Thoughts on Teaching: How to make a story dance into a concept-based activity
This entry was prompted by a question from reader Kerry B., who is currently teaching at a ballet studio. She wants to know how to integrate the expectations of ballet for young students with the creative, concept-based approach.
Here’s the story dance exemplar she provided, and my response.
Example: “At the Castle”
For ages: 4-5
Story Outline:
Driving to the castle, skipping to castle stable, marching with soldiers to get horses, trotting and galloping with horses, marching to dungeon, creeping around dungeon, tip toe out, walking into garden, hopping on stepping stones. Tip toe into room to prepare for ball, group and solo dances at ball, grande waltz, leaving ball
Music Suggestions:
Driving – An American in Paris (Gershwin)
Skipping – Skipping Song from Songs for Dancing (instrumental only)
Trotting & Galloping –
Galloping Song from Songs for Dancing (instrumental only)
The Magic Toy Shop: Tarantella, Shostakovich
Ballet Suite No. 1: Galop, Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20A – 6 Act3: Spanish Dance
Marching – Firebird: Infernal Dance of King Kastchel’s Subjects, Stravinsky
Creeping – Op.46, In The Hall of Mountain King, Edvard Grieg
Tip toe – Walk – Hop – Tip Toe – Ballet Suite No. 1 – Music Box Waltz, Shostakovich
Waltz – From Coppelia
Concept Connections:
Driving to the castle… pathways and directions in space.
Skipping to castle stable, marching with soldiers to get horses…. light and strong weight (or can continue with previous concepts)
Trotting and galloping with horses….locomotor movement and speed. (Or can continue with previous concepts) Imagination – be the horses.
Marching to dungeon, creeping around dungeon…. levels in space.
Tip toe out, walking into garden, hopping on stepping stones…. structure a phrase with elements from each locomotor movement idea. Repeat it several times. Can bring back the pathway and direction concepts.
Tip toe into room to prepare for ball…. This is a transition to reimagining the environment. Preplan with dancers for where they will end in the space for the next section. Potentially a large circle, so that in the next section, dancers will take turns in the middle.
Group and solo dances at ball…. opportunity for ¾ time lyrical improvisational dancing. Can tap dancers on the shoulder to indicate when they dance in. When you cue them to come out, they tap a dancer to take their place.
Grande waltz…everyone dances!
Leaving ball… end in a final body shape.
What to do with…Down By the Station
With early childhood, in the school setting, when the children come to me, I use Down By the Station (from Songs for Dancing) as the transition to entering the gross motor space and forming a circle.
It sets the stage for imaginative play, reminds children that they have not come to ride the bikes or play on the climbing structure, and ends us in a desirable spatial formation.
From there, we either sit or stand for a welcome activity, followed by our warm up.
After doing this song/activity every week for many weeks, the children were no longer ‘transformed.’ Spirited children were getting into other people’s personal space, etc. It has become one more single file line, and we know there are already plenty of those in the school setting!
I DO know that children like to MOVE, and, once the newness wears off, walking on the beat just won’t cut it.
SO…I told the children we were going to do a special kind of train. First it was a JUMPING train. Then, after we’d pointed out all the different animals and plants we saw on our train trip and returned to the song, we were a HOPPING train.
This changed it up just enough to add interest, it was aerobic and exciting, and accomplished the activity objective (get into the space, end in a circle, sing, move, imagine).
Look for different locomotor movements (stomping, turning, tipping side to side), energy qualities (shaky, sharp), or levels (high and low) to spice things up in your own train….or when leading ANY SINGLE FILE LINE.
Think outside the box (car)!
What to do with…..Resting
Resting is the last component of my lesson with Head Start (ages 3-5) and the mid-point component of my studio classes in creative dance. There are lots of kinds of music you can play during resting: lullabies (I favor Carol Rosenberger’s Such Stuff As Dreams, James Galway’s Nocturnes, or you can use the last two tracks from my Brain Bop CD, or the Resting music from Songs for Dancing).
Lately, I’ve added some verbal prompts for my Head Start students, since some have a hard time settling.
First, I ask them to find a place with empty space on either side, and to do ‘the 3 S’s’: straight, still and silent. Straight means arms are straight by their sides, and legs are straight. An aligned body, lying face up.
Sometimes I ask for ‘3 P’s’: patient, polite and peaceful. By being still and quiet, they are showing respect to the others.
If you choose to give each child an alignment adjustment, the ‘patient’ word helps them remember to wait their turn.
Finally, when we are done (the duration of a musical selection, 2-4 minutes), I ask students to ‘sit up to the mountain.’
That’s the Mountain Breathing position, a simple yoga seated posture, with hands above the heads, fingers touching, in a mountain shape.
