Canada · Ontario Curriculum Expectations
Grade 2 The Arts
A comprehensive exploration of visual arts, music, drama, and dance designed for second grade learners. Students develop foundational technical skills while investigating how the arts communicate emotions and stories across different cultures and time periods.

01Visual Worlds and Artistic Elements
Students explore the building blocks of visual art including line, shape, and color theory through hands on creation.
Students will identify and create different types of lines (straight, curved, zig-zag) and discuss how they convey feelings.
Students will distinguish between geometric and organic shapes and use them to create compositions.
Investigating how warm and cool colors influence the emotional impact of a painting.
Students will learn about primary colors and how mixing them creates secondary colors through hands-on painting.
Students will explore how to create tertiary colors and learn about basic color schemes like complementary and analogous.
Creating sculptures that explore tactile surfaces and how objects occupy physical space.
Examining historical and contemporary portraits to understand how artists represent identity.
Students will arrange objects to create a still life and draw it, focusing on observation skills.
Students will explore different types of landscapes and create their own, focusing on foreground, middle ground, and background.
Students will create collages using various materials, focusing on composition and texture.

02Rhythm, Melody, and Soundscapes
An introduction to music theory and performance where students find their voices and explore percussive patterns.
Distinguishing between a steady beat and complex rhythmic patterns using body percussion.
Students will identify and perform music at different tempos, understanding how speed affects mood.
Using the voice and simple instruments to explore high and low sounds and melodic contour.
Students will explore different dynamic levels in music (loud/soft) and how they create expression.
Students will identify and describe different timbres (sound qualities) of voices and instruments.
Identifying different instrument families and their cultural origins through active listening.
Students will practice singing in tune and explore different vocal sounds and expressions.
Students will use their voices and classroom objects to create sound effects and short soundscapes.
Students will learn basic musical symbols like notes, rests, and staffs.
Students will use a limited set of notes to compose their own short melodies.

03Characters and Creative Movement
Students use their bodies and voices to inhabit characters and express narratives through drama and dance.
Using facial expressions, posture, and vocal variety to create believable characters on stage.
Students will use their bodies to express different emotions without speaking.
Learning how to tell a story through a sequence of planned movements and choreography.
Students will practice pantomime to tell stories and express actions using only their bodies.
Exploring how costumes, props, and lighting contribute to the world of a play.
Students will work in pairs to create and perform short dialogues, focusing on clear speaking and listening.
Students will participate in improvisation games to develop spontaneity and creative problem-solving in drama.
Students will create simple puppets and use them to tell stories, focusing on character voice and movement.
Students will explore the fundamental elements of dance: space (levels, directions), time (speed, rhythm), and energy (force, flow).
Students will collaborate to write and perform a very short play, integrating learned drama skills.

04Art History and Community Connections
Connecting artistic practices to local communities and global history to understand the role of the artist in society.
Investigating how art in public spaces reflects the values and stories of a neighborhood.
Students will identify and discuss different types of art found in their local community, from sculptures to street art.
Learning about the significance of traditional symbols and methods in local Indigenous art forms.
Students will explore art from different cultures and time periods, recognizing diverse artistic expressions.
Developing a vocabulary to describe, analyze, and interpret various works of art.
Students will learn about famous artists and their unique styles, understanding how personal experiences influence art.
Students will explore how art can communicate ideas, feelings, and stories without using words.
Students will learn about the role of museums and galleries in preserving and sharing art with the public.
Students will investigate how art is used in various celebrations and traditions around the world.
Students will select and organize their favorite artworks into a personal portfolio, reflecting on their artistic journey.