Interdisciplinary Connections to Dance Teacher Resources

Practice grade-level reading comprehension with this lesson, in which middle schoolers read different examples of Native American literature. They discover different cultures while examining their own, and answer questions related to the...

A read-aloud of a familiar fairy tale introduces the concept of story elements—main characters, setting, and plot. Multiple retellings of the story set to music get scholars moving as they dance. Movements portray story elements and tell...

After a brain dance to warm up gross motor skills, small groups create and present a dance that showcases the free-verse poem "Sparklers" by Mark Vinz. The lesson closes with a progress monitoring system designed to assess comprehension...

Interpretive dance and prosody is the focus of a instructional activity designed to encourage movement and poetry analysis. Independently and in small groups, poetry enthusiasts explore a variety of free-verse poems, discuss specific...

Poetry enthusiasts read the poem, Sparklers by Mark Vinz, discuss their feelings after hearing it, and create an interpretive dance based on the emotions it provoked. 

Dancers revise their dances based on their peers' feedback and rehearse their final product. A poetry instructional activity provides scholars the opportunity to reflect in written format before discussing the project with their peers. 

Combine the elements of dance with the actions in a poem. Learners review basic grammar, write an action-packed cinquain poem, and then choreograph a dance based on their cinquains. After the dances are done, they'll discuss the elements...

Erin go bragh! Enliven your St. Patrick's Day celebration by teaching your class members some of the combinations found in traditional Irish step dancing.

I am dancing to the music in my head. Scholars learn to listen for music in their heads as they read literature and poems. After they identify and analyze poetic devices that relate to music, they create their own musical poems.

Teach young children that with a little perseverance and the help of a good friend, anything is possible. This two-part lesson series based on the book Giraffe's Can't Dance starts with a shared reading about Gerald and his attempts to...

The five senses are the focus of a lesson designed to explore feelings that a poem evokes through a variety of words and phrases. After a read-aloud and grand conversation, scholars dance to the free-verse poem "Clothesline" by Ralph...

Ballet is the main focus of this short answer quiz, but a few questions cover dance in cinema and Scottish folk dance names. Trivia for dancers!

Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this lesson is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral to use as the...

Third graders solve story word problems based on the story Twas the Night Before Christmas. In this word problems lesson plan, 3rd graders incorporate literature with math.

Students read literature and view other media to discover how print and non-print texts answer the thematic question: Who am I? students compare the ways ideas are presented, and create their own portfolios or personal Web pages...

Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...

Scholars gather in small groups to share their final drafts of free-verse poems. Peers reflect on their reading with a grand discussion that focuses on prosody. Poetry groups choose one poem to choreograph using motion that reflects a...

Students listen to a story and then use the words from the book to generate dance movements.

This was written for ESOL learners, but could work for any elementary class. Learners read about the American dance style known as Square Dancing. They explore its use in literature, write a friendly letter about it, and then use their...

Inspired by Britain's National Poetry Day, this resource will help your class analyze poetry. You will find a variety of poetry analysis methods to work through with your class. Finish by having each person compose an original poem.

Considering including Juliet Marillier's young adult novel, Wildwood Dancing as part of your language arts curriculum? Check out an overview that examines some of the themes and issues presented by the novel. 

Connect literature (Jack the Builder) with mathematical concepts. In a series of computation, geometry and number sense activities, pupils count on to add, count back to subtract, build cylinders, cones, and rectangular prisms, and name...

Considering using Robert Cormier's young adult novel, Tunes for Bears to Dance to for book circles or as a whole-class anchor text? Check out this overview of the key concepts and issues raised by the novel.

Young scholars explore butterfly life cycles and movement.  In this integrated fine arts and biology life cycle instructional activity, students listen to the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and identify the related life...