Reflection

Alright, so below is my reflection!

Dance and Literature

Integration: Dance and Language
Learning Goal: to find elementary-aged appropriate books that incorporate dance

1) The Straight Line Wonder  by Mem Fox

-Show a clip of the ballet Cinderella (you may wish to show just some of this 10 minute clip).  Tell the students to look for a familiar story. Ask the students to identify the story being told through dance.

-Explain that a choreographer is someone who creates the dance movements for the dancers.

-Have the students brainstorm the different ways this choreographer might have been inspired to create his choreography (the story of Cinderella, the music, etc.).  Explain that when a choreographer is inspired by a story or a book, s/he needs to know the main idea or central message and the key details of the story or the lesson/moral and then create a dance to demonstrate those ideas.

-Read the story The Straight Line Wonder by Mem Fox.  Instruct the students to listen for things in the story that might inspire movement and give a thumbs up when they hear something that makes them think of a movement.

-Have the students identify the main characters and the types of movements each character might do (2nd and 3rd straight lines might stand straight, wag finger, put up stop sign hands, put hands on hips, etc.; 1st straight line jumping in a rounded shape, twirling, sharp/angular movements, etc.).  Have them practice the various movements.  Discuss what lines 2 and 3 can do to show they have “run off” (sit down, turn their backs to the first line, etc).  Have the students experiment with those movements.

Explore how the lines can show they are friends in the end and still show who is which character.  Have the students experiment with those movements.

-Put the students into groups of 3.  Read through the story with each child in the different groups moving as one of the three characters.  Read through the story 3 times so each child has the chance to be all three of the line characters

(from https://educationcloset.com/2016/03/30/books-move-integrating-literature-dance/) 

2) Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae 

Lesson Plan Link 

I love this story! I think it would be better suited for primary/ junior  grades but I love it 

3) Voice in the Park by Anthony Browne 

An introduction to Voice and how it can be incorporated into dance, a great way to start off with language, then move into both dance and drama
Lesson Plan Link 

4) Secret of the Dance by Andrea Spalding 

Link to Lesson Plan 
I tried to find a lesson plan that moves from language to dance, but could not find one online. However, I think this book could be used to model and show the different dances done at Aboriginal ceremonies. Students could be exposed to the culture and get in those dance moves!

Extra Resource: 

Writing about Dance by Wendy Oliver – Human Kinetics (2010) ISBN 0736076107 

Resource Week

This week I wanted to stray from what I have been doing and post more resources, which is truly what I want out of this assignment. I want to find a way to compile a bunch of websites and lesson plans so I can access it easier when I have a full time classroom.

Websites with lesson plans: 

http://www.phecanada.ca/sites/default/files/physical_literacy/Teaching_Dance41.pdf

https://sharemylesson.com/subject/dance

http://artsonline2.tki.org.nz/resources/lessons/dance/       (FNMI/ Aboriginal dances)

https://www.cde.state.co.us/standardsandinstruction/instructionalunits-dance

http://code.on.ca/resource/introducing-creative-dance

http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/files/Blueprints/Dance/DanceUnits_Literary2.pdf

Specifically ONT curriculum based: 

http://www.pulsedance.ca/pdfs/i%20have%20to%20teach%20dance%20unit%20plan.pdf

https://teachingtools.ophea.net/supplements/instructional-dance-videos

http://code.on.ca/resource

Unit Plans found online: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16BXe0bIuG3zCRB511kkoFELf7cIWgkgf/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_VIxzrkj2F7kcO5wU7V9YoRZnE5_4kHz/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VFD_e9muIpFJRT_dClHg0CGmRqy4HuzV/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a-5XT4KXO2fPV2A8DaHudlkNsLKVw81F/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ued4U78dovW2jdLthXekSyBxBHzWiB29/view?usp=sharing

Numbers + Movement

Memorable Strategies
This week we learned strategies of incorporating math and dance together.
We learned about Canon:

• "Canon- A choreographic form in which a dance phrase is performed by more than one soloist or group and begins at different times so that the phrases overlap. 
• Perform the order of movements using CANON form."  (Sourced from our class slideshow, K.Winters) 

Curriculum Connections
This week we learned a lot about the critical thinking process, and we tried to implement the creative thinking processes as well. 

Reflection
Presenting dance was hard. Presenting dance having a background of knowledge and resources was much easier than trying to teach dance when I did not have these resources. In my second block, I tried to teach dance, because my associate requested I teach gym. Teaching dance to grade 7's who did not have much hope or excitement about dance was a challenge. We did Just Dance as a minds on, but the students wanted to create their own dance moves in their groups as they had done every other year. So, these strategies have made me more confident in my ability to teach dance.

