Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Interim Thoughts on the Draft VISUAL ARTS K-4 Curriculum*
14 August 2020
William French
* CONFIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATION TO THE MINISTER and her designates
Please accept my profound apology that I have taken so long to submit this feedback.
I aim to fulfil two purposes: I.) outline a suggested approach, in light of various aspects to address; and II.) address part of that, concretely, by showing how the CKF materials work, both as a functional model, as well
as for their suggestions as to content.
Once we have addressed the major structural design questions to do with one of the Fine Arts, we have (content aside) also done the other three.
I.
I have been comparing three schemes (AB K-4 Draft, CKF K-8 Sequence, and the Ontario 1-8 Arts Curriculum) and concluded that it might be best to employ Ontario’s very clear organizational scheme, while adding in
elements from MOSL, AB K-4 Draft, and the model offered by CKF.
Ontario has four components (CKF equivalent in brackets):
1.
2.
3.
4.

List of the Elements (Elements), supplemented with related grade-level concepts;
Creating and Performing (Creative), wherein the elements are learned and applied, with emphasis on creativity and active participation;
Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing (Analytical); and
Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts (Historical).

CKF presents Elements and Creative all in one; however, I think there is real advantage in Ontario’s List that breaks out the elements and can be checked from year to year, by element, and then treats creativity with
greater care.
Ontario is missing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

MOSL’s emphasis on emulation of great works and appreciation of beauty, etc. (incorporation presumably in note at top)
CKF linkages to other curriculum subjects, such as History and ELA (incorporate presumably in Reflecting & Forms) though there might be some linkage – just not as much.
CKF explicit emphasis on Orchestra (presumably in Reflecting & Forms)
AB Draft has perhaps a bit more explicit emphasis on Indigenous art forms (incorporate presumably in Reflecting & Forms)
I am wondering about an element to do with protocols and conventions of arts participation and learning, etc. (along the lines that I developed at the top level of the ELA files I submitted). Ontario has a long
bit on the creative process, up front, but it’s not really what I am talking about, I think. CKF has the heading “Listening and Understanding” under which it more or less subsumes Reflecting etc and Exploring
Forms etc. Subsuming them is not a good idea, I think, and Ontario does better in breaking them out explicitly; however, I wonder if this could be part of a protocol item and/or it could tie into the MOSL
emphasis on learning from great works.
6. A note that Ontario has in its long introduction to the Arts curriculum has to do with Community Partners. I think something needs to be said along these lines, which would include the possibility of bringing
artists and arts organisations into schools, or even training teachers, among other forms of alliance to advance school-community cooperation for the arts.
II.
Below, I have projected the CKF model onto the template that most SMEs seem to be using (so far as I understand). It’s just a model, but a helpful one to understand. Throughout, I have inserted little notes that CKF
provides to show linkages; however, these tend to be to American History, so I include them just to suggest how we might show linkages. At the bottom of the tables, I provide a list of all the CK ELA, History &
Geography, and Science domain series each year, again, just to suggest where linkages across the curriculum need to be considered. It’s just another tool for putting that top of mind.
That’s probably it for the moment. On the weekend, I will try to see what it would look like to build other elements into something like Ontario’s structure.
Best regards,

William French
Arts Education – Visual Arts

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   1

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Essential Understanding Exposure, Creativity, and Analysis in Visual Arts
Guiding Questions
Learning Outcomes

GENERAL

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Teachers: In schools,
lessons on the visual arts
should illustrate
important elements of
making and appreciating
art, and emphasize
important artists, works
of art, and artistic
concepts. When
appropriate, topics in the
visual arts may be linked
to topics in other
disciplines. While the
following guidelines
specify a variety of
artworks in different
media and from various
cultures, they are not
intended to be
comprehensive. Teachers
are encouraged to build
upon the core content
and expose children to a
wide
range of art and artists.

ELEMENTS OF ART

COLOUR

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   2

COLOUR

COLOUR

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Teachers: The generally
recognized elements of
art include line, shape,
form, space, light,
texture, and
colour. In kindergarten,
introduce children to line
and colour. Engage
students in recognizing
and using
different kinds of lines
and colours, and point
out lines and colours in
nature. (You may also
wish to
observe shapes in art and
nature—see Math:
Geometry.)

