SubjectNest resource library

Year 1 / Supplementary / Term 1 / Weeks 01 02 / Arts

Development draft · local review needed

Years 1–2 The Arts · ten optional making sessionsYear 1 Subjects · T1 W1–2 · Teacher

Download editable text
Teacher copy · prompts and answer keys

Teacher copy: This page may include teaching prompts or answer keys. Answer keys in this public library can be viewed by anyone. Give learners a clean prompt, use checks as formative evidence, and change a case locally when prior access matters.

Status: draft awaiting local arts educator, cultural, rights and accessibility review. The Australian Curriculum v9 Years 1 and 2 band includes Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts. These ten 12-minute options sample all five; they do not replace sustained study, authentic arts encounters or the band achievement standard. Each day is 2 + 7 + 3 minutes. Use learner cards, original A4 make–change–share aid and text route; the teacher key/rubric stays separate. Every image, shape, beat and character in this pack is original. There is no recorded child voice, photo, third-party song or copied cultural motif.

Week 1 real-life domains: a class noticeboard image, a tidy-up sound pattern, a hall route expressed in movement and a paper library storyboard. Week 2 domains: a puppet library scene, a paper notice sequence, a community-event movement idea and a small classroom gallery. A child can make for a chosen/private audience; public performance is never required. An authorised local First Nations arts work or language cannot be simulated by an invented pattern. If schools extend into cultural works, use local relationships, authority, ICIP and rights review. Band codes in the crosswalk indicate partial practice.

Access/materials: scrap paper, thick pencil, three shape cards and optional soft tap instrument suffice. For dance offer standing, seated, rolling, hand/eye movement, or paper-token planning; safe space and individual plans govern. For music offer gentle sound, headphones if appropriate, silent beat cards and hearing-access text; do not equate loudness with talent. Media uses paper-first storyboarding; optional offline school-managed camera may capture only original paper shapes, no people/names or upload. A paper storyboard prepares media work; mark AC9AMA2C01 or AC9AMA2D01 as observed only if a suitable media technology is actually used. Silent music planning or token dance planning is valued, while listening/playing or performed-dance evidence remains unobserved until it occurs through an accessible route. Accept speech, sign, AAC, visual sequence or child-directed adult marks. Record precise choices/revision rather than neatness or willingness to perform.

Day 1 — A shape can make a message visible

Arts: Visual Arts. Codes: AC9AVA2D01, AC9AVA2C01. Prepare: three original shape cards and a class-notice prompt.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Say: “A notice can use shape and line to help a reader find the message. Which mark catches your eye first?”
  2. Make · 7 min. Learners arrange one circle, line and rectangle into an invented “quiet reading corner” sign. Try two layouts with the same marks; ask how placement changes what the viewer sees first. No copying a public sign/logo.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child chooses one layout and points/says what they wanted it to communicate. Teacher looks for deliberate placement, not polished drawing.

Home/low-material: Tear three paper shapes; no printer or paints.

Day 2 — Make a four-beat tidy-up cue

Arts: Music. Codes: AC9AMU2D01, AC9AMU2C01. Prepare: four blank beat boxes.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Teacher makes an original gentle pattern tap, rest, tap, tap once and shows its four-symbol card. Do not use a known song.
  2. Make · 7 min. Learners choose a new pattern of four beats using tap/rest cards, perform softly or point through it, then change one beat and compare. A child using the silent route can compose; listening evidence is separately not yet observed if no sound is heard.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child shows pattern A and one changed beat in pattern B to teacher/partner by their chosen mode.

Home/low-material: Finger taps on paper or silent beat symbols; no instrument.

Day 3 — Travel a shape safely

Arts: Dance. Codes: AC9ADA2D01, AC9ADA2C01. Prepare: clear approved space or paper-token path, three movement marks.

  1. Notice · 2 min. “Can a straight path and a curved path express different ideas?” Demonstrate with a finger on paper first.
  2. Make · 7 min. Learners compose start → straight → curve → stop using safe standing, seated, rolling, hand or token movement. Change the level/size/tempo of one part if safe. Do not require leaps, contact or a shared body shape.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child shows or diagrams the sequence and names one expressive choice. A private teacher-directed demonstration counts as sharing.

Home/low-material: Finger traces on paper; no large room.

Day 4 — A two-frame library message

Arts: Media Arts. Codes: AC9AMA2C01, AC9AMA2D01 only if an approved media technology is actually used; paper frames are preparatory. Prepare: two blank frames, circle/rectangle paper shapes.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Show two original paper frames: a book on a table, then the book on a shelf. Ask which order makes a “put it away” message clearer.
  2. Make · 7 min. Children make their own two-frame story with paper symbols and a title. Optional teacher-managed offline camera captures only the paper, after school policy check; children may direct order without handling a device.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child identifies first/next and intended viewer. Teacher notes whether any media tool was actually used; no faces or names are recorded.

