The Arts · Grade 1

Active learning ideas

Audience Etiquette and Appreciation

Young learners absorb audience etiquette best through direct, embodied experiences rather than abstract rules. Acting as both performer and audience member builds empathy, clarifies expectations, and makes abstract concepts like respect and attention tangible for six- and seven-year-olds.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• TH:Re8.1.1a

• 15–35 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Inside-Outside Circle
• 25 min · Pairs

Role-Play: Performer and Audience Switch

Pairs create 1-minute skits on familiar themes like animals. One performs while the partner practices quiet focus and end-clapping. Switch roles, then share how audience behavior affected their performance.

Why is it important to be quiet while someone is performing for you?

Facilitation Tip

During Role-Play: Performer and Audience Switch, circulate with a small bell to ring when distractions happen, so students immediately feel the impact on their own performance.

What to look for

During a short, teacher-led 'performance' (e.g., reading a poem, singing a song), observe students. Ask: 'Did everyone follow our audience rules? Point to one friend who was being a good audience member and tell them why.'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Inside-Outside Circle
• 30 min · Whole Class

Whole Class: Etiquette for Story Performance

Teacher or volunteer tells a short story with actions. Class sits in a circle, follows cues for quiet listening and applause. Debrief with thumbs up/down for specific behaviors observed.

What are some good things to do when you are watching a show?

Facilitation Tip

For Whole Class: Etiquette for Story Performance, assign a ‘quiet captain’ to model and remind peers, giving shy students a nonverbal role to support whole-group compliance.

What to look for

After a brief role-play where one group performs and another acts as the audience, ask: 'Performers, how did it feel when the audience was quiet and watching? Audience members, what was easy or hard about being a good audience?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Inside-Outside Circle
• 35 min · Small Groups

Small Groups: Good vs Bad Audience Posters

Groups draw and label two posters: one for respectful actions like eyes on stage, one for distractions like talking. Present to class and vote on best examples to display.

How do you think the performers feel when the audience claps for them?

Facilitation Tip

With Small Groups: Good vs Bad Audience Posters, provide examples of positive and negative behaviors drawn on sticky notes so students can sort them physically before creating their posters.

What to look for

Give each student a card with a picture representing a performance. Ask them to draw or write one thing they should do to be a good audience member and one thing they should not do.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Inside-Outside Circle
• 15 min · Individual

Individual: My Audience Promise

Students draw a personal pledge card with three etiquette rules they will follow. Share one with a partner, then practice during a class song performance.

Why is it important to be quiet while someone is performing for you?

Facilitation Tip

For Individual: My Audience Promise, ask students to whisper their promise to a partner first to rehearse the language before they write or draw.

What to look for

During a short, teacher-led 'performance' (e.g., reading a poem, singing a song), observe students. Ask: 'Did everyone follow our audience rules? Point to one friend who was being a good audience member and tell them why.'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with concrete, story-based examples of how performers feel when the audience is loud or still, using picture books or short videos to build emotional connection. Avoid lengthy lectures; instead, use quick role-plays to test one rule at a time. Research shows that corrective feedback is most effective when it is immediate and tied to the child’s own experience, so redirect missteps during the act itself rather than waiting until later.

Students will demonstrate understanding by sitting quietly during performances, applauding at appropriate times, and identifying specific audience choices that support performers. Their reflections and discussions will show they can connect their actions to performer needs and feelings.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role-Play: Performer and Audience Switch, watch for students who say, 'Talking during a performance makes it more fun for everyone.'

  After students swap roles, have performers share one word about how it felt when peers talked, then have audience members compare that to how they felt when the room was quiet. Use their own words to rewrite the classroom rule together.

• During Whole Class: Etiquette for Story Performance, watch for students who clap or cheer anytime during the show.

  Pause mid-performance to ask students to listen for a pause or cue word, then model clapping only at those moments. Keep a visual ‘timing chart’ on the board so they can mark when applause is appropriate.

• During Small Groups: Good vs Bad Audience Posters, watch for students who say, 'Wiggling or standing is fine if you are excited.'

  Give each group three chairs: one normal chair, one wobbly cushion, and one standing spot. Have them test each position during a 30-second ‘performance’ and vote on which view works best, then draw the losing positions with a sad face and the winning one with a smile.

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Methods used in this brief

• Inside-Outside Circle