# Year 4 The Arts · two blocks in each of five art forms · optional teacher blocks

**Ten distinct 12-minute Days 11–20 blocks.** Choose what fits the school timetable; these are optional short sessions, not a full allocation. Every block uses **2 minutes notice + 7 minutes try/make + 3 minutes show**. Read the preparation and evidence boundary first. Give children only the [clean learner cards](LEARNER.md), keeping the [staff evidence/next moves](ASSESSMENT.md) private. [Original shared source cards](../MATERIALS.md) and [A4/text/tactile aid](../print/TEXT-ALTERNATIVES.md) are optional. A plan, invented record or paper score is not automatically an observed investigation, movement, digital program or performance. Record source/action, child choice, access support and the next move.

## Day 11 — Dance: a near-far phrase

**Codes:** `AC9ADA4D01`, `AC9ADA4C01`. **Prepare:** Clear approved space or small seated range; original movement cue cards, no copied cultural dance.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Show two movements with different space levels and a safe pause.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Create a four-count phrase meaning 'near, far, pause, return'. Use voluntary small/large movements, mobility-aid movement or a directed paper figure. Rehearse and change the use of space so the idea becomes clearer.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Show the phrase privately if willing and name the changed element.

**Learner choices:** Seated/standing movement; hand dance; directed figure with performance label kept separate.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Arrange paper arrows at home; actual dancing is optional.

**Evidence boundary:** A paper path evidences choreography ideas, not bodily dance practice or performance; observed safe movement supports development evidence.

**Next teaching move:** If movement is uncomfortable, reduce range and let the learner direct/compose without making a performance claim.

## Day 12 — Dance: tempo changes meaning

**Codes:** `AC9ADA4C01`, `AC9ADA4P01`. **Prepare:** Reuse the original four-count phrase; audience may be teacher only and opting out of showing is accepted.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Perform the same safe phrase once slowly and once with a changed tempo, without demanding speed.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Choose a tempo that communicates 'careful arrival' or 'excited discovery'. Rehearse and perform once for an agreed informal audience, then explain which element changed. A planning-only route remains available but is labelled PLAN.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Audience names the perceived change; dancer can accept or revise it.

**Learner choices:** Whole-body, seated or hand phrase; AAC rhythm cues; private teacher audience.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Use paper-count marks or a quiet voluntary move; no recording.

**Evidence boundary:** Performance code applies only to actual voluntary performance; a silent plan does not show performed dance.

**Next teaching move:** If audience misses the idea, change one pause or speed choice and try again only with consent.

## Day 13 — Drama: a missing instruction

**Codes:** `AC9ADR4D01`, `AC9ADR4C01`. **Prepare:** Invented scene: two fictional makers cannot find a labelled box; no personal conflict.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Model a character's goal, obstacle and one line of dialogue with a paper puppet.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Improvise a 30-second scene in which one character wants a box and another has only a vague instruction. Use voice, puppet movement, AAC or directed action; shape a clearer turning point by adding a precise label.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Show or explain how the obstacle changed; keep the conflict fictional.

**Learner choices:** Puppets; two-person improvisation by choice; AAC dialogue cards.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Use two paper shapes as characters; no costume or partner needed.

**Evidence boundary:** A written scene plan does not demonstrate improvised dramatic action; note whether action/voice/puppet enactment occurred.

**Next teaching move:** If there is no turning point, ask which single phrase could change a character's next action.

## Day 14 — Drama: two possible endings

**Codes:** `AC9ADR4C01`, `AC9ADR4P01`. **Prepare:** Reuse the invented box scene; informal audience may be one teacher.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Show that a pause before a decision can create tension without shouting or physical contact.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Devise two endings: one where the label helps and one where the character asks another question. Choose one, rehearse and perform to a consenting small audience or teacher. Explain why the ending changes the audience's view.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Name the character choice and one performance adjustment.

**Learner choices:** Puppet stage; seated actor; AAC/audio-free performance with gesture.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Plan two paper endings at home; no sharing required.

**Evidence boundary:** Performance code requires actual voluntary enactment; a script alone is creation evidence, not performance.

**Next teaching move:** If the audience cannot follow, add a clear opening cue or pause and try privately.

## Day 15 — Media Arts: framing a paper object

**Codes:** `AC9AMA4D01`. **Prepare:** School-approved offline device/camera and a paper object; no people, names, logos or uploads. Storyboard fallback is PLAN.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Show how close and wide framing change which feature is prominent; avoid filming children.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Make two still images of the same paper holder—one wide, one close—on an approved offline device. Compare what each makes salient and choose one for a fictional how-to message. If no device, draw two frames and mark PLAN.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Show the pair or frames privately and name the changed meaning.

**Learner choices:** Keyboard-accessible image choice; adult-operated camera directed by learner; paper storyboard.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Use paper frames at home; no family camera or account required.