Home/low-material: Fold paper into two frames; digital capture is optional, not an upload task.

Day 5 — Change an image after a viewer question

Arts: Visual Arts. Codes: AC9AVA2C01, AC9AVA2P01. Prepare: Day 1 original sign or fresh shape set; learner check.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Ask: “Could a new viewer tell what our sign is for?” Invite a question, not a vote on who is a good artist.
  2. Make · 7 min. Learner independently chooses one visual change (size, spacing or line placement), makes before/after on the card, then privately shares both with teacher or a chosen partner. The child may keep a personal image private beyond that.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child names intended message and one reason for the change. Collect evidence for later feedback.

Home/low-material: Two pencil sketches; adult asks one neutral viewer question, not an answer.

Day 6 — A puppet can try another action

Arts: Drama. Codes: AC9ADR2D01, AC9ADR2C01. Prepare: two original paper characters, book symbol.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Tell a fictional scene: Pip wants a library book that Dot is reading. “What might Pip try next?” No real child is cast as a “bad” character.
  2. Make · 7 min. Pairs or individual child with adult puppet make two versions: Pip waits/asks, or Pip chooses another book. Explore role, action and imagined place with paper puppets, drawn dialogue or AAC.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child explains how one action changed the fictional scene. Teacher assesses dramatic choice, not forced acting.

Home/low-material: Draw two circles as characters; solo storytelling is valid.

Day 7 — Change a paper story's viewpoint

Arts: Media Arts. Codes: AC9AMA2C01, AC9AMA2D01 only for actual approved media-tool use; paper frames are preparatory. Prepare: three original paper frames and symbol cards.

  1. Notice · 2 min. “A notice can show what happens first, next and last. What might a viewer miss if one frame is hidden?”
  2. Make · 7 min. Child orders a fictional three-frame hall notice: sign appears; a visitor looks for the room; visitor finds it. Change one frame to make the route clearer, and label whose viewpoint the images follow. Optional offline capture uses paper only.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child presents frame order and one revision. No photo of a real hall layout or person is needed.

Home/low-material: Three paper rectangles; no app/account.

Day 8 — Change a sound pattern without a song

Arts: Music. Codes: AC9AMU2C01; AC9AMU2D01 with actual listening/playing evidence; AC9AMU2P01 only if music is sounded by voice or instrument in an informal share.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Teacher presents tap, tap, rest, tap softly with beat cards; a child may only follow the visual pattern.
  2. Make · 7 min. Learner creates a four-beat welcome cue, chooses one sound/rest change, then tests whether teacher can follow the new pattern. Use a soft instrument, hand taps or silent pointing; record the mode used.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child shares to teacher/partner or privately shows the sequence. Do not claim listening, playing or music-performance evidence from a silent route.

Home/low-material: Four paper boxes; no recording or equipment.

Day 9 — A movement phrase for a school event

Arts: Dance. Codes: AC9ADA2C01; AC9ADA2P01 only if an accessible movement sequence is actually shared in an informal setting. Prepare: three path marks and approved clear space or tabletop.

  1. Notice · 2 min. “What could a movement phrase communicate at an imagined school event: welcome, hurry or calm?” Avoid using a cultural dance as a generic motif.
  2. Make · 7 min. Learner chooses three original movements/path marks with a clear start and finish. One change in speed or size gives a different feeling. Paper tokens can plan choreography; an actual accessible body-movement phrase supplies dance-performance evidence.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child shares with chosen informal audience or describes plan privately. Teacher asks what choice communicated the idea.

Home/low-material: Move a paper arrow; no performance space required.

Day 10 — New make–change–share check

Arts: learner's choice of Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Drama or Media Arts. Codes: AC9AVA2P01, AC9AMU2P01, AC9ADA2P01, AC9ADR2P01, AC9AMA2P01 only for the chosen subject actually shared in its art form. Silent beat cards, token-only dance plans and paper-only media storyboards are valued planning responses, not evidence for the corresponding music, dance or media presentation codes. Prepare: learner Card 10, teacher rubric.

  1. Notice · 2 min. Offer a new fictional purpose: help a visitor find a quiet reading area. Learner chooses an art form and intended audience.
  2. Make · 7 min. Independently use original marks/sounds/movements/characters/frames to make a tiny work, change one choice after asking “Will a viewer understand?”, and note the reason. The child may create privately and show only the teacher.
  3. Share · 3 min. Child shows/describes first version, revision and intention. Teacher records evidence for the actual chosen art form; do not mark all five presentation codes as observed.

Home/low-material: Paper, four beat boxes, puppets or a finger path; no device, borrowed art or public sharing.

Reuse: Original SubjectNest arts prompts, shapes, rhythms and teaching prose © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, CC BY 4.0. Credit source/licence and mark changes. ACARA wording retains separate terms.