafa, a grade 7 student, and his school are invented). Original passage written for this page.
Concept note, written the next day.
I chose idea 6 and added idea 8 under it. Working title: Four Minutes Between Bells.
What it is about: the rush between classes, when the hallway goes from empty to packed to empty again.
Form: one minute for three players. Two players stamp and walk in place on the wooden stage. Their steps start slow and get faster for 45 seconds. The third player hums one low note the whole time, like the fountain. At 45 seconds a triangle stands in for the bell, and everything stops. The last 15 seconds are silence, broken once by a single slow footstep.
Key choices: speed carries the rush; the low hum holds the piece together; the silence is the empty hallway.
What I want listeners to notice: that silence can be part of the music.
Ideas I set aside: ideas 2 and 9, because they name places but give me no sound to start from; idea 10, because I like it, but it depends on a ceiling tile the audience cannot see.
SVHS (original model text; the student is invented), Text 3: Rafa's concept note (written for this page; invented). Original passage written for this page.
Then each student works alone on this invented prompt: "A piece of about one minute for the opening of a new footbridge over a river."
Generate at least 10 ideas in 8 minutes, in any art form, and tag each with its starter.
Choose one and write a concept statement of 40-80 words with the four parts.
Name one idea you set aside and give a reason.
Grades 6-8: use a frame: "My piece is a ___ (art form) about ___. It lasts or measures ___. The key choices are ___. I want the audience to notice ___." Grades 9-12: write without a frame and add one sentence on how the concept could change for a different art form.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: "Write one sentence that is a topic and one sentence that is a concept, about the same subject, in any art form." Collect and sort: the concept sentence should name an art form and at least one key choice.
For homework: students use Text 4, written for this lesson. Ines is an invented grade 10 student making a work on paper for an exhibit on the theme "repair."
Assignment: a work on paper, no larger than 30 by 45 cm, for a student exhibit with the theme "repair."
Idea list: 1. A drawing of a sewing needle and thread. 2. A strip of tape, drawn very large, holding a torn map together. 3. A cracked cup mended with gold-colored lines, drawn from three angles. 4. Use only torn paper, no scissors and no pencil. 5. Repair. 6. A bicycle chain with one link in a different color. 7. A shoe laced with three different laces. 8. A patched umbrella, seen from underneath. 9. Something sad.
Concept note: I will make something about repair. It will be colorful and meaningful. People will like it.
SVHS (original model text; the student is invented), Text 4: Ines's idea list and concept note, for homework (written for this page; Ines, a grade 10 student, is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Teacher note: Text 1 keeps Richter's 1888 English exactly, including his words in square brackets. "Draughtsmen" means people who draw, and "tinted paper" means colored paper. The [...] line marks about 60 notes left out between the two sections.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a starter strip with the five idea starters and one example of each beside the student while generating
Let students generate by sketching or by short sound or movement notes instead of writing full phrases
Provide the concept frame from Independent Practice for every concept statement, including homework
For Advanced Students
Ask for two concepts from the same idea in two different art forms, and a paragraph on what changes
Have students set a constraint for a partner that would push the partner's idea in a new direction, and explain the choice
Ask students to read Text 1 again and write how Leonardo's two notes divide the work between chance and steady habit
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work shows both verbs. For generating, look for range (ideas from several starters) and for makeable ideas, not topics. For conceptualizing, look for a concept another person could picture: an art form, a form, at least two key choices and an intended effect on the audience, plus a reason for the choice. Grade the process, not talent or polish: a plain sketch with a clear concept meets the standard.
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Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Three Objects, Four Starters
15 minGroups of 3
Each group gets three everyday objects (for example a paper cup, a key and a leaf). In four rounds of two minutes, the group generates ideas from the objects using a different idea starter each round. The goal is many ideas, not good ones.
The Four Rounds
Observe: look and listen closely. What shapes, textures, sounds or motions does each object have?
Chance: drop the leaf three times and trace or copy the way it lands or the path it falls.
