Dance

Magic Glove

Strategy: Magic Glove 

The leader of the activity will be at the front of the classroom wearing a glove. It is important that all students have view of the leader as the glove will act as a guide for movement. Students will watch the directions and paths the glove makes and interpret those moves and create their own. During this activity you can have more than one leader directing the class,  playing music  in the background can influence the tone of the movements. 

Reason why I would use this activity:
I like this activity because it is accessible for all students, it gives students the opportunity to be leader in the class. This activity encourages students to explore different pathways and levels while following the magic glove. 

Elements of focus:

Body: Students need to be aware of their body and the way they are moving in conjunction with the magic glove. 

Time: Throughout this activity students need to be aware of the time they spend in each movement to stay on track with the magic glove. 

Space: The space used in the classroom will determine the degree of movements the students make.  

Relationship: Students need to be aware during this strategy because they are going to be working alongside peers. 

Accommodations/Modifications:

• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space)
• Start the lesson off with a demonstration to show students how you can successfully participate in the activity 
• Plan ahead of time to separate students into smaller groups to accomodate for students who are more successful in small groups. Additionally, this supports students who are overwhelmed with large groups.
• Pre determine students who will take part in being a leader for this activity to minimize anxiety. Explaining how they can be successful would support in minimizing those behaviours. 
• Pec cards ( for students that require support in communication) 
• Be aware of cultural requirements of students ( pair students up/ have discussion with students about comfortability with the activity)

Reflection: 
Reminiscing back to this activity brings a smile to my face, I loved how this activity made me feel when participating. I believe this strategy is a great way to incorporate dance into a school day, students can feel silly when participating but still work with the elements of dance. 
During this activity I could hear teacher candidates laughing and giggling when following the magic glove. Depending on who was leading the magic glove activity would change the movements we were doing. 

Flocking

Strategy: Flocking 

Flocking: an improvisation in which students move in groups, with no set pattern. The group is in a diamond formation, following a leader and all do ing the same movements simultaneously. This is an extension of mirroring for three or more people (Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009).The Ontario curriculum grades 1-8: The Arts, pg.170). 

Cross-curricular: Using the flocking strategy you can incorporate the science. Example, using life cycles as a theme to focus on during movement. 

Reason why I would use this activity:

I would use this strategy in my classroom because it provides an opportunity to be a leader of the movement. It also focuses on a wide variety of dance elements. 

Elements of focus:

Relationship: Students will take turns being the leader, each person will take responsibility during a point in the activity. Student placed in a diamond shaped in a closer proximity to one another. 

Timing: Students will follow the leader of the flock and recognize when it is their turn to lead once the direction has changed. 

Space : The space used during the movements in the flocking strategy is determined by the leader. The set space between peers is established prior to starting. 

Body: Students need to be aware of their body space during this strategy because they are working in accordance with others direction.

Accommodations/ Modifications:

• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space and no one is bumping into each other)
•  Distinguish when students are presenting ( helps students prepare to share and can set students  up for success that have repetitive behaviours. 
• Pec cards ( To support students comprehension in instruction) 
• Be aware of cultural requirements of students ( pair students up/ have discussion with students about comfortability with the activity)

Reflection:

The flocking strategy can be used in a variety of ways, each student can create their own movements on their turn, they can also create a dance sequence that is known by peers.In class I enjoyed when we were able to participate in this strategy when each peer had their own theme to create their dance sequence. 

Resources to look at: 
https://youtu.be/C_7esQ08tGE 

https://dbp.theatredance.utexas.edu/content/flocking 

Canon 

Strategy: Canon 

Activity:  Using a verb chain previous created have students work as a group and preform a canon. ( see Verb chain strategy below) 

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 phrase overlaps(Amy Speirs, Dance week 2, slide. 15). 

Extension: Once students have practiced their canon and are comfortable have them work it in retrograde. 

Retrograde:  A choreographic form in which a dance or movement sequence is performed in reverse order (Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009). The Ontario curriculum grades 1‐8: The arts, pg. 166 ). 

Reason why I would use this activity:

I like this dance strategy because students are building on their schema and scaffolding their learning from verb chains into canons. Teaching lessons in this order will reach more learning styles and will benefit for students in the end. 

Elements of Focus:

Space: Students need to be aware of their own and their peers space. 

Time: Working with their peers students need to be aware of the timing in which they will begin their own part in the canon.

Body: Students need to be aware of their body space and the levels they are using the movement 

Relationship: During this strategy students need to be aware of their peers in the group and work through their movements in accordance with their peers. 

Accommodations/ Modifications:

• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space)
• Sequence students in a specific order to share (Provide students that have restrictive and repetitive behaviours with the opportunity to share at the end to minimize said behaviours) specifically for the cannon at which point does the next person start at. Showing a picture on the verb chain to distinguish it. 
• Pec cards ( for students that require support in communication) 
• Be aware of cultural requirements of students ( pair students up/ have discussion with students about comfortability with the activity) 

Reflection:

Working as a group through a canon was fun, as a group we discussed and picked a point that we all would start at. We discussed who would be the first to start the cannon and put ourselves in order in a semi circle. After completing the first canon we talked about what we like about the experience and how children might find it difficult to know when they need to start. We agreed that having a visual cue on the verb chain to show where each person is to start at would assist in student success.

