The appendix is intended to give teachers ideas for teaching the dance elements within dance units. It includes suggested activities that relate the dance elements to the students' own world.
Teachers can use the appendix in a number of ways. The suggested activities contained within the appendix:
Have the students think of things that move and then stop. For example, a ball rolls and comes to a stop; trains move and stop; planes fly and land; and machines start and stop. Draw the students' attention to the fact that our day is shaped by stopping and starting - our play, work, eating, and sleeping. Use objects found in the classroom to demonstrate starting and stopping.
Ask the students what “freezing” means to them. Have them think of things that are frozen (e.g., ice cubes, ice cream, icicles). Explain to students that the word “freeze” in dance means to be very still, not to move, not even to wiggle the nose.
Have students run and freeze using signals given by the teacher; for example, drum sounds or words. Shake and freeze on the spot, varying the body parts used. (Note: Use clear signals the students understand for starting and stopping.)
Explore words that naturally connote stopping (e.g., freeze, squeeze, and fall). Combine these stopping actions with other actions in various ways (e.g., shake, shake, shake, freeze; jump, jump, fall).
Have students look at things that move. When some things move, they travel from one place to another. An example might be toy trucks. When other things move, they stay in one spot; for example, flags in the wind. When we move, we can travel or we can move on the spot (locomotor, non-locomotor).
Explore actions that are locomotor and non-locomotor (e.g., clap, jump, stop, twist, roll, rise, and wave). Have students guess which actions are which.
Guide students throughout the year in selecting locomotor and non-locomotor actions appropriate to students' dance creations.
Practise different kinds of walks, runs, leaps, slides, gallops, jumps, hops, turns, twists, stretches, and bends. Demonstrate a few ideas to stimulate students' imaginations.
Encourage students to use a variety of movements in the dance creations; for example, walking with the knees high, walking in a crouch, or walking in a floppy way.
Explore action words such as:
Encourage students to use a variety of actions in the dance creations.
Explore different ways of moving and then stopping in a “cookie cutter shape”. For example, have students whirl and twirl and stop, crouch low, then extend into a cookie cutter shape. Apply this activity by having students end their dance phrases in a shape.
Explore actions by taking unusual shapes and then traveling. Suggest the following to the students:
Explore new vocabulary verbs through movement. Use the movements in the students' dance creations when appropriate.
Have students observe different toys such as a spinning top, a rag doll, a slinky, a ball, or a toy snake. Ask students to describe how the toys move. Record the descriptive words on the board. Explore the descriptive words of one toy through movement; for example, a rag doll flops, folds, and bends.
Read stories and poems or sing songs that are appropriate as stimuli for action ideas.
Explain to students that, in dance, the body is the instrument. Say to the students, “In art, we draw with a pencil or paint with a brush. In dance, we are the brush. There is only one of us in all of time. We can't throw our bodies away or get new ones. Our bodies must be cared for and respected.”
Have the students look at their own bodies. Make statements, such as “Point to your big body parts”. Make a list of the body parts. Label a large picture of the body.
Have the students notice how certain objects, such as toy trucks, move. When a truck moves, the whole thing moves. Other objects have moving parts but do not move themselves; a clock, for example, where just the hands move. Relate this idea to students' own bodies. We can move the whole body or we can move body parts.
Ask students how many ways students can move their arms, legs, and other body parts. Explore different ways of moving the body parts (e.g., swinging arms, marching arms, and reaching arms).
Have students find body shapes where a body part is very important. Ask students to make a shape where their legs are important. To stimulate exploration, ask students if they can keep a shape while moving. What are their legs, arms, and knees doing? Change their shapes and make another body part important.
Encourage students to be aware of their body parts in dance experiences. Have students include body part actions in the dance creations (e.g., scooping with arms and hands, creating a shape in which the feet are very important, or walking with the feet reaching).
Explore using body parts to pull the body through space. If students have trouble with this, use the image of “eyes” on a body part to help students. For example, tell them they have an “eye” on their elbow and it must lead the rest of the body.
Explore whole body and body part movements. Give directions such as, “Shake a leg, shake a seat, and run around with dancing feet”. Encourage students to use whole body and body part movements in dance creations.
Use action songs, poems, and picture books that are about body parts as stimuli for dance explorations.
Learn a heritage dance that moves different body parts at various times such as the Mexican Dance La Raspa, where the hands and feet move, and then the whole body moves.
Have the students think of things that take a short time to do (e.g., sneeze, blow a bubble, or eat a food they like). Then think of things that take a long time to do (e.g., walk a kilometre or eat a food students do not like). Relate this idea to movement by saying that some movements take a long time to do; some a short time to do.
Have the students explore long and short movements by responding to sounds (made by the teacher) that last a long or a short time; for example, a long shake of a tambourine, or a quick hit of a drum.
Explore movements that take a long time to complete and movements that take a short time to complete; for example:
Contrast short and long movements. For example, if the movement is waving goodbye before a long trip home, start by waving different body parts at different levels, then travel with slow, heavy, plodding steps weaving in and out through the space.