Then, we place our hands on our chest and say, as call and response, “I feel calm…..I feel peaceful….I feel relaxed.”
After that, we float our hands down. If lining up to depart the space, we may float like clouds, balloons or other soft things, with the calm, peaceful, relaxed feeling and moving slowly, smoothly and safely.
What to do with…Show Your Feelings!
Show Your Feelings! is found on AlphaBeat.
Use visual supports to frame the experience.
I recommend Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner. This book has photos of children making faces and covers almost all the feelings in the song.
Before you do the song, read the book. For non-readers, I replace the word ‘loving’ with ‘peaceful,’ since that vocabulary appears in the song. I usually skip the page with ‘serious’ and ‘silly.’
As you do the song, you can say, “Hmm, I wonder what’s next?” modeling the feeling of being ‘curious.’
After you’ve done the song, review the images again. You can ask them if the group was ‘curious’ about anything during the song….someone will likely chime in “We wondered what was next!”
You can also create your own visual supports by taking pictures of your students (individual or group) as they perform the song. Print the pictures and caption them with the emotions. Make an emotion word wall, and use these as a reference to help children verbally identify and express their emotions.
Thanks to Rachel at the Savoy Head Start for the emotion word wall idea!
Lesson Plan Series for ages 3-5: Lessons 11-15
This is the third and final post in this Lesson Plan Series.
Notice these things:
- Simplify more complex activities to make them age appropriate.
- Teach a skill, then apply it in the following activity.
- Use visual supports to teach, empower and improve memory.
Simplify more complex activities to make them age appropriate.
For Here We Go Round and Round, I adapted a circle dance that is usually done holding hands, traveling around the circle line.
Since the concept was ‘Body Parts.’ I made the circling into ‘circle one body part, one way and the other.’ The sequence of the dance remained the same except for that. I posted the downloadable visual support for this dance, found on the Songs for Dancing CD, so we could use it as a visual reference. See my post called What to do with…. Here We Go Round and Round for more details on that.
Teach a skill, then apply it in the following activity.
See my post called Using Galloping Song to teach Apples and Oranges for more details on that!
Use visual supports to teach, empower and improve memory.
Use the letter “S” to teach qualities: smooth, sharp, shaky and swinging. You can even use letter blends – sh, and sw – if you want to up the challenge level. Use the “S” visual for review, to check for understanding.
See my post called What to do with….Imaginary Journey to download the visuals for that activity. Use the visuals before you teach, while you are teaching, and when you review. Very powerful and empowering for the children.
Finally, use your collection of visuals as an archive.
When it’s free choice time, I place three pictures in front of a child and ask him/her to choose which activity we will do. If there’s time, pick another child to choose another activity after you’ve done the first one. There are all kinds of methods you can use to select and sequence free choice activities when the visual supports are available. I keep my visual supports in page protectors in a binder. I either put the ones I’m offering for free choice on a 1″ book ring for ease of flipping pages, post them on the board, or lay them out on the floor.
Here are the last 5 lessons in this series.
Lesson 11 Body Parts 2
Lesson 12 Body Parts 3
Lesson 13 – Pulse and Pattern
Lesson 14 – Expression and Quality
Lesson 15 – Imagination and Quality
Enjoy your time with the children!
Tips for teaching 2-3 year olds
Here’s a good question from a reader: Do you have any ideas or tips, suggestions for the 2 and 3 yrs. old group? Their attention span is so short, and preventing chaos it’s always a must. Do you have any suggestions on how to balance the fun and learning concepts with this age group? In your opinion, what are the most important concepts and skills for the 2 and 3 yrs. old to learn in a dance class environment?
This is such a tough age when it’s just you and a group of children, rather than a parent/child program. My first thought is always to include parents with this age group when possible, so they can bond and communicate through movement, develop a shared vocabulary of movement and continue the play at home.
However, if that’s not possible, look at where these young children are developmentally. Little ones have not yet grasped the idea that you cannot read their minds. They also play in parallel rather than relating to one another.
In her book Creative Dance for All Ages, Anne Green Gilbert says 2-4 year olds learn through imitation, manipulation, observation and exploration.
Let’s look at each of these.
For imitation, use a lot of “I model, you copy” and “Do what I do.” Teach with tons of eye contact and positive, smiling energy. Modulate your voice. Scan the group with your eyes.
Strike just the right balance when pacing the lesson. The first time you do it, go slow enough to catch their attention. In later repetitions, you can speed up a bit. Keep teaching light, friendly, and fun. And don’t take it personally when kids go through their changes. Mood swings are common; don’t get attached to the sadness…they don’t!