Constraint: pick a limit from the hat (one color, three movements, two notes, one line of dialogue, one camera angle) and generate within it.
Transform or combine: make one object huge, tiny, slow or fast, or join two objects into one.
Choose Your Art Form
Dance: each idea is a movement or path the body could make.
Media arts: each idea is a shot, a sound or an edit.
Music: each idea is a rhythm, sound or melody shape.
Theatre: each idea is a character, a situation or a stage picture.
Visual arts: each idea is an image, a material or a composition.
Grades 6-8 Version
The group aims for 12 ideas in all, one recorder per round
Each idea gets a starter tag
The group stars the idea that surprised them most and says which round it came from
Grades 9-12 Version
The group aims for 20 ideas in all
After the rounds, members combine two ideas from different rounds into a new one
The group writes which starter gave the widest range of ideas, with two examples as evidence
2
Prompt Card Remix
15 minPairs
Pairs draw one card of each kind (a subject, a constraint and an audience) and generate ideas that fit all three. Then they conceptualize one idea into a concept card. The cards are written for this page.
The 12 Prompt Cards
Subject: a lost glove; a rainstorm; a crowded elevator; a lighthouse. Constraint: only three colors or sounds; under one minute; no words; everything must be slow. Audience: young children at a library; people waiting for a bus; families at a school open house; visitors to a museum lobby.
Steps
Draw one card of each kind.
Generate at least eight ideas in five minutes, in your chosen art form.
Choose one idea and fill in a concept card: what it is about; art form and form; key choices; what the audience should notice.
Swap concept cards with another pair. Each pair writes one question about something they cannot yet picture.
Grades 6-8 Version
Pairs may trade one card back once
The concept card uses the sentence frame from Independent Practice
Grades 9-12 Version
No trading cards
Pairs write two concepts from the same idea for two different audiences and explain how the audience changed the key choices
3
Concept Gallery
15-20 minIndividual, then whole class
Each student turns one idea from today into a concept on an index card and posts it. Classmates walk the gallery and test whether each concept is clear enough to picture.
The Concept Card
Working title
What it is about (one sentence)
Art form and form: length or size, performers or materials
Two or three key choices
What the audience should notice
Gallery Notes
Each visitor leaves two sticky notes on at least three cards: "I can picture ___ because ___" and "I cannot yet picture ___." Notes are about the concept, not the person.
Grades 6-8 Version
Students choose the idea from Activity 1 or 2
After the gallery, each student rewrites one line of the card that a note said was unclear
Grades 9-12 Version
On the back of the card, students list two other concepts they considered and why each was set aside
After the gallery, they write which note changed their concept most and how
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Diagrams & Visual Aids
1 diagrams
Diagram 1: Generate Wide, Then Conceptualize Narrow
The two verbs of NCAS.A.1 pull in opposite directions. Generating (R1) widens the field: idea starters such as observing, chance, a constraint or transforming something familiar produce many quick ideas, with judging held back. Conceptualizing (R2) narrows it: the artist chooses and shapes one idea into a concept that says what the work is about, its art form and form, its key choices and what the audience should notice. The same picture fits a dance, a song, a scene, a video or a drawing.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
NCAS.A.1 Homework: From Ines's Idea List to a Concept
Directions: Read Text 4 (in Closure), Ines's idea list and concept note for a work on paper on the theme "repair." Ines is invented. Answer Part 1 using her text, then do Part 2 in any art form. Use paper and pencil; sketches count as answers in Part 2.
Part 1: Read Ines's Ideas (Problems 1-3)
Two of Ines's nine entries name only a topic or a feeling, not something she could start making. Give their numbers, and explain what each is missing.
Find one idea in Ines's list that uses a constraint and one that transforms an everyday object. Quote each and name the starter.
Ines's concept note says: "It will be colorful and meaningful. People will like it." Explain why this is not yet a concept, naming at least two of the four parts it is missing.
