Visual & Performing Arts · 2nd Grade

Active learning ideas

Designing Scenery and Setting

Active learning works well here because second graders grasp setting best by making it themselves. When they paint, sketch, or discuss backdrops, they connect abstract ideas like time and place to concrete choices in color and shape.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Creating TH.Cr1.1.2
• NCAS: Performing TH.Pr5.1.2

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

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 15 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: What Does This Place Look Like?

Read aloud a short scene description (e.g., a magical forest, an underwater cave, a school cafeteria). Students think about what they would put in the background, share their ideas with a partner, and then explain their choices to the group, naming specific colors and shapes they would use.

What would you put in a background to make it look like a magical forest?

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share: What Does This Place Look Like?, listen for descriptive phrases that students use and jot them on the board to build a shared vocabulary.

What to look for

Provide students with a picture of a simple stage. Ask them to draw and label one prop or piece of scenery that would help tell the story of a specific fairy tale (e.g., Cinderella's castle, Jack and the Beanstalk's giant beanstalk). Include one sentence explaining why they chose it.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 35 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Group Backdrop Sketch

Small groups receive a setting prompt card (e.g., 'a sunny farmyard' or 'a spooky haunted house'). Together, they sketch the key elements they would include in a backdrop, assign who would draw each part, and present their plan to another group to get one suggestion before they finalize their sketch.

Why does the setting, or where the story happens, matter so much in a play?

Facilitation Tip

During Collaborative Investigation: Group Backdrop Sketch, remind groups to divide tasks so every student contributes a visible element to the backdrop.

What to look for

Present students with two different backdrops for the same story: one bright and cheerful, the other dark and mysterious. Ask: 'How do these different settings change how you feel about the story? Which one would you choose for a happy scene, and which for a scary scene? Why?'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 20 min · Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Setting Identification

Display six to eight backdrop sketches from different groups around the room without labels. Students walk through the gallery and write on a sticky note which setting they think each sketch depicts, then reveal the intended setting to see how well the visual elements communicated the place.

How would you design a simple background for your own short scene?

Facilitation Tip

During Gallery Walk: Setting Identification, ask students to point to one element on each backdrop that immediately tells them the setting’s location or time of day.

What to look for

During group work on a backdrop design, circulate and ask each group: 'What is the most important thing your scenery needs to show the audience about where this story takes place? What is one color choice you made and why?'

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Stations Rotation
• 15 min · Individual

Individual: Quick Sketch Challenge

Give each student a setting prompt and ten minutes to sketch the three most important elements they would put in a background. Encourage them to consider foreground, midground, and background layers, and to use color to signal the mood of the scene.

What would you put in a background to make it look like a magical forest?

Facilitation Tip

During Individual: Quick Sketch Challenge, encourage students to use no more than three shapes and three colors to communicate the setting clearly.

What to look for

Provide students with a picture of a simple stage. Ask them to draw and label one prop or piece of scenery that would help tell the story of a specific fairy tale (e.g., Cinderella's castle, Jack and the Beanstalk's giant beanstalk). Include one sentence explaining why they chose it.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should model quick, bold strokes for scenery rather than detailed drawings. Use theater examples to show how simple shapes work at a distance. Avoid over-explaining; instead, ask students to guess settings from minimal visual cues to build their confidence in visual storytelling.

Students will demonstrate how scenery guides storytelling by explaining their design choices in clear, simple language. They will also recognize how backdrops shape mood and audience expectations through collaborative and individual tasks.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Collaborative Investigation: Group Backdrop Sketch, watch for students adding too many tiny details or realistic elements.

  Remind the group that from the audience’s far seats, only big, simple shapes will read clearly, so they should simplify their designs and use bold colors.

• During Gallery Walk: Setting Identification, listen for students saying that a backdrop needs to look exactly like a real place.

  Pause the walk and ask students to point out how one color or shape instantly tells them the setting, then ask them to cover up any extra details to prove their point.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Inquiry Circle
• Gallery Walk
• Stations Rotation