Know that red,
yellow, and blue
are commonly
referred to as the
“primary colours,”
and that
blue + yellow =
green
blue + red = purple
red + yellow =
orange

Observe how colours
can create different
feelings and how
certain colours can
seem “warm” (red,
orange, yellow) or
“cool” (blue, green,
purple)
• Observe the use of
colour in……

Observe the use of
colour in….

Pieter Bruegel, The
Hunters in the Snow

Claude Monet, Tulips
in Holland

Helen Frankenthaler,
Blue Atmosphere

James A. McNeill
Whistler,
Arrangement in
Black and Gray (also
known as Whistler’s
Mother)

Paul Gauguin,
Tahitian Landscape
Pablo Picasso, Le
Gourmet

Diego Rivera, Piñata
LINE
• Observe different
kinds of lines in…..
Katsushika Hokusai,
Tuning the Samisen
Henri Matisse,
Purple Robe and
Anemones
Joan Miró, People
and Dog in the Sun
SHAPE

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   3

LINE
Identify and use
different lines:
straight, zigzag,
curved, wavy, thick,
thin

• Observe how
different lines are
used in….
Jacob Lawrence,
Parade
Henri Matisse, The
Swan
Georgia O’ Keeffe,
one of her Shell
paintings
SHAPE

LINE
Identify and use
different lines:
straight, zigzag,
curved, wavy,
spiral, thick, thin

• Observe the use
of line in….
Pablo Picasso,
Mother and Child
Katsushika
Hokusai, The Great
Wave at Kanagawa
Nami-Ura from
Thirty-six
Views of Mt. Fuji
SHAPE

• Recognize lines
as horizontal,
vertical, or
diagonal.

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Recognize basic
geometric shapes—
square, rectangle,
triangle, circle,
oval—in nature,
man-made objects,
and artworks,
including….
Jacob Lawrence,
Parade
Grant Wood, Stone
City, Iowa
TEXTURE

TEXTURE

TEXTURE

• Describe qualities
of texture (as, for
example, rough,
smooth, bumpy,
scratchy,
slippery, etc.) in….
Indigenous
American baskets
(such as a pomo
basket)
Edgar Degas, Little
Fourteen-Year-Old
Dancer (also known
as Dressed
Ballet Dancer)
Albrecht Dürer,
Young Hare

DISCIPLINES

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

SCULPTURE
See also American
History K: Native
Americans, re totem
pole.

SCULPTURE
Recognize and
discuss the
following as
sculptures:

Northwest
Indigenous American
totem pole
Statue of Liberty
Mobiles: Alexander
Calder’s Lobster
Trap and Fish Tail

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   4

SCULPTURE
Observe shape, mass, The Discus
and line in sculptures, Thrower
including…..
Flying Horse (from
Wu-Wei, China)
Auguste Rodin, The
Thinker

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum

GRAPHIC

GRAPHIC:
PORTRAIT & STILL
LIFE

GRAPHIC:
LANDSCAPES

Recognize as a
portrait or selfportrait:

Recognize as
landscapes and
discuss….

Leonardo da Vinci,
Mona Lisa

Thomas Cole, The
Oxbow (also known
as View from
Mount Holyoke,
Northampton,
Massachusetts,
after a
Thunderstorm)

Francisco Goya,
Don Manuel Osorio
Manrique de
Zuñiga
Vincent van Gogh,
Self-Portrait
[1889]
Recognize as a still
life:
Vincent van Gogh,
Irises
Paul Cézanne,
studies with fruit,
such as Apples and
Oranges

El Greco, View of
Toledo (also known
as Toledo in a
Storm)
Henri Rousseau,
Virgin Forest
Vincent van Gogh,
The Starry Night

Recognize as a
mural (a painting
on a wall):
Diego Rivera, The
History of Medicine
in Mexico

ARCHITECTURE

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   5

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
• Understand
architecture as the
art of designing
buildings.
• Understand
symmetry and a
line of symmetry,
and observe
symmetry in the
design of
some buildings
(such as the
Parthenon).
• Noting line,
shape, and special
features (such as
columns and
domes), look at…..
The Parthenon
Great Stupa
(Buddhist temple in
Sanchi, India)
Himeji Castle (also
known as “White
Heron Castle,”
Japan)
The Guggenheim
Museum (New York
City)

ANALYSIS /
APPRECIATION

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   6

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Teachers: After children
have been introduced to
some elements of art and
a range of artworks and
artists, engage them in
looking at pictures and
talking about them. Ask
the children about their
first
impressions—what they
notice first, and what the
picture makes them think
of or feel. Go on to
discuss the lines and
colours, details not
obvious at first, why they
think the artist chose to
depict things in a certain
way, etc.

