Fine Arts Themes Sample 1: Grades K to 1

Topic:

Prescribed Learning Outcomes:

Dance

• move safely in both personal and general space
• move in a variety of levels, pathways, and directions, using a variety of body shapes
• move in time to a steady beat
• create movements that represent patterns, characters, and other aspects of their world

Drama

• demonstrate a willingness to express their feelings and ideas
• demonstrate an awareness of a variety of movements used to express an idea, mood, or role

Music

• represent personal thoughts, images, and feelings experienced in classroom repertoire
• demonstrate a willingness to participate in music experiences

Visual Arts

• use feelings, observation, memory, and imagination as sources for images
• identify the elements of colour, shape, line, and texture, and the principle of pattern in images and in their environment
• demonstrate recognition of the expressive qualities of individual visual elements
• create images emphasizing one or more elements and principles

Overview

Planning for Assessment and Evaluation

• The teacher displayed different kinds of lines and then invited students to find lines in the classroom and record them in their visual journals. They looked at their own and their partners' journals to find different kinds of lines.
• Working in small groups, students drew examples of lines using a variety of different tools. One group drew fat lines; another group drew squiggly lines; others drew straight lines, wavy lines, and spiked lines. Students displayed their collections of lines and talked about what they noticed. The teacher posed questions such as:
  • Which lines are moving quickly? Sleepy and peaceful? Alert and at attention?
  • What do these lines remind you of?
  • Can you give the line a feeling? A voice?
  • Can you make your body shape like one of the lines? Can you move across the room like this line?
• The teacher played music that represented some of the feelings and images students had represented in their lines. As each piece was played, students were asked:
  • Which of your lines have the same feelings as this music? How are they the same?
  • Listen to the music again. Can you move about the room showing the feelings in the music and in the lines?
• The teacher led the class on a neighbourhood walk. Before the walk, students reviewed and demonstrated, through body shape and movement, different kinds of lines that they had seen and heard. The teacher invited them to predict what kinds of lines they might see and hear in the neighbourhood. During the walk, students paused frequently to point out and describe the lines they saw.
• When they returned to the class, students explored ways of representing, through movement, some of the lines they had discovered on their walk. They worked together to describe the lines.
• Students worked in small groups, using three paint colours, several different sizes of brushes, and a large paper roll to create line murals of their walk. The teacher encouraged them to use as many different kinds of lines as possible. As students worked, the teacher moved from group to group, engaging them in brief conversations about their murals. When completed, the murals were displayed around the classroom. Students talked about what the murals showed and how they were alike and different. The murals were hung as banners and used as backdrops for drama, dance, and puppet shows.
• During the next fine arts session, the students reviewed their murals and talked about their walk. They worked in pairs to represent one thing they had seen or heard on their walk in music (song, body percussion, or Orff instruments), dance movements, or drama (tableau, movement, or using puppets).
• After each presentation, the class described the lines they had seen and heard. When everyone had performed, students created a class chart to summarize their experiences with line.

Defining the Criteria

Recognizing and Describing Line

• offers relevant ideas and questions about line
• identifies visual line in the environment
• describes expressive properties of line

Creating and Representing Line

• creates a variety of visual lines with different tools
• represents line through movement
• takes risks to offer unusual or innovative ideas and representations
• expresses understanding of line in a variety of ways

Performing and Responding to Others

• uses space wisely and safely
• works co-operatively with a partner
• shows pride and confidence in sharing work with others

Assessing and Evaluating Student Performance

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