What Ontario grade 4 students learn in the arts

Your child will be able to turn movements they see in nature, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly or wind turning into a tornado, into a dance.

Your child will be able to use dance to show and share ideas from different stories, like myths, poems, or books, by creating movements that represent actions or feelings.

Your child will be able to tell a story through dance, like a journey or an adventure. They will also understand how to arrange movements to show how dancers relate to each other, such as meeting or separating.

Your child will be able to use different kinds of energy (like collapsing or floating) and timing (like how long a movement lasts or if it's sudden) in their dance to show an idea, such as the journey of a balloon.

Your child will understand how dance movements can help tell a story, showing things like a character's feelings or personality.

Your child will be able to use dance words to talk about parts of a dance, both their own and others'. They will also understand how these dance elements help show feelings and ideas, like how balanced or unbalanced movements can show togetherness or being apart.

Your child will be able to talk about what they're good at in dance, both when they're creating it and when they're watching it, and also explain what they need to work on to get better.

Your child will learn, with some help from the teacher, how different dance styles show the social and political roles of people from various cultures, time periods, and locations. For example, they might explore how dances performed in royal courts centuries ago differed from the dances of everyday people, or how carnival dances around the world represent different cultural traditions.

Your child will learn about the many reasons people dance, both in their own lives and in different cultures around the world. This includes dancing for fun, to tell stories, to celebrate, or as part of traditions.

Your child will actively participate in drama activities and pretend play, exploring how stories are put together, important ideas, and key moments in stories from different cultures, time periods, and places.

Your child will be able to understand what a role is in drama by using other drama tools like time, place, and relationships to make their character believable and fit into the play's story.

Your child will be able to help guide the story in a drama or role-playing activity. They will also work with others to solve problems that come up during the play, both while acting and when planning outside of their character.

Your child will be able to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with an audience during drama activities. They will learn to use things like music, special lighting, or technology (like a projector or microphone) to make their performance better and help set the mood.

Your child will be able to share their own feelings and ideas about the characters, main messages, and problems shown in plays they create or watch. They will also understand how to connect these plays to their own experiences.

Your child will be able to explain how different parts of a play, like characters' feelings or funny scenes, are used to create certain reactions in the audience, such as tension or laughter. They will also understand how techniques like "thought tracking" (where a character speaks their thoughts aloud) help the audience understand what a character is thinking.

Your child will be able to talk about what they're good at in drama, what they enjoy doing, and what they need to work on, both when they're acting and when they're watching a play. For example, they might say they're good at using their hands to show emotion, that they like using props, or that they need to get better at staying in character.

Your child will be able to explain how both pretend play (process drama) and regular plays (traditional theatre) use the same basic building blocks of drama to tell stories, help the audience think about what might happen next, and make everyone feel emotions.

Your child will learn about different types of plays and performances from various times and places, and how these performances show what was happening in those societies. This could include everything from old-fashioned storytelling to modern TV shows.

Your child will be able to sing or play songs from different cultures and time periods, using sheet music. These songs will include simple melodies or two-part harmonies, often with a basic accompaniment (like background music).

Your child will learn how to use different musical elements like how fast or slow the music is, or how loud or soft it is, to create different feelings or effects when they sing, play instruments, or create their own music. For example, they might use short, detached notes (staccato) or smooth, connected notes (legato), or gradually get louder (crescendo) or softer (decrescendo) to change the mood of a song.

Your child will be able to create their own musical pieces for different reasons and for different groups of people, like writing a song for a recorder using musical notes or creating a soundscape (a collection of sounds that form a picture) to represent Canada.

Your child will learn to use good musical habits when they perform, like singing "O Canada" with proper breath control and posture to make a clear, high sound (called a head tone), or playing an instrument like the xylophone correctly.

Your child will understand how to read and use musical symbols and standard notation, which is the way music is written down on a five-line staff. They will also be able to create their own ways to write down music for their own compositions, like using symbols or numbers to represent sounds.

Your child will be able to share their detailed thoughts and feelings about music they hear in different ways, like drawing, moving, or telling a story. They will also be able to compare different singers and explain why they prefer one over another.

Your child will be able to identify and explain how different parts of music, like rhythm or melody, are used to create a certain feeling or mood in songs they play, hear, or make themselves.

Your child will be able to recognize what they do well and what they can improve upon when they perform, create, understand, or listen to music. For example, they might point out two things their group did well in a performance and one thing they could do better next time.

Your child will learn about the different ways music is used in communities today and compare that to how it was used in the past, like for celebrations or storytelling.

Your child will listen to different kinds of music from various times, places, and cultures, like medieval music, Indian classical music, or Indigenous powwow music, and be able to recognize what makes each style unique.

Your child will be able to create art, like drawings or sculptures, that shows their feelings and ideas based on things they like or have experienced.

Your child will understand how to arrange elements in their artwork (composition) using design principles like unity and variety. They will use these skills to create art that tells a story or focuses on a specific theme.

Your child will be able to use different art techniques and ideas, like choosing colours or how to arrange things, to share their thoughts and feelings in their artwork.

Your child will be able to use different art supplies, tools, and methods to solve art challenges. For example, they might create drawings that focus on the outline of objects, make collages from various materials, paint with different shades of one color to show feelings, create prints using textured objects, or sculpt masks from clay or papier-mâché.

Your child will be able to understand different artworks and talk about the feelings, ideas, and social messages they see in them. They will also learn how artists use different techniques to make people feel a certain way.

Your child will be able to look at different artworks and understand how artists use things like lines, shapes, and colours (these are called "elements and principles of design") to share ideas or feelings. For example, they might learn how an artist uses light and dark colours to make something look exciting or calm.

Your child will be able to understand that signs, symbols, and styles in art can have special meanings, like how certain symbols might represent good luck or how different fonts are used in advertising.

Your child will be able to understand what they are good at in art, what they enjoy doing, and what they need to work on, both when they create art and when they look at it.

Your child will be able to explain how different types of art, from advertisements to sculptures, communicate ideas and stories, both now and in the past.

Your child will learn about different types of art, like paintings or sculptures, and how these art forms, styles, and traditions come from various cultures, times, and places around the world. They will understand how art reflects the people who made it.