NCAS.A.2National Core Arts StandardsArtsCreatingGrades 6-12
NCAS.A.2: Organizing and Developing Artistic Ideas and Work
In plain English: NCAS.A.2 is National Core Arts Standards anchor standard 2, in the Creating process, which asks students to organize and develop artistic ideas and work in any art form. Students grow a starting idea through sketches and variations, then arrange the parts into a structure, such as sections that repeat and contrast. In grades 6-12 it applies to dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts.
NCAS.A.2 is the second of three anchor standards in the Creating process, which the National Core Arts Standards define as "Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work." Once an artist has an idea (NCAS.A.1), Anchor 2 asks for two kinds of work on it: develop it (grow it through sketches, studies and variations) and organize it (decide the parts and their order, so the work holds together). Refining and completing the work come next, in NCAS.A.3.
Students read part of an 1878 letter in which the composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky describes his sketches and how freely he treats traditional forms. They develop a short motif through variations, and follow two invented students: Lena, who builds a 90-second dance in three sections, and Tomas, who reorders the shots of a 45-second video. Each activity has an option for dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts, and a grades 6-8 and a grades 9-12 version. Everything uses paper, bodies, voices and everyday objects.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Explain the difference between developing an idea and organizing a work, with an example from any art form
Develop a motif through at least three variations (for example size, speed, order, level or color) and choose among them with reasons
Organize parts into a structure that uses repetition and contrast, such as A B A', with section lengths that add up
Explain how changing the order of the same parts changes what an audience experiences
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Generating ideas and writing a concept for a work NCAS.A.1
Basic materials and actions of at least one art form
Describing the parts of an artwork they have seen or heard NCAS.A.7
"Clap this pattern with me: clap, clap, stomp. Now: clap, clap, stomp, stomp. Now: stomp, clap, clap. What stayed the same each time, and what changed?"
Take answers. The claps and the stomp stayed; the number of stomps and the order changed. Name the pattern a motif: a short idea that can come back. Each changed version is a variation. Making variations is one way to develop an idea. Deciding which version comes first, second and last is organizing.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Terms for the whole period.
Develop: grow an idea so it can carry a whole work, by sketching it, trying variations and adding detail.
Sketch and study: a sketch is a quick, rough version of an idea; a study is a fuller trial of one part. Every art form has them: a thumbnail drawing, a rehearsal of one phrase, a hummed tune, a storyboard.
Motif: a short idea (a shape, a movement, a rhythm, a line, a sound or an image) that returns in a work. Variation: the motif changed in one or more ways.
Organize: decide the parts of a work and how they are arranged in time or space.
Structure: the plan of the parts, for example beginning, middle and end, or A B A' (a first section, a contrasting section, then the first section returning with a change; the mark ' means "changed").
A composer on sketches and form. Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), the Russian composer, and Nadezhda von Meck, a patron who supported his work, exchanged more than 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890. In 1878 she asked him how he composed. Text 1 is part of his answer, in the 1906 English translation by Rosa Newmarch. Before reading, give the musical words: harmony is the chords under a tune; figured bass is a bass line with numbers as shorthand for chords; instrumentation is the choice of which instruments play what; a symphony's movements are its separate large sections; the second subject is its second main theme; and the recapitulation is the section where the opening themes return. "Our Symphony" is his Fourth Symphony, which he dedicated to von Meck.
1I usually write my sketches on the first piece of paper to hand. I jot them down in the most abbreviated form. A melody never stands alone, but invariably with the harmonies which belong to it. These two elements of music, together with the rhythm, must never be separated; every melodic idea brings its own inevitable harmony and its suitable rhythm. If the harmony is very intricate, I set down in the sketch a few details as to the working out of the parts; when the harmony is quite simple, I only put in the bass, or a figured bass, and sometimes not even this. If the sketch is intended for an orchestral work, the ideas appear ready-coloured by some special instrumental combination. The original plan of instrumentation often undergoes some modifications.
[...]
2This stage of composition--the sketch--is remarkably pleasant and interesting. It brings an indescribable delight, accompanied, however, by a kind of unrest and nervous agitation. Sleep is disturbed and meals forgotten. Nevertheless, the development of the project proceeds tranquilly. The instrumentation of a work which is completely thought out and matured is a most enjoyable task.
