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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year pretend play becomes real acting work. Students invent characters and short scenes, then practice them on purpose instead of making it up once and moving on. They watch classmates perform and start using simple words to say what worked and why. By spring, they can plan a small scene, perform it for the class, and explain what their character was feeling.

  • Acting basics
  • Character building
  • Making up scenes
  • Performing for classmates
  • Talking about plays
Source: Maryland Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
  1. 1

    Imagining characters and stories

    Students start the year by inventing characters and pretend situations. They use their own experiences to come up with ideas for short scenes and try out different voices and movements.

  2. 2

    Building scenes together

    Students work in small groups to shape simple scenes with a beginning, middle, and end. They practice listening to classmates and adjusting their ideas so a story holds together.

  3. 3

    Practicing and polishing

    Students rehearse scenes and try them more than once. They learn that acting gets better with practice, and they make small changes to voice, face, and body to show what a character is feeling.

  4. 4

    Performing for an audience

    Students share scenes with classmates or families. They focus on speaking clearly, staying in character, and helping the audience understand the story.

  5. 5

    Watching and responding to theatre

    Students watch plays, videos, or each other's scenes and talk about what they noticed. They share what the story meant to them and connect it to their own lives and to stories from other times and places.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 2.
Connecting

  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art

    TH:Cn10.2

    Students connect something from their own life to a character or story in a play. That personal connection shapes the choices they make when acting or creating a scene.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    TH:Cn11.2

    Students connect a play or story to the time and place it comes from. Knowing that context helps them understand why characters act the way they do.

Creating

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    TH:Cr1.2

    Students come up with ideas for a character or a short scene, then shape those ideas into something they can act out or share with the class.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    TH:Cr2.2

    Students pick a character to play and decide how that character moves, talks, and acts in a short scene. They make specific choices, not just follow along.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    TH:Cr3.2

    Students revise a short scene or character choice after practicing it, then present a finished version they feel ready to share.

Performing/Presenting/Producing

  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    TH:Pr4.2

    Students pick a character or scene to perform and explain why it suits the story. They make simple choices about how to move, speak, and act it out.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    TH:Pr5.2

    Students practice a scene more than once, working on how they speak and move until the performance feels ready to share with an audience.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    TH:Pr6.2

    Students perform a short scene or story in front of others, using their voice, face, and body to show what the characters feel and what the story means.

Responding

  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    TH:Re7.2

    Students look at a short play or performance and describe what they notice, like how a character moves, speaks, or feels. They start to explain why those choices matter to the story.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    TH:Re8.2

    Students look at a short play or performance and explain what they think it means and why the creator made it that way.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    TH:Re9.2

    Students pick a scene or performance and explain what made it work well, using simple rules like "did the actors speak clearly?" or "did the story make sense?"