MATERIAL/PROCESS OVERVIEW: DANCE

a. Personal response to each material/process explored in class relating it to course readings.

Coming into this class I was very excited to see what kind of ways you can introduce dance in a
content curriculum. At first, we tried an activity about our names where we made our bodies
into the first letters of our names and shared it with the class. This was a very pleasant
experience for many reasons, I enjoyed being able to see everyone’s own take on their letters.
This was also a great strategy for relearning everyone’s name in a new way. At first it felt a little
silly, but I concluded that that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. While doing this I was laughing
and enjoying myself a lot. It also helped to wake me up which is an excellent strategy especially
first thing in the morning. It also helped me to use my creative juices to try and replicate
specific shapes only using my body. We also tried different ways to use movement in the class
some being to relax our muscles so it was interesting to see how movement could have both
calming and exciting purposes. Another activity was acting out literature with a dance. This was
very creative, and we had to use a lot of communication, memory, and listening skills. The last
activity that I felt strongly about t=was the alphabet boogie where we made other letters. This
was difficult for me, and I felt like I couldn’t think fast enough for it. In the blog post “Is sitting
killing you?” they mentioned a lot about the benefits of movement. The post stated “Studies
have long connected sedentary behavior to poor health, including heart disease, diabetes,
obesity and hypertension.” This was an important thing that I kept in mind while using
movement in the class. While doing these activities I thought about how something so simple
could have last effects on me and how grateful I was to be learning such skills.

b. Images and captions that illustrate process and learning and document the material
explorations.
This picture is of me and my classmates practicing the first letter to your name game. In this you
can see we are all making eye contact with others and smiling indicating the community
building that the activity provided.

This image shows me and my classmates doing the dance that we created to go along with the
literature. In this we had quickly decided that Mollie was a dream and me, Lindsey, and Jessica
were chasing her. We are all enjoying our time and laughing because it was another
opportunity for community building.
This Image shows my classmates trying the tension releasing movement. In this they are
clenching their legs and arms together. While doing this I felt a sense of safety and comfort.

c. Two ideas for classroom explorations and curriculum integration.

- For the first integration I thought about using movement to practice multiples of a number. In
this I imagine my students all standing in a circle where they can all make eye contact with one
another. In this activity, the students will take turns tossing a ball to each other while making
eye contact. Each time a student tosses the ball they have to say the next multiple of whatever
number they have. If the class is large splitting in half may be important to allow for each
student to have a chance to say a multiple they know. If a student forgets what is next, they can
ask for help from another student and that student can pass it to them to continue the chain.
This would follow NCAS Anchor Standard #5. “Develop and refine artistic techniques and work
for presentation.” The CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.7 “Multiply and divide within 100, using
strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of
operations. By the end of grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.”
Would also fit this saying that it is dealing with multiples.
- For the next integration, I imagine using dance for literary reasons in decoding the meaning of
a text. I imagine using this in a way that we did in class that groups of students are assigned to a
few lines to demonstrate through a dance. The NCAS Anchor Standard #6. “Convey meaning
through the presentation of artistic work.” And the CCSS.ELA.CONTENT.3.RL.4 “Determine the
meaning of words and phrases as they are used in text, distinguishing literal from non-literal
language.” To help support this activity and lesson.
d. Extra Materials:
Susan Haines dance and movement powerpoint:
https://wwu.instructure.com/courses/1590108/files/96745327/download?download_frd=1