Today, the students learned about axial movement and built upon their knowledge of locomotor movement. Last class, the students successfully were able to walk, run, leap, jump, hop, skip, and gallop on different levels and at varying tempos. I recently learned that their is a correlation between skipping and reading ability, so I emphasized skipping and we even tried skipping backwards, taking turns in lines across the classroom. I was impressed at their ability to skip backwards!
After experimenting with axial movement today, the students performed a dance featuring axial and locomotor movements. The difficult part of the dance was remembering the dance sequence when given music cues to perform. Half of the class performed for the other half, and after each half performed I asked the students, what types of movements they saw. They identified locomotor steps and used adjectives to describe the axial movement. Though I planned well for this lesson, I discovered that I if I were to teach it again, i would need to change a few of the transitions. For example, to teach them axial movement I gave each of them a piece of tape to stand on and dance over. I tried giving students a piece of tape as they reviewed locomotor steps at the beginning of class, but I could not remember which students I had given the pieces to. I ended up having them stop and raise their hand if they did not have a piece yet, and a majority of the class raised their hands. I finished handing out pieces of tape, but it definitely took up some valuable time. The students clearly met my expectations today in regards to their focus while dancing. I was very pleased! I wanted them to think about what they were doing when they were doing it and to be serious in their intent. I referred to a video I used to teach them axial movement, explaining that dancers mostly communicate with their bodies and not with their voices. (This video: Takedema). After giving this example, they remained focused for the remaining time again as they danced or froze in shapes.
1 Comment
Heather Francis
10/31/2018 15:21:54
Great reflective thinking Lindsey! I loved your thoughts on transitions. Do you already have another procedure in mind to make the tape dispensing easier? Have you thought about putting the tape down on the floor before class starts or while you're reviewing locomotor steps? I think putting the tape down before they do assures you can have them spread out enough for safety and not outside of the boundaries you set for dancing in the classroom. Great work!
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AuthorMy name is Lindsey Christensen and I am an Arts Bridge scholar. I am excited and grateful to develop as a teacher through the ArtsBridge program. I love dance and I love sharing it with others. Archives
January 2019
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