Lesson Plans

Intro to Movement

Author- Chandler Leany 

LESSON ORGANIZATION-

Content Objective/Core Standards- 

Standard K.D.P.4:

Demonstrate locomotor and non-locomotor movements.

Standard K.D.P.5:

Demonstrate contrasts in tempo by matching movement to a given beat.

Objective- By the end of the 30 minute lesson the kindergarten class will become familiar with moving different body parts and will perform the 5 basic locomotor steps (walk, run, jump, hop, and leap) when signaled by different sounds on the drum.  

Grade- Kindergarten

Length- 30 minutes

Materials-

·         Drum

·         Speaker and ipod

·         Ribbon streamers

·         Music- Rock n’ Stop and I Got This Feeling by Justin Timberlake

Behavior Expectations- Be Safe, Be a Mover, Be Respectful (to teacher, others, and classroom/materials)

INSTRUCTION PLAN-

Experience/Identify-

Have students come in and sit in a circle. Quickly go over your behavior expectations. Then start the rock n’ stop song. As the music plays start by moving one body part (hands) as students to join in. When the music stops FREEZE! When it starts again start moving a different body part (arms). Again freeze when the music stops. Continue through the whole song gradually moving bigger and working our way up to standing and moving in place.

1.      Hands

2.      Arms

3.      Head

4.      Feet

5.      Legs (slowly bring you to standing)

6.      Shoulders

7.      Elbows

8.      Knees

9.      Whole body

Next, show the students your drum. Tell them it has magical powers to make you dance and also to make you freeze (just like the song we just danced to). Explain to students that you will play a beat for them to move to but when they hear 2 loud clear beats and the drum and the word FREEZE everyone needs to stop where they are as fast as possible. Practice a few times with the students moving/wiggling in place while you play something on the drum then signal them to freeze. Make sure no one is moving and they fully freeze right away!

Next introduce each locomotor step one at a time and have a specific symbol on the drum for each to guide their movement. (spontaneously yell out previous locomotor steps as you get further down the list to remind them of the steps they learned prior).

1.      Walking (even beat on the drum for each step)

2.      Running (same as running but faster)

3.      Jumping (beating the drum with the end of the stick)

4.      Hopping (tapping the stick on the side of the drum)

5.      Leaping (fast quick beats for the runs and one big beat for the leap)

**have them practice freezing as you transition from each step**

CREATE and PERFORM-

Have students form a circle like at the beginning. Pull out ONE dancing ribbon and put it in the middle of the circle and I tell them “I can’t wait to watch the ribbon dance”.  We all sit and watch it just lie on the floor, hoping it’ll dance.  Finally a child will say “you need to help it dance”.  Oh I get it!  :)  Then model dancing with the ribbon.  Then run to "hopefully" find some more ribbons and of course you have ribbons for all to dance with. Allow them to play and dance with the ribbons (making circles, rainbows, squiggles, up and down, ect). Then have them perform the locomotors steps in random order with the ribbons. (play a more fun upbeat song and accompany along with the drum to help them walk, run, jump, hop, leap on the right beat).

CONNECT and ANALYZE

Have students quickly and nicely put the ribbons back into the bag and sit in a circle around it. Ask students what they enjoyed about dancing today? Ask students if they learned a new way to move their bodies? Ask them which was their favorite?

Utah’s Biomes

Author- Chandler Leany 

LESSON ORGANIZATION-

Content Objective/Core Standards- 

Utah Core 4^th Grade Science

Standard 5- Students will understand the physical characteristics of Utah's wetlands, forests, and deserts and identify common organisms for each environment.

Objective- By the end of the lesson students should be able to identify he 3 different biomes in Utah and their characteristics, plants, and animals.

Grade- 4^th

Length- 30-40 minuets 

Materials-

·         Pictures of the 3 different biomes

·         Speaker and ipod

·         Music-

Behavior Expectations- Be Safe, Be a Mover, Be Respectful (to teacher, others, and classroom/materials)

INSTRUCTION PLAN-

Experience/Identify-

Read the script below as the students dance as prompted….

