Carolyn's Virtual Pop-Up Studio: Dance! by

Dance Section

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 19:58:33 UTC

2.DM.1: Children will be able to understand apply movement skills they know into dancing.

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 20:09:51 UTC

Be able to isolate specific parts of the body within movements. 2.DM.1.1

Being able to form a variety of shapes using one's body. 2.DM.1.2

Ability to move and groove on different plains including up and down, side to side, and back and forth. Being able to navigate through a space using movement. 2.DM.1.5

Key Concepts

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 20:15:06 UTC

-Balance

-Self-expression

-Mobility

-Shape

-Isolated movements

-Creativity

-Movement

-Lines

Tennis Ball

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 20:52:10 UTC

A tennis ball can be used to foster organic movement. For this activity, a tennis ball would be rolled around a confined space like a small dance room. The goal of the activity would be for the kids to move around creatively in order to avoid the tennis ball. To add a challenge, the kids would have to keep one piece of their body touching the floor so they could not just jump over the ball. For added excitement, one could add more than one ball to the space.

Music with animal noises or mentions animals.

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 20:56:42 UTC

To work on shapes and navigation, children can listen to a song that has animal noises or mentions animals by name. When the child hears an animal's noise or name, they have to pretend to be that animal through a pose they make while dancing to the music.

Freeze Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 21:00:11 UTC

Children can dance along to a song and when the song pauses, the child has to freeze exactly how they are. This could lead to a child having to practice balance and isolation of a specific body part like standing on one leg.

Shapes

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 21:08:15 UTC

To incorporate teamwork and group work. Children will have to create a shape with their peers using their bodies. It could be a circle, or a star, or a triangle. It would foster creativity and the ability to identify shapes.

To step up this activity, one could divide the kids into teams and give the most creative formation of the shape a win.

String Snake Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 21:34:31 UTC

Have a "string snake" be attached to one child. Have all the kids dance around each and to avoid getting "bit" by the snake. This activity promotes imagination, movement, and creativity and can improve balance.

Mirror Activity

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 21:39:06 UTC

For this activity, you need a mirror and a child to be the leader. This kid can move and be creative with their movements. The other kids need to follow their lead. The mirror helps everyone to see.

Mystery Bag Activity

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 21:45:56 UTC

Have a bag with an assortment of items that can represent things in nature, animals, buildings, cars, shapes, or other things. Children will grab an item from the bag and will have to "form" that item with their body.

Abstract Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-26 22:00:56 UTC

Pick a song that is instrumental and a little abstract and funky. Have the children move in the way the music makes them feel. Ask them to envision the music and ask them to describe it as well as what they see when they hear the music. Do they envision colors or movements or anything else?

Growth

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 03:36:14 UTC

Find a song or create words to go to music that talk about growth. Maybe even a plant growing. Have the kids collect small tree branches from outside and encourage them to be a tree that grows throughout the song. Encourage them to embrace being the tree. This could mean a child slowly expands their body in height and starts curled up like a seed on the ground. There are endless takes to a way a child could intepert this activity. This activity would be amazing to do outside.

Show and Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 03:43:09 UTC

Have kids bring an item from home to show and tell with their peers. Then, have the kid showing the item or the whole group, depending on the size, create a dance move or pose based on the item. Then, put them all together to create a dance about that item or the group of items.

Quality Questions

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 14:24:57 UTC

-What would happen if a tangible material was replaced with a larger or smaller item?

-What would happen if the kids did individual activities as a team or team activities as an individual?

-Can you incorporate a mistake or fall into the dance? How?

-What can you do if you fall, freeze, or make a mistake while dancing?

-What if you tried to balance with your eyes closed?

-Can you dance with your eyes closed? What would happen?

-How can dance help with other aspects of life like mental, emotional, and physical health?

2.CP.1: Children will be able to use choreography to relay feelings, ideas, and images.

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 14:56:39 UTC

Be able to create simple choreography to relay and image or idea. 2.CP.1.4

Be able to create simple dances. 2.CP.1.3

Be able to use basic movements to generate short dances. 2.CP.1.1

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 16:10:31 UTC

Most of my materials are non-tangible things like music, movement, and sound.

Space Map: In Classroom Experience

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 21:45:54 UTC

Using a space map, as shown by Heather Francis, allows kids to develop creative ways to explore the spaces around them and to explore the various ways their bodies can move. Children will map out their space and where and how they want to travel around it. They will need to identify their pathways, ways of movement, and shapes created to do this activity. The activity lets the child take charge of their movements and allows them to express their creativity.

Learning Through Movement

cra6217 — 2025-02-27 21:53:54 UTC

This article published by Dance Teaching Ideas, gives examples of how to include things into a dance space to encourage creative movements. Things like floating balloons, cushions, pillows, items floating in water, things from nature, and other items can inspire dance and movement in kids. They may try to dance in a light, floaty manner like the ballon, or be heavy like a rock, fast like a bird. As the teacher, the space should be set in a way that encourages original movement and does not push the child's creativity into a specific mode or direction.

The Brain Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-28 05:30:23 UTC

The Brain Dance consists of 8 components.

Breathing
Touch/ Tactile
Core-Distal movements
Head-Tail movements
Upper-Lower body movements
Body-Side movements
Cross-Lateral movements
Vestibulare movements.

Engaging in all of these types of movements enhances brain function, cognition, and creativity within people. Anne Green developed this approach to provide a holistic aspect of dance in the classroom. It generates great mind and body connection and can help one to calm and meditate.

Creative Movement and Dance

cra6217 — 2025-02-28 16:17:30 UTC

Dance can initiate group work and teamwork as many times, dances are done in a group. Using choreography to bring children into one movement exemplifies teamwork. It also works on math skills as many times dance is done in counts of 8. Dance also works on mirroring and a mind-body connection. It also helps students with social skills and identify their feelings and emotions. It encourages spontaneity and creativity and helps children to identify non-verbal clues. This could be kids designing choreography themselves or following others' patterns of movements.

Energy Qualities

cra6217 — 2025-02-28 16:27:52 UTC

Heather Francis elaborates on the different energy elements of dance including percussive, swing and sway, suspend, collapse, sustained, and vibratory movements. These movements make up some of the elements of dance and allow children to explore movement and their emotions. Various movements can be used to help children express their feelings by relating specific movements to specific feelings. Like vibratory movements when overstimulated or percussive movements when angry. Children can also choreograph movements to share a story. Inthe video, heather showed movement examples of each of these.