Dance 4

Elements of Movement
This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

 use the elements of movement in combination

 demonstrate an awareness of techniques in a given dance style
 demonstrate an awareness of the principles of movement in dance
 identify ways in which safety, fitness, and health affect movement

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Elements of Movement in other grades
click on an icon below.

Suggested Instructional Strategies

 Ask groups of students to create web charts of action words related to dance.
Model and have students copy the different ways these terms can be applied
(e.g., travelling and on the spot, stretched and contracted, slow and fast).
 Invite a dancer from the high school or local community to talk about safety,
fitness, and health issues related to movement. The discussion could focus on:
o physical preparation
o safety preparation (e.g., appropriate footwear and clothing)
o warmup, rehearsal, and cooldown
o diet, rest, and exercise patterns (ensure that issues such as body image
and eating disorders are dealt with in a responsible manner)
Invite the guest to teach components of these areas for students to
practise.
 Play "Simon Says." Challenge students to create movements based on
instructions such as:
o Simon says to balance on three points (hand, elbow, and toe).
o Simon says to move like a person made of rubber.

Invite students to take turns giving instructions based on the elements or

principles of movement.
  As a class, learn a traditional folk dance. Have students practise and refine the
steps with attention to the use of the elements of movement. Then ask them to
perform the dance for another Grade 4 class, inviting the audience to try to
identify the elements of movement used.
 Have students suggest familiar occupations (e.g., parents' jobs, common careers
in the community, their own career aspirations). Then ask students to work in
groups to each select one occupation and consider the movements used in that
occupation. Invite each group to combine these movements into a repeating
sequence and to perform the sequence for the rest of the class.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

 Ask students to work together in a line or circle formation to develop dance

sequences that use elements of movement in simple combinations. To assess
their dance sequences, note:
o number of different steps
o difficulty of the steps
o complexity of the dance formations
o extent to which students develop movements that suit the rhythm, music,
and lyrics

Note as well the extent to which students:

o dance with controlled, balanced steps

o move to the beat and phrases of the music
o are able to change directions sharply and maintain rhythmic steps
 After students have learned the steps of a traditional folk dance, have them
create cartoon strips that represent some of the steps. For each cartoon, ask them
to label the pathways, types of movement and direction, and use of space. Ask
students to each identify one way the dance could enhance their own levels of
fitness or health. Collect the cartoon strips and look for evidence that students
are able to:
o accurately label the dance steps
o accurately identify the elements of movement in the dance steps
o make logical connections between dancing and personal fitness or health
 When students have been taught basic dance vocabulary, invite them to develop
dances that focus on their personal expression of recent themes in classroom
literature or in a social studies or science unit. Have them select their own music
and props. Videotape their dances and note the extent to which they:
o use locomotor or non-locomotor movements to accent specific beats
o maintain rhythm when performing their movement combinations
o create a series of movements to form a dance routine, alone or in small
groups

Recommended Learning Resources

  Print Materials
  Adventures in Creative Movement Activities
 Creative Dance
 Creative Dance for All Ages
 Movement Improvisation
 The Young Dancer

  Multimedia
 Can You Speak Dance?
 Creative Dance Experiences for Children
 The Creative Dance Keys Kit
 Dance Education Initiative
 Teaching Beginning Dance Improvisation
 Upper Elementary Children: Moving and Learning

  Music CD
 Contrast and Continuum: Music for Creative Dance, Volume I
 Contrast and Continuum: Music for Creative Dance, Volume II

© Copyright 1998 All Rights Reserved. Curriculum Branch.

Maintained by: Fine Arts Coordinator

Revised: July 8, 1998

  BC Ministry of Education Home Page