Subject
/ DANCE / DRAMA / MEDIA / MUSIC / VISUAL ARTSUnit Title:
/ Look See, Look At Me.Achievement Standard / By the end of Year 2, students describe the effect of the elements in dance they make, perform and view and where and why people dance. Students use the elements of dance to make and perform dance sequences that demonstrate fundamental movement skills to represent ideas. Students demonstrate safe practice.
Learning Intention
/ Introduce students tothe elements of dance and how to use choreography in personal dance.Learning Framework / Community Contributor
Leader and Collaborator / Active Investigator
Effective Communicator / Designer and Creator
Quality Producer
Cross Curricular Priorities / Catholic Ethos
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures / Social Emotional Learning
Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia / Inclusive Education
Sustainability Education
General Capabilities / Literacy
Critical and Creative Thinking / Numeracy
Ethical Behaviour / Information and Communication Technology
Personal and Social Competence
Content Descriptors / Elaborations
2.1 Explore, improvise and organise ideas to make dance sequences using the elements of dance(ACADAM001) / ●exploring fundamental movements safely to improvise dance ideas, for example, running in a race, jumping like a frog, stomping like a giant, rolling like a log, falling like an autumn leaf, floating like a cloud, gliding like a bird
●considering viewpoints – forms and elements: For example – Which levels are you using in your dance? What sort of movements did the dancers perform? What are they wearing? What kind of music are they dancing to?
●exploring movement possibilities in response to a stimulus, such as imagery, music and shared stories
●experimenting with the elements of space, time, dynamics and relationships through movement, for example, considering levels, tempo and dynamics
●taking photos or videoing dance sequences to view and extend their dance idea
Use fundamental movement skills to develop technical skills when practising dance sequences (ACADAM002) / ●practising and responding to a range of fundamental movements to music, for example, walking, running, marching, galloping, skipping, crawling (locomotor); bending, stretching, twisting, turning (non-locomotor)
●practising fundamental movements to begin to develop technical skills of body control, posture, strength, balance and coordination, and responding to teacher’s feedback
●considering viewpoints – meanings and interpretations: For example – How are you communicating the ideas or intention in this dance? forms and elements: Which levels are you using in your dance?
●developing awareness of and taking responsibility for safe dance practices, for example, being aware of self and others in the dance space, moving with care, respecting others dancing in the space; awareness of the boundaries of the dance space; awareness of their bodies’ needs, for example, getting a drink after dance activities for hydration
●recognising and accepting a teacher’s or classmates’ constructive feedback
Present dance that communicate ideas to an audience, including dance used by cultural groups in the community (ACADAM003) / ●presenting a learned sequence of movements or performing simple dances, individually or as a group, to classmates, teachers and parents
●expressing ideas to an audience through movement, for example, showing contrasting dynamics by stamping heavily and tip-toeing lightly, or using movement qualities such as slow controlled sinking to the floor to express melting ice and sharp jerky movement to express a robot
●considering viewpoints – meanings and interpretations: For example – What did this dance make you think about? Did the dance movements remind you of anything? How are you communicating the ideas or intention in this dance?
●exploring the movements in dances with representatives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, for example, creating movements that represent animals from their region
●using expressive skills to engage the audience, for example, looking out to audience and using facial expression
●presenting their dance in a digital format
Respond to dance and consider where and why people dance, starting with dances from Australia including dances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACADAR004) / ●identifying where they might experience dance in their lives and communities, for example, considering how dance sustains and communicates cultural knowledge
●considering viewpoints – evaluations: For example – Why are these people dancing? Where are they dancing? Where is this dance from?
●recognising that dance can show that people have different feelings about the world based on their experiences of the environment and other people
●exploring and responding to dances they make and view, for example, considering what the dance made them think about or how the dance made them feel
●recognising patterns of movement in dances they make, perform and view using their own words and learnt dance terminology
●considering viewpoints – What sort of movements did the dancers perform? What are they wearing? What kind of music are they dancing to?
Session / Focus-Knowledge and Skills / Learning and Teaching Activities / Resources / Vocab
1 / Safety- Speak to students about safety relating to the area you are dancing in. (Doors, stairs, poles, etc). Brainstorm ideas to be safe and discuss silly behaviour that may lead to accidents. REVISE BEFORE EACH LESSON. / Warm up- moving in space with purpose.
Explain to students that it is very important that we warm up each time before dancing so our bodies and muscles are warm. This way we won’t hurt ourselves and our bodies will be able to move easily.
Have students spread out and explain that we all have an imaginary bubble surrounding each of our bodies. This bubble shouldn’t be touched by anyone else so we need to stay far enough away so they don’t burst. Let them decide what colour their bubble will be.