Have students begin to feel the energy used to move. Introduce this idea by discussing with students the idea that there is energy in the world - in the sun, in electrical storms, and in students' bodies.
Guide students to explore the extremes of the energy continuum, from a lot to a little. Provide experiences for the students to feel their use of energy. They could explore the feeling of the energy of muscular tension in the following ways:
Students could explore the use of energy in rising and sinking actions; for example:
Explore the use of energy in hopping, jumping, and running. For example, feel the effort used to:
Talk to students about actions and discuss how some actions, such as walking and running, have an even rhythm. Some actions have an uneven rhythm; for example, galloping. Have students clap to music or a drumbeat that has even or uneven rhythms. (Note: Because students have different senses of rhythm, some students may find moving to an external beat difficult. Do not worry, they will improve with time.)
Have the students practise walking, running, and galloping to an external beat such as clapping or a drumbeat. Use the external beat to give signals for the students to walk, run, and gallop.
Learn a dance such as The Round Dance (Nakota, Plains Cree), The Duck Dance (M é tis), or Kinderpolka (German). The dances all have even or uneven rhythms.
Draw students' attention to the idea of speed. Ask, “What things can you think of that move quickly? A plane? A horse? The wind? What things can you think of that move slowly? A floating balloon? A turtle?”
Have students experience moving quickly and slowly. Ask, “How fast can you move? Can your hand move quickly? Your arm? Your leg? Can you move slowly?” (Note: Students at this age are usually unable to sustain slow movements for a long period of time.)
Use an image as a stimulus to explore faster and slower actions; for example, popcorn. Pop popcorn for the students to observe. Discuss how the popcorn pops slowly and then quickly. Explore this idea in dance. For example, students could be in popcorn shapes; students could vibrate, increasing the vibrations until students explode. They could let their popcorn shapes slowly droop as if melted butter were being poured over the popcorn.
Look at a wind-up toy that moves quickly, and then unwinds, decreasing in speed until it is still. Discuss how the toy moves slower and slower and slower until it stops.
Explore fast movements that can become slower; for example, a fast shake slowing down to a flicker, or a fast run slowing down to stomps and ending with a flop to the ground.
Have students begin to associate certain movements with feelings. Ask, “When you run very fast, how do you feel? Try it. What about when you run very slowly? Try it. When you are in a small, small shape, how do you feel? What does it make you think of? A large shape?” Discuss with students the feelings various movements arouse.
Collect objects that have different textures (e.g., soft, spiky, hard, smooth, and other obvious textures). Have the students feel the objects with eyes closed. Ask the students to describe how the objects feel. Record the words on the board. Explore the descriptive words through movement (e.g., soft movements, spiky movements, or spiky shapes).
Use emotions (e.g., happy, sad, or quiet) as stimuli for exploring qualities. For example, ask students what they do when they feel happy. The students might say that they giggle, run, or jump. Say, “Show me a giggle. When you giggle, you seem to jiggle your shoulders. Show me how you can jiggle your whole body - a giggle jiggle. Now show me how you can giggle jiggle up and down, up and down and around. Show me how you jump when you are happy.” Continue to explore other “happy” ideas. (Note: In order to avoid pantomime, explore emotions using different body parts and the whole body. Encourage students by asking questions about how each action moves and where it might travel.)
Explore the different qualities of movement when walking in different characters' shoes. Ask the students to show you how they walk in their dad's shoes, their mom's shoes, a fireman's boots, or various other characters' shoes.
Ask students how it feels when they walk through a squishy, oozy, mud puddle in bare feet. Explore different ways of wading through the mud puddle.
Have the students look at the ways objects are placed in the classroom in relationship to each other. For example, some things are close together and some things are far apart; some things are over, some under, some in front of, and some behind. Explain to the students that there are relationships in dance. Ask, “How close together can you put your hands? How far apart? Can you put your hands over your head? Under your seat?” Play a mirror game where the students imitate, or mirror, the teacher's or a partner's movements.
Explore different kinds of relationships the students might have to a partner. For example, have them creep towards, whirl away from, and circle around their partner. Have the students use some of the relationships explored in the dance creations.
Explore different kinds of relationships the students might have to an object:
Discuss with the students how as they look around themselves, they can see space everywhere. Space is always around, above, and beneath them; it is a supporting friend. Have the students walk around the perimeter of their dance space to become familiar with the general space.
Identify places in the general space such as corners of the room and the centre of the room. Play Follow the Leader with the teacher leading, traveling through general space. Run in and outs, zigzag, high and low. Go to different boundaries. Imagine hunting for something.
Practise running and freezing in general space, not colliding with anyone. Encourage the students to feel the space as they move and as they are still (e.g., under their arms, legs, and feet).
Have the students imagine they are a long, thin rocket ship. Have the students start in a low shape on the rocket launch. They rise and travel in and out on a pathway through general space. Finally, they orbit in a circle around an imaginary spot, then return slowly to land safely on earth.