Part 2: Generate and Conceptualize (Problems 4-6)
Generate at least eight new ideas for the theme "repair" in an art form other than visual art (dance, media arts, music or theatre). Use at least three different idea starters and tag each idea with its starter.
Choose one idea, from Ines's list or your own, and write a concept statement of 50-100 words with all four parts: what it is about; art form and form; key choices; what the audience should notice.
Name two ideas you set aside and give a reason for each, as Rafa does at the end of Text 3. Then say in one sentence what would have to change for one of them to become your choice.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Reading the ideas (1-3)
Identifies the topic-only entries and the starters with quotations, and names two missing concept parts
Identifies most entries correctly but without quotations, or names one missing part
Entries misidentified or no evidence
Generating (4)
At least eight makeable ideas from three or more starters, each tagged
Fewer than eight ideas, or only one or two starters
Fewer than four ideas, or topics only
Conceptualizing (5)
A concept another person could picture: all four parts, with specific key choices
Three of the four parts, or key choices that stay vague
A topic or a single idea, not a concept
Choosing (6)
Two reasoned decisions that refer to the concept or the audience
Reasons given but general ("I did not like it")
No reasons
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Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1-4, 15 and 19 use Text 1 (Direct Instruction). Questions 5-8, 16, 17 and 19 use Texts 2 and 3 (Independent Practice). The other questions describe invented situations. Choose the best answer, or write a short answer, then check your work.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Text 1, paragraph 1, Leonardo lists things a painter may discover in a stained wall. Which of these is not on his list?
Answer: D
Paragraph 1 names landscapes "beautified with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees," then "battles and figures in action," then "strange faces and costumes." It never mentions portraits of people the painter knows. Choices A, B and C are all on the list; a student who picks C may have stopped reading before the end of the sentence.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Leonardo compares the shapes in the stains to "the sound of bells" (Text 1, paragraph 1). What does the comparison suggest?
Answer: A
In the jangle of bells "you may find any name or word you choose to imagine": the meaning comes from the listener, as the scenes in a stain come from the viewer. Choice B reads the comparison literally. Choice C contradicts the point that the shapes appear "confusedly" and must be reduced to well drawn forms. Choice D adds a condition Leonardo never states: he offers the device to any painter who has to devise a scene.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Text 1, paragraph 2, why should a painter carry a little book?
Answer: C
Leonardo writes that "the forms, and positions of objects are so infinite that the memory is incapable of retaining them," so the sketches must be kept. Choice B is the opposite of the text: the book is tinted "that it may not be rubbed out." Choice A misreads the purpose: the notes are taken "with slight strokes," as sketches, not written descriptions. Choice D invents a reason about cost.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Leonardo says the shapes seen in a wall can be reduced "to complete and well drawn forms" (Text 1, paragraph 1). Which verb of NCAS.A.1 does that step fit best?
Answer: B
Seeing many possible scenes is generating; turning one confused resemblance into a clear, drawn form is the start of conceptualizing. Choices A and D describe the earlier step of seeing many possible scenes, not this one. Choice C is misled by the word "complete": Leonardo means a clear form, not a finished painting, which belongs to refining and completing (NCAS.A.3).
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which idea in Rafa's list (Text 2) uses a constraint?
Answer: A
Idea 4 sets a limit on purpose: "Only use sounds made with a pencil." Ideas 6, 8 and 10 each start from something Rafa hears or sees at school, not from a limit he sets on purpose, so B, C and D use other starters.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which idea in Rafa's list (Text 2) is closest to Leonardo's wall method in Text 1?
Answer: D
Idea 10 reads a random stain on a ceiling tile as a map, as Leonardo reads landscapes into a stained wall. Idea 3 also starts from a pattern, but floor tiles are laid out on purpose, so it transforms a design rather than using chance. Ideas 1 and 5 start from listening.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does Rafa set aside idea 10 (Text 3)?
