These lesson plans focus on using dance to develop students' social-emotional skills. The first plan has students observe dance videos to analyze emotion portrayal, then choreograph and perform movements expressing emotions. The second has students analyze artwork with partners and create a duet responding to it. Both plans utilize various activities, modifications, and assessments to engage students and enable creative self-expression and social awareness through dance in a collaborative environment. The overarching goal is to foster positive social interaction, freedom of expression, and connection for students in a post-pandemic world.

1. LESSON PLAN #1:
Lesson Topic/Goal (Big Idea): observing and performing the use of specific movements to relay or
portray specific emotions
Grade level: 9th
Length of lesson: 70 mins
Day of the Week: Tuesday
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Content Standard(s):
Anchor Standards: DA:Cr3.1.HSII , DA:Pr5.1.HSII , DA:Re9.1.HSII NJ: 1.1.12acc.Cr1a , 1.1.12acc.Pr4c , 1.1.12acc.Pr6c ,
1.1.12acc.Re8a
Understanding (s)/objective:
Students will understand: how movement dynamics
can be used as a tool for expressing emotion. (e.g.
stomping can translate to anger, shaking can
translate to fear)
Essential Question(s):
- What details or qualities in movement help portray specific emotions?
- How can the body be used to communicate?
- How do you use your own body to express yourself?
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to: infer about, create, and connect movement to portray specific emotions.
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s) (Procedure):
