I may be a dance specialist, but I’m no step dancer! Nonetheless, it’s been great to see my students working on precision footwork, thanks to Malke Rosenfeld’s Math in Your Feet unit, published last year in the Teaching Artist Journal (one of the sources I count as part of my Professional Learning Community). Through a […]
Entries Tagged as 'lesson plans'
Math In Your Feet
December 27th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
Tags:curriculum integration·intermediate·lesson plans·management·teaching
Resources for integrating dance with curriculum
December 3rd, 2010 · Comments Off · dance arts integration into academic subjects
There are a lot of dancing minds out there at work, developing great ways to integrate dance with curriculum. Here are a few resources, shared via email on NDEO’s K-12 Special Interest Group Forum.* These resources offer some nitty gritty about how-to’s & what-do-you-need?’s… Books: Teaching the 3Rs through Movement Experiences, by Anne Green Gilbert; […]
Whispers barely heard in the current cacophony on education
November 14th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
Yipes. I’ve had too much on my plate of late to blog. But this is still a place to capture & share thoughts for later.. Play is a central condition for learning. There are & have always been teachers who know that play is central to learning. When I have time, perhaps I’ll elaborate on […]
Tags:African American·dancing·intermediate·lesson plans·management·primary·why dance matters
Transition back from vacation…
April 4th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
A good vacation is when you have no one but yourself to manage. It’s been a good vacation! As I brought up my lesson plan template for planning this coming week’s classes, I realized why the coming weeks (and months) have been looming large in my mind. Starting Tuesday (tomorrow I’ll be teaching a day […]
Tags:choreography·culture·curriculum integration·lesson plans·performance·teaching
Check this out: Math Dance
April 2nd, 2010 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
The Math Dance website is the place to go for further information on DanceTeacher Magazine‘s K-12 article on the math explorations of Karl Schaffer & Erik Stern (March 2010). They’ve included some versatile lesson plans related to math, as well as a link to a video of their work.
Dancing for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 16th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Lesson Plans
Context: I taught this series of lessons this week in response to a late request for some dances for the school’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly (scheduled for & completed this past Thursday). My initial response was “no can do!” because I’d already planned my classes — focused on introducing the choreographic devices of […]
Tags:African American·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·lesson plans·performance·teaching
A single clear teaching point
January 10th, 2010 · 5 Comments · Uncategorized
With my classes cut to 30 minutes this year, it’s been more important than ever to define a single clear teaching point for each class, so I’ve taken to writing on the board the kernel of learning I want the kids to grasp. I start with it, I teach to it, & I end with […]
Lesson plan: Let’s do an improvisation!
January 2nd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Lesson Plans
Context: In my years of teaching classroom teachers how to use movement in the classroom, I’ve always cautioned, “Never put on music & just tell the kids to dance!” That would be wild-party-time not dance education, and the resulting chaos would likely discourage anyone from inviting dance into the classroom. This year, however, I’ve been […]
Tags:dancing·improvisation·lesson plans·music·teaching·thinking
Lesson Plan: The Toy Shop
December 31st, 2009 · 1 Comment · Lesson Plans
Grades: Kindergarten-2nd grade Teaching points: Dancers use free & bound flow. Dancers tell stories through narrative dance. Targets: Explore free & bound flow; Participate in a story-telling dance. Context: This lesson takes two 30-minute sessions, one to introduce/explore the element of flow and the other to develop/enact the story (or one session of more reasonable […]
Tags:curriculum·curriculum integration·kindergarten·lesson plans·primary·teaching
Lesson Plan: Setting parameters to get started
October 13th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Lesson Plans
Grades: 1st-5th grades Teaching points: The dance classroom has standards: Make good decisions. Show respect. Solve problems. [These are school-wide standards.] Targets: Understand & practice the nitty gritty: standards, routines & procedures for dance class; Get moving! Context: Just now it’s no longer the first week of school, but the first week of school comes […]
Tags:behavior·getting started·intermediate·lesson plans·management·primary·teaching