**Evidence boundary:** Paper frames do not demonstrate media-technology production; actual device use and image choices are recorded only if observed under school policy.

**Next teaching move:** If the chosen image hides a needed feature, change framing and compare again.

## Day 16 — Media Arts: sequence responsibly

**Codes:** `AC9AMA4C01`, `AC9AMA4P01`. **Prepare:** Only school-approved offline images of paper objects or original drawn frames; private display, no posting.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Model title → action → result as three distinct frames, each with a useful text caption.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Arrange three frames into a short how-to for the fictional paper holder, add captions and, if an approved offline media tool is available, construct and privately share the sequence. Paper-only storyboard is a valid plan but not digital media construction.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Explain one caption/sequence decision and check the audience's question.

**Learner choices:** Device editing with access support; paper storyboard; AAC caption selection.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Make a paper sequence and show nobody unless you choose; no device/purchase.

**Evidence boundary:** AC9AMA4C01/P01 evidence requires actual media construction/sharing as described; no child image, voice or identifying data is captured.

**Next teaching move:** If a frame implies the wrong step, reorder it and test with a reader before private sharing.

## Day 17 — Music: a soft sound pattern

**Codes:** `AC9AMU4D01`, `AC9AMU4C01`. **Prepare:** Quiet paper tap or school-approved soft instrument; silent score option with performance boundary.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Sound two original four-beat patterns softly, one with a rest; ask what the rest changes.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Compose a four-beat pattern using tap, clap or quiet voice and at least one rest. Sound it softly if willing; then change tempo or rest position and explain the effect. A silent symbol card remains a composition idea only.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Perform or point to the changed beat and say what it communicates.

**Learner choices:** Soft taps; AAC beat selection with a partner sounding by consent; silent notation.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Mark beats on paper; sound is optional and no instrument purchase is needed.

**Evidence boundary:** A silent beat card does not show listening, singing or playing; record actual sounded/observed work separately.

**Next teaching move:** If the four beats are unclear, count 1–4 with a visual/tactile pulse and try a slower soft version.

## Day 18 — Music: call and answer

**Codes:** `AC9AMU4C01`, `AC9AMU4P01`. **Prepare:** Original 2-beat call and 2-beat answer, quiet agreed volume; no recorded song.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Sound an invented two-beat call, pause, then answer with a contrasting rhythm.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Create your own two-beat answer to a teacher-made call. Rehearse and sound the four-beat pair informally, or direct a willing partner by AAC. Explain whether the answer repeated or contrasted the call.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Sound/describe the pair and one deliberate musical change.

**Learner choices:** Tap on paper; soft voice; partner plays a child-directed AAC score.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Use an original quiet tap pattern or make a paper score; no public performance.

**Evidence boundary:** Performance code needs audible or otherwise perceptible intentional playing; a silent paper score is composition planning only.

**Next teaching move:** If answer simply copies, invite one changed rest or long beat and hear the effect.

## Day 19 — Visual Arts: line and texture trials

**Codes:** `AC9AVA4D01`. **Prepare:** Scrap paper and pencil; optional safe rubbing texture under adult approval, no cultural motif copy.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Make one thick/short and one thin/long line; ask which draws attention first.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Experiment with three original mark types—straight, curved, broken—plus a paper texture made by repeated marks. Compare how pressure, spacing and line direction change the look; choose a mark for a fictional card-holder label.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Show one trial and describe the visual effect.

**Learner choices:** Large grip pencil; tactile raised-line guide; adult scribe of child choice.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Use any scrap paper and pencil; no kit or special pigment.

**Evidence boundary:** Actual marks support experimentation; a verbal plan alone does not show material/process trial. Do not copy community-owned motifs.

**Next teaching move:** If all marks look alike, change one variable at a time and compare side by side.

## Day 20 — Visual Arts: make and share a label

**Codes:** `AC9AVA4C01`, `AC9AVA4P01`. **Prepare:** Original mark trials, blank paper card; sharing can be private teacher-only or declined.

1. **Notice · 2 min.** Show how line weight and empty space can guide a reader to the most important word.
2. **Try/make · 7 min.** Create an original paper label for the fictional Share Shelf using your chosen line/texture treatment and a readable word. Decide where a viewer should look first, then share privately if willing and revise after one question.
3. **Show · 3 min.** Point to the focal choice and one change made for the reader.

**Learner choices:** Draw; tactile marks; dictate label placement to a maker.

**No-purchase home/low-material route:** Make a paper label at home or just describe it; no public display required.

**Evidence boundary:** Creation evidence needs an actual work or child-directed making; presentation code only when voluntarily shared/displayed, not simply finished.

**Next teaching move:** If decoration obscures the word, change scale, spacing or placement for the intended reader.

Original SubjectNest lesson text and cards © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit, link and indicate changes. Curriculum wording keeps separate ACARA terms.