Have the students imagine they are balloons. From a small shape, students gradually expand. When fully blown, they float, sail, and explore all of general space. The balloon leaks and begins to move quickly until the students collapse at a signal given by the teacher.
Draw the students' attention to their personal space, the “bubble space” that surrounds them. Say to the students, “Whether we kneel, sit, or stand, there is space all around us. We can move in this space. We carry a bubble space with us. Imagine yourself inside a bubble.” Blow bubbles from a jar. Explain that the bubble space is much larger than the blown bubble. Have the students visualize themselves inside a bubble space.
Encourage the students to explore their personal space:
Have the students imagine that they are painting pictures around themselves. Have them reach up, down, and wide to the sides. End by turning themselves into a shape in the painting.
Invite students to imagine they are inside space capsules, with their feet toward the launching pad. Have the students explore how high, big, and round their spaceships are. Can they touch the top of it? The bottom? The sides? Reach to the outermost edges? The spaceship is bigger than students thought. Now that they have explored the space with their hands, can students do it with their feet, lying on their backs?
Discuss with the students the idea that there are different directions. When we walk, we usually walk forward. We can also move backward, sideways, upward, or downward. Ask the students to think of times when students might walk, skate, jump, run, or crawl, backwards or sideways. A student might suggest jumping back in fright, or playing a game like hockey. (Note: The image of a magnet or strings pulling the students in a direction might be helpful.)
Use movement to reinforce words that describe space (e.g., over or under). Relate the idea to the students' experiences. When students see a fence, do they go over it or under it? What about a tree lying across their path? What about tall branches? A house? Have students move over, under, and around objects.
Explore movements that use different directions (e.g., moving forward, falling sideways, or jumping backward). Combine the movements explored in different ways; for example, four jumps side-to-side, a squiggly backwards walk, reach up, fall down.
Use the traditional Mother Goose nursery rhymes “Jack Be Nimble” or “Hickory Dickory Dock” as stimuli for exploring directions. For example, “Hickory Dickory Dock” could suggest the following sequence:
Draw the students' attention to the idea that the paths made by their feet can create straight lines or curved lines. Have students draw straight and curved pathways on paper. The pencils should not leave the paper as the pathway is drawn. Show visual examples of different pathways (e.g., a straight line, a zigzag line, a curved line, or a square).
Discuss with the students the routes students take to school. Ask the students if their routes consist of one straight line, two straight lines, a zigzag line, or perhaps a curve. Have the students draw their routes to school on paper. Display.
Invite the students to walk their routes to school on the dance floor. Practise. Explore different ways of tracing pathways (e.g., rolling, hopping, slithering, or a variety of student-selected movements). (Note: Some routes to school may be very complex. If so, direct those students to choose one part of their route to explore.)
Ask the students, “If we were in a forest, how would we get from here to there?” Students might suggest a straight path, a curved path, or a zigzag path. Discuss. Ask the students to create their own pathway for getting from here to there. Practise the pathway until memorized. Explore different ways of moving on the pathway such as sliding, creeping, or swirling.
Create designs on the floor by travelling in different ways; for example, marching in a square, skipping in a circle, or creeping in a straight line. Use visual examples of designs to help the students.
Encourage students to use a variety of pathways in the dance explorations and creations.
Learn a dance that moves in a circle such as the Round Dance (Nakota, Plains Cree), Kinderpolka (German), or Seven Jumps (Danish). Point out that these dances use a circle as a pathway.
Plan a guided tour that features a closer look at the shapes of things found in the classroom or school. Describe the shapes of various objects, using words such as long, wide, thin, or round. Draw the students' attention to the fact that their bodies are a shape, and that their shapes can change. Use modelling clay to demonstrate changing shapes. For example, roll the clay into long, round, or wide shapes.
Have the students explore moving into different shapes, “as if your body were made of modelling clay”. Have students select two or three of their shapes. Use action words to connect the shapes; for example, make shape #1, then run; shape #2, then twirl; shape #3, then freeze.
Discuss with students the idea that there are many different shapes in the world. Show examples of different and unusual shapes. Have students make unusual shapes with modelling clay. Discuss the shapes. Have the students explore making unusual shapes with their bodies. Ask students if their shapes remind students of imaginary creatures. Ask the students how their imaginary creatures might move. Explore the movements.
Draw the students' attention to the size of things in the classroom; for example, small objects, large objects, small spaces, large spaces. Have the students think of things that can be both large and small. Demonstrate. For example, gum can be small or stretched long; tissue paper can be rolled small or stretched out; an elastic band can stretch long; and a balloon can be blown up to become large.
Have the students explore being different sizes. Be aware that children have different ideas of size. Encourage awareness by asking questions such as the following:
Encourage students to use a variety of sizes in dance explorations and creations. Have students run, then on a signal freeze in a small shape; run, then on a signal freeze in a large shape. Change the running action to another action such as galloping or hopping.
Use the traditional Mother Goose nursery rhyme “Star Light, Star Bright” as a stimulus for a dance phrase exploring a large size. The rhyme might suggest the following sequence: