DANCE LESSON PLAN

KLA: Creative Arts/Dance

Stage: Stage 1

Duration: 30-40 minutes (one lesson)

Title: “Let’s all make a rainbow”

Resources:

  1. “Move your body”

Lyrics – Kellie Hoggart

Music – Chris Harriott

CD – Jump and Jive with High 5

  1. “Living In a Rainbow”

Lyrics – Leone Carey

Music – Chris Harriott

CD – Jump and Jive with High 5

  1. “You’ll be in my heart”

Phil Collins

CD – Tarzan soundtrack

  1. 20 coloured ribbons ( 5 blue, 5 green, 5 red and 5 yellow)

Rationale: This dance lesson introduces all six elements of dance; Action, Dynamic, Time, Space, Relationship and Structure.

This lesson focuses on the stage one creative arts/dance syllabus component Composition; however performance and appreciation are also explored throughout the lesson content.

Students in stage one will explore the importance of using the body safely when dancing, use dance and different movements to express ideas and feelings, respond to a stimuli, prop and theme, perform in small groups and view and discuss other peers dancing and moving in small groups.

Assessment:

Formative assessment

  • Observe and discuss students’ movements – assess how students use locomotor and non-locomotor movements to express how the music makes them feel. (Assess understanding of Structure/Action/Space).
  • Observe the students development of memory and intent by coming up with movements, practising them and performing them as a group. (Assess understanding of Relationship/Structure/Time/Space).
  • Through a class discussion assess students understanding of the lesson theme. Discuss how the dance moves made them feel.
  • Discuss how watching other students dance movements relate to the theme. Assess students understanding of performance evaluation and appreciation.

Outcomes and Indicators:

DAS1.1 Performs dances demonstrating expressive qualities and control over a range of loco motor and non-loco motor movement;

  • Identify safe dance practice in warm up; identify respect for individual personal space.
  • Use movement with control, confidence, and awareness of skill full techniques and a range of expressive qualities.

DAS1.2 Explores and selects movement using the elements of dance to express ideas, feelings or moods;

  • Uses the elements of dance to explore movements and ideas based on a theme. (E.g. curved, flowing movements to represent a rainbow).
  • Engage with a stimulus to create sequences using the elements to express a theme (e.g. using props-coloured ribbons to create/express feelings and symbolise a theme.)
  • Work collaboratively in a small group to explore and select movements to express ideas, feelings and moods (e.g. presenting movements to represent a rainbow and analysing how this makes one feel).

DAS1.3 Gives personal opinions about the dance and its purpose that they view or experience;

  • Participates as an audience member watching and responding to questions about a dance performance.
  • Observe and identify the elements of dance explored in creating and performing activities.

Content:

# Introduction:

Warm up (5 minutes)

The warm up concentrates on the syllabus component of Performance.

Children standing in circle, arms distance from one another.

Instruct the class through a loco motor and non-loco motor whole body warm up (see appendix for warm up routine).

Purpose:

  • Allows students to identify safe dance practice.
  • Explores the element of Dynamic – understanding how the body moves, e.g. moving and stopping suddenly.
  • Explores the element of Space–personal and general space used by others.
  • Explores the elements of Action – understanding the physicality of the dancing body.

# Body:

The syllabus component of Composing is the main focus of the lesson plan. The lesson allows students to explore and select movements using the elements of dance to express feelings and moods.

Step 1: Break students into groups of five people (four groups in total).

Step 2: Give each student within their group a coloured ribbon (four different colours in total) e.g. all students in the red group have a red ribbon; all students in the blue group have a blue ribbon.

Purpose:

  • Explores the element of relationship- the way the body relates to individual groups and objects.

Step 3: Have students sit in their groups. Play the song “Living in a Rainbow”. Ask students to think about how the music makes them feel e.g. does it make you feel happy and excited?

Purpose:

  • Explores ides in the composition of dance, explores the development of dance from a stimuli/theme.

Step 4: Ask students within their small groups to come up with four simple movements using their coloured ribbons that express how the music and the coloured ribbons makes them feel.

Encourage both high and low movements and moving in different directions.

Give examples of different movements e.g. flying the ribbons high in the sky, swirling the ribbons low on the floor. Have song “living in a rainbow playing for the students in the background while they are creating their movements.

(Give 15 minutes for this step).

Purpose:

  • Explores movement in response to a stimulus to express ideas, feelings and mood.
  • Allows students to select and combine movements to perform a sequence.
  • Explores the element of Dynamics- understanding how the body can move. Moving directly to people and objects.
  • Explores the element of Time- performing to show sensitivity to a range of rhythmic patterns and phases.
  • Explores the element of Space- investigating personal space, making small and large movements, performing at medium, high and low levels.
  • Explores the element of relationships- understanding the way the body relates to groups and objects.
  • Explores the element of Structure- learning about the use of repetition, contrast and variety of transition in dancing and moving.

Step 5: Get groups to stand up one by one, play “living in a rainbow” and get the students as a group to perform their devised movements until you stop the music. Ask to other groups to sit and view the performing group.

(Play music for about 40-50 seconds for each group)

Purpose:

  • Development of movement memory and intent.
  • Allows students to respond to a range of stimuli using their imagination and drawing on their experiences of the immediate and wider world for dance ideas.
  • Allows students to explore and identify elements of dance through viewing other students moving.
  • Explores the element of Relationships- performing with sensitivity to other dances, objects, the location and audience.

Step 6: Finally have all students stand up together, play “Living in a rainbow” and as a class get them to all perform their devised movements.

Purpose:

  • Develop an awareness of body parts and control over movement and expressive qualities.
  • Explores the element of Space- investigating personal space, performing at medium, high and low levels.
  • Explores the element of Dynamics- moving with a meandering quality to people, objects and a location.
  • Explores the element of Relationships- performing their own movements as a member of a group.

Step 7: Ask the children to look around the room and observe how their movements with the ribbons as a whole class represents a rainbow.

Step 8: Sit students down again; discuss how the music made them feel? Discuss what they enjoyed about the other groups dance movements. Ask the children if they felt like a colourful rainbow dancing together?

Purpose:

  • Identify the syllabus component of Appreciation; giving personalopinions about the dances and their purpose that they view and or experience.
  • Explores and identifies how elements of dance can link to the students own feelings, ideas and moods.
  • Explores how dance can represent physical objects (e.g. a rainbow)
  • Exploration of imagination
  • Engaging with a stimulus to express a theme
  • Students can observe and identify elements of dance through watching and discussing other group’s movements.
  • Enables the students to respond to questions about a dance and its theme.

# Conclusion:

Cool down (5 minutes)

The cool down concentrates on the syllabus component of Performance.

Children standing in circle, arms distance from one another.

While instructing the children in the cool down explain how different colours and dance can make us feel happy and bright. Explain how when we all join our ideas and dance as a group we can represent a beautiful rainbow.

Instruct the class through a non-loco motor whole body cool down (see appendix for cool down routine).

Purpose:

  • Allows students to identify safe dance practice.
  • Explores the element of Dynamic – understanding how the body moves, e.g. moving and stopping suddenly.
  • Explores the element of Space–personal and general space used by others.
  • Explores the elements of Action – understanding the physicality of the dancing body.
  • Cool down gives the students a chance to relax and reflect on the lesson.

Links with other KLAs:

  • VAS1.1 Making Visual Arts, investigating details of objects and other living things. Identifies significant features of objects e.g. a rainbow.
  • DRAS1.2 Conveys story depicts events and expresses feelings by using the elements of drama and expressive skill of movements. Express dramatic meaning through movement.

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