Resources found this week

https://blogs.ams.org/mathgradblog/2016/07/07/mathematics-dance-enhancing-understanding-movement/

http://www.mathsdance.com/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-are-using-theater-and-dance-to-teach-math--and-its-working/2016/02/22/61f8dc0c-d68b-11e5-b195-2e29a4e13425_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8ed1b189f543

Presentation:

Below I added our presentation because I truly feel it explains the learning that we did this week

air, fire, water, earth

Memorable Strategies: 

This week we did an activity where we danced the elements of the Earth: air, fire, water and Earth. I was in the air group which was a challenge! I liked the way we brainstormed verbs associated with the element before being asked to perform those verbs.


This chart was from this weeks slideshow and is a representation of the big ideas in science, and these topics can easily be fit into dance lessons.
This week we also learned ABA form in order to perform our dance movements. We first did verbs, then moved into learning further information, and then we choreographed our verbs into chains, where we did the moves in sequence.

Retrieved from Google 

Curriculum Expectations/ Theory 
The science curriculum can be implemented using the topics from above. As for this week, our curriculum connection was clearly to Interactions in the Environment.
We also used the creative process to create a sequence of dance moves.

"A1. Creating and Presenting: apply the creative process (see pages 19–22) to the composition of movement sequences and short dance pieces, using the elements of dance to communicate feelings and ideas" (Ontario dance curriculum) 

Reflection 
This week,  I definitely learned more strategies to teach dance. I feel the strategies and presentation today helped me understand ways to integrate further dance learning in all subjects. I like the idea of integrating dance into science because some science concepts are so abstract that seeing a visual would be so, so helpful. We also watched a Ted Talk video clip of a man who danced out peoples educational thesis' when they were defending their masters, and this allowed further understanding from everyone listening/ trying to understand. I loved this video and felt it was a very useful representation of the way dance can influence all other disciplines.

Accommodations/ Modifications 

Retrieved from Google 

This week I was thinking of ways that dance could be used as an accommodation for further understanding when students need it. I definitely think dance can be modified and accommodated to incorporate every learner.
I also found this resource of really great accommodation ideas for ADHD, autism, emotional disturbance, hearing, speech and language impairments, cognitive disabilities, sight impairment or blindness, and physical impairments.

Resources found this week:
http://artsonline2.tki.org.nz/resources/lessons/dance/

https://educationcloset.com/arts-integration-lessons/

Dance, Dance, Dance

Memorable Strategies

I copied and pasted this list of strategies we are going to be learning in drama, because I want to remember them for the future. The ideas and strategies will be extremely useful when I am teaching dance in the future.

In week one, we started with the game

"Yes Let's!" 
Explanation: The class is in a circle and the teacher initiates an action by saying “Let's hop on one foot.” 

The class replies “yes let's” and they all hop on one foot. 

The next student player continues by saying "let's ..." filling in what ever they want the group to do.

The class replies “yes let's and carries out the action. 

This continues around the circle until everyone has suggested something.

I liked this warm up because it was a very welcoming and easy way to begin moving in a group, and a good get to know you game. I believe we also played a name game,

Name Game: 

Start in a drama circle.

Teacher/facilitator names themselves and then the name of a another who they will then throw a soft ball/object to, e.g. "John to Sarah."

Sarah would then say her own name and names someone in the circle and throws to them, e.g. "Sarah to Lucy.

This continues around the circle until everyone is familiar with names.

I liked this game for the sake of it being easy to get to know students names using a game like this.


Curriculum Connections/ Theory 

This week we explored Laban's theory of movement. We used the BERST model,
Body
Effort
Shape
Space
Time
In the curriculum it states 
"Students in Grade 4 will develop or extend understanding of the following concepts through participation in various dance experiences (e.g., exploring movement sequences and narrative forms), with particular emphasis on time and energy.

ELEMENTS OF DANCE

• body: symmetry versus asymmetry, organic versus geometric shape, angular versus curved shape, gesture, body zones (e.g., cross-lateral [left arm and right leg])
  
• space: positive versus negative space, pathways (e.g., in air, on floor)
  
• time: tempo (e.g., increasing and decreasing speeds), rhythm (e.g., steady, irregular, erratic), pause,
  stillness, with music, without music, duration
  
• energy: effort, force, quality (e.g., punch, thrust, float, collapse, wiggle, explode, vibrate)
  
• relationship: meet/part, follow/lead, groupings" (Ontario Arts Curriculum) 
  

Therefore, this Laban theory of movement is the fundamental elements of dance put into practice, directly from the Ontario curriculum of education.

Reflection
Week one of dance was a reflective week for me. I feel resistant to dance still and am still trying to get used to dancing as a teacher. I do want to implement important strategies and work on ways to implement dance into other subjects in the curriculum but feel unsure of how still. This week I did pick up some new and expansive knowledge so I am happy about that.

Accommodations/ Modifications
This lesson was filled with movement and incorporated tons of dance moves. I would want to differentiate movements based on each students needs in the classroom. For example, if a student had some sort of physical disability, giving a wide range of expectation when playing a game will allow the student to be able to fully participate. In dance, I always like to give lots of opportunities for shy or unsure students to jump in when they feel comfortable.