[...]
3You ask: do I confine myself to established forms? Yes, and no. Some compositions imply the use of traditional forms; but only as regards their general features--the sequence of the various movements. The details permit of considerable freedom of treatment, if the development of the ideas require it. For example, the first movement of our Symphony is written in a very informal style. The second subject, which ought, properly speaking, to be in the major, is in a somewhat remote minor key. In the recapitulation of the principal part the second subject is entirely left out, etc. In the finale, too, there are many deviations from traditional form.
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, in Modeste Tchaikovsky, The Life and Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, translated by Rosa Newmarch, Text 1: Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, from a letter to Nadezhda von Meck, Kamenka, June 24 (July 6), 1878, on how he composes (1878; this edition 1906). Public domain (published 1906). Source text.
Develop a motif, in visual art
A visual art student's motif is a simple leaf shape. How can she develop it before she knows what the final picture is?
Result: She draws six variations on one page: the leaf twice as large; the leaf cut in half; three leaves overlapping; the leaf turned upside down so it reads as a flame; the leaf drawn with one continuous line; the leaf filled with tiny copies of itself. Two of them, the flame and the leaf of tiny leaves, suggest a new direction. Developing has made the idea bigger than it was.
Organize for suspense, in theatre
A two-minute scene has three beats: a letter arrives; a character reads it and laughs; another character reveals she wrote it. The draft order is 1, 2, 3. What happens if the order changes to 3, 1, 2?
Result: In 3, 1, 2 the audience knows from the start who wrote the letter, so the laugh in beat 2 changes meaning: the audience watches to see how the reader will react, not to learn who wrote it. Same three beats, different experience. Organizing is a choice about what the audience knows, and when.
Develop and organize, in music
A group's motif is clap, clap, stomp. They try four variations: faster, reversed (stomp, clap, clap), softer and with a rest. How can they build a 52-second piece?
Result: They keep faster and reversed, then organize three sections: A (16 seconds), the motif four times by one group; B (24 seconds), the reversed version, faster, in a round; A' (12 seconds), the motif louder, everyone together. 16 + 24 + 12 = 52. B contrasts with A, and the return in A' makes an ending. Diagram 1 shows this plan.
Organize with a storyboard, in media arts
A 30-second video about a paper airplane has four shots: folding the paper (8 s), the throw (5 s), the flight (10 s), the landing in a tree (7 s). The maker wants the ending to feel surprising.
Result: She keeps the order but cuts the flight shot into two halves, placing a close-up of the thrower's worried face (the same 30 seconds in total, with the flight shortened to 7 seconds and the face shot 3 seconds) between them, so viewers wait for the landing. 8 + 5 + 3.5 + 3 + 3.5 + 7 = 30. A storyboard lets her test orders on paper before filming.
Ask: in each example, which moves were developing and which were organizing? Point out that the two often happen together: a new variation can suggest a new order, and a new order can show which parts need developing.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Develop and organize one motif together. The class uses an arm motif of four counts: arms out (1), arms up (2), hands to shoulders (3), arms down (4). Students may also hum it as four notes, low to high to middle to low.
Develop (6 minutes). The class tries five variations, one at a time: tiny, huge, slow motion, reversed and with one count left out. After each, ask: "Is it still the motif? What new feeling does it have?" Keep a list on the board.
Choose (2 minutes). Vote to keep three variations, and ask for a reason for each, not just "it was fun."
Organize (5 minutes). In pairs, students arrange the motif and the three variations into a structure with at least one repetition and one contrast, and write the section lengths so they add up to 40 seconds.
Compare (2 minutes). Two pairs with different orders show or read their plans. Ask: "What does the audience notice first in each order? Which ending feels more like an ending, and why?"
Independent Practice15 minutes
Read two artists' process notes, then plan a structure. Texts 2 and 3 were written for this lesson. Lena is an invented grade 8 dancer; Tomas is an invented grade 11 media arts student. The quiz uses both texts and Text 1.