HISTORICAL

Observe and talk
about…..
Pieter Bruegel,
Children’s Games
Mary Cassatt, The
Bath
Winslow Homer,
Snap the Whip
Diego Rivera,
Mother’s Helper
Henry O. Tanner,
The Banjo Lesson

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

PREHISTORIC &
ANCIENT ART

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   7

ABSTRACT

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Cave paintings

Compare lifelike and
abstract animals,
including……
Paintings of birds by
John James Audubon

Art of Ancient
Egypt
Great Sphinx
Mummy cases:
Tutankhamen’s
coffin
Bust of Queen
Nefertiti

Albrecht Dürer,
Young Hare
Paul Klee, Cat and
Bird
Pablo Picasso, Bull’s
Head (made from
bicycle seat and
handlebars)
Henri Matisse, The
Snail (also known as
Chromatic
Composition)
Observe and discuss
examples of abstract
painting and
sculpture,
including….
Marc Chagall, I and
the Village
Constantin
Brancusi, Bird in
Space

CKF DOMAIN
ALIGNMENT CHECK

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Understanding

Perceptual
Understanding

Students will
know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Students will know:

In order to
understand:

And do:

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   8

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum
Legend:

CKLA:
→Nursery Rhymes
Core Knowledge
and Fables
Language Arts (CKLA)
→The Human
Body: Five Senses
Core Knowledge History →Stories
& Geography (CKHG)
→Plants
→Farms
Core Knowledge
→“Native
Science (CKSci)
Americans” (Indig
enous Canadians)
→Kings and Queens
→Seasons and
Weather
→Columbus and
the Pilgrims
→Colonial Towns
and Townspeople
→Taking Care of
the Earth
→“Presidents and
American
Symbols” (Canadi
an content)
CKHG:
→Let’s Explore Our
World
→“Native
Americans” (Indig
enous Canadians)
→Exploring and
Moving to [North]
America
→“Mount
Rushmore
Presidents” (Cana
dian content)
CKSci:
→Pushes and Pulls
→Needs of Plants
and Animals
→Changing
Environments
→Weather Patterns

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   9

CKLA:
→ Fables and
Stories
→ The Human
Body
→ Different
Lands,
Similar
Stories
→ Early World
Civilizations
→ Early
American
Civilizations
→ Astronomy
→ The History
of the Earth
→ Animals and
Habitats
→ Fairy Tales
→ A New
Nation –
American
Independen
ce
→ [Canadian]
Frontier
Explorers
CKHG:

→ Continents
, Countries
and Maps
→ Mesopotam
ia
→ Ancient
Egypt
→ Three
World
Religions
→ Early
Civilization
s of the
Americas
→ The
Culture of
Mexico
→ Early
Explorers
and

CKLA:

→ Fairy Tales
and Tall
Tales
→ Early Asian
Civilization
s
→ The
Ancient
Greek
Civilization
→ Greek
Myths
→ The War of
1812
→ Cycles in
Nature
→ Westward
Expansion
→ Insects
→ The U.S.
Civil War
→ The Human
Body –
Building
Blocks and
Nutrition
→ Immigration
→ Fighting for
a Cause
CKHG:

→ Ancient
India
→ Ancient
China
→ The
Culture of
Japan
→ Ancient
Greece
→ Geography
of the
Americas
→ Making of
the
Constitutio
n

 Arts Education Kindergarten to Grade 4 Curriculum

Competency(ies)
Literacy
Numeracy

Arts Education – Visual Arts
Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Essential Understanding
Guiding Questions
Learning Outcomes
Conceptual and
Procedural
Knowledge

Conceptual
Knowledge

Procedural
Knowledge

Learners know that To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Learners
understand that

To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Competency(ies)
Literacy
Numeracy

Arts Education K–4 Curriculum   April 2020 Page   10

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Knowledge

Learners acquire
explicit knowledge

Learners know that To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Learners
understand that

Procedural
Knowledge

To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Explicit Knowledge

Conceptual
Knowledge

Learners acquire
explicit knowledge

Learners know that To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Learners
understand that

Procedural
Knowledge

To demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding
learners

Explicit Knowledge

Learners acquire
explicit knowledge