Contents How to use this book Section One: Introduction to Skills
A. Warming Up - Advice, Tasks, Games B. Dancing Games - Advice, Tasks, Games, Links C. Created Dance - Narratives, Storylines D. Cool Down - Advice, Games, Purpose E. Practice and Skill - Development of Dance Steps
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6 12 15 22 24
Section Two: Week by Week Dance Sessions
Session One Session Two Session Three Session Four Session Five Session Six Session Seven Session Eight Session Nine Session Ten Session Eleven Session Twelve 31 33 35 37 40 42 45 47 49 51 53 55
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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Section One of Step by Step provides an introduction for the non-dance specialist to the various types of activities required to put together a successful and well- structured dance session. Thus, before running the dance sessions, teachers are advised to read this section covering the more detailed descriptions of the dance activities, in order to become familiar with the types of exercises given. Teachers should then follow the numbered dance sessions in sequence, as they build skills in different ways. The section on developing skills is included to help teachers work with children who are finding certain dance tasks difficult. Section Two of this book guides the teacher through 12 dance sessions each lasting about 20 minutes. These classes incorporate many tasks, games and exercises to cover a range of elements such as physical skill building and creativity. Sessions 1 - 4 focus on building a base of understanding of dance and creative movement. Sessions 5 - 8 focus on learning through dance, developing physical skills for the tasks and expanding on the creative sections. Sessions 9 - 12 further develop the more creative aspects of dance. The sessions are structured as follows: A Warm Up section with two or more activities A Games section for skill building A Creative Dance section for expression and imagination A Cool Down section with two or more activities The author has included a suggestion for the suitable duration of each exercise within the dance sessions - but it is only a guide. The sessions should last about 20 minutes in total but it is better to allow a task to over-run if it is keeping the children interested and stimulated. The creativity sections contain advice and guidance on how to structure a creative dance task. The latter sessions focus more on creativity and have fewer dance games included. A guide to suitable music is also included with each task. These are suggestions only, but may help when planning the lessons. It is always useful to have a range of different music available and to know the pieces fairly well before using them in the activities.
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SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SKILLS
A. WARMING UP
What is a warm up? A warm up is a series of exercises designed to increase the heart beat rate, increase the breathing rate and warm the body. It allows the muscles to begin working much harder, the joints to become lubricated and prepares the neurological messengers to work more quickly. It also focuses the child on how their body is moving. Why must we warm up? A warm up which achieves the above objectives will prepare the body for more concentrated exercise, such as is required in the dance session. It will ensure the joints, muscles and internal respiratory organs are ready for more strenuous work. The nerve signals need to be prepared to react more quickly to the body’s movement. What happens if we don’t warm up? You might get an injury due to cold joints being strained, muscles being over worked when cold or simply due to the body not responding quickly enough to being off balance, resulting in a fall. How should I get my class to warm up? Get the children to do simple exercises such as: running around, moving around the dance space and doing a concentrated isolated warm up where each part of the body is moved in turn. This covers the objectives of the warm up section. Is it necessary for such young children to warm up in this way? It is important that they understand the need to be warmed up. They will already be quite active (in most cases) but should learn the order of the physical activity class and the importance of warm up and cool down activities.
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WARM UP TASKS
Increase the heart beat rate and breathing rate. Prepare the children for dancing by getting them moving, listening and becoming excited about the class.
a) RUN AROUND GAMES HEALTH AND SAFETY ALERT! These are simple tasks requiring little dance knowledge from either teacher or student. However there are health and safety issues to observe before beginning. Ensure the space is clear of furniture, obstacles, children’s bags or shoes, etc. Highlight the areas in the room which may be a danger, such as protruding heaters on the wall, large windows or coat pegs. Clear the room and check the floor is not too slippery before beginning. PREPARATION Ask the children to find a space in the room, away from others, facing any direction. 1. Busy Ants Tell the children to run around as if they are ants, busily building a nest or looking for leaves. They must move in all directions, using little running steps. Try to avoid moving together or bumping into one another. It is advised to prepare children by getting them to stand on tip toe then take steps - they will learn to balance and then will be able to run with their weight on the balls of their feet making the movement lighter and swifter. Encourage the children as they play the game by suggesting the things they might find leaves, rocks or puddles for example, then the children can find ways of moving around these obstacles. 2. Run To The Rhythm Play drums or other instruments and speed up the rhythm- ask the children to respond to the different speeds of the rhythm. Use several instruments over the course of 3 - 4 minutes and ask the children to change their movements to suit the instrument. A fast beating drum could represent a fast run, a lighter shake on the tambourine might represent a run on the toes. Fast shakes on a maraca might encourage them to shake their bodies as they move. Before beginning the activity, you could ask the children to clap or count as you play a rhythm, this way they will begin to understand the connection between the beat and their own movements. 3. Escape From The Maze Ask the children to imagine they are in the middle of a maze. As the music starts they begin to run around trying to get out; they must turn corners, go under hedges and back on themselves to get out of the maze. They should use all directions and try to jump to
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see over the maze, reaching up, dipping down low to crawl under the hedges. Encourage them to use a range of movements. At this stage, they may not look like dance movements but they will develop the children’s ability to change direction, alter their height and levels of movements and also co-ordinate arms and legs as they move. 4. Remote Control Cars The teacher is the controller and gives instructions as follows: Forwards Backwards Sideways Round and Round Stop
Keep mixing up the instructions to make the children move as if they are little cars and they must move to the directions given. Keep this going to music for 2 - 3 minutes. The children should try to walk quickly or even run but be careful when they run backwards. Some children may not yet have mastered running backwards so may need to turn around or hold hands with an adult to help them master the movement. 5. Shaky Snakes The children use their arms and legs as if they are 4 snakes, writhing and wriggling as they move around the room. They should try to slither around and not make contact with anyone else as they move. The leader can instruct them to stand on the spot and they can twist and wriggle their arms as they stand. Run Around Games: Teaching Note These activities must ensure that each child who is participating has moved around for a couple of minutes, exploring the dance space. They will begin to build an awareness of how much space they take up and how they must move to avoid contact with other children.
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