Wk 12: Literacy and Dance

This weeks tutorial focussed all activites around the text Henry and Amy. What was particularly interesting was the way the text was incorporated throughout all the parts of the tutorial. Often when I am designing a lesson from a stimulus such as a text the text is only brought in through the body. However when did our warm up around the room today all the movements that we were asked to do as we were walking around we words that had come from the text i.e. "straight", "wiggly", "left, "right". This was great to see the connection the whole way through, I think this would really getting students engaged with the text. We did read through the book once, but as Iris explained in a lesson setting you would read through it several times, breaking down the sections and pulling out particular words. So once the dance lesson begins the students are aware of the language in the book and how the movements can connect.

It was really great to see the connection between a text and dancing. It is easy to make connections from literacy to the other art forms in creative arts, but my mind quite often does not quickly think of how it can be used in dance. So getting some more practice in this is extremely beneficial for my development as a teacher in training. It has been mentioned before in our tutorials that children are sensory learners and dance so obviosuly makes those connections to meaningful experiences. Combining reading and dance allows "an opportunity for the whole person to be involved in the reading process" (Block, 2001, p. 48). Using the Henry and Amy through dance allows students to embody more than just the characters, it allows the exploration of the structure of the text, and the particular language that is used.

Block, B. (2001). Literacy through movement: An organisational approach. Journal of Physical education, recreation and dance , 72 (1), 39-48.

Wk 11: Space

-       In this weeks tutorial we explored the use of space. Exploring both the general space, which is the space that is occupied by the performance area, and personal space, which is your immediate space. Exploring personal space in particular was quite challenging because as soon as a movement was made that you stepped forward or transferred your weight from one foot to another you were moving into the general space. This was challenging but it was also fun to consider the amount of way you can move your body without moving from the spot. Just by the different ways you can extend your limbs there are so many shapes and dynamics that can be explored. As we were doing this work initially with a partner it was even more interesting to see how you can explore your own personal space but to do it with another person. This kind of improvisation I think would be extremely beneficial to students in learning the ways their body can move and gaining confidence in those movements, “Students can learn confidence from the way they move by experimenting with unconventional and different methods” (Morgan, 2004, p. 19)

-       In the later part of the tutorial we were split into groups and each given a stimulus to come up with a unit of work based on a specific feature of space. My group was given peg board and we were to explore the concept of the floor and the sky. 

      As  the beads in this stimulus were a range of colour and shapes we decided that they could represent different movements, for instance in there was a small green bead, that meant a small quick movement, a big red bead that was a high slow movement. We also discussed how the beads could be used to represent different things, one was that the colours could be used to explore emotion through movement, another was organizing the beads to represent actual things such as traffic lights and exploring that concept through movement. Lastly we discussed what links this unit could have to other KLAs, which is clearly has a strong link with math and recognizing patterns. This is actually quite a difficult task, but great to see what our group and other groups were able to come up with and how physical things can be incorporated into dance.

Morgan, R. (2004). Improvisation: Another way to move and dance. Strategies: A journal for physical and sport educators , 18 (2), 19-20.

Wk 10: Musical Theatre

In this weeks class we had quite a large group. The main challenge this week was qorking collaboratively and creating a piece that incorporated the dance elements we were focussing on as well as being to a good standard. I thought it was a great ideas to incorporate many elements into the dance through different sized groups, we had whole class at the beginning of the dance which then developed into the class being split into two groups, and then progressing into smaller group compositions. This gave all students to the opportunity to work together and experience working as a large group as well as exploring specific movement in the small group coreographies. 

Secondly, I think the way the lesson was structured meant we could effectively grasp all the concepts that were going to be incorporated into the final product. The warm up activity as well as all the activities that followed built on the idea of dynamic movements. In this was students were able to gain an understanding of the movements before having to perform them as a whole class. I think this is something that is particularly important when teaching primary school students, especially in dance. When teaching dance there will be such as wide skill set in the classroom that the teacher needs to make sure their teaching is both explicit, to teach those less confident, and engaging, to cater for the students with more experience with dance.

This is the link for the dance our class came up with in a short space of time. Although it is not perfect I think it clearly shows how the development of dance elements througout the lesson.

Revolting Children

Wk 9: The Body

This week was our first week of dance. To refresh our memories of using dance in the classroom we discussed how dance is used in learning. The most important thing that I re-gained an understanding of was how children are sensory learners. They are most engaged when they can move their bodies, engage the senses and explore ideas through movement.

However dance not only engages students physically but it can also explore their ability to analyse and artform for meaning, as stated by Ann McCormak dance "not only provides skills but challenges students to participate in dance making, performing and appreciating" (McCormak, 1995, p. 179).    Students are able to use their own bodies to express and idea but also observe the way that others perform and the ways in which they express ideas. This is a crucial component to teaching dance, that it is not only how you can move your own body, but appreciating how other people and other cultures are able to use their bodies to communicate through dance also,

"it can provide a unique communication tool 

which crosses all disciplines, languages, 

religions and ages"
(McCormak, 1995, p. 173)

McCormak, A. (1995). Dance in the Australian primary curriculum - a region case study. European Physical Education Review , 1 (2), 173-185.