NCAS.A.6National Core Arts StandardsArtsPerforming/Presenting/ProducingGrades 6-12
NCAS.A.6: Presenting Artistic Work So the Audience Gets the Meaning
In plain English: NCAS.A.6 is National Core Arts Standards anchor standard 6, in the Performing/Presenting/Producing process, which asks students to convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. In grades 6-12 that means making the choices in a performance, exhibit or screening, such as space, light, order, timing and words, that help an audience receive what the work is meant to communicate.
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
NCAS.A.6 asks students to convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. The work is already chosen and rehearsed; this anchor is about the presentation itself: how the space, light, sound, order, timing and words around a work help, or block, what it communicates. A concert, a dance showcase, a play reading, a class exhibit and a screening all call on it.
Students read Leo Tolstoy's 1898 definition of art as passing a feeling to others, compare two presentation plans for the same invented piece, and use invented audience response data to see whether a presentation conveyed what its makers intended. Then they present a short work in their own art form and check the meaning with response cards. All presentations happen in the classroom; nothing is recorded or posted.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
State an intended meaning for a work in one sentence before presenting it
Choose presentation elements (space, light, sound, order, timing, words) that support the intended meaning, and explain each choice
Identify presentation choices that work against a work's meaning
Collect and read audience responses to judge whether the meaning was conveyed, and revise the presentation in response
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Rehearsing and refining a work for presentation NCAS.A.5
Deciding what a work should communicate when selecting it for a program NCAS.A.4
Explaining how a speaker adapts to an audience CCRA.SL.6
"The same slow song is played twice: once in a noisy cafeteria during lunch, once in a dark auditorium after a moment of silence. Write two ways the audience's experience of the song would differ."
List answers on the board. Students usually notice that the same notes feel different: in the cafeteria the song is background, and in the auditorium it can feel serious or sad. Circle the parts of their answers that are not about the song itself (noise, light, silence, what came before). These are presentation choices, and anchor 6 is about making them on purpose.
Direct Instruction15 minutes
Vocabulary.
Convey: carry something from one place to another; here, carry a meaning from the work to the people watching or listening.
Intended meaning: what the artist or presenter wants the audience to feel, notice or think, stated before the presentation.
Presentation choices: decisions about the setting rather than the work itself: space and where the audience sits or stands, light, sound, order in a program, timing (silences, pauses, how long something stays in view) and words (titles, labels, program notes, introductions).
Audience response: what people actually report afterward, collected in a way that does not tell them the intended meaning first.
Match: how closely the responses fit the intended meaning. It is a check on the presentation, not a score for the audience.
The last step of the process. The framework names this process Performing for dance, music and theatre, defined as "Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation." For visual arts it is Presenting, "Interpreting and sharing artistic work," and for media arts it is Producing, "Realizing and presenting artistic ideas and work." Anchor 4 chose the work and decided what it should say; anchor 5 got it ready; anchor 6 is the moment it reaches people.
An argument from 1898. The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote What Is Art? to answer the question in its title. His answer is that art passes a feeling from one person to others, who then feel it too. The excerpt below gives his definition. Two notes before reading: Tolstoy uses "infect" to mean "pass a feeling on to," with no sense of illness, and he writes "man" to mean any person, as many writers of his time did. Paragraphs are numbered.
1Art begins when one person, with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external indications. To take the simplest example: a boy, having experienced, let us say, fear on encountering a wolf, relates that encounter; and, in order to evoke in others the feeling he has experienced, describes himself, his condition before the encounter, the surroundings, the wood, his own lightheartedness, and then the wolf’s appearance, its movements, the distance between himself and the wolf, etc. All this, if only the boy when telling the story, again experiences the feelings he had lived through and infects the hearers and compels them to feel what the narrator had experienced, is art. If even the boy had not seen a wolf but had frequently been afraid of one, and if, wishing to evoke in others the fear he had felt, he invented an encounter with a wolf, and recounted it so as to make his hearers share the feelings he experienced when he feared the wolf, that also would be art. And just in the same way it is art if a man, having experienced either the fear of suffering or the attraction of enjoyment (whether in reality or in imagination), expresses these feelings on canvas or in marble so that others are infected by them. And it is also art if a man feels or imagines to himself feelings of delight, gladness, sorrow, despair, courage, or despondency, and the transition from one to another of these feelings, and expresses these feelings by sounds, so that the hearers are infected by them, and experience them as they were experienced by the composer.