Day 1. Assignment: a dance of about 90 seconds for the grade 8 showcase, on the theme "a city waking up." I made one four-count phrase and called it my motif: reach up (count 1), fold forward (2), turn (3), drop to one knee (4). It looks like a street lamp switching off and someone getting up.
Day 2. I tried the motif four new ways to see what it could become. Low: the whole phrase on the floor. Fast: all four moves in two counts. Backward: drop, turn, fold, reach, so it ends standing up. Big: the reach becomes a run across the stage. I kept Backward and Fast. Low looked like sleeping, not waking, so I cut it. Big was fun but too long for the music.
Day 3. Now the order. My first plan was the motif, then every variation, then stop. When I ran it, it felt like a list. New plan, in three sections. A (30 seconds): the motif backward and slow, one dancer alone, like one person waking. B (40 seconds): the fast version, started by three dancers at different times, like traffic starting. A again, but changed (20 seconds): the motif forward and slow, all three dancers together, ending on the reach.
Why this order: the motif coming back at the end ties the dance together, and the change shows that the whole city is awake now.
SVHS (original model text; the student is invented), Text 2: Lena's process journal for a dance (written for this page; Lena, a grade 8 student, is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Project: a 45-second video with no dialogue, "The Last Bus," for our media arts screening. I planned six shots.
Shot 1: a bus stop sign at night and an empty bench (6 seconds). Shot 2: a student runs down a street, backpack bouncing (8 seconds). Shot 3: close-up of a watch reading 11:58, ticking (6 seconds). Shot 4: the bus doors close and the bus pulls away (7 seconds). Shot 5: the student arrives, out of breath, at the empty stop (9 seconds). Shot 6: her hand rests on the bench and finds a bus pass someone dropped (9 seconds).
Version 1 used the shots in order, 1 to 6. My partner said: "I knew she would miss the bus as soon as I saw the doors close, so the running had no tension."
Version 2: I cut shot 2 into three short pieces (3, 3 and 2 seconds) and placed them between the others: 2a, 3, 2b, 4, 2c, 5, 6. Now the running and the bus take turns, and viewers do not know until shot 5 whether she makes it. I also took the tick from shot 3 and put it, faster each time, under each running piece. The video is still 45 seconds. Shot 6 stays last, because the bus pass gives the ending a small turn.
SVHS (original model text; the student is invented), Text 3: Tomas's shot plan for a short video (written for this page; Tomas, a grade 11 student, is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Then each student takes an idea from an earlier lesson, or this invented prompt: "A piece of about one minute called Low Tide."
Write or sketch a motif and develop it through three variations.
Draw a timeline of the structure with section names and lengths that add up to the total.
Write two sentences: why this order, and what you would test next.
Grades 6-8: use a three-section frame (beginning, middle, end). Grades 9-12: choose your own structure and draw a second order of the same parts, then explain which one you would build.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: "Name one developing move and one organizing move you made today, and say what each changed in your work."
For homework: students use Text 4, written for this lesson. Priya is an invented grade 9 student planning a three-minute scene.
Scene: "The Key," about three minutes, for two actors, for our class performance. Mo has locked himself out of his apartment. Dee is a neighbor.
Beat 1: Dee finds a key on the stairs and puts it in her pocket. Beat 2: Mo searches his bag and his pockets, getting louder and louder. Beat 3: Dee offers to help Mo look. Beat 4: Mo explains that he is locked out and the building manager is away until Monday.
Draft order: 1, 2, 3, 4. Ending: Dee hands Mo the key.
Notes from our first rehearsal: "The audience knows where the key is from the first moment, so the search has no surprise." "Beat 4 explains what we already saw in Beat 2." "The key only appears twice, at the start and at the end."