Manipulation means using touch to communicate. When I do cross lateral movement, for example, I will pick up the arm or leg of the child next to me so she/he can feel the action. Think of all the finger play, tickling and bouncing games that have movement in them and can be done one on one, in a parent/child class. A hand puppet is a fun prop to use for appropriate touch, such as teaching body parts. Around goes the puppet touching each child on the shoulder, the knee, etc. as you name the parts.
Observation means watching and listening. Some children will choose to watch you and do very little movement themselves in class, even week after week, and then go home and sing the songs and perform the actions in the safety of their familiar environment. Be patient with the shy watchers. They will come to you.
Exploration is about teaching the dance concepts. Limit yourself two ideas for a concept area, such as size (big and small), level (high and low), direction (forward, backward, etc.) and speed (fast and slow). When you come back to a concept later, you can layer in additional points. Look for activities, songs and stories that emphasize your chosen concept, and let that be the thread that runs through the lesson. Check for understanding by having children show you: Show me a big shape! A small shape!
If a child can see, hear and do the concept…. they are on their way to understanding it.
Work in a circle. Move in all directions and levels on your spot. Move forward and back towards the center of the circle (It’s like a flower closing and opening, the petals meet in the middle.…model that once before they join you!) Move around the circle line. Eventually, days into the semester, move away from and back to the circle (model that, too…..expect chaos. Be ready with a sound cue that says ‘dance away’ and ‘come back home.’)
Use visual aids: pictures and picture books. Alternate between picture and movement instead of all the pictures followed by all the movement. Example: Using the book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, have children move each animal as it appears in the story, then return to the book, sit down, and discover the next animal. Guide the movement with ideas you’ve already come up with, such as a big and small face for a lion’s silent ‘roar’ or a tip-toeing, arms-reaching -up ‘giraffe.’ This will also control the chaos.
Sing! Play lively music!
The age of a child plus 2 minutes = a typical attention span. Therefore, structure your lessons in 5 minute increments and make sure to keep the instruction brief with plenty of movement time.
Expect to ‘play rather than plié’. By that I mean hard-wired skill development should be fun and brief.
Repeat, repeat, repeat…then do something new.
Set routines and follow them…. just plug in different activities but keep the structure familiar. You can even post the routine and point out where you are in the flow of the lesson during the first few weeks. This relaxes the anxious child who wants to know when they will go home! Familiarity breeds comfort.
Transition strategies are also part of routine and familiarity. Name the formations and transition strategies with the same words, play the same clean up tune, etc. In time, everyone becomes empowered and loves to show you that they know what to do when you say the words or play the tune.
Through dance, we teach the super-important life skill of following instructions.
My four tools that I want children to know are Concentration, Body Control, Imagination and Memory. (You can simplify the language: Watch and Listen, Control Yourself, Pretend, and Remember) I teach each with a gesture and use the word/gesture combinations frequently. Sometimes all I need is the gesture.
Decide on your cues/words for transitions for following instructions, such as ‘look at me’ or “my turn first, now your turn” or “1,2,3 ears on me, eyes on me as well” when modeling a skill.
What are some other strategies that you, my readers, would like to share on this topic?
Lesson Plan Series for Ages 3-5: Lessons 6 -10
This next set of 25-30 minute lessons would work best in a gross-motor space rather than the classroom. However, if you are restricted to your room, make sure to clear away the obstructions that will hamper your success. Guide children away from the edges of the space and into the open spaces.
I generally teach in a circle, the most democratic of spatial formations and also the one that leaves all that valuable real estate open in the center. Go ahead and have some students be ‘jelly filling’ inside the ‘doughnut’ when possible. Different children can have that privilege on different days. You can also have every other child scoot forward from his/her spot on the circle, to leave more space on either side.
Another strategy for spreading children out is to use tape markings or portable markers, such as yoga squares. You already may have carpets with designs on them that the children have become accustom to. Just make sure they aren’t jammed together.
Changing the way you use space is NEW and novelty always creates a little chaos.
Give this new spatial arrangement three times……by the third time of doing something differently, the children — and you — will have settled into a ‘new normal’ during movement time.
These lessons are on the concepts of Direction and Speed, Energy, Shape, and Body Parts. In the middle of the sequence is a new warm up, to change up what you are doing with the children. After you’ve done this new warm up 3-5 times, you can go back to the previous warm up and switch them out thereafter. This is also true of welcome and hello songs and dances.
My ‘Rule of Three’ applies here, too. Do a new hello song times, then switch it out with something different. The children will appreciate the novelty at that point.
Lesson 6 Direction Speed 2014
Lesson 7 on Energy 2014
Lesson 8 New Warm Up 2014
Lesson 9 Shape
Lesson 10 Body Parts
Enjoy!
