TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE Online Center
This TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
TExES EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE Practice Center
Take a full form in thirty-five minutes, then read the explanation under every question you missed. This is the shortest of the five EC-6 subtests and the one candidates most often leave to last, which is why it is also the one people most often have to retake.
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TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE at a glance
This is the fifth and shortest subtest of the Texas EC-6 elementary battery: forty questions in thirty-five minutes, covering five different subjects. Because it is short and because it sits last in the list, candidates routinely under-prepare it and then have to retake a subtest they could have passed with two evenings of vocabulary. Note also that Texas is winding this battery down.
| Subtest code | 905 (Fine Arts, Health and Physical Education) |
|---|---|
| Part of | TExES Core Subjects EC-6, test code 391, alongside English Language Arts and Reading (901), Mathematics (902), Social Studies (903), and Science (904). Each subtest can be taken and retaken on its own. |
| Status | Current, but the battery is being retired. Texas has published a framework for a replacement, Field 815, as part of a new content-pedagogy series launching no earlier than September 2027. Core Subjects EC-6 (391) is last offered on August 31, 2027 and remains usable for certification until September 1, 2028. |
| Number of questions | 40 selected-response questions. There is no constructed response. |
| Time limit | 35 minutes |
| Format | Computer-administered |
| Passing score | 240 on a scale of 100 to 300. |
| Share of the full battery | Texas states this subject exam is about 19 percent of the full 391. |
Texas publishes no per-competency percentage for this subtest, so treat the five competencies as roughly equal and prepare all of them. The only weighting Texas does publish is that this subject exam accounts for about 19 percent of the full Core Subjects EC-6 battery. Any per-competency breakdown you find in a commercial guide is that publisher’s estimate.
The five competencies, in plain language
Texas states each competency. Here is what each one asks of an elementary generalist.
Competency 001: Visual arts
The elements, the processes, and how children draw.
- The elements and principles of art
- Media, tools, and processes at an elementary level
- The stages of children’s artistic development
- Responding to and talking about artwork
- Art in its cultural and historical context
Competency 002: Music
Enough to teach music in a general classroom.
- The elements of music
- Simple notation, rhythm, and pitch
- Singing and playing with young children
- Listening and responding to music
- Music across cultures and periods
Competency 003: Health
Health for young children.
- Nutrition and healthy habits
- Personal hygiene and disease prevention
- Safety and injury prevention
- Social and emotional wellbeing
- Making healthy decisions
Competency 004: Physical education
Movement and fitness in the elementary years.
- Motor development and its progression
- Locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills
- Movement concepts: body, space, effort, relationships
- The health-related components of fitness
- Cooperative games and inclusive participation
Competency 005: Theatre
Drama with young children.
- The elements of drama
- Creative dramatics and improvisation
- Pantomime and movement
- Responding to a performance
- Theatre across cultures
A study routine for a 35-minute subtest
Forty questions in thirty-five minutes is under a minute each. That rules out reasoning your way to an answer, which makes this a vocabulary and recognition problem, which makes it a deck problem.
Complete topic map
The competency statements Texas publishes for this subtest, with the topics each one covers.
Competency 001: Visual arts
- 01Elements of art: color, texture, shape, form, line, space, value
- 02Principles of design: emphasis, contrast, pattern, rhythm, balance, proportion, unity
- 03Techniques and media: drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, fiber art, electronic media
- 04Developing perception through observation, prior knowledge and multisensory experience
- 05Art across heritages and cultures, and how elements carry meaning
- 06Visual literacy, critical thinking and creative problem solving in responding to art
- 07Integrating visual arts with other subjects, and planning instruction and assessment from the TEKS
Competency 002: Music
- 08Standard musical terminology and reading music notation
- 09Elements of music and arranging vocal and instrumental music for a setting
- 10Genres, styles and heritages, including music of the United States and Texas
- 11The purposes and roles of music in society, and music-related careers
- 12Evaluating performances against criteria using standard terminology
- 13Singing and playing classroom instruments with expression, independently and in groups
- 14Integrating music with other subjects and managing time, resources and space
Competency 003: Health
- 15Body systems, illness and disease, nutrition, stress and fitness
- 16Human growth and development, including adolescent changes
- 17Substance use and abuse; violence and abuse types, causes, effects and prevention
- 18Safety, accident prevention and emergency response
- 19Refusal skills, decision making and critical thinking about health
- 20Eating disorders, coping with unhealthy family behaviors, and healthy relationships
- 21Influences of media, technology, peers and environmental hazards on health
- 22Health information sources, consumer skills and health care professionals
- 23Planning grade-level health instruction from the TEKS with cross-content connections
Competency 004: Physical education
- 24Cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility, safety and nutrition
- 25Benefits of an active lifestyle and methods for evaluating and improving fitness
- 26Movement principles and motor skill development, including mature movement patterns
- 27Locomotor, nonlocomotor, manipulative and rhythmic skills
- 28Evaluating movement patterns to improve performance
- 29Strategy, tactics, teamwork, rules, procedures, etiquette and fair play
- 30Adapting activities for growth differences, disabilities, sensory difficulties and language differences
- 31Planning grade-level activities from the TEKS
Competency 005: Theatre
- 32Elements of drama and theatre conventions, and developing perception through them
- 33Dramatic play, expressive movement, voice and characterization
- 34Technical elements: properties, scenery, sound, costumes and lighting
- 35Using technical elements to define characterization, mood, theme and setting
- 36Theatre in relation to history, society and varied backgrounds
- 37Integrating theatre with other subjects and managing time, resources and space
Before test day
Do not save this one for last just because it is short. Forty questions across five subjects means the vocabulary is thin but wide, and it is entirely learnable in a couple of evenings with a deck. If you are registering now, also check with your programme which battery you need, since Core Subjects EC-6 is last offered in August 2027 and a replacement series is coming.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE: study questions
What can I study in this TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE Online Center?
This TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Competency 001: Visual arts, Competency 002: Music, Competency 003: Health.
How should I use the TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Fine Arts, Health and PE resources?
Choose a topic or practice activity from this Online Center. Review the linked explanation, try the practice, and use the result to decide what to study next. Check each resource’s directions for its format and access requirements.
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