2The feelings with which the artist infects others may be most various—very strong or very weak, very important or very insignificant, very bad or very good: feelings of love for native land, self-devotion and submission to fate or to God expressed in a drama, raptures of lovers described in a novel, [...] courage expressed in a triumphal march, merriment evoked by a dance, humour evoked by a funny story, the feeling of quietness transmitted by an evening landscape or by a lullaby, or the feeling of admiration evoked by a beautiful arabesque—it is all art.
3If only the spectators or auditors are infected by the feelings which the author has felt, it is art.
4To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself then, by means of movements, lines, colours, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling—this is the activity of art.
5Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings, and also experience them.
Leo Tolstoy, translated by Aylmer Maude, What Is Art?, chapter V (excerpt: five consecutive paragraphs) (1898; this edition 1904). Public domain (published 1904). Source text.
What makes a story into art, for Tolstoy
In paragraph 1, a boy who met a wolf tells about it. What does the boy do that makes the telling art, according to Tolstoy?
Result: He does not just report that he was afraid. He describes "his condition before the encounter, the surroundings, the wood, his own lightheartedness, and then the wolf's appearance, its movements, the distance between himself and the wolf," so that the hearers feel the fear themselves. The presentation, the order and the details he chooses, is what carries the feeling to them.
Connect Tolstoy to Diagram 1. His "external indications" are the work itself; this anchor adds the presentation around them. Ask: "If a song is meant to pass on calm and the audience is talking through it, has the feeling been passed on?" Tolstoy's own test, in paragraph 3, is whether the audience feels it. That is why this lesson ends with an audience check.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Two plans for one piece. Read the two presentation plans below, written for this lesson. The piece and the students are invented. Paragraph 1 gives the intended meaning; paragraphs 2 and 3 are the plans.
1Two presentation plans, written for this lesson, for one invented piece: "Lanterns," a 3-minute duet for flute and keyboard by an invented tenth grader. Her program note says the piece is about "the quiet of a street when the lanterns come on: calm, and a little lonely." Both plans are for the same classroom showcase.
2Plan A. The room lights stay fully on. "Lanterns" comes right after a loud drum piece, while the drums are still being carried off. The performers introduce it with a joke about the flute player's shoes. They start while some of the audience is still talking. After the last note, the keyboard player jumps up and bows at once.
3Plan B. Half of the room lights are switched off, leaving a lamp near the performers. "Lanterns" comes after a quiet poem reading. Before playing, the flute player reads one sentence: "This piece is about a street at dusk." The performers wait for about five seconds of silence before the first note. After the last note, they hold still for about three seconds before standing.
SVHS (original model text; invented students and piece), Two presentation plans for "Lanterns" (invented piece and students). Original passage written for this page.
Compare the plans (students fill in the empty cells)
Presentation choice
Plan A
Plan B
Helps or blocks the meaning?
Light
Students fill in
Students fill in
Students fill in
What comes before
Students fill in
Students fill in
Students fill in
Words
Students fill in
Students fill in
Students fill in
Silence and stillness
Students fill in
Students fill in
Students fill in
Compare two presentations of one work
The composer of "Lanterns" says the piece is about "the quiet of a street when the lanterns come on: calm, and a little lonely." Which plan, A or B, is more likely to convey that meaning, and why?
Result: Plan B. Take one choice as a model: switching off half the room lights and keeping one lamp near the performers looks like a street at dusk, so the setting itself carries part of the meaning before a note is played. Several other choices in each plan pull toward calm or away from it; students find them in the table. The notes are the same in both plans; only the presentation differs.