Moving in Space- Explain to students that they are going to do some locomotor movement (Travelling).
Teacher ‘Let’s have a go at moving with our bubbles around us’. (Teacher and Students can move in and around each other in the space.)
Teacher calls out ‘Forwards’, ’sideways’, ‘be very careful and go backwards’ (Each time freezing between direction change so all students can hear and see how teacher is moving first).
Levels and speed- Low, medium, high- Teacher- ’Let’s see if we can go really low to the ground and move’ (Bend knees as much as you can and walk with body as low to the ground as possible - Low level). ‘Let’s come up to standing and move in slow motion’ (Medium level). ‘Let’s go right up on our toes and reach our arms up and do fast little feet (High level).
Direct students to hold hands in a circle and blow out the circle (like a balloon) until their hands come apart.
Start from your head and move down your body isolating and warming up each part.
Teacher demonstrates and students copy.
Teacher- ‘We are now going to warm up one part of our body at a time using non-locomotor movement’ (on the spot). Slow head circles, Shoulders up and down/ circles forwards and backwards, arms out to the side for small circles growing bigger and bigger, Hips (pretend they have a hula hoop around their waists), knee bends, tippie toes around in the circle.
Teacher holds up pictures (see resources) and as a class students think about how they would move if they were in the picture. In groups of about 4 or 5, students have a go with the rest of the class watching.Teacher calls out which direction to move in and students decide on the timing and the levels they may like to use. The teacher may like to stop in between groups and discuss certain movement- highlighting the different levels and timing used between students or pictures.
Warm Down- Teacher “Because we are nice and warm from all the dancing it is now time to do some stretches. This makes sure we don’t get sore and gives our bodies time to cool down”. Have students stand back in their circle and give ideas on how they think they should stretch after dancing. Teacher “What part of your bodies feel like they need a stretch?”. Develop a class warm down together.
Reflection time
‘What movements did you enjoy doing today?’
‘What movements did you enjoy watching others do today? / Teacher notes:
BODY
The body is the instrument of dance.
Non-locomotor (axial):
Stretch, bend, twist, turn,
rise, fall, swing, rock, tip,
shake, suspend
Locomotor (traveling):
Slide, walk, hop,
somersault, run, skip, jump,
do-si-do, leap, roll, crawl,
gallop, chainé turns
ELEMENTS.
TIME
Defines when one moves
Duration (short/long):
Length of movement
Tempo (fast/slow):
Speed of movement
Metric rhythm:
Grouping of beats in recurring pattern.
SPACE
Defines where one moves
Shape:
The form of the body
Size:
Large, small, narrow, wide Level:
High, medium, low
Place:
On the spot (personal space),
through the space (general
space), upstage/downstage,
stage right/left (specific
space)
Direction:
Forward, backward,
sideways, diagonal, right, left
Orientation:
Facing front, back, side, etc.
Pathway:
Curved, straight
DYNAMICS
Defines how one moves.
Characteristics of a movement.
The degree of energy, intensity, or power in the execution of movements.
Quality:
Flowing, tight, loose, sharp,
swinging, swaying,
suspended, collapsed,
smooth
Attack:
Sharp/smooth
Sudden/sustained
RELATIONSHIP
Defines the relationship of the dancers.
Spatial Relationships:
In front, beside, behind, over,
under, alone/connected,
near/far, formations
Timing Relationships:
Before, after, unison, canon,
sooner than, faster than.
Warm up music should consist of different tempos. ‘Putumayo Presents’ CD’s are great and can be found on youtube.
Element Stars- Have students brainstorm what they think each mean and add vocabulary around the outside to refer to. See resources.
Resource 1 (Landscape pictures). / Personal Space, accidentsinjury
2 / Introduce movement to spoken word and music.
Creating movement sequences and working in groups.
Being an audience.
Warm Down. / Warm up from lesson one and moving in space.
Teacher explains that there are many different ways to make up movement and today they will be moving by listening and doing as the teacher explains. Sing ‘Come on and move your body’ and demonstrate to students before they have a go.
After a few times have the students sing along and get them to brainstorm more verses to the song. Write these down for future reference.
Teacher- Can you see how we can use different parts of our body to make shapes and movement? Let’s have a go at making up our own songs and make a little dance.
In groups students use the same rhythm to create their own some. They can use the same chorus and change a verse. Eg. Shake your fingers, jump up high, touch your shoulders, sit down and give a high five.
Teacher Instruction to class
Come on and move your body (clap, clap),
Come on and move it now (clap, clap),
Come on and move your body (clap, clap),
Watch me and I’ll show you how (clap, clap).