Lesson Plan Series for Ages 3-5: Lessons 1-5
This is the first of three posts. Each will provide you with a set of five lesson plans.
Here’s the back story: I have been providing creative dance instruction at an early childhood center every spring for the many years. Since teaching is always an opportunity to mentor the educators in the room, I also provide them with detailed lesson plans. The plans here are from spring, 2014.
These lessons progress through a variety of dance concepts, such as place, direction, level.
You’ll get a good idea for how to shape a curriculum that moves the children from simple to more complex learning over the course of time, and for the value of repetition. We know that learners benefit from the comfort of repetition and the excitement of novelty. Striking a balance between the two is part of our job as educators.
For the most part, I teach in a gross-motor room, blocking off part of the space if it is too large, and indicating where to start as children enter the room in a moving line. This start spot can be a yoga square or polyspot. From that start spot, we travel until we arrive in a circle.
I do this to model a different way of experiencing a space that is usually dedicated to tricycle riding, running and climbing.
When I teach in the classroom, we form a circle. Sometimes, when space is very tight, I bring spots to scatter so we aren’t bunched up together or bumping into the edges of the space (radiators, bookshelves, etc.)
If you teach in a studio, these lessons will work nicely as well.
I use a CD player or, when possible, I use an ipod or iphone with the playlist programmed in. I also carry a binder with visual supports that I’ve made by downloading images from the internet, drawing my own pictures, or using the downloadable visuals on my Songs for Dancing CD.
In a previous post, I gave you images for Imaginary Journey (a song from Alphabeat). Check that out to get an idea for how you can let the pictures explain some of the key images and ideas, and empower the children through visual literacy.
Happy Dancing!
As always, I welcome your comments on your experiences with working with the material. Lesson 1 on Place 2014Lesson 2 Warm Up 2014Lesson 3 Direction 2014Lesson 4 Direction 2014Lesson 5 Level Direction 2014
What to do with….Imaginary Journey
Imaginary Journey is from AlphaBeat. (You can download the track or the whole CD from itunes or order a disc through my website: katekuper.com)
Use visual supports!
Children may have no knowledge or experience with ‘astronauts’ and their ‘helmets.’ Not to mention ‘ice skates,’ or ‘meadows.’
I link this to the “S” words that demonstrate energy/movement quality: sharp, smooth, shaky and swinging.
I show them the letter ‘S’ and the blended sounds of ‘sh’ /’sm’/’sw’
for the energy words. Every time they identify the energy, we briefly move on our spot, still seated, using that energy. Show me shaky movement…Freeze!
Then, as I show them each picture and we talk about what we see in the pictures, I ask them about the quality. How will we move as astronauts? Smooth. Through blue Jell-O? Shaky.
I add other ‘S’ words as we go along: skate, stick, snow, strong and slow (for taking big steps through the snow).
I also model the line of direction (LOD) we’ll use as we go through the space (generally around in a circle).
Finally, after the dance is done, I show each picture again and ask them: What did we do when we were here? Or “How did we move when we were here?” I can follow that up with “Was it smooth or sharp?”
This is a great way to work on imagination and energy qualities, and make language and vocabulary connections.
I’ve attached a collection of images you can show before you start the activity.
What to do with…. Here We Go Round and Round
Here We Go Round and Round is from Songs for Dancing.
Here’s an adaptation for 3-5 year olds!
Using the downloadable visual that comes with the CD, sing/play the song and point to the pictures, so the children get the road map.
For the verses: Teach/co-create the movement for ‘head,’ ‘arm,’ ‘leg,’ and ‘whole self.’ You can brainstorm with the children to decide specifics for in, out, and shake.
For all the chorus parts (“Here We Go Round and Round”), circle different body parts in place. During the transition, after “all on a beautiful day,” count down as you jump on your spot “4,3,2,1!”
Start with Dancer’s Choice or Teacher’s Choice (I do hips…. the hula hoop variety…. circling one way, then the other)
After that, for every chorus, use the body part that matches the verse.
Example:
Verse: Let’s put our head in…..
Chorus: Circle head one way, then the other.
Develop your own ideas for how to circle arms or legs. Brainstorm with the children and try different things on different days.
Conclude with ‘whole self’ turning around in space and help the children stop by saying “Feet Stay!” as the music ends!
I guarantee that these adaptations make a complex dance manageable for little ones!
Teach this to support naming and using parts of the body, moving on a steady beat, remembering a sequence, and for aerobic exercise.
Remember your job will be to cue or signal the transitions between each part. Leave the picture on the floor in front of you for quick reference.
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