Verb Chains

Strategy: Verb Chain

Start off the lesson by introducing a subject/ action that is to be used to create the verb chain. For example, students think about an action they do during their day like brushing their teeth. Collect all the verbs in the action and document them down on the verb chain. Students can pick the verbs to the actions in the simplest form. 

Extension: Using the verb chain, get students to practice a canon. 

Reason why I would use this activity:

This strategy allows students to work at their own pace along the verb chain. I also like how activity gets students to work together and think outside the box. As a teacher you could use a verb chain to connect to many other subjects. For example, the respiratory system, Digestive system, the water cycle. 

Elements of Focus:

Body: Students are to focus on their body awareness and which parts they are moving to express the verb actions.
Energy: Students element of energy will be used to express the movements needed to express the verbs. Example, when creating movement to the verb splatter a students movement might be sudden and sustained. 
Space: Students will use the space that is given within the classroom and be aware of the variety of pathways they can use. 

Accommodations/Modifications:

• Use technology to show students a visual of the action they are creating the verb chain for.
• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space)
• Sequence students in a specific order to share (Provide students that have restrictive and repetitive behaviours with the opportunity to share at the end to minimize said behaviours) 
• Pec cards ( for students that require support in communication) 
• Be aware of cultural requirements of students ( pair students up/ have discussion with students about comfortability with the activity) 

Reflection:
When working as a class to create a verb chain I found it challenging to determine how specific of actions to pick verbs from. I quickly learned that verb chains can be as specific as  you want it is up to the individual. As seen in the picture below, the verb chain is the actions that are done when brushing your teeth. 

Lets Get Moving!

Strategy: Fill in the Spaces with Positive and Negative space

Pair up students with peer in the class, explain that the will be working close proximity to each other, discuss with students the respect needed towards each others personal space and comfortability. Each student will start off with one movement filling the other students negative space, the partner will than call back and fill their negative space. This movement goes back and forth between partners and music can be played in the background. 

Reason why I would use this activity:
This gets the students thinking outside the box of how they can fill each other spaces in a creative way.

Elements of Focus:

Body: Students are aware of their body space in this activity 

Space: can fill their peers body space in a variety of levels

Relationship: The connection the student makes with their partner in negative space they are filling. 

Accommodations/ Modifications:

• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space)
• Sequence students in a specific order to share (Provide students that have restrictive and repetitive behaviours with the opportunity to share at the end to minimize said behaviours) 
• Pec cards ( for students that require support in communication) 
• Be aware of cultural requirements of students ( pair students up/ have discussion with students about comfortability with the activity) 

Reflection: 
Participating in filling the space was a cool experience, at the beginning I didnt completely understand how I would fill the negative space. I thought that I had to curve along my partners body. I realized it fill the negative space can surround the body and not only in one space. As seen in the picture below, I was sitting on the ground only occupying one part of a negative space compared to the second picture where I was trying to cover as much as my partners negative space as possible. 

Fill in the space

Line Dictionary

Activity:  The teacher will read aloud the book Straight Line Wonder by Mem Fox. The classroom teacher puts students into groups to draw a variety of different lines. The classroom teacher will than demonstrate how to use the Line dictionary as a movement sequence. The teacher picks a starting point on the Line Dictionary and follows the sheet in any direction until all variety of lines have been used. Students will than demonstrate their Line dictionary keep in mind key elements of dance (Body, Space, Time, Energy, Relationship). Extension to this activity would be to have students identify lines they believe would be a leader and a follower. 

Elements of Dance: 

Body: Students can use their bodies in a variety of ways and paths in the space 

Space: Students can use the space with different highs and directions to demonstrate their line dictionary. 

Time: Using the Line dictionary student’s movement will vary depending on their interpretation of the line. 

Energy: Students will be able to display the lines energy in their movement by hold and stretching out the lengths of poses in their movement. 

Relationship: The relation of space to others throughout the movement. 

Reasoning why to use this activity: 
I would use this lesson in my classroom because I feel that encompasses a variety of subjects, as an educator I can use the angles of the lines to talk about math concepts, it can be used as a literacy piece by creating a story based off the lines they created. As strategy for Dance it gets students to interpret the line in a way they see it and transfer that to movement. They will use a variety of elements of dance ( Body, space, time and energy) to express their interpretation of the lines in a sequence.

Extension activity:  To extend the activity from AB form to ABA form by identifying a leader line verses a follower line on the Line Dictionary. As a class ask students why they believe the line is a leader and a follower. 

Example:Seen in the image below the orange curvy line that has loops in different directions is the leader, the smaller version of that line is the follower because it is smaller and is on a lower part of the page.  

Strategy: 

Line Dictionary: Collaborative drawing of lines used as a dance sequence

Dance Form used: AB and extended to ABA

Notation: Invented written system of symbols, shapes, and lines that represent body position and movement (Line Dictionary). 

Accommodations/ Modifications:

• Classroom space (Ensure that the classroom space is large enough for all students to access to space)
• Sequence students in a specific order to share (Provide students that have restrictive and repetitive behaviours with the opportunity to share at the end to minimize said behaviours) 
• Pec cards ( for students that require support in communication) 
• For younger grades have a Line Dictionary started or already finished that you can work through with them together.

             Line Dictionary                                                            Literacy Illustration