Words steer meaning
Two actors perform the same silent scene: one packs a box while the other watches, then they hug. A title card reads "Moving Day" for one class and "The Last Goodbye" for another. What changes?
Result: The movements are identical, but the title tells the audience how to read them: "Moving Day" makes the scene feel busy and hopeful, "The Last Goodbye" makes the hug feel final and sad. A title or a one-sentence note is one of the strongest presentation choices, so it should match the intended meaning and not explain everything.
Fill the table. Pairs complete one row per choice. Grades 6-8 write "helps" or "blocks" with a short reason; grades 9-12 also name what the audience would likely feel because of that choice.
Find a risk. Ask pairs to find one choice in Plan B that could go wrong (for example, a note that explains too much, or a silence so long that people start to talk).
Write Plan C. Pairs write a three-sentence plan for presenting "Lanterns" in a different space, such as the school library, keeping the same meaning.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Read the audience. The response data below were written for this lesson; the dancers and the cards are invented. The intended meaning was sealed before either showing.
1Audience response cards from an invented classroom showcase, written for this lesson. An invented group of four eighth graders performed "Undertow," a 2-minute dance. They wrote their intended meaning on a card and sealed it in an envelope: "trying to move forward while something keeps pulling you back." After each showing, every audience member wrote one word on a card for what the dance made them feel or think.
2First showing, to their own class (24 cards): struggle 9, pulled 6, tired 4, confused 3, happy 2.
3Changes before the second showing: the audience sat along one side of the room instead of in front, so the dancers' pull across the floor could be seen from the side. The dancers slowed the final phrase, in which one dancer is dragged back by the others. A single title card, "Undertow," was placed on the floor before they began.
4Second showing, to another class (25 cards): struggle 11, pulled 9, tired 3, confused 2, happy 0.
SVHS (original model text; invented students, dance and data), Audience response cards for "Undertow" (invented data). Original passage written for this page.
Check the meaning with audience responses
In the first showing of "Undertow," 9 of 24 cards said "struggle" and 6 said "pulled." What fraction of the cards matched the sealed intended meaning?
Result: (9 + 6) / 24 = 15/24 = 62.5%. "Tired" is close but not the meaning, and 5 cards ("confused" and "happy") missed it. The group used the result to change the presentation, not the dance's steps: where the audience sat, the speed of the final phrase and a title card.
Grades 6-8: find the fraction of matching cards in the second showing, list the three changes the group made, and say which change you think helped most, with a reason.
Grades 9-12: do the same, then explain why the result alone cannot prove which change helped, and design a fairer test.
Diagram 2 shows both showings to scale.
Closure5-10 minutes
Exit ticket: Name one work you know in any art form (it can be one from this lesson). Write its meaning in one sentence and one presentation choice that would help an audience receive it.
Teacher note on the Tolstoy excerpt:What Is Art? goes on to reject a great deal of famous art, including, in a footnote, almost all of Tolstoy's own fiction, on moral and religious grounds. This lesson uses only his definition, which many artists and critics still discuss. Students may disagree with it: some art aims at ideas, puzzles or beauty rather than a shared feeling, and that is a fair point to raise. The 1904 translation uses dated wording, such as "colours" and "auditors" for listeners.
For homework: students use the draft exhibit plan below. It was written for this lesson; the class, the drawings and the response cards are invented.
1Draft exhibit plan, written for this lesson, from an invented ninth-grade class. The class made six charcoal drawings of hands at work: a baker kneading dough, a mechanic holding a wrench, a nurse taking a pulse, a farmer holding seedlings, a tailor threading a needle and a custodian wringing a mop. The class statement says the drawings are about "respect for the everyday work that keeps a town running."
2The plan: hang the drawings in the back corner of the classroom, at different heights "so it looks creative," next to a bright poster for the school play. Use the title card "Art Project 3." Each label gives only the artist's name. There is no class statement on the wall. The corner has one ceiling light, which is often switched off.
3Preview response cards: 18 classmates looked at the corner as planned and each wrote one word. Results: hands 4, work 4, respect 5, boring 5.
SVHS (original scenario; invented class, drawings and data), Draft exhibit plan for "Hands at Work" (invented class and data). Original passage written for this page.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a checklist of presentation choices (light, sound, space, order, timing, words) to use when reading Plans A and B
Read paragraph 1 of the Tolstoy excerpt aloud in two parts, stopping after the boy's story, and restate each part in one sentence together
Provide a fraction frame for the response data: "(matching cards) / (all cards) = ___"
For Advanced Students
Write a short response to Tolstoy's definition naming one kind of art it fits poorly, and explain how presentation would still matter for that kind of art
Design a response-card method that does not lead the audience, and explain how wording the prompt could change the results
Plan two presentations of the same public-domain work meant to convey opposite meanings
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work states the intended meaning before the presentation, links each presentation choice to that meaning, spots choices that undercut it, and reads audience responses honestly, including when they do not match. Watch for students who change the work instead of the presentation, who treat a low match as the audience's fault, or who explain the meaning so fully in a note that the work has nothing left to do.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Same Work, Two Meanings
20 minGroups of 3-4
Each group presents the same short work twice in the classroom, with different presentation choices meant to convey two different meanings. The class tries to name each meaning. The work itself does not change; only the presentation does.
Pick a Starting Work (one per group)
Music: a melody everyone knows that is in the public domain, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," sung or played
Dance: a 16-count movement phrase the class has learned
Theatre: a two-line exchange: "Are you ready?" "I think so."
Visual arts: one drawing from the class, displayed in two ways
Media arts: six storyboard frames on paper, shown in two orders with two titles
Grades 6-8 Version
Choose two meanings from this list: excited, nervous, peaceful, mysterious
For each, change at least three presentation choices: light, where the audience is, tempo or timing, a title, or what comes before
Present both versions in under two minutes in all
Grades 9-12 Version
Write your own two meanings, which must be close (for example, "hopeful" and "relieved")
Change no more than three presentation choices, and predict which one does the most work
After the class guesses, explain whether your prediction held
Class Guess
After each version, the class writes one word on a sticky note. The group reads the notes aloud and then reveals its intended meanings.
2
Choose Your Art Form: Present It With a Sealed Meaning
20 minPairs or small groups
Students plan and give a short classroom presentation of work they have already made or rehearsed, with the intended meaning sealed in an envelope beforehand.
Options by Art Form
Music: a piece of 1-2 minutes; decide what comes before it, how you begin and how you end.
Dance: a phrase of about one minute; decide where the audience sits and where the dance starts and ends in the room.
Theatre: a short scene or monologue; decide on one title and how the audience enters the moment (silence, a sound, an introduction).
Visual arts: one to three works; decide their height, spacing, order, label wording and light.
Media arts: a paper storyboard slideshow of about one minute; decide the title card, the room's light and what the audience hears before it starts.
Grades 6-8 Version
Write the intended meaning in one sentence and seal it
List three presentation choices and how each supports the meaning
Present, then collect one-word response cards
Grades 9-12 Version
Do the 6-8 tasks, and also write a one-sentence program note or label that guides without explaining the meaning outright
Before reading the cards, predict the fraction that will match
3
Read the Cards, Change One Thing
15 minSame pairs or groups as Activity 2
Groups sort the response cards from Activity 2, find the fraction that matched the sealed meaning, change one presentation choice and present again to a different group.
Sort and Count
Open the envelope and sort the cards into three piles: matches the meaning, close, does not match
Write the fraction (and the percent) of cards that match
Change One Thing
Change only one presentation choice, so that any difference in the result is easier to explain. Present again to another group and collect new cards.
Grades 6-8 Version
Write two sentences: what you changed, and whether the match went up, went down or stayed about the same.
Grades 9-12 Version
Write a short paragraph explaining what the two results show and what they cannot show, given that the second audience was different.
Ground Rules
Response cards are anonymous and describe the work, never the performers
No phones or recording; every presentation is watched live in the classroom
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: From Intended Meaning to Meaning Received
A work's meaning reaches an audience through the presentation around it, then through what the audience perceives. The dashed loop is the audience check: compare responses with the meaning stated before the show, and change the presentation if they do not match.
Diagram 2: Response Cards for Two Showings of "Undertow"
Invented data from the response-card text in Independent Practice, drawn to scale (0-12 cards). Light bars are the first showing; dark bars are the second, after the group changed the presentation.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
NCAS.A.6 Homework: Rescue the "Hands at Work" Exhibit
Directions: Use the draft exhibit plan for "Hands at Work" at the end of the lesson plan (in Closure). Its paragraphs are numbered 1-3. Answer in complete sentences and show your arithmetic for Problem 4. Problem 6 has a grades 6-8 version and a grades 9-12 version; answer the one for your grade. Nothing is posted or recorded.
Part 1: Find What Blocks the Meaning (Problems 1-3)
Using paragraph 2, list at least four presentation choices in the draft plan that work against the meaning in the class statement. For each, explain in one sentence what it does to a viewer.
Write a new title card for the exhibit and a wall statement of one or two sentences that guides viewers toward the meaning without telling them exactly what to feel.
Plan the arrangement of the six drawings: where they hang, at what height, in what order, and with what light. Explain how your order supports the meaning.
Part 2: Check and Revise (Problems 4-6)
Using paragraph 3, find the fraction and the percent of preview cards that match the class statement (count "work" and "respect" as matches). Then find the percent that said "boring." Show your arithmetic.
Four cards said "hands." Explain whether these cards match the meaning, describe the meaning or do neither, and propose one presentation change aimed at those viewers.
Grades 6-8: For a work in your own art form, write its intended meaning, three presentation choices that support it, and the one-line prompt you would put on audience response cards. Grades 9-12: Do the same, then explain how you would word the response-card prompt so that it does not hint at the meaning, and what result would make you change the presentation.
Rubric
Criterion
Strong (3)
Developing (2)
Beginning (1)
Diagnosis
Names four or more blocking choices from the plan, each with its effect on viewers
Names two or three choices, or effects are vague
Lists choices without effects, or criticizes the drawings instead of the presentation
Presentation plan
Title, statement, arrangement and light all point to the stated meaning, and the order has a reason
Most parts support the meaning; one part does not
Plan is unconnected to the meaning
Reading responses
Fractions and percents are correct, and the "hands" cards are discussed thoughtfully
One arithmetic slip, or the discussion is brief
Arithmetic missing or responses ignored
Own work
Meaning, choices and prompt fit together, and the prompt does not give the meaning away
Parts are present but loosely connected
Plan is missing a meaning or a prompt
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 2-6 and 15 use the Tolstoy excerpt (Direct Instruction). Questions 7-9 and 16 use the two plans for "Lanterns" (Guided Practice). Questions 10-12 and 17 use the "Undertow" response cards (Independent Practice). Choose the best answer for each multiple-choice question; write 3-5 sentences for each short-answer question.
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
Which of these is a presentation choice rather than a change to the work itself?
Answer: B
Light in the room surrounds the work without changing it, so it is a presentation choice. Choices A, C and D change the work itself, which belongs to creating and refining.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to paragraph 1 of the Tolstoy excerpt, when does art begin?
Answer: D
Tolstoy writes that art begins when one person, "with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external indications." Choices A and B put the test in the opinion of experts or in skill, which the excerpt does not mention.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 1, suppose the boy never saw a wolf but invented the encounter. Would Tolstoy call the story art?
Answer: A
Tolstoy says that if the boy invented the encounter so as to make his hearers share the fear, "that also would be art." Choice B is the misreading the paragraph rules out, and choice C ignores that a spoken story is his first example.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which pairing of a feeling and a kind of art appears in paragraph 2?
Answer: C
Paragraph 2 lists "merriment evoked by a dance." It pairs the march with courage and the lullaby and evening landscape with quietness, so choices A, B and D mix up the pairs.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which means of passing on a feeling does Tolstoy list in paragraph 4?
Answer: B
Paragraph 4 names "movements, lines, colours, sounds, or forms expressed in words." Choices A and C are presentation details that Tolstoy does not list; anchor 6 adds them to his account.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to paragraph 3, what is Tolstoy's test of whether something is art?
Answer: D
Paragraph 3 says, "If only the spectators or auditors are infected by the feelings which the author has felt, it is art." Choice B confuses effort with effect.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which choice in Plan A most clearly works against the meaning "calm, and a little lonely"?
Answer: A
Plan A says, "They start while some of the audience is still talking," so the quiet the piece depends on is never there. The instruments, room and length (choices B, C and D) are the same in both plans.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Plan B, what do the performers do right after the last note?
Answer: C
Plan B says, "After the last note, they hold still for about three seconds before standing." Choice A is what Plan A does, and choice B happens before the piece, not after.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why do the performers in Plan B wait about five seconds of silence before the first note?
Answer: B
The silence prepares listeners for a calm, quiet piece, so the first notes arrive in stillness. Choice D describes the noise in Plan A, which Plan B avoids by placing the piece after a quiet poem.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In the second showing of "Undertow," what percent of the 25 cards matched the sealed meaning (counting "struggle" and "pulled")?
Answer: C
(11 + 9) / 25 = 20/25 = 80%. Choice A is the first showing's result, choice B counts only "struggle" (11/25), and choice D also counts "tired" (23/25).
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which change did the "Undertow" group make before the second showing?
Answer: A
Paragraph 3 says the audience "sat along one side of the room instead of in front." Choice D is wrong: the meaning stayed sealed, and the only words added were the title, "Undertow."
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which of these stayed the same between the two showings of "Undertow"?
Answer: D
The intended meaning was written and sealed before the first showing and was the standard for both. Choices A, B and C are the three changes listed in paragraph 3.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student labels a drawing of an empty playground swing "Recess." What would changing the label to "After Everyone Left" most likely do?
Answer: B
A title tells viewers how to read what they see, so the same swing can feel cheerful or lonely. Choice A ignores how strongly words steer meaning, and choice C confuses presentation with technique.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which program note best guides an audience without spelling out what to feel?
Answer: C
Choice C gives context that points toward a meaning but leaves the feeling to the music. Choice A tells listeners what to feel, which leaves the work nothing to do, and choice B gives facts with no direction.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Tolstoy says art passes on feelings "by means of certain external signs." Explain how one presentation choice could help those signs reach an audience, and how another could block them, using an example from any art form.
Model answer: In a quiet piano piece, the signs are soft sounds and slow pacing. A few seconds of silence before the first note helps listeners hear them; starting while people are still settling in blocks them, because the soft sounds are lost in the noise. Rubric line: quotes or refers to Tolstoy accurately, gives one helping and one blocking choice, and explains the effect on the audience.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Plan B's flute player says, "This piece is about a street at dusk." Argue whether this sentence helps the audience or risks telling them too much.
Model answer: It helps: it gives a place and a time of day but does not name the feeling, so listeners still discover "calm, and a little lonely" through the music. It would tell too much if it said "This piece will make you feel lonely." Rubric line: takes a position, quotes the sentence, and explains the difference between giving context and naming the feeling.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Three cards in the first showing of "Undertow" said "confused." Suggest one presentation change aimed at those viewers, and explain how you would check whether it worked.
Model answer: Confused viewers may not have seen the pull clearly from the front, so moving the audience to the side (the change the group made) is one answer; another is a pause before the final phrase so the drag stands out. To check, change only that one choice, show it to a new audience and compare the number of "confused" cards. Rubric line: a presentation change (not a change to the steps) linked to a likely cause, and a fair way to check.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
A theatre class will read a short scene from a public-domain play for another class in their classroom. Name three presentation choices the class could make to convey the scene's meaning, and explain each one.
Model answer: For a tense scene: seat the audience close, in a half circle, so they feel inside the argument; turn off half the lights so the readers' faces stand out; and begin after a silence with no introduction, so the first line lands sharply. Each choice makes the tension easier to feel. Rubric line: three distinct presentation choices, each linked to a stated meaning.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Explain how anchor 6 (convey meaning through presentation) differs from the "interpret" part of anchor 4.
Model answer: Interpreting under anchor 4 is deciding what a work means, or should say, when it is chosen. Anchor 6 is carrying that meaning to an audience during the presentation, through space, light, sound, order, timing and words, and checking whether it arrived. One is a decision; the other is how the decision reaches people. Rubric line: both ideas stated accurately, with the difference between deciding and conveying made clear.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
A media arts class will show a one-minute paper storyboard slideshow, meant to feel tense, to another class. Describe two presentation choices that support the tension and a way to check the meaning without telling the audience first.
Model answer: Show it in a darkened room with no introduction, and hold the last frame in silence for a few seconds before the lights come up. Before showing it, seal the intended meaning ("tense, as if something is about to happen") and afterward collect one-word cards with the prompt "One word for how it felt." Rubric line: two presentation choices tied to tension, and a check that does not reveal the meaning.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does NCAS.A.6 mean?
It means students should be able to convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. When they perform, exhibit or screen a work, they make choices about the setting, timing and words around it so that the audience receives what the work is meant to communicate.
Is NCAS.A.6 the same as performing well?
Not quite. Good technique belongs mostly to anchor 5. Anchor 6 asks whether the meaning reached the audience, which depends on the presentation as well: a well-played quiet piece can fail to convey calm if the room is noisy and bright.
How does NCAS.A.6 work in visual arts?
In visual arts the process is called Presenting. Meaning is conveyed through choices such as which works hang together, their order, height and spacing, the light, the title and labels, and a short artist or class statement.
How can a teacher assess whether meaning was conveyed?
Have students write their intended meaning before the presentation and seal it, then collect anonymous one-word audience responses afterward. The match shows how well the presentation worked. Grade the plan, the reasoning and the revision, not the size of the match alone.
Does the audience have to agree with the artist for NCAS.A.6?
No. Audiences always bring their own readings, and an unexpected response can be interesting. The standard asks students to make deliberate choices and to learn from how the audience responded, not to force one reading.
What is the difference between NCAS.A.6 and NCAS.A.8?
Anchor 8, in the Responding process, asks students to interpret intent and meaning in artistic work as viewers or listeners. Anchor 6 is the other side: as presenters, they shape how the meaning is offered to an audience.
Can students meet NCAS.A.6 without a stage, lights or a gallery?
Yes. A classroom has light switches, a door, desks that can move, a board for titles and silence that can be planned. The activities on this page use only those, and every presentation stays in the classroom.
Why does the lesson use Tolstoy's What Is Art?
Tolstoy's 1898 book gives a clear, debatable definition: art passes a feeling from one person to others. That makes a good starting point for asking how presentation helps a feeling arrive. The page uses only his definition, from a 1904 public-domain translation, and the teacher note explains its limits.
What does NCAS.A.6 look like in middle school compared with high school?
The anchor is the same in grades 6-12. Younger students usually choose from a list of meanings and presentation choices and check one result, while older students write their own meanings, design fair tests of a change and write program notes that guide without over-explaining.
What are common mistakes when students try to convey meaning in a presentation?
A common one is explaining the meaning outright in an introduction, which leaves the work nothing to do. Others are ignoring what comes just before the work in a program, and changing the work itself when the problem is in the presentation.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
SVHS editors suggest these links for NCAS.A.6: the anchor before it in the same process, the first anchor of that process, two anchors from the Responding process that follows, and an ELA anchor about adapting to an audience.
Before this lesson
NCAS.A.5Prerequisite
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation
