The Arts Level 2 (Years 1 and 2)
All students should experience learning in Performing Arts (Dance, Drama and Music) and Visual Arts (Art: two-dimensional and three-dimensional, and Media) disciplines and forms. Learning and teaching programs at this level involve these arts disciplines individually (for example, Drama) or in combination (for example, Dance and Music, or Media and Visual Arts – Art: two-dimensional and three-dimensional).
Learning focus
As students work towards the achievement of Level 2 standards in the Arts, they learn about a range of ways arts elements can be used in the Performing and Visual Arts to communicate experiences, observations and things imagined. They begin to select, arrange and make choices about ways of using arts elements, principles and/or conventions from individual arts disciplines as they investigate the use of skills, techniques, processes, media, materials, equipment and technologies relevant to the arts disciplines in which they are working. They explore and, with guidance, maintain a record of ways of creating arts works that use a range of contemporary and traditional arts forms, media, materials, equipment and technologies; for example, they plan and explore ideas in a visual diary or keep an electronic journal with digital records of presentations. Using ideas and concepts taken from themes, scenarios, narratives and visual stimuli, they experiment with ways of expressing and communicating ideas and feelings to particular audiences or for particular purposes. Students could present arts works that combine arts disciplines such as a shadow puppet play featuring puppets and a soundtrack the students have designed and created or arts works from individual arts disciplines. For example, students could:
- in Art, hang a display on tree branches made up of three-dimensional, oddly shaped imaginary creatures, each with two sides to its personality, created to show skills in selecting and making choices about use of a range of media and materials
- in Dance, use the whole body or body parts to improvise movements matching sounds or the movement characteristics of particular animals
- explore Drama elements and conventions such as costumes and props to create a character based on their observation and perception of a character in a story
- in Media, create a storyboard depicting their alternative ending for a popular film then discussing these in class
- in Music, combine sounds made by a range of noise making toys with body percussion to accompany a learned song.
Students respond to arts works to gain experience in identifying personal preferences, reflecting on features that might influence their own arts works, and recognising similarities and differences between works from different cultures and times. In discussions about and responses to their own and other people’s arts works, they begin to use arts language to identify characteristics such as similarities and differences. They learn about places where arts works can be found and how arts works can be designed and made to fulfil particular individual and community needs.
Further examples of arts discipline-specific learning approaches for Level 2 will be published soon.
Standard
Creating and making
At Level 2, students create and present performing and visual arts works that show emerging arts knowledge and an ability to plan arts works that communicate ideas, concepts, observations feelings and/or experiences. They demonstrate an emerging ability to select, arrange and make choices about expressive ways of using arts elements, principles and/or conventions. They use skills, techniques, processes, media, materials, equipment and technologies in a range of arts forms. They identify, describe and discuss characteristics of their own and others’ arts works.
In the Arts, standards for the Exploring and responding dimension are introduced at Level 3.
Downloads
-
The Arts booklet (
PDF - 249KB) - The Arts standards table (Doc - 41KB)
-
Victorian Essential Learning Standards Level 2 ( PDF - 591KB)
