Blog Posts

Create a Dance Lesson Plan

Denise Gagne

The newsletter this week was prompted by a question posed in the Musicplay Teacher's group:

The theme for administrative walk throughs this week is problem-solving - how are we teaching this skill as well as fostering life long learners across the curriculum. I'm stumped to come up with an answer for my program - I teach K-2 music and dance. How do you teach problem solving skills to young students in music?

A wonderful Ontario teacher wrote: When we are involved in the creative process, we are involved in a number of skills, problem solving and critical thinking are two that link up to a lot of the current thinking about learning. Creativity requires us to problem solve. When we are composing, we begin to problem solve - it is where creativity can live and breath. Problem solving is a form of creativity. When we are making decisions about what instruments to play, when to play them, how to interact musically with others we are involved in critical thinking. Students make their thinking visible when they are involved in providing feedback while working through this process.

More simply put, PROBLEM (challenge and inspire) - create a soundscape using only found sounds. SOLUTION ( imagine, generate, plan, explore, discuss, try possible solutions) - create a preliminary work using the creative process. - create a soundscape using found sounds.

Don't think of it as you are teaching problem solving to students, instead, you are providing opportunities to allow for students to problem solve when they are creating music or creating dances.

Lesson - Musicplay 2 Materials: Song #3 Ridin that New River Train If you don’t have the Musicplay 2 binder, you can access the song at www.musicplayonline.com

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Darlin’, you can’t love one.
Darlin’, you can’t love one.
You can’t love one ‘cause it isn’t any fun.
Darlin’, you can’t love one.
Honey, you can’t love two.
Honey, you can’t love two.
You can’t love two and still be true.
Honey, you can’t love two.
Chorus
Baby, you can’t love three.
Baby, you can’t love three.
You can’t love three and still have me.
Baby, you can’t love three.
Sweetie, you can’t love four.
Sweetie, you can’t love four.
You can’t love four,‘cause there isn’t any more!
Sweetie, you can’t love four.

Procedure

Teach the chorus of the song by rote.
Invite students to sing each phrase and count how many beats are in each. (8)
Tell the students that their challenge (problem) is to create a dance for verse one of the song. Form a circle and invite the students to think up ways that they could make a dance. Remind them that each phrase has 8 beats.
Try out the student ideas, and create a dance for verse 1. (For example: circle to the right for 8 beats, circle left for 8 beats, step in for 8 beats, step out for 8 beats)

This is the creative process as outlined in the Ontario arts document, and it's very similar to the process in the new core arts standards in the US.

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Experiment and explore all the suggested ideas.

Refine, use the ideas that work.

Perform the dance created for the chorus.

5. Divide the class into 4-6 groups and challenge each group to create a dance for verses 2-5

6. Perform the entire song using the chorus that the class created, and having each group(s) perform the verse they worked on. (If your class is large, more than one group may be working on a verse.)

After they have shared their creations, reflect on the performances. I noticed..... I wondered ....

Discuss where adults might be asked to create a dance. (wedding, party) This should help make them aware that music IS a lifelong activity!

In math, you don't just give kids a problem and expect them to solve it. You model some examples first. It's good to keep the same process in mind in music - model an example, then challenge the students to create their own.

In Musicplay 1 you could use #3 Little Red Wagon to create a dance. In K you could use #6 You've Got to Sing when the spirit says sing.

Note: The lesson plans for Musicplayonline.com will be aligned to core arts (and Ontario curriculum) in this way.