Lesson 6 - Creating Dance Phrases

Dance

A1.1 Creating and Presenting: translate into dance a variety of movement sequences observed in nature

A1.2 Creating and Presenting: use dance as a language to explore and communicate ideas derived from a variety of literature sources

 Dance

• I can use movement to communicate ideas about how animals use their habitats for survival
• I can use the elements of dance to help me communicate my ideas
• I can talk about my own dance pieces and that of my classmates and communicate ideas about them using the elements of dance vocabulary

Whole Group > Brainstorming

On chart paper, list all of the animals researched by the class.  Beside each animal, brainstorm a list of ing verbs describing how they move (e.g., rabbit:  scurrying, hopping, jumping, bobbing, etc.) Invite students to find their own space, not touching one another. Tell students that they will be exploring various ways animals move based on your verbal cues (e.g., scurry like a rabbit at a low level, slither like a worm in a circular pathway from slow to fast).

Whole Group > Movement Game

Play a game using the pictures of animals and movement words. Explain that each animal represents one specific way of moving (e.g. fox = trotting at a medium level, mallard duck = floating at a low level). Invite students to move around the room. Hold up one picture and ask students to move in that way and continue until they see the next picture or the teacher signals stop moving with a sound like hand clapping. 

Movement Game Instructions:

Using the animals pictures above, show a picture and call out a movement style and a level. Allow the students to explore that movement for several moments before showing another picture and calling out a new way of moving and a different level.

Examples:

• fox - leaping - medium level
• rabbit - hopping - low level
• worm- squiggling - low level
• ant - creeping - low level 
• cardinal - flapping - high level
• deer - scampering - medium level
• beaver - waddling - low level 
• raccoon - creeping - medium level

When cuing students, use the elements of dance vocabulary

Differentiated Instruction 

(DI)

Photocopy student pictures of the various animals and post around the room to use as a visual aid.

Whole Group > Modelling Summarizing Information

Explain to the students that they are going to be creating a dance phrase based on what they have learned about how animals use their habitat to survive. Ask students to get out their animal research in their journals and highlight key information about how animals use their habitats to survive.   Model how to take this information and summarize it in one sentence through a think aloud for the students (e.g., an earthworm burrows in the soft ground to hide from predators, a squirrel climbs trees to rest and escape from predators, ants eat leaves to survive).

Individual > Writing a Summary

Tell students that they must now write a one sentence summary about one way their animal uses their habitat for survival. Instruct students to write this sentence on a cue card.

Whole Group > Bodystorming

In a large, open space, invite students to form a circle and to bring their cue cards with them. Engage students in a bodystorming exploration (see teacher notes for bodystorming) using their cue cards as their prompt. Side coach using elements of dance vocabulary. Prompts: Have you tried this movement at a different tempo, level, etc.? How can you make it larger and more fluid etc.? By the end of this exploration, each student should have a movement that can be performed in four beats.  Practise with the beat of a drum, or counting together.

Small Group > Experimenting with Creating Dance Phrases

Group students in small groups (3 - 5 students). Inform students that they will be doing three tasks: reading their cue card to their group; showing what their four beats of movement looks like; teaching their four beats of movement to their group members. 
Encourage students to talk through their movement (e.g., use your left hand starting at your waist and reach up above your head while opening up the fingers) while teaching their group members. The goal is for everyone to be very precise in the execution of the movement. Ask one student to volunteer to do this to model this process for all to see. Encourage group members to ask specific questions about how to move (e.g., Do I start with my right foot? Can you show me that movement again, more slowly please?). Once students have learned all of the movement phrases for their group, direct them to make the following decisions: (post on the blackboard):

Guiding Questions for Setting the Choreography: 

1) In what order will you sequence the group's movements?
2) What formation will you use? (see teacher notes for dance formation suggestions)
3) How will you begin your dance (group entrance, individual entrances, with music, in silence,  tableau)?
4) How will you end your dance (group exit, individual exits, with music, in silence, tableau)?

Model this process with a volunteer group, talking through each decision out loud. Remind students to make choices that help communicate their messages written on the cue cards (e.g., students might choose the scattered formation to relay the notion of hiding behind trees in the habitat). Encourage students to plan and practise their movement phrases (see page 20 of the Arts Document for the creative process: "Exploring/Experimenting, and "Producing Preliminary Work", stages of the creative process). 

Whole Group > Generating Success Criteria for Effective Dance Work

After having given students time to experiment with their movements, discuss what an effective dance work should consist of and record as an anchor chart (see teacher's notes).

Small Group > Revising, Refining and Performing Dance Phrases

Invite students to continue working, using the success criteria to refine and revise their work. Once students have had several opportunities to create, revise and refine their work, share the pieces with the whole class in three ways: all together at the same time; half the class performs, and half the class watches; and then switch: one group performs at a time.

Possible Extensions:  

1) Bring in several different types of music and allow students to perform their movement phrases to the different pieces of music. Use guiding questions to help students to make a final selection, with a focus on how the music supports their meaning.
2) Incorporate the students' chants/poems into the dance pieces (e.g., a group could perform their chant while another performs their dance piece.

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

Circulate amongst the students while they are bodystorming, and side coach using elements of dance vocabulary.

Students will provide descriptive feedback, based on success criteria to peers using BLM #13.

Assessment for Learning (AaL/AfL) 

 - uses the elements of dance (review and refer to p.100 of the Arts Curriculum, previously looked at in Lesson 2) 
 -links all four movements together in an interesting way
 - has a clear beginning and end
 - uses concise, clear movements

Assessment for/of Learning (AfL/AoL) 

Use BLM #14: Teacher Checklist and Observation Sheet to track individual student progress in relation to dance expectations

Dance Formation Suggestions

(to be posted on the wall for reference)
circle
square
scattered
corridor
two lines facing the same way
two lines back to back
diamond
horseshoe
circle within a circle

During the small group creation of phrases, side coach  to prompt students to use dance elements. Provide specific, descriptive feedback to each group, and to individual students.

Notes for Bodystorming

If your class has never done this before, start off as whole group in a circle.  Read aloud one student's cue card and ask students, "How might we move this way?"

Explore that as a whole class. After exploring a few cue cards, invite students to individually work on their own cue card. Cue students to start and stop using your voice, or a drum, etc.

If students are hesitant to start, you could lower the lights, and ask students to face outward so that exploration can be done in privacy. Instead of a circle, you could also invite students to find their own space in the room.

Differentiated Instruction

(DI) 

Depending on readiness, some students may benefit from working in pairs before working in groups.

Individual/Small Group > Assessment Checklist
Invite students to complete BLM #12: Self-Assessment Dance Checklist for their own work, and complete BLM #13: Peer Assessment Dance Checklist for another group. Share this with the group.   

Use BLM #12 for self-assessment and BLM #13 for peer feedback.
Use BLM #14 for teacher tracking of student progress.