Utah has many different environments, also called Biomes. They all have very different characteristics and inhabitants that live there.

Forest-

·         Filled with lots of trees. These trees help Utah be filled with fresh air as they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen we can healthfully breathe in.

o   Everyone take a nice big deep breath in and slowly blow it out and thank the tress

·         One tree found in Utah forests is called the Quaking Aspen Tree- these trees have tall and skinny trunks and their leaves quake at any slight winds

o   Stand tall and straight and quiver hands to represent the leaves

·         Within in the trees there are lots of animals. One animal found in Utah forest in the Red Fox. They’re nocturnal (usually active at night) and are great hunters

o   Number 1’s, do sneaking/ low movement around the trees. Find one tree to hide behind and jump out to the right to scare your prey (switch roles)

Desert-

•        Deserts are very dry and hot. The yearly rainfall is less than 10inches and it can get up to 117degrees in southern Utah. Aspen and pine trees found in Utah forests would never survive.

o   Start in a high tall aspen tree shape and slower melt and shrivel all the way to a very low shape on the ground. Once you find you low melted shape stay frozen.

•        Now, just because the deserts in Utah are very hot doesn’t mean there are no plants there. The plants that grow in the desert just have to adapt and change how they live. One common plant found in Utah deserts is a cactus.

o   Everyone pretend you are a cactus seed. Start to slowy move and grow bigger. As you grow bigger think of what a cactus looks like and show me in your movement. What shape does it have? Is it tall or short? Is it fat and round or long and skinny? What shapes do its arms have? Are they crooked or bent?

o   Next think about what grows on a cactus and show me in your movement. Cactus are often sharp and prickly to touch. Show me sharp and prickly movement. Cactus often have blossoms of flowers on their arms. Can you show me how a flower might bloom?

•        One animal that can be found in Utah desserts is a Jackrabbit

o   Everyone hop around the room on one leg.

o   Everyone freeze in a low shape. Number 2’s jump up high on the count of three and freeze in a high shape. Now number 1’s.

•        Jackrabbits don’t just live miserably in the heat, but they have found ways to adapt to the harsh weather. Their long ears are actually what keep them cool by containing lots of blood vessels where warms blood flows to in order to release the heat.

o   Everyone walk and find a new place in the room while releasing heat from your tall jackrabbit ears.

Wetland-

• Wetlands are lands inhabited with lots of water. This water usually comes from another source like a large river.
• Everyone start on this side of the room and let’s flood the wetland with water from the river by doing smooth, wavelike, and circling movement. Spread throughout the whole space and continue to do water like movement.
• We may often think swamps, mud flats, and other types of wetlands are dirty and useless but the plants and animals actually help keep wetlands clean and useful. Wetlands are most helpful during floods as the plants and animals slow down and absorb the speeds of the water. These same plants and animals also filter out any pollution in the water.
• Number 1’s, spread out and make a plant or animal shape in the middle of the room leaving small spaces in between for the water to come through.
• Number 2’s, we will be the flood water and start on this side of the room. We will do that same water like movement but start fast and naturally get slower as we have to navigate and be filtered through by the plants and animals (switch roles)

CREATE and PERFORM-

Gather students together and quickly show pictures of each Utah environment (Biome) and the animals and plants that live there. Let them identify what each one is called.

Then, say I want us to create a whole new Biome in Utah. I want it to include all 3 of the environments we just danced and have all of their characteristics along with their animals and plants.

First we need a name for this new environment. Get suggestions from the students and decide on a name.

Next split the class into 3 groups and have each one represent the 3 different biomes in Utah. Tell them they will come in with a certain floor pattern while performing movement that represents the animal we learned about that lives there. Then everyone in that group will find their one space and freeze in their own shape that represents the plant we learned about that lives there. (Wetland group, instead of doing movement like an animal you will do water like movement, and then observe the pictures of the back of the different plants to create a shape)

Explain each group will come in one at a time and freeze in their shape until we have all three environments.

1.      Forest (Zig zag)

2.      Desert (straight)

3.      Wetlands (curved)

CONNECT and ANALYZE

Gather students quickly and show pictures again. Have a few students raise their hands and share something new they learned or a characteristic about that environment.

Dinosaur Tracks/Footprints and Floor Patterns

Author- Chandler Leany

LESSON ORGANIZATION-

Content Objective/Core Standards-

Utah Core 4^th Grade Science

Standard 4/ Objective 2- Explain how fossils can be used to make inferences about past life, climate, geology, and environment

Objective- By the end of the lesson students should be able to identify what dinosaur tracks are as well as characteristics of 4 different dinosaurs.

Grade- 4^th

Length- 30-40 minuets

Materials-

·         Drum

·         Dinosaur Foot Print Signs

·         Dinosaur Picture Signs

·         Floor Pattern Dance Handout

Behavior Expectations- Be Safe, Be a Mover, Be Respectful (to teacher, others, and classroom/materials)

INSTRUCTION PLAN-

Experience/Identify-

Have students gather together and explain that today we are going to be learning and dancing about Dinosaur footprints. Explain that footprints were made…. Quickly show them the 4 different footprints and explain that each footprint belongs to a different dinosaur that moves a different way. Have them stand up and explain each footprints movement before they start moving.

 *** Don’t say the dinosaurs name, just their movement, leave it a surprise to intrigue them. The names are listed now to identify the different footprints***

1.       Brontosaurus- Slow, Big, Heavy, Bound, Walk, Strong

a.       Music- Dennis Steals the Embryo- Jurassic Park

2.       Allosaurus- Fast, Sharp, Slash, Jab, Run

a.       Music- Island of the Galapagos

3.       Ceratopsian (Triceratops) - Tetrahedron (3 body parts touching the ground), Slow, Stomp, Pushing

a.       Music- What are we Stealing

4.       Pterosaur (Pterodactyls)- Fast, Smooth, Glide, Light, Jab, Stretching, Free

a.       Music- Jurasic Park Caylpso

Explore/ Investigate-

Have students quickly gather together and tell them that I’m now going to show them the 4 different dinosaurs that correlate with the 4 different footprints. After I explain each one and give a short description have the students raise their hands to guess which footprint/movement matched each dinosaur.

Brontosaurus- “Thunder Lizard”, Herbivore/Plant eater, 70-90 feet long and about 15 feet tall at the hips, Bulky body, whip tale

Movement Words- Slow, Big, Heavy, Bound, Walk, Strong

Allosaurus- “Different Lizard”, predator, fast, sharp teeth, 28ft long, top of the food chain

Movement Words- Fast, Sharp, Slash, Jab, Run

Ceratopsian (Triceratops)- “Horned Faces “, 15ft long, Herbivore/Plant eater, slower, 3 main horns, stampede (stomp)

Movement Words- Tetrahedron (3 body parts touching the ground), Slow, Stomp, Pushing

Pterosaur (Pterodactyls)- “Winged LIzard”, Flying reptile, Wing span 10-33ft wide, fast, glide

Movement Words- Fast, Smooth, Glide, Light, Jab, Stretching, Free

Quickly explain that paleontologist often find a series of dinosaur tracks that show their pathways and often have to interpret what they may have been doing based off the pathways the footprints take. Explain that we’re going to get up and dance these different movement qualities each dinosaur represents but adding pathways. Quickly demonstrate pathways (straight, curved, zig zag). Hav students stand up and when you show the picture of a dinosaur say the movement qualities they have then give a pathway.

Next, If you have a lot of time left, tell the students you’re going to play a game using the footprints and the dinosaur pictures. Say when you show either a footprint or dino they must switch their movement quickly to match that.

Music- Hunting

Create/Perform-

Next, split the class into 4 groups. Assign each group a different dinosaur. Explain that each group will now have to make their own dance that might show the movement behind that dinosaur’s tracks found by a paleontologist. Explain their dance must represent that dinosaur’s movement quality and incorporate and show the different pathways dinosaur tracks can show choosing from the 3 we learned (straight, curved, zig zag). To add to the “story” of your dance, each group will draw 3 levels or directions to go with each floor pattern. They will notate all of this movement on their handouts. Go through an example with them.

Give them 10 minutes to create a dance and then take turns having each group perform.

Connect/Analyze-

Test them quickly on the different dinosaurs. 

Everyone is Different! Just like Movement!

Author- Chandler Leany

LESSON ORGANIZATION-

Content Objective/Core Standards- Utah Core standards for the Fine Arts, Standard 4.D.R.1 (respond) “Use basic dance terminology to describe patterns of movement that create a style or theme.”

Objective- By the end of the lesson students should be able to identify the 8 basic locomotor steps and do them with minimal skill. They should also have a basic understanding of different movement qualities and how they can alter movement. They should also being able to explain that dance can communicate different emotions and show by adding different movement qualities to the same locomotor step can change the mood or emotion the dancer is portraying.

Grade- 4^th

Length- 30 minuets

Materials-

·         Drum

·         Movement Signs

·         Song Happy- Pharrell Williams, official instrumental version

Behavior Expectations-Be Safe, Be a Mover, Be Respectful (to teacher, others, and classroom/materials)

INSTRUCTION PLAN-

Experience/Identify-

Have the kids spread out and explain that we are going to move around the room doing basic movements so follow along and dance to the beat of the drum.

Lead them through the 8 Basic Locomotor steps

·         Walk

·         Run

·         Skip (after a few counts of skipping have them find a partner and walk shoulder to shoulder with them in a circle around themselves. Once everyone has a partner tell them to skip dosedo while linking arms with their partner, then switch directions)

·         Leap

·         Jump

·         Hop

·         Gallop

·         Slide (After galloping have them find another partner and walk shoulder to shoulder with them in a circle around themselves. Have the tallest partner raise their hand. Their #1. The other partner will be #2.  #1 will lead partner 2 around the room with their slides. Then switch)

Have everyone freeze. Quickly explain you are now going to dance different types of movement qualities. Explain the first one then have them explore then have them freeze and explain the next and so on.

1.       Sharp- percussive, quick, direct

2.       Smooth- sustained, never stopping

3.       Heavy- weighted

4.       Light- free, airy

Explore/ Investigate-

Have everyone freeze and sit down where they are. Explain that dance has the power to communicate different emotions. Different movement qualities can make the same movement mean something different.

Have a student stand up and do heavy walks and ask the class what emotion could be portrayed.

Then have the student do light walks and ask the class what emotion that could show.

Explain that when we dance it’s okay to be ourselves and let our personalities/ who we are shine through.

Create/Perform-

Quickly show the 4 papers with the movement qualities written on them and quickly discuss what personality each quality can represent. Tell the students that as we discuss be thinking of which quality/personality matches their own personality

1.  Sharp- outgoing, busy, bright, loud

2.  Smooth- timid, thoughtful, quiet, soft

3.  Heavy- serious, strong

4.  Light- happy, easy going, free, kind

Give the students 30 seconds to a minuet to quickly pick which quality matches their personality and then make up their own signature move that uses that movement quality to describe them.

After their minuet is up direct the students to quickly form a circle. Go around the circle and quickly have each student say their name while they do their signature move.

Then explain that in dance, school, and anything in life we have to be able to get along and work together with people that have different personalities. Explain that we are going to split up into 4 groups (that I will assign) and take 5 minutes to learn each other’s movements and do them in an order of their choice to create a short dance that will describe everyone’s different personalities. Quickly demonstrate by showing your move and then having the person next to you show their move and then do them one after the other.

To split them in groups have the people who did sharp raise their hands and then spread them out into four different corners of the space, and then add someone that did smooth to each of the groups, and so on so that the groups have lots of different personalities and movements.

After their 5 minutes are over have all the groups sit down where they are and one by one have each group quickly show their dance. Make sure everyone applauds after each dance. (turn on the Song- Happy for them to do their dances to)
Connect/Analyze-

After all groups have gone ask the class what they liked about each other’s dances and how they had lots of different kinds of movement. Point out that because everyone has a different personality/ style it made the dances more interesting and exciting. Remind the students that it’s okay if we move differently from our friend or we act differently. That’s what makes us unique and makes life more fun!