Time: 6-8 weeks
This unit focuses on encouraging students to explore a range of movement possibilities in preparation for their dance-making experiences. As well, the students' kinesthetic perceptions, techniques, and ability to repeat specific movements are developed. These movement explorations may then be incorporated into students' dance and dance-making activities.
Teacher Note:
Unit 1 has been developed as a sample unit for Grade 2 (available on CD-ROM and on Saskatchewan Learning website).
Sample Topic: "One + One = a Duet"
Suggested Resources:
Starter List of Activities
Teacher Note :
The following Starter List of Activities is intended to aid the teacher in planning mini-units and/or units. It is not possible to engage students in all of these activities. Teachers need to choose (or develop their own) activities to support students in exploring Our Bodies in Motion.
1. Introductory Activities
Divide the class into partners. If there are an odd number of students, a group of three will work.
Introduce the concept of shape in dance by exploring various ways to create interesting body shapes with a partner. Focus on creating shapes with the whole body and with various body parts.
Try creating the same shapes at different levels.
Have students take turns being the lead partner. One partner can create a shape and the other partner can copy. Change leaders and create a shape that is unlike their partner's shape.
Explore various ways of travelling away from and toward a partner. Explore the concepts of near and far.
Explore various pathways with a partner. Try to repeat the same pathway, exploring the concepts of lead and follow, and fast and slow.
Practise action phrases with a partner using the whole body and different body parts. Remind students to be aware of their movements and those of the partners and to consider how they could work together to create interesting phrases.
Practise using repetition in the dance phrases. Add variety to the dance phrases. For example, the students may be asked to repeat the same actions for a count of eight, and then to create different actions for a count of eight. Students might repeat the first phrase after the second to create a simple ABA sequence.
2. Main Activities
Guide students through the creation of a duet with a partner. Refer to the dance-making process described in Planning for Students' Dance Making. Select a topic that will support the concept of two people interacting. For example, students might create a duet about action toys, day and night, same and different, near and far, happy and sad, or fear and laughter. Incorporate some of the concepts students explored in the introductory activities such as shape, levels, and pathways.
3. Concluding Activities
Help students to reflect on their work. Ask questions such as the following:
Sample Topic: "Songs for Work or Play"
Suggested Resources:
1. Introductory Activities
Ask students to think of various types of work and occupations. What sorts of tasks do these occupations require people to perform? Select a few occupations to research. Consult school resource centre staff.
Collect pictures, read stories, and interview workers about occupations.
Engage students in a conversation about the kinds of work they do at school and at home. Do they have jobs to do in the school or chores to do around the house or farm? Do students ever pretend to do jobs, such as fly a plane, work in stores, and so on?
2. Main Activities
In a brainstorming activity, generate a list of action words to describe the tasks associated with the various occupations and jobs that have been discussed. Post the list of words on the board or chart paper.
Explore the different actions of each occupation or student's job separately. Encourage students to develop their actions by changing the use of the body, and exploring different space and dynamic concepts. For example, the actions of a person using a keyboard might be pecking, peering, and pausing. Students could explore pecking actions that use the whole body, or a body part such as the head or elbow, for example. The actions could be done very large, moving slowly or travelling quickly.
Another example might be a student's job of taking out the trash. Students could explore lifting, dragging, and releasing actions, using different pathways and levels.
Have students select some of their movements to create a dance phrase. Combine the dance phrases on various occupations to create a “work” composition.
Accompany the students' dance explorations and creations with percussion instruments or music.
In small groups, have students show their compositions, or record the compositions for later viewing. Describe and discuss the dance compositions. Have students reflect on the connections between the dance compositions and the occupations; between the dance creations of other students and own dance experiences.
3. Concluding Activities
Have students investigate the work dances of various cultures.
Have the students learn a work dance; for example, the Shoemaker's Dance (Denmark). Discuss how the work actions are interpreted in the dance.
Look at work dances of various cultures; for example, the Men's Traditional Dance.
Use a process such as one of those suggested in Responding to Arts Expressions to guide students in their responding.