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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year media projects start to feel planned instead of pieced together. Students brainstorm ideas, sketch out a plan, and then build short videos, animations, or audio pieces that carry a clear message. They learn to revise their work after watching it back and listening to feedback from classmates. By spring, students can share a finished media project and explain the choices they made to get a point across.

  • Video projects
  • Planning and storyboarding
  • Editing and revising
  • Sharing media work
  • Giving feedback
Source: Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Core Standards
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
  1. 1

    Brainstorming media projects

    Students come up with ideas for short videos, animations, podcasts, or digital art. They pull from things they have lived, read, or watched, and start sketching out what they want to make.

  2. 2

    Planning and building

    Students organize their ideas into a plan, like a storyboard or script, and start producing the actual media. They practice tools for recording, editing, and arranging pictures and sound.

  3. 3

    Looking at media with a sharper eye

    Students watch and listen to videos, ads, and digital art with more attention. They notice the choices a creator made and talk about what the work seems to mean and who it was made for.

  4. 4

    Polishing and sharing work

    Students revise their projects based on feedback, pick the strongest pieces to share, and present them to classmates or families. They also use a checklist to judge what worked and what they would change.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 4.
Connecting

  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art

    MA:Cn10.4

    Students connect something they already know or have lived through to a media arts project. A personal memory, a question, or an outside interest shapes the choices they make while creating.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    MA:Cn11.4

    Students look at a piece of media art and explain how it connects to what was happening in the world when it was made. History and culture give the work meaning it couldn't carry on its own.

Creating

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    MA:Cr1.4

    Students brainstorm and sketch out original ideas for media art projects, deciding what story or message they want to create before they start building.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    MA:Cr2.4

    Students plan and arrange their media art project before finishing it, making choices about images, sound, or layout that shape the final piece.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    MA:Cr3.4

    Students revisit a media project, fix what isn't working, and finish it to a standard they're satisfied with.

Performing/Presenting/Producing

  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    MA:Pr4.4

    Students choose which of their media projects to share and explain why that piece best shows what they were trying to make.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    MA:Pr5.4

    Students practice and improve a media project (like a short video or digital image) until it's ready to share with an audience. The focus is on making deliberate choices about how the final piece looks or sounds.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    MA:Pr6.4

    Students choose how to share a finished piece so the audience understands what it means. That might mean picking a format, a setting, or a way to display the work that fits the message.

Responding

  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    MA:Re7.4

    Students study a piece of media, like a photo, video, or advertisement, and explain what they notice and what choices the creator made to get a reaction from the viewer.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    MA:Re8.4

    Students look at a media artwork, such as a video, photo, or digital image, and explain what the creator was trying to say and why specific choices, like color or sound, support that meaning.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    MA:Re9.4

    Students look at a piece of media art and decide what makes it work well. They use a set of agreed-on questions or rules to explain what's strong, what could improve, and why.

Common Questions
  • What is media arts in fourth grade?

    Media arts covers projects students make using cameras, computers, sound, and video. Students might shoot a short video, build a slideshow with narration, design a poster on a tablet, or record a podcast. The focus is on planning a project, making it, and sharing it with an audience.

  • What should students be able to do by the end of the year?

    Students should be able to plan a short media project, gather images or recordings for it, put the pieces together, and explain the choices they made. They should also be able to watch or listen to another student's work and say what worked and what could be stronger.

  • How can families support media arts work at home?

    Let students use a phone or tablet to record a short video or a voice memo about something they care about. Ask them why they chose that music, that picture, or that order of clips. Talking about choices builds the same thinking the projects ask for.

  • Does a student need fancy equipment to do well?

    No. A school tablet, a free editing app, and a quiet corner are plenty. What matters is that students plan before they record and review their work before they share it.

  • How should media arts be sequenced across the year?

    Start with short, low-stakes projects so students learn the tools without much pressure. Move into projects that ask for a clear message and an audience. End the year with a longer project students plan, revise, and present, so they pull all the skills together.

  • Which skills tend to need the most reteaching?

    Revision is the hardest part. Students often want to call a project done after the first draft. Build in a step where students watch their own work, compare it to a simple checklist, and change one thing before sharing.

  • How should students talk about each other's work?

    Give a short set of questions students can answer about any project: What was the message? What choice stood out? What would make it clearer? Practicing this language a few times early in the year makes critiques useful instead of awkward.

  • How do families know a student is ready for fifth grade in this subject?

    By spring, students should be able to describe a project they made, explain who it was for, and point to one thing they changed to make it better. If they can do that without much prompting, they are in good shape.