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Dance elements:

Body -this is how we use our body when dancing

Energy - the character of movement: how energy is released and the amount of force required.

Space - personal space, general space and negative space. Where the body parts move, and how the body uses the space.

Time - the speed, tempo and rhythm of the dance.

There are two types of movement skills:

Non-Locomotor- movement whilst remaining on the spot and stationary

Locomotor - travelling movements such as walking, running, skipping.

Dance requires a safe space for it to be really effective. The students must feel comfortable and feel safe to make mistakes in the space they are completing dance.

Warm ups are a necessary aspect to consider when implementing dance into a lesson.

Dance is a form of communication and allows children to express themselves and communicate non-verbally. It is a useful form of communication as majority of children will be able to dance in some way.

Coming into the dance module I was feeling quite anxious as I am very unexperienced with dance and not a confident dancer as I have never really done dance before. This made me feel quite uncomfortable at the start as it was very outside of my comfort zone. By having a safe space created around me, this allowed me to open up over time and feel comfortable dancing and completing the activities.

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Through out the drama module, the activities we completed correlated to drama elements, including:

Atmosphere and mood - Mood is the emotions felt by the audience and atmosphere is the overall feeling of the drama.

Character, role and relationships - role refers to the part that is being played, characters are the participants in the drama and relationships are the interactions between the characters

Voice and movement - Voice is how the person portrays the characteristics of the character. Movement involved the non-verbal actions and communication of the character. These are linked as they assist in portraying the other.

Situation - this is the setting and/ or the context of the drama. Who, what, when, where, why

Tension - Creation and control of energy

Space and time - Space is hte physical space of the performance, this can also be the imaginative space of the drama. Time is pacing and time period of the act

Ideas and dramatic meaning - this is the story and purpose of the drama and how the audience understands it.

Language - the dialogue used in the drama and how it is presented

Focus - this is the purpose of the drama

Symbol - a representation beyond the literal meaning to express complex ideas.

As the teacher we will need to participate in drama at times, for example the teacher-in-role approach. This is where the teacher adopts a character to facilitate learning, and can also be a good behaviour management strategy. Younger students especially will tend to be more engaged in the lesson when the teacher is involved in this way.

Drama is a beneficial tool to use in the classroom as it:

develops students communication skills

Allows children to express themselves

Showcases different perspectives

Can be linked to other topics/ subjects and assist in the learning experience

Allows children to work collaboratively

Can assist children with disabilities and learning difficulties learn life lessons/ skills through the use of role play

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Chair game

A chair being places in the middle of the room representing ECU. Individuals were to stand around the room based off of where they travelled from to get to university. This is a easy, fun game to start with as it allows all students to be involved as well as not being too confronting or anxiety provoking. I enjoyed this as it was a good way to get to know people in the class as it was our first week.

The lord of the rings

In this game individuals are to act out either a giant, knight or a wizard once the phrase "lord of the rings" has been said, The game is almost like paper, scissors rock in the sense that wizard beats giant, giant beats knights and knights beat wizards. The individuals are in two lines facing each other 'battling' the person opposite. Who ever wins stays in and when your out you sit to the side and join in with saying "lord of the rings". At first I found this game difficult and outside of my comfort zone with the acting of the characters, after a few rounds I got the hang of it and found it enjoyable. This game is good for classrooms as it can be inclusive and altered for students needs, e.g. if a student with ASD is getting overstimulated by the noise the students are making whilst acting it can be turned into a silent game or if theres a student with low/ limited mobility it can be a seated game.

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Colour body part game

in this game the teacher is to say a colour that students are to 'paint' on a specific body part with a specific colour. Students then walk around the room, when the teacher says 'STOP' students find a partner and make the colour that the teacher states. This can be in different lessons including science teaching the different body parts or in art teaching about colours and making colours. This game would be good to use in a classroom as it allows students to move around and learn kinaesthetically. I found this activity to be a bit challenging as it involved working with people I didn't know as well and touching them to create colours. This could be an issue in the classroom as some children may not be comfortable with others touching them or struggle with personal space. I did however enjoy this game is it made me step outside my comfort zone and get creative. I also enjoyed how we got to move around the room and how we had to remember what parts of the body we painted which colours.

This activity would be useful to teach subjects such as art or science (Human biology in particular) as you can teach anatomy or making colours through this game.

However I am unsure of how this activity incorporated dance so instead of the students walking around the room like we did they could dance instead.

Birthday dance

As a class we associated a dance move to a number. Then we were to create a dance using the moves to make our birthday (DD/MM/YYYY) and practice. We then had to perform it to a partner and they had to guess our birthday. I enjoyed this activity as there were guidelines of the moves we could use so I didn't get overwhelmed by choice, and would be good to use for students as the activity has guidelines. This would especially work well for students with ASD as they can sometimes get very overwhelmed and overstimulated by having too many options, so this activity would allow them to stay content during the activity.

This activity could be useful in a classroom as it could be a good brain break and allow the students to get to know each other better. It is also a good one to use as all the children have a birthday and everyone is included.