SVHS (original model text; the student and characters are invented), Text 4: Priya's scene outline, for homework (written for this page; Priya, a grade 9 student, is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Teacher note: Text 1 keeps Rosa Newmarch's 1906 English exactly, including the double hyphens she uses as dashes and the old form "require" in "if the development of the ideas require it." The [...] lines mark two cuts: a few sentences on fitting words to music and a programme to a symphonic work, and two sentences on short piano and vocal pieces.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give the five variation cards from Activity 1 as a checklist, so students change one thing at a time
Provide a timeline strip already divided into three sections, with the total written at the end
Let students show their structure by moving paper strips before writing about it
For Advanced Students
Ask for a structure with five or more sections in which the motif returns at least twice, changed each time
Have students explain, using Text 1, how Tchaikovsky keeps a traditional form only "as regards their general features" and where a structure of their own breaks from a plan
Ask students to develop the same motif in two art forms and organize both versions the same way, then compare the results
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work shows both verbs. For developing, look for several real variations of one idea (not several unrelated ideas), and reasons for keeping or cutting them. For organizing, look for a structure with repetition and contrast, section lengths that add up, and an explanation of how the order shapes what the audience experiences. Grade the decisions and the reasons, not polish or talent.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Motif Workshop
15 minIndividual, then pairs
Each student makes a short motif in a chosen art form and develops it with five variation cards. Pairs then test which variations are still recognizably the motif and which have become something new.
Choose Your Art Form
Dance: a four-count movement phrase.
Media arts: a three-second shot plan (what is seen, from where, moving how).
Music: a clapped or sung pattern of three to five sounds.
Theatre: one line of dialogue with one gesture.
Visual arts: a small arrangement of three shapes.
Grades 6-8 Version
Use three of the five cards, one at a time
Show or read each variation to a partner, who says what changed
Keep two variations and write one reason for each
Grades 9-12 Version
Use all five cards, then combine two cards in one variation
The partner ranks the variations from "most like the motif" to "most new"
Write which variation could become the contrasting section of a larger work, and why
The 5 Variation Cards
Change the size
Change the speed
Change the order of the parts
Change the level, register or position (high or low, top or bottom of the page)
Leave out one part, or add one
2
Shuffle the Sections
15 minGroups of 3-4
Groups arrange the motif and variations from Activity 1 using six structure cards, try two different orders and show or read both. The class says what each order makes the audience notice.
The 6 Structure Cards
Quiet opening
The motif appears
A contrast
A build (more, faster or bigger)
A surprise
The motif returns, changed
Steps
Lay the cards in one order and place a motif or variation on each.
Run it, or read it aloud as a plan.
Rearrange into a second order and run it again.
Write two sentences on what changed between the orders.
Grades 6-8 Version
Use four cards, including card 6
Write the length of each section in seconds, and check that they add up to the total the group chose
Grades 9-12 Version
Use all six cards
Draw both orders as timelines to scale, and argue for one using a reaction from the class
3
Sketch to Study
15-20 minIndividual, with one partner check
Students make three quick sketches of the whole structure of one work, get one partner's reaction, and develop one sketch into a fuller study of one part.
What Counts as a Sketch and a Study
Dance: three floor maps; then a rehearsed 20-second phrase.
Media arts: three six-box storyboards; then one sequence drawn shot by shot with timings.
Music: three section maps (letters and lengths); then one section written in words, rhythm symbols or notation.
Theatre: three beat orders on paper strips; then one beat scripted.
Visual arts: three thumbnails 5 by 7 cm; then one study at a larger size in pencil.
Grades 6-8 Version
The partner points to the sketch they understand fastest and says why
Students develop that sketch or another one, and list two things that changed from sketch to study
Grades 9-12 Version
The partner names the weakest part of each sketch
Students develop one sketch and write a short note, like a process journal entry, on one change the study forced on the original structure
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
1 diagrams
Diagram 1: Develop a Motif, Then Organize the Parts
The clapping piece from Example 3. Developing (R2): the three-sound motif is tried in four new ways, and two are kept (green borders). Organizing (R1): the versions are placed in three sections drawn to scale on a 52-second timeline: A (16 s), a contrasting B (24 s), and A' (12 s), where the motif returns with a change. The same two moves work for a dance phrase, a shot, a line of dialogue or a shape in a drawing.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
NCAS.A.2 Homework: Reorganizing and Developing Priya's Scene
Directions: Read Text 4 (in Closure), Priya's outline for a three-minute scene and her rehearsal notes. Priya, Mo and Dee are invented. Part 1 asks you to organize her scene; Part 2 asks you to develop it and to try the same moves in another art form. Sketches and timelines count as answers.
Part 1: Organize (Problems 1-3)
Using two of the rehearsal notes in Text 4 as evidence, explain what is wrong with the draft order 1, 2, 3, 4. Say whether each problem is about order or about repetition.
Propose a new order for the four beats (you may cut or combine one beat). Explain in 3-4 sentences what the audience knows, and when, in your order compared with the draft.
Draw a timeline of your new order for a scene of 3 minutes (180 seconds). Label each beat with its length in seconds and show that the lengths add up to 180.
Part 2: Develop (Problems 4-6)
The key could be the scene's motif. Describe three new moments where the key appears, each changed in some way (where it is, who has it, what it means), and place each one on your timeline from Problem 3.
Choose an art form other than theatre. Describe a motif in that art form for the same story (a sound, a movement, a shot or an image) and three variations of it.
Organize your motif and variations from Problem 5 into a structure with at least one repetition and one contrast. Give the section lengths, check that they add up, and explain why you chose that order.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Diagnosing the order (1)
Uses two notes as evidence and sorts the problems into order and repetition
Uses one note, or explains without evidence
No diagnosis
Organizing (2, 3, 6)
New orders change what the audience knows, with timelines that add up and reasons
Orders are changed, but reasons are thin or a timeline does not add up
Orders unchanged or missing
Developing (4, 5)
Three real variations of one motif in each problem, each changed in a stated way
Two variations, or changes that are not stated
Unrelated ideas instead of variations
Transfer (5, 6)
The second art form is used on its own terms (sound, movement, shot or image)
The second art form is named but treated like theatre
No second art form
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1-6, 15 and 20 use Text 1 (Direct Instruction). Questions 7-11, 16, 17 and 20 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
According to Text 1, paragraph 1, how does Tchaikovsky first write down a new musical idea?
Answer: C
He writes: "I usually write my sketches on the first piece of paper to hand. I jot them down in the most abbreviated form." Choice D contradicts the next sentence, which says a melody "never stands alone." Choice B describes later work, not the sketch. Choice A contradicts "the first piece of paper to hand."
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Text 1, paragraph 1, which three elements does Tchaikovsky say "must never be separated"?
Answer: A
He calls melody and harmony "these two elements of music," and adds "together with the rhythm, must never be separated." Choice B mixes in words and instrumentation, which he discusses separately. Choice C names the bass, which he sometimes leaves out of a sketch. Choice D names tempo and loudness, which the paragraph never mentions.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Text 1, paragraph 1 says "the original plan of instrumentation often undergoes some modifications." What does this show about developing a work?
Answer: D
A plan that "often undergoes some modifications" is a plan that changes while the work grows. Choice A says the opposite. Choice B adds an order of steps the paragraph never gives. Choice C ignores that he does write the plan down in the sketch; he just does not treat it as fixed.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Text 1, paragraph 3, when Tchaikovsky uses a traditional form, what does he keep?
Answer: B
He keeps traditional forms "only as regards their general features--the sequence of the various movements." Choice A contradicts "the details permit of considerable freedom." Choice C confuses what he keeps with a detail he changes: the key of the second subject is one of his freedoms. Choice D ignores his answer "Yes, and no."
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Tchaikovsky writes that the details of a form "permit of considerable freedom of treatment, if the development of the ideas require it" (Text 1, paragraph 3). Which statement fits this best?
Answer: C
He bends the details of a form when the ideas need it, so developing (R2) can reshape organizing (R1). Choice A reverses the direction. Choice B ignores that the development of the ideas is the reason he changes the form. Choice D ignores that he still keeps "the sequence of the various movements."
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which change from traditional form does Tchaikovsky describe in the first movement of his Fourth Symphony (Text 1, paragraph 3)?
Answer: A
He writes that "in the recapitulation of the principal part the second subject is entirely left out": the section where themes return leaves one out. Choice C contradicts the text, which puts the second subject "in a somewhat remote minor key." Choices B and D are not in the text.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which variation of her motif did Lena cut, and why (Text 2)?
Answer: D
Lena writes: "Low looked like sleeping, not waking, so I cut it." Choice C attaches Low's reason to Big, which she left out because it was "too long for the music." She kept Fast and Backward, so A and B are wrong.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why did Lena change her first plan for the order of her dance (Text 2)?
Answer: B
She writes that her first plan "felt like a list" when she ran it. Choices A, C and D give reasons the journal never mentions.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Lena's final plan (Text 2), which section is the longest?
Answer: B
Her sections last 30, 40 and 20 seconds, so B, at 40 seconds, is the longest; together they make the 90-second dance. Choices A and C are the shorter sections, and choice D ignores the different lengths she wrote down.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What problem did Tomas's partner find in Version 1 of "The Last Bus" (Text 3)?
Answer: A
The partner said: "I knew she would miss the bus as soon as I saw the doors close, so the running had no tension." Tomas says Version 2 is "still 45 seconds," and nothing is said about the watch being dark, so B and C are wrong. Choice D is the opposite of his reason for keeping shot 6 last.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
How did Tomas reorganize the video for Version 2 (Text 3)?
Answer: D
He "cut shot 2 into three short pieces" and placed them in the order 2a, 3, 2b, 4, 2c, 5, 6. No new shots were filmed (A); shot 6 "stays last" (B); and the video "is still 45 seconds" (C).
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A musician plays a four-note pattern, then plays it again starting one note higher, then again one note higher still. What is she doing?
Answer: C
Repeating the same pattern with one change each time is developing a motif through variation. The ideas are related, so A is wrong; nothing is being presented or arranged into sections yet, so B and D describe other steps.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A visual artist makes three small thumbnail sketches that place the same three objects in different positions on the page, then chooses one. Which part of NCAS.A.2 is this mainly?
Answer: B
The objects stay the same; only their arrangement changes, so this is organizing. Choice A would change the objects themselves. Choices C and D come later, in NCAS.A.3 and the presenting anchors.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In a structure written A B A', what does A' mean?
Answer: A
The mark ' means changed, so A' is the first section coming back in a new form, as in Lena's last section. A brand-new section (B) would get a new letter, such as C. An exact repeat (C) would be written A, and the contrasting middle section (D) is B.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Explain how Text 1 shows Tchaikovsky both developing and organizing a work. Quote one phrase for each.
Model answer: Developing: his sketch grows from a few marks into a full plan, and "the original plan of instrumentation often undergoes some modifications" as it does. Organizing: he keeps "the sequence of the various movements" from traditional forms but lets details change "if the development of the ideas require it." So the order of large parts is planned, while the ideas inside it are free to grow. Rubric: full credit explains both verbs, each with a quotation; partial credit explains one verb or gives no quotations.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Lena's "Backward" variation (Text 2) reverses the motif so it "ends standing up." Explain how this variation develops her idea and how she uses it in her structure.
Model answer: Backward keeps the same four moves but puts them in reverse order, so a phrase that ended on the floor now ends standing, which fits the theme of waking. It develops the motif because it is recognizably the same phrase with a new meaning. She uses it in section A, slow and solo, "like one person waking," and returns to the motif forward at the end, so the backward version opens a structure that the forward version closes. Rubric: full credit explains the change in meaning and its place in the structure with evidence; partial credit does one.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Tomas did not film anything new for Version 2 (Text 3). Explain how changing the order of the same footage changes what viewers feel.
Model answer: In Version 1 the doors close before the student arrives, so viewers know the ending early. In Version 2, "the running and the bus take turns, and viewers do not know until shot 5 whether she makes it." The same shots, rearranged, create suspense, and the tick that gets "faster each time" adds pressure. Organizing controls when the audience learns something. Rubric: full credit compares both versions with evidence and names the effect; partial credit describes the change without the effect.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
An invented motif for a visual art piece is a row of three stripes: red, blue, red. Describe three variations, then organize the motif and variations into a structure for a long paper banner, saying what comes first, in the middle and last.
Model answer: Variations: the stripes widened to three times their width; the colors swapped (blue, red, blue); the stripes bent into waves. Structure along the banner, left to right: A, the original row repeated four times; B, the waves in swapped colors, as a contrast; A', the original row again but widened, so the banner ends with the motif at its boldest. Rubric: full credit gives three real variations and a structure with repetition, contrast and a reason for the order; partial credit gives variations or a structure only.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
An invented classmate's 60-second piece is five unrelated ideas in a row, each 12 seconds long. Give advice for organizing it that uses repetition and contrast, and keep the total at 60 seconds.
Model answer: "Pick the strongest idea as your motif and drop two of the others. Open with the motif (15 seconds), then use one other idea as a contrast (20 seconds), then a variation of the third idea that builds (10 seconds), and end with the motif again, changed (15 seconds). That is 15 + 20 + 10 + 15 = 60 seconds, and the return of the motif makes it one piece instead of a list." Rubric: full credit uses repetition and contrast with lengths that add up to 60; partial credit uses one of the two or a wrong total.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Compare how Tchaikovsky (Text 1) and Lena (Text 2) start their work. What do their first sketches have in common, and how does each develop the sketch?
Model answer: Both start small and quick: Tchaikovsky jots ideas "in the most abbreviated form," and Lena starts with "one four-count phrase." Tchaikovsky develops a sketch by working out the harmony, the parts and the instrumentation, changing the original plan as needed. Lena develops hers by trying it "four new ways," keeping two and cutting two, then building sections from them. Rubric: full credit names the shared start and each artist's way of developing, with evidence from both texts; partial credit covers one artist.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does NCAS.A.2 mean?
It means students should be able to take an artistic idea and work on it: develop it through sketches, studies and variations, and organize it into a structure whose parts fit together. It is the middle step of the Creating process, between getting an idea (NCAS.A.1) and refining and completing the work (NCAS.A.3).
What is the difference between organizing and developing in NCAS.A.2?
Developing changes the idea itself; organizing changes how the parts are arranged. Making a motif faster or bigger is developing; deciding that the fast version comes in the middle and the motif returns at the end is organizing. The two often happen together.
Does NCAS.A.2 apply to every art form?
Yes. It is one of 11 anchor standards that apply to dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts. A motif can be a movement, a shot, a rhythm, a line of dialogue or a shape, and a structure can unfold in time (a dance or a song) or in space (a drawing or a banner).
What is a motif, and why does this lesson use it?
A motif is a short idea that returns in a work, often changed. It is a practical tool for both verbs of the standard: varying a motif develops it, and deciding where it returns organizes the work.
Why read a letter by Tchaikovsky in a lesson for all art forms?
Because he describes sketching and form in plain words, in a letter now in the public domain. What he says about sketches and form carries over to thumbnails, storyboards, rehearsal plans and section maps in other art forms.
What grade is NCAS.A.2 for?
The anchor standards run from prekindergarten through grade 12, and this page treats NCAS.A.2 for grades 6-12, with a grades 6-8 and a grades 9-12 version of each activity. The full standards also include grade-by-grade performance standards for each art form, which this page does not reproduce.
How do you grade organizing and developing without grading talent?
Grade the decisions and the reasons. The homework rubric scores real variations of one idea, a structure with repetition and contrast, timelines that add up, and an explanation of what the order does for the audience. A plain sketch with clear reasons can earn full credit.
What if a student's work is just a list of ideas?
Ask them to choose one idea as a motif and bring it back at the end, changed. A structure with repetition and contrast turns a row of separate ideas into one work.
Does every work need an A B A' structure?
No. A B A' is one clear structure that is easy to teach and hear or see. Others include a build from quiet to loud, a story order of beginning, middle and end, or a theme with several variations in a row. The standard asks students to organize, not to use any one form.
How does NCAS.A.2 connect to writing class?
Organizing and developing a written piece (CCRA.W.4 asks for writing whose development and organization fit the task, purpose and audience) is close to organizing and developing an artwork: both decide the order of the parts and grow the main idea. The connection is an SVHS teaching link, not part of either standard.
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Related Standards
4 standards
These standards connect to NCAS.A.2: the Creating anchor before and after it, an anchor that develops technique for presentation, and a writing anchor with a similar skill. SVHS chose these links for teaching.
Before this lesson
NCAS.A.1Prerequisite
Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work
