Most of them used the appropriate movements in each section, demonstrating their ability to connect the music to the movements. After trying out the Whirling/Leaping section to music, I had them go right through to the end of the song. When it came time for the students to actually put these movements into the dance, they were were prepared. This meant that while they had enough space between each other to not interfere, they were still able to be involved in the activity for much of the time. Because I wanted all students to be participating as much as possible, I put them into two lines, and had students leave the line every 4 or 5 seconds. By having them form two lines and take turns Whirling and Leaping across the gym they had the freedom to really explore the movements. The activities I chose to use with the students allowed them to focus on the movements themselves, without worrying about the others around them. They described the movement and showed examples, and then we discussed the differences between similar words - like hopping and jumping. I had them do the same for the concept of Leaping. We also discussed differences between turning and whirling. When I introduced the movement of Whirling to the class, I had a few students describe what the word meant to them and a few students modeled the word to the class. They used words like 'quickly' and 'fast.' I asked them what the music made them think of (a storm) and how the leaves would move in this section. The energy of the music picks up noticeably here so the students were able to hear the change easily. Then when they heard the music change, they sat down on the gym floor. The focus of safety paid off and we didn't have any issues around it.īefore the students practiced these movements to music, I had stand up and listen to the initial section of the song. We discussed possible problems they could face (crashing into other students or getting dizzy) and how we could prevent these from happening (eyes up, being aware of others, and not whirling for more than a few seconds at a time). The students were exploring whirling and leaping, which could become dangerous if not approached cautiously. In the second lesson, I spent a great deal of time discussing safety. Lesson #2 Feedback (Right-click on the link and Save target as.) I was impressed with their ability to pull out these elements and point out specific children who had demonstrated these well. They looked for use of levels and pathways, as well as the creativity in their shapes. As one half of the class performed, the other half watched them and gave them specific positive feedback. In the closure of the lesson, students performed the 'moving shapes/drifting/turning' activity for each other. Would they be able to hold their shapes for the introduction section? They went back and refined their shapes so that they were more appropriate. We discussed how their muscles should feel and whether their shapes were suitable for the dance. As the discussion went on, the students really began to stretch their imaginations and come up with some interesting examples.Īs students tried out new shapes in the shape activity (see lesson plan for details) I noticed some of them wobbling around, and some who were actually in pain. Students suggested different adjectives that could be used to describe leaves and then modeled ways to show their words.

I made sure the students were aware that leaves come in numerous shapes, so that they would continue exploring a variety of positions. When I did introduce them to the theme of the dance we discussed different features of various leaves.

I waited to introduce the imagery until part way through this activity, so that their movements would not be restricted to 'leaf shapes.' I wanted them to stretch their imaginations and explore a wide variety of shapes first. In the first lesson, I began with an activity that had the students exploring different shapes with their bodies. See the above links to read peer feedback for this dance.

The peer teaching was useful for refining the lesson to make it more effective. I found ideas for developing the movements in Mary Joyce's First steps in Teaching Creative Dance to Children.įeedback 1 Feedback 2 (Right-click on the link and Save target as.) I kept with the main movement vocabulary that Carline had used, although I omitted 'Freeze'.

She included a lesson that used the imagery of the first snow of the season and went with Bruce Broughton's 'The Boy Who Could Fly.' The class I was originally going to work with had been studying Autumn, so changing the imagery of the dance to 'Falling Leaves' seemed appropriate. I found the idea for this dance in Mary Carline's book, Children Who Dance. Peer Teaching Lesson #1 Lesson #2 Lesson #3

Teacher self reflection examples