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Spaghetti game:

This game can be used to teach emotions and feelings. Students learn how to interpret these feelings and how to show them. Students get to have fun and express themselves as everyone has different ideas of different topics.

However, for a classroom I would do all students stepping in at once for the whole game as then the more introverted individuals might not experience as much anxiety about performing as all of the focus would not be on them. Doing this with younger kids may get chaotic though so doing the activity around a mat or barrier may be a good idea so that students have a guide of where they need to stand.

Life cycle drama:

Students are to act out the sequence of the life cycle of a butterfly, frog or other animals being learnt about. This activity would be useful in a science class as it reinforces the understanding of the process and sequence. The children may gain a deeper understanding of the life cycles as they are physically acting it out making it easier to remember.

An aspect that I would have to be aware of is the amount of space available to do this activity. The class would potentially have to move outside to do it so the students will have enough space to be able to complete the activity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyMWc_MCYfI

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Theatre Game #2 - Spaghetti. From Drama Menu - Theatre Games In Three Courses.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqfRH0Ah9lk

The mirror dance game:

In this game students will copy each others dance moves, swapping over after a minute or two. This would be a good activity to use with students as it teaches them to work cooperatively and how to work with different people.

This activity would be a good lesson opener and brain break for students as they have to focus, bringing their attention back as well as not necessarily having to be related to the content being taught, giving their brains a break.

This activity would work well if students with similar abilities were to match up. As if there was a student who couldn't complete a specific movement that their partner was doing, this could be quite embarrassing or upsetting for that child.

An aspect to consider is how much space is available for the activity to be completed and may not be suited for inside a class room.

https://www.gonoodle.com/videos/PY14Bw/water-cycle

Go Noodle water cycle dance:

This is a fun video that kids can follow along to and learn about the water cycle. This is a fun way of introducing dance to science, making the subject enjoyable. It also assists children's understanding and memorisation of the content they've learnt. This is a good resource to use in the classroom as it is inclusive so all children can participate and not feel anxious as the class isn't actually watching the individual student, but the video. Everyone can participate in some way, even if it is just by watching the video.

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Media elements:

Narrative - the story its self and the structure. How the story uses setting, character, conflict and resolution

Codes - tools used to construct further understanding and meaning - SWAT codes

Conventions - repeated ways of using the codes that over time become accepted by the audience and construct the meaning (which is culturally determined)

SWAT codes are tools that construct further meaning in media and help the audience further understand the narrative. Stands for:

Symbolic- elements that create further meaning. includes costume, body language, colour, setting etc.

Written- The way words are used and written. can include signs, titles, subtitles, text on screen etc.

Audio- sounds within a shot/ scene. can include dialogue, music, sound effects etc.

Technical- Use of technology within a shot/ scene. can include camera shots and angles, lighting, movement etc.

There are different types of camera shots that can be used to emphasise an idea. These are (closest to widest) extreme close up, close up, close mid shot, medium shot, medium wide shot, wide shot and extreme wide shot/ establishing shot.

Students are more likely to be more engaged with media arts than other art forms as the students have grown up with it. Media arts is all around them and they are quite familiar with technology and are confident using it. Children find media arts an exciting study area and get excited about learning it.

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Media arts was the field I was most comfortable coming into. This is as I completed media arts as a subject in high school and found it quite enjoyable, as well as being exposed to media every day. It was something I was more familiar with.

Stop motion

In pairs/ small groups we were to create a stop motion using a character made from tin foil. I was not looking forward to this starting the activity as I have previously done stop motion before and did not enjoy it. I found it too time consuming and got frustrated. How ever, I really enjoyed doing stop motion this time and surprised my self. I have attache the video that my partner and I created. This task was fun and enjoyable and I can see myself using it in a class. It is useful as it can be used with many subjects. For example, in HASS, the children can reenact moments in history through stop motion.

This activity could be difficult to do as it would be dependant on what resources the school provides. The children would probably need either iPads or cameras to complete this.

This activity would be a good one to keep in mind when teaching as it is inclusive and everyone can be involved in some way.

BTN responding

We watched BTN new reports on shark attacks and had to respond to the media elements of news reports that they had used. I enjoyed parts of this activity as it put emphasis on the media elements we had just learnt. However, after the third BTN video I did feel very disengaged and found myself getting distracted and bored so I as a teacher would probably break up the videos and not do 3 at once.

Using BTN videos in a class room is an effective strategy as they students can complete a work sheet along the way of the content being discussed as well as the media elements being used.

This activity would be more suited towards middle/ upper primary as I believe that younger students would not be engaged or stay focused.

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Creating a mini documentary:

In this activity students are to create a mini 'documentary'. Students are to create a story board and script for their documentary. This is an effective activity that can be used across multiple subjects including HASS, Science and english. This allows children to be creative through learning. This activity would work well as a group activity allowing students to work cooperatively and developing their social skills and communication skills. If there wasn't access to resources needed like iPads or cameras or computers, then the students could just complete the story boarding and script stage to show what they have learnt.

Watching videos/ clips:

Watching and responding to videos and clips is an effective and simple way to implement media arts into other subjects. Students love to watch videos and tend to respond well to them. This is an activity I will implement into my teaching.