# The Arts · teacher observation key and formative rubric

Keep with the educator, separate from [learner making cards](LEARNER.md). There is **no single correct artwork**. Look for a child making an intentional choice, trying a variation and explaining or showing its effect for a chosen audience. A quiet, private, silent, seated or paper-token route can show genuine arts reasoning. Record the **art form actually used**; do not infer evidence for all five Year 1–2 band subjects from one Day 10 choice. Never rank children by neatness, volume, bodily performance, public confidence or device access.

| Day | Look for in this task | If not yet visible, offer this next |
|---:|---|---|
| 1 | Two placements of circle/line/rectangle and a reason for where a viewer looks first. No copied sign/logo. | Move one large shape while keeping the others still; ask what changed. |
| 2 | Four beat positions in each version and one deliberate changed tap/rest. A silent composition shows composing but does **not** by itself show listening. | Place four numbered boxes and move one beat card at a time; optionally hear a gentle exact pattern. |
| 3 | A start, straight, curve and stop sequence, with a chosen expressive change. Physical mode is the child's choice under safety plans. | Use a finger/token path and ask which mark starts and which stops. |
| 4 | Two ordered frames with a title/intended viewer. If a real media tool was not used, do not mark `AC9AMA2D01` observed. | Swap frames and ask which order makes the intended message clearer. |
| 5 | Before/after sign and a stated viewer question or reason for one revision. Sharing can be private with teacher. | Ask one neutral viewer question, then let the child decide what to change. |
| 6 | Two imagined actions by paper characters and an explanation of how the fictional scene changes. | Move only Pip's paper puppet first; let the child choose Dot's response. |
| 7 | First/next/last frames and one purposeful revision for a viewer. Real halls/people are not photographed. | Cover a frame and ask what a viewer would miss, then offer it back. |
| 8 | Four original beat choices, one revised beat and chosen informal share. Record whether listening/playing evidence was actually heard or only visually composed. | Compare two beat cards side by side; invite a gentle sound or keep silent if needed. |
| 9 | Three deliberate movement/path choices with start and finish and a reason for one size/speed variation. Private or token sharing is valid. | Give three paper arrows and ask the child to order them for an intended idea. |
| 10 | Child chooses one art form, makes a first version, changes one feature for a stated viewer and shares/describes privately or informally. Mark only the relevant making/presenting code. | If no revision is named, ask “What might your viewer miss?” and let the child make a new version later. |

## Formative rubric

For **exploration**, note whether the learner tried a material, sound, role, movement or frame and identified its effect. For **making**, note a deliberate order/selection linked to an idea. For **revision**, note what changed and why. For **sharing/responding**, note whether the learner conveyed intention to their chosen audience and listened/considered a question. For each, use `independent / prompted / not yet observed`, quote the child's explanation or describe the selected symbols, and record access tools. A presentation code is observed only when a work in that named art form is shared. Media creation/development needs actual suitable media tool use; a paper storyboard alone does not show the media-technology descriptions. Silent cards alone do not show music listening, playing or performance; a token dance plan alone does not show a performed dance sequence. Record valuable planning separately. These short samples do not certify band achievement.

**Later unfamiliar rechecks:** Offer a fresh original school-garden sign, a new four-beat **rest–tap–rest–tap** cue, a paper-token zigzag path, or two puppets trying to find a room. Ask for one purposeful variation and its audience effect. Choose a different prompt from the child's first check; do not rehearse the model answer and retest the same sign. Keep any real cultural arts work outside this invented set until its provenance, community authority and reuse rights are established.

**Reuse:** Original SubjectNest observation guidance © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Credit source/licence and mark changes.