Lesson Plan Samples
These lesson plans were created and co-taught with a colleague as part of a larger interdisciplinary unit. They were implemented into the Dance Program of the Cultural Arts Recreation and Enrichment After school program at elementary schools in the Somerset School District. The interdisciplinary lessons focus on math and dance, utilizing props and movement to help students develop skills and relate to content. The math content and objectives for kindergarten and second grade were the foundation for designing the lessons. The first lesson involves counting and adding from one to ten with locomotor and non-locomotor movements. The second lesson involves application of skills utilized in measuring to an exploration that develops understanding of the body.
During this lesson students will work as choreographers and movement analyzers. They will experience the Laban element of Space by exploring shapes that they see in the world, creating those shapes in the body, and analyzing them in others. In small groups, students will use their existing knowledge to discover shapes in images of dancers. Next the teacher will introduce Rudolph Laban, his theory about shape within Laban Movement Analysis, and the Basic Shape Forms. Students will be lead through a discussion about the Basic Shape Forms characteristics and which forms they already practice in class. Students will then develop their understanding of the shapes by discovering them in everyday objects within their assigned groups. Next they will create a short phrase of movement where they embody the shapes they discovered in the objects, developing their understanding and applying it. Each group will analyze the movement of another group and offer feedback about their success in conveying the shapes. Finally students will return to the images of dancers and analyze them to discover the LMA Basic Shape Forms that they portray.
This is a high school dance lesson plan was written by myself and two colleagues. The lesson is inspired by Katherine Dunham, an American Modern Dancer, Choreographer, and Anthropologist who devoted her life to studying cultures and bringing them together through dance. In this lesson, high school students, learn about the Cuban Cha-Cha-Cha. It begins with a brief overview on the history between Cuba and the United States providing context and significance of the Cuban Cha-Cha-Cha which is a fusion of the two cultures. Students then explore the polyrhythms and the use of successive sequencing through the movement of the hips.
This lessons demonstrates how cultures can interact and mix with one another to produce a unique fusion of the two. I believe this lesson has a positive underlying message for students as it demonstrates how cultures can blend without conflict.
This WebQuest challenges students to take initative in their learning as well as have fun. Students work on their information literacy by having to evaluate the information they find through the websites provided. They are asked to use the proper information to provide service successfully in the activity. Going beyond technology, students are also using their creative skills to put together a poster and presentation to give to the class, simulating the assistance they would give their customer.