Answer: B
Rafa writes that idea 10 "depends on a ceiling tile the audience cannot see." Choice A is his reason for ideas 2 and 9, not idea 10. Choice C contradicts the note, which says "I like it." Choice D is not in the text.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Rafa's concept note (Text 3), which choice is meant to carry the rush between classes?
Answer: C
The note says "speed carries the rush." The low hum (A) "holds the piece together," the triangle (B) stands in for the bell, and the silence at the end (D) "is the empty hallway."
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A theatre student lists 20 possible settings for a two-minute scene in 8 minutes and crosses none out. Which part of NCAS.A.1 is she working on?
Answer: A
Producing many possibilities without judging them is generating. She has not yet chosen and shaped one, so she is not conceptualizing (B). Choices C and D belong to later anchors: refining (NCAS.A.3) and presenting (NCAS.A.4-6).
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which of these is a concept, not just a topic or an idea?
Answer: D
Choice D names an art form and form (a silent 30-second video) and a key choice (the camera at puddle level). A is a topic, B is an idea with no form or choices, and C names a feeling the artist hopes for without saying what the work is.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does this lesson ask artists to hold back judging while they generate?
Answer: C
An idea that is crossed out at once is never transformed or combined, as Rafa combines ideas 6 and 8. Choice B goes too far: artists do judge, but when they choose and conceptualize, after generating. Choices A and D contradict the reason for generating many ideas.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A painter decides her picture of a harbor will use only black and one shade of blue. Which idea starter is this?
Answer: B
A limit the artist sets on purpose is a constraint. Observing (A) would mean studying the harbor closely, chance (C) would use an accident, and combining (D) would join two ideas.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A dancer takes the small motion of tying a shoe and performs it ten times larger and much slower. Which idea starter is this?
Answer: A
Changing the size and speed of a familiar action is transforming. Nothing random is used, so it is not chance (B); the dancer adds no limit, so it is not a constraint (C); and only one action is involved, so it is not combining (D).
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which use of another artist's work fits generating an original idea?
Answer: C
Borrowing a method and applying it to new material in your own art form produces a new idea. Choices A, B and D copy the work itself and present it as one's own, which generates nothing new.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Use Leonardo's wall method (Text 1, paragraph 1) in an art form other than painting. In 2-3 sentences, say what you would look at or listen to, and give two ideas it could give you.
Model answer: Leonardo looks at "a wall spotted with stains" and finds scenes in it. For music, I would listen to rain hitting a car roof for one minute and hear it as a drummer: one idea is a rhythm that copies the uneven drops, and another is a piece that gets louder as the rain does. Rubric: full credit names a random or messy source in another art form and two distinct ideas drawn from it; partial credit gives the source or the ideas only.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Rafa set aside ideas 2 and 9 (Text 3). Rewrite idea 9, "Something about the gym," as an idea Rafa could start making, and name the idea starter you used.
Model answer: "The squeak of sneakers on the gym floor, recorded by ear and copied with a balloon rubbed by hand, as the melody." Starter: observing (listening closely). This gives Rafa a sound to start from, which Text 3 says ideas 2 and 9 lack ("they name places but give me no sound to start from"). Rubric: full credit gives a specific, makeable musical idea and a correct starter; partial credit gives one of the two.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Rafa "chose idea 6 and added idea 8 under it" (Text 3). Explain what idea 8 adds to his concept, using one key choice from his note.
Model answer: Idea 6 gives the rising speed of footsteps; idea 8 adds a low hum the third player holds "the whole time." His note says "the low hum holds the piece together," so the combination gives the fast, changing steps something steady underneath. Combining two ideas from the list is part of conceptualizing: the concept is stronger than either idea alone. Rubric: full credit names what idea 8 adds and quotes a key choice; partial credit does one of the two.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Write a concept statement of 40-80 words for this invented prompt, in any art form: "A two-minute piece for a public library's open house, on the theme pages." Include all four parts.