- Shrug your shoulders,
- Wriggle your hips,
- stretch your body,
- Pucker up and blow a kiss - mwah!
Come on and move it now (clap, clap),
Come on and move your body (clap, clap),
Watch me and I’ll show you how (clap, clap).
- Bend your elbows,
- Stamp your feet,
- Stretch your arms up, Twirl around and freeze on the beat.
Come on and move it now (clap, clap),
Come on and move your body (clap, clap),
Watch me and I’ll show you how (clap, clap). etc.
Teacher to walk around and monitor group (Summative assessment). Give prompts if needed. Explaining that we should be able to clearly see four different movements. Encourage them to use different levels.
Have students perform their sequence in groups to the remainder of the class while singing their song. After all groups show their sequence the rest of the lesson can be spent listening and dancing to other songs with movement lyrics. (See resources). Highlight the different speeds, levels and dynamics between the dances.
Discuss similarities and differences.
Warm down and Reflection. / Birdie Dance
Rig-a-Jig-Jig
Punchinello
Hokey Pokey
Galopede
Mexican Hat Dance
Brown Jug Polka
Birdie Dance
Gorilla Dance
Hi My Name is Joe
One Finger One Thumb
School Daze Rap Dance
Shoemaker's Dance
Farmer John's Dance
Knees Up Mother Brown
Sleepy John's Dance
Circassian Circle
Paw Paw Patch
Barn Dance
Dingle-Dangle Scarecrow
Gum Tree Dance
Jump Jim Crow
Oxo Reel
Seven Jumps
Tennessee Wig Walk / body, levels- high, medium, low, timing.
3 / Introduce movement from written text using Aboriginal Dreamtime stories as stimulus.
Partner work and choreography.
Summative Assessment. Expressive skills. / Warm up from lesson one and moving in space.
Explain to students that in this lesson the students will be looking at telling stories through movement/ dance.
Read ‘The Travelling Yamani’ and brainstorm with the students the different animals in the story and how they would be moving in relation to the story. Eg. ‘All the birds were wet and cold sitting on the edge of the swamp’ and ‘He hissed and flicked his tail at them’.
Try the same movements however manipulate using the elements. Eg. ‘Slithering slowly, fast, high, low, towards each other, away from each other’.
In pairs the students choose a movement card (See resources) and together work on movement to perform to the rest of the class. After the students have performed, the audience has to guess what might have been happening and what animals they were. After they have performed (and if time) have the students manipulate the movement using different elements- timing, levels used, etc or swap parts in the dance.
Discuss if anyone in the audience noticed the pairs using facial expressions and looking at the audience. Speak about why it would make a dance more interesting and show the students an example and non-example to highlight the difference.
Get students to perform to another pair using facial expressions and have them give peer feedback.
Questions-
‘Did it make it more interesting?’
‘Can you see more of a particular animal now?’ (Snake with a hissing tongue).
‘Did it make you feel like they were dancing for you (the audience) instead of themselves?’.
‘If the dancers were laughing and being silly, do you think it ruined the dance?’
Warm down and Reflection. / National Museum of Australia. First Australians: Plenty Stories.
Resource two (Animal cards). / Space, Shape, Dynamics, Relationship, time.
Locomotor and Non-locomotor.
4 / Introducing movement from visual stimulus.
Moving and watching.
Warm down. / Warm up from lesson one and moving
in space. Explain that today we are going to be looking at different cultures and the types of dancing they do to tell stories. Refer to ‘Dreamtime’ stories and explain that these are passed down through generations.
Teacher ‘Dances in these cultures are just the same.. They are telling stories from the past and the present to be passed on through generations. Some cultures use costumes, body paint and musical instruments.
Watch one of the Youtube clips and discuss what animals the students can see through the movement of the dancers.
Teacher ‘Why are they doing it?’ ‘What are they talking about?’ ‘Can you remember what animals they were moving like?’ ‘Have a look at their arms, legs, back, etc.’ ‘Can you remember last lesson when we started to use facial expressions to make it more interesting? Were the dancers doing that?’.
After watching and discussing the movement the students can have a go at making their own animal movements. Have half the class watching and half dancing so they can give feedback on whether they could see similar movement.
Watch another Youtube clip and repeat the process.
Point out the similarities and differences between the dances and the cultural dances viewed- eg. different levels, tempo, shapes, quality, music, costumes, body paint, facial expressions, etc.
Warm down and Reflection. / Aboriginal Dance.
Students are not to copy Aboriginal dances- they are to make their own movements.