Although my space is clean & clear,
I’m still processing the end of year…
For many years I’ve gone directly from the close of school to teaching an intensive graduate course on “Learning through Movement.” It’s made for a grueling transition to summer vacation, but it’s always given me a chance to take a long view on [...]
Entries Tagged as 'primary'
Post-performance reflection: 2nd grade
June 25th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Tags:primary·reflection·students
Post-performance reflection: 1st grade
June 12th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
The 1st grade dance was based on number sense, in 3 parts:
I. Groups of students grew from low to high, counting from 1-10 in various languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Somali, Cambodian, Arabic, Laotian, Tagalog, Cham, Korean, and English. It was usually their home language, but a few had a language from martial arts, [...]
Post-performance reflection: kindergarten
June 9th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
First, a rush of relief — the performances came off fantastically!
Then, the rush of all the “to-do’s” that have been piling up… scheduling for next year, plans for end-of-year activities & events, grades for report cards, & post-performance reflections.
Here are some of kindergarten responses after watching a video of their work (the writing is [...]
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 length!). Kids love [...]
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 along every year, [...]
Tags:behavior·getting started·intermediate·lesson plans·management·primary·teaching
Rehearsal: skill development for kindergarteners
June 18th, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Performance over, there’s finally time to review the process…
There’s a lot to learn in the process of rehearsal, if the dance is built for continuous learning. And although the goal of rehearsal would seem to be a more perfect performance, it’s not. It’s growth. There’s a limit to how perfectly kindergarteners are going to perform, [...]
Performance: Kids & costumes & sound, oh my!
June 7th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized
The silence resounding on this blog since the last entry reflects in reverse the noisy mantra that took over my brain and all spare moments of my life the past few weeks, accelerating toward and recovering from performance. Like the shrill chant of “lions & tigers & bears” in The Wizard of Oz, the details [...]
Tags:chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·logistics·management·obstacles·performance·primary
Performance: Learning x 325
May 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Busy time of year… building toward the final performance. We’ve had small performances throughout the year — one class at a time, showing something at the end of a unit. And we meant to have a performance last December, but it was stormed out. So the excitement is bubbling now. Each day, students ask me, [...]
Tags:achievement gap·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·logistics·performance·primary·teaching
Classroom management: space vs. energy
April 16th, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Spring break may still be on my mind, but it ends quickly. Immediately following spring break, we start choreographing dances for the End-of-Year Performance. The assessments I did before spring break fulfill State requirements and provide data for evaluation of my own performance. But the End-of-Year Performance is for parents, the staff, and especially the [...]
Tags:behavior·chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·management·obstacles·performance·primary·students·teaching
Mid-year: What have we learned, and where do we go from here?
March 8th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
From September through December, we danced. January was music and percussion month. This last Friday, we finished a month of theatre (2 sessions of 2 weeks each). Having played with, discussed, mastered?, explored, and pursued theatre vocabulary and skills, we’ll return to dancing tomorrow.
First & second graders have now developed skills of observation, sensory memory, [...]
Tags:getting started·intermediate·management·primary·students·teaching