Model answer (theatre): "Turning: a two-minute scene for three actors in the library lobby. The actors are pages in one book who keep losing their place as a reader flips back and forth. Key choices: actors move only when they hear a page turn, and the lights flicker with each flip. The audience should notice how a reader controls a story." Rubric: full credit has all four parts with specific choices; partial credit has three parts or vague choices; no credit for a topic only.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Leonardo tells painters to keep their sketches "as your guides and masters" (Text 1, paragraph 2). Explain how an idea log like Rafa's helps an artist both generate and conceptualize.
Model answer: A log keeps ideas that memory would lose, so the artist can generate many without having to choose at once. Later, the log becomes the "guides and masters": Rafa goes back to his list the next day, picks idea 6, adds idea 8, and explains why he set others aside. Generating fills the log; conceptualizing chooses from it. Rubric: full credit explains both verbs with evidence from Text 1 and Text 2 or 3; partial credit explains one.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
An invented classmate, Sam, says he cannot think of any ideas for a piece in any art form about "a market." Write him advice that uses two specific idea starters, with an example of each.
Model answer: "Try observing: listen to a market for two minutes and write down every sound, like a scale beeping or crates being stacked, and one of them could start a rhythm. Then try a constraint: make a scene where the sellers can only speak in numbers. You do not have to like an idea yet; just get ten down." Rubric: full credit names two different starters with a concrete example for each; partial credit gives one starter or examples without starters.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
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Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does NCAS.A.1 mean?
It means students should be able to come up with artistic ideas and turn one into a clear plan for a work. The standard's two verbs are "generate" (produce many possible ideas) and "conceptualize" (shape one into a concept that says what the work is about and how it will look, sound or move).
Is NCAS.A.1 only for visual art?
No. NCAS.A.1 is one of 11 anchor standards that apply to all five art forms in the National Core Arts Standards: dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts. That is why every activity on this page has an option for each art form.
What is the difference between generating and conceptualizing an idea?
Generating goes wide and conceptualizing goes narrow. When generating, the artist produces many ideas and holds back judgment; when conceptualizing, the artist chooses one and decides what it is about, its form, its key choices and what the audience should notice. Diagram 1 shows the two steps.
How is NCAS.A.1 different from NCAS.A.2 and NCAS.A.3?
All three are in the Creating process, in order. NCAS.A.1 is about getting and shaping the idea; NCAS.A.2 is about organizing and developing it into a work; NCAS.A.3 is about refining and completing the work. In practice artists move back and forth among them.
What grade is NCAS.A.1 for?
The anchor standards run from prekindergarten through grade 12; this page treats NCAS.A.1 for grades 6-12. The full National Core Arts Standards also contain grade-by-grade performance standards for each art form, which this page does not reproduce; teachers who want them can find them on the official site linked under the standard.
How do you grade idea generation without grading talent?
Grade what students do, not how gifted they seem. The homework rubric scores the number and range of ideas, the use of different starters, the clarity of the concept and the reasons for choosing. A rough sketch with a clear concept earns full credit.
What should a student do who says "I have no ideas"?
Give a starter instead of a blank page. A constraint ("only three sounds"), an object to observe or a chance method like Leonardo's stained wall usually produces a first idea within minutes. The rule "no judging yet" also helps, because the student no longer has to find a good idea first.
Can students borrow from other artists under NCAS.A.1?
Yes, if they borrow a method or a starting point and make something new, and say where it came from. The line falls between taking a way of working and taking the work itself.
Why does an arts lesson use a text by Leonardo da Vinci?
Because his notebooks give working advice about where ideas come from, in his own words, and the translation is in the public domain. The page uses written texts and described works only, so no images are needed; the method in Text 1 transfers to sound, movement and video.
How does NCAS.A.1 connect to writing class?
Planning before drafting in writing (CCRA.W.5) is close to conceptualizing in the arts: both ask what the work is for and who it is for before the main effort begins. The link is an SVHS teaching connection, not part of either standard.
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Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to NCAS.A.1: an anchor to work on alongside it, the other Creating anchors, and a writing anchor with a similar skill. SVHS chose these links for teaching.
