Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 Sample Week

Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 plans feature Gothic and Renaissance period art and music. These plans are organized by week and by option. There are three different options for art appreciation and you can do one, two, or all three options depending on your available time and interest. Many families have successfully used these plans with children in grades K-5. I wrote the options so you can pick and choose which activities are appropriate for your particular family.

Please note that this period of art is very oriented towards religious art, including paintings, sculpture, and architecture. I try to give a variety of artwork to look at and I have steered away from nudity in Option 1 but I always suggest previewing any materials for appropriateness for your family.

HFA Grade 2 Sample Week 
Week 4: Giotto and Art of the Middle Ages
(Print out the Sample Pages and follow along.)


Option 1: Picture Study

• Use the link provided to view the painting of the week: Legend of St. Francis, Sermon to the Birds.
• Apply the suggestions to view the painting that are given on page 9 of the plans. (There are also instructions for making this your computer's desktop image. There are additional questions you can use to prompt your child to see more in the painting if you wish to go a little deeper.)

Option 2: Art Appreciation with Follow-Up Activities 
(2 short periods or one longer period of time each week)

• Read pages 12-13 in Art of the Middle Ages (Art in History/2nd Edition) with your children.
• View the suggested YouTube video on cathedrals. This is really long so I suggest watching as long as your child shows interest.
• To extend the lesson, complete the cathedral coloring page (included in the plans).
• Watch this YouTube slideshow for Giotto. It is suggested to watch for subjects, colors, and symbols in his artwork (follow up to the reading in Art of the Middle Ages).
• Add to your artist notebook page for Giotto. (There are notebook pages provided with the plans and links to additional free notebook pages.)

Option 3: Artistic Pursuits with Picture Study Suggestions
(2 short periods or one longer period of time each week)

• Read Lesson 3 (pages 12-13) in Artistic Pursuits Grades K-3 Book Two on Giotto.
• View the paintings in Option 1 for Giotto (links provided). Use the suggestions for picture study from page 9.
• Watch the YouTube slideshow for Giotto. Look for subjects, colors, and symbols.
• Note: Next week's plans actually have you starting a scratch art project as a follow up to your study of Giotto.

Your family can choose to do just one option or combine options together to get a richer art appreciation experience. Many families combine Option 1 with either Option 2 or 3. You can choose from week to week how much to include in your lesson.

Week 4 Music Appreciation
Antonio Vivaldi

• Listen to Famous Composers CD 1 Track 5 (tells a little about Vivaldi).
• Listen to Gloria on YouTube and see the orchestra playing.
• Color a portrait of Vivaldi as you listen.
• Use Famous Composers CD 2 Interactive section for Vivaldi.

The plans give you specific music to listen to for Vivaldi but you can always substitute any Vivaldi CD you already own if you want to keep your expenses down.

See my Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 page for more specifics for this plan for art and music appreciation. You can print out the sample for a list of artists and composers included in this ebook, a list of materials and resources needed, supplies list, and four weeks of plans to examine.

If you have older children, there are also middle school level art and music appreciation plans for Medieval and Renaissance art from Harmony Fine Arts and you can read about them here: Harmony Fine Arts Grade 6 Medieval and Renaissance Art. Please note that Grade 2 and Grade 6 have different artists and composers so they will not "match" except in covering the same time period.

If you are interested in studying a different period of art, you can check my Overview Chart for more information about which grade to purchase.  There is also a chart for Grades 1-4 listing specific artists and composers included in each year. Please feel free to email me with any questions: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.