PESS Approach to Teaching Dance

Units of work - Early KS 2(Years 3 & 4).

Unit 7 / Unit 8 / Unit9
By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Practise to improve basic actions/step patterns so that they move with increasing confidence, co-ordination and control, beginning to show some fluency
- Repeat and adapt basic actions/simple step patterns used in traditional Welsh folk dance
- Create and perform a short dance in pairs using simple step patterns and linked actions, used in traditionalWelsh folk dance,demonstrating simple relationships and formations
- Recognise and describe the changes that happen to their bodies during exercise
- Respond appropriately to different rhythms and accompaniment / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Put forward their own ideas of the actions to include in a longer series of linked actions by responding imaginatively to stimuli
- Practise to improve fluency and flow of actions
- Create and perform a dance in pairs that demonstrates unison and a variety of dance actions
- Describe what they have included in their dance using key words
- Increase the amount of time over which they can sustain activity / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Improve their performance through practice
- Create and perform a dance in pairs that communicates ideas and emotions in response to a range of stimuli that demonstrates mirror and a variety of dance actions
- Perform these dances with greater control and extension
- Watch each other’s performances and say what is good about them and what could be better. Use this understanding to plan how to improve their own skills
Unit 10 / Unit 11 / Unit 12
By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Work with a partner sharing ideas about what to include in a duo
- Develop a range of contrasting actions that demonstrate variety
- Work co-operatively with others to solve problems
- Create and perform a duo that uses a story board approach and includes action & reaction
- Begin to recognise the basic principles underpinning creative activities
- Ask relevant questions in order to improve and make progress / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Practise to consolidate an increasing range of skill
- Perform steps from traditional Welsh folk dance with accuracy and consistency, focussing on effectiveness to achieve precision
- Practise a range of formations to include the set and the circle
- Perform a dance in fours using a set or circle formation demonstrating control and fluency
- Respond appropriately to a range of different rhythms
- Describe how exercise affects the body and give reasons why daily physical activity is good for them / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Respond to a range of stimuli and accompaniment
- Describe and perform a variety of spatial arrangements/relationships within their group
- Perform a quartet that demonstrates the use of stillness and focuses on use of different floor pathways
- Communicate ideas clearly to others
- Recognise some of the principles of simple choreography
Units of work - Late KS 2 (Years 5 & 6).
Unit 13 / Unit 14 / Unit 15
By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Find solutions to different challenges
- Respond imaginatively to a range of stimuli
- Put forward ideas for a class dance
- Create and Perform a dance as an individual, as a pair and as a whole class that communicates their ideas clearly to others
- Watch each other’s performance and say what is good about it and what could be better
- Use this understanding to plan how to improve their own skills
- Recognise some of the principles underpinning creative activities / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Practise a range of simple contact actions in pairs
- Create and perform a small group dance that includes some contact work demonstrating improved co-ordination and control
- Make simple judgements about their own and others’ performance
- Use key words and ask relevant questions in order to make progress
- Use this information to plan how to improve the quality and variety of their work / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Explore moments of stillness
- Select and choose skills and ideas that are increasingly relevant to the stimulus/dance idea
- Perform a solo that demonstrates increasing relevance to the stimulus/dance idea and includes moments of stillness and a range of different air patterns
- Perform with increasing efficiency and effectiveness
Unit 16 / Unit 17 / Unit 18
By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Co-operate with others and observe appropriate conduct
- Develop further an increasing variety of imaginative ideas
- Describe and demonstrate an understanding of motif development
- Describe and perform a variety of spatial arrangements/relationships within their trio
- Create and perform a trio demonstrating a variety of spatial arrangements/relationships and includes moments of stillness and repetition
- Describe how they feel doing different activities and show some understanding of the importance of physical activity to health, fitness and well-being / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
- Identify what makes a skill idea or action successful
- Describe repetition using a verse-chorus structure
- Create and perform a combined solo and group dance that demonstrates
verse-chorus structure
- Perform with greater accuracy and sustain over appropriate periods of time
- Communicate ideas deliberately to convey meaning to an audience / By the end of this unit pupils will be able to:
-Practise a range of progressions for contact actions and simple lifts in small groups
- Take more responsibility for their own actions and begin to understand associated risks
- Use compositional principles to plan a performance with an awareness of the factors that promote quality
- Create and perform a group dance that demonstrates contact actions and simple lifts
- Perform with consistent control and accuracy
- Make simple judgements about their own and others’ performance
- Use key words and ask questions to extend and improve the quality and variety of their performance

PESS Approach to Teaching Dance

Links between Unit Outcomes and Level Descriptions

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 7 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Level 2.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 8 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 2 and 3.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 9 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 2 and 3.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 10 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Level 3.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 11 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 3 and 4.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 12 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 3 and 4.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 13 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Level 4.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 14 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Level 4.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 15 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Level 4.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 16 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 4 and 5.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 17 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 4 and 5.

Pupils who achieve all the outcomes for Unit 18 will be demonstrating some of the characteristics of Levels 4 and 5.