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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year media projects start carrying a real point of view. Students plan a video, podcast, or digital piece around an idea they actually care about, then revise it based on feedback. They learn to talk about what other media is doing and why, not just whether they liked it. By spring, students can share a finished piece and explain the choices behind it.

  • Video and podcasts
  • Planning a project
  • Revising work
  • Sharing finished pieces
  • Talking about media
Source: Vermont Common Core State 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

    Generating ideas worth making

    Students start the year by collecting ideas from their own lives and the videos, games, and images around them. They sketch and pitch concepts for a short media project before choosing one to build.

  2. 2

    Building and shaping the work

    Students plan and produce a media piece such as a short video, podcast, animation, or graphic. They learn the tools, organize files, and shape rough drafts into something a viewer can follow.

  3. 3

    Studying how media speaks

    Students look closely at ads, films, songs, and posts to see how creators send a message. They notice choices about sound, image, and timing, and connect those choices to culture and history.

  4. 4

    Refining and presenting work

    Students revise their projects based on feedback, then prepare them for an audience. They choose which pieces to share, polish the final cut, and explain what the work is meant to say.

  5. 5

    Judging media with criteria

    Students end the year by giving and receiving thoughtful critique. They use clear criteria to judge their own work and classmates' work, and explain what makes a piece effective.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 7.
Connecting

  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art

    MA:Cn10.7

    Students draw on what they already know and what they have lived through to shape their media art projects. Personal experience becomes raw material for the work itself.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    MA:Cn11.7

    Students connect media art projects to real-world events, cultures, and history, explaining how the time and place something was made shapes what it means.

Creating

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    MA:Cr1.7

    Students brainstorm and develop original ideas for media art projects, deciding what story, message, or visual concept they want to create before production begins.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    MA:Cr2.7

    Students plan and refine a media arts project by making deliberate choices about images, sound, and structure. The work shows clear intent, not just a first draft.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    MA:Cr3.7

    Students revisit a media project, fix what isn't working, and make deliberate choices to finish it. The goal is a piece that reflects their best thinking, not just their first draft.

Performing/Presenting/Producing

  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    MA:Pr4.7

    Students review a set of media pieces and choose which ones to present, explaining why each fits the purpose and audience of the show or exhibit.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    MA:Pr5.7

    Students revise and polish a media project, such as a short video or digital image, until it's ready to share with an audience. The focus is on improving the craft, not just finishing the work.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    MA:Pr6.7

    Students choose how to share a finished piece, considering how every decision, from timing to placement, shapes what an audience takes away.

Responding

  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    MA:Re7.7

    Students examine a media piece, such as a photo, video, or advertisement, and explain what choices the creator made and why those choices shape how viewers respond.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    MA:Re8.7

    Students explain what a media artist was trying to say and why specific choices, like color, sound, or camera angle, shape that meaning.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    MA:Re9.7

    Students use a set of criteria to judge a piece of media art, explaining what works, what doesn't, and why. This is the skill of evaluating creative work against a clear standard, not just saying whether they liked it.

Common Questions
  • What is media arts in seventh grade?

    Media arts is making things like videos, podcasts, animations, photos, websites, and digital images. Students learn to plan a project, build it using digital tools, and share it with an audience. It blends art with the technology students already use every day.

  • What kinds of projects will students actually make this year?

    Expect short videos, edited photo series, podcasts or audio stories, animations, and simple digital designs. Projects usually start with a message or story idea, then move through planning, recording or building, editing, and sharing. Students often revise a piece more than once.

  • How can families support media arts at home?

    Ask students to show a project and explain the choices they made. Why this music, this shot, this color, this ending? Talking through those decisions builds the same thinking the class is working on. A phone camera and free editing apps are plenty for practice.

  • Does a family need fancy software or equipment?

    No. A phone, a tablet, or a basic laptop covers most of what students need. Free tools handle video editing, audio recording, and image work. The thinking behind a project matters more than the gear used to make it.

  • How should the year be sequenced?

    Start with short, low-stakes projects that build one skill at a time, like framing a shot or trimming audio. Move into projects that combine skills, then end with a larger piece students plan, produce, and present. Build in time for revision after feedback at each stage.

  • Which skills usually need the most reteaching?

    Planning before producing is the big one. Students often want to jump straight to recording and skip storyboards, scripts, or shot lists. Audio quality, pacing in edits, and giving specific feedback to peers also tend to need repeated practice across projects.

  • How does media arts connect to history, culture, and other subjects?

    Students look at how media shapes ideas and how different times and cultures tell stories through images and sound. Projects often pull from history, science, or a student's own background. This connection deepens both the artwork and what students understand about the topic.

  • What does strong work look like by the end of the year?

    A finished project has a clear message, intentional choices in image and sound, and shows signs of revision based on feedback. Students can explain why they made each choice and what they would change next time. Technical polish matters, but thinking behind the work matters more.

  • How is media arts graded if it's so creative?

    Grades usually come from a rubric that looks at planning, craft, use of feedback, and how clearly the final piece communicates its idea. Personal style is welcome. The rubric measures the thinking and process, not whether the teacher likes the topic a student picked.