Curated OER
"Shapes" Dance Lesson Plan
Sixth graders create dances by manipulating shapes with their bodies.
Curated OER
"Performance Qualities" Dance Lesson Plan
Eighth graders move across a space practicing a dance as they work on focus and energy.
Curated OER
Dancing Hands, Abstract Drawings
Students discover African musical rhythms by performing Ancestral Spirit Dances. In this musical lesson, students research Willis "Bing" Davis and the abstract work he created. Students listen to Yoruba drum music and experiment...
Curated OER
"Orientation to Dance" Dance Lesson Plan
Students learn their rights and responsibilities within the context of the dance class.
Curated OER
"Spatial Awareness" Dance Lesson Plan
Seventh graders explore spatial awareness and then choreograph a dance.
Curated OER
The Nutcracker
First graders define a ballet as a story told through dance. They listen to melodies and demonstrate beat and accent through body movement. They watch the ballet.
Bowland
DanceStar
Express dance moves mathematically. Scholars dissect dance routines and express them using mathematical notation, such as translations and rotations. They use video clips to investigate seven different dance genres.
Curated OER
Jazz Dance and Music
Fourth graders write a poem. In this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...
Curated OER
Creative and Cultural Dance
Students study dance as a way to communicate and represent oneself in the world. They perform and articulate movement skills from the "dancer's toolbox". They solve problems in dance using the "dancer's toolbox" composing, witnessing,...
Curated OER
Integrated Dance Curriculum: Snow
Students, through the leading questions, guided imagery, and dance, gain a greater comprehension of snow, weather, and the five senses.
Curated OER
Shadow Dances
Students explore the physical phenomenon of shadows through movement improvisation and dance. They create an original dance phrase based on this imagery. All students then reproduce accurately the movement choices of another dancer.
Curated OER
A Balloon Dance
Students identify three different levels of movement and sensation of buoyancy, respond spontaneously in movement to the stimuli of imagery and feelings, and formulate his or her own unique sequence of movements based on personal...
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
West Side Story Suite and In The Night Fancy Free
West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo &...
Library of Congress
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
Curated OER
Collaborative Choreography, Contrasting Emotions
Students demonstrate choreographic principles, processes, and structures.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle: States of Water
Elementary schoolers explore states of matter by concentrating on the ways in which water moves between its solid, liquid, and gaseous states in a variety of Earth environments. Learners interpret these movements through dance. The...
Curated OER
Just Pass It
High schoolers investigate a minimalist dance using two props, a chair and a pillow. They demonstrate transferring a prop from one person to the next in a task-like manner. Then they work as a group to transfer a prop with restrictive...
Curated OER
Exploring Force: The Nutcracker
Students explore basic dance element of force, compare and contrast the use of force as it distinguishes the expressive qualities of a given dance, and explore the use of force in several of its many expressions.
Curated OER
EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES
Students create a dance that expresses a specific mood. They describe the composition in writing and explain how they would alter actions, movement qualities and spacing to convey a new mood. They perform the dance they created...
Curated OER
Rain
Students create a dance based on the sounds they hear during a recording of rainstorm. They learn the elements of dance and explore the environment.
Curated OER
Take the Stage
Eighth graders explore kinesthetic movements. In this kinesthetic movements lesson, 8th graders explore how to enter the stage properly. Over two days, students investigate how to hold their own on the stage during a dance.
Curated OER
Create-A-Line Dance
Students demonstrate knowledge of the processes, principles, and structure of line dance. In groups students choreograph their own line dance, implementing moves learned from previous dances taught in the line dance unit.
Curated OER
Ribbon Wand Dancing
Pupils construct a ribbon wand which, through the use of line, color, contrast and shape can be used to better express a given emotion. Students improvise a brief dance created through manipulation of ribbon wand using three distinct...
Curated OER
A Balloon Dance
Dance offers several components and the two that are involved in this activity are creative expression and artistic perception. In this dance activity children are given movements with which to build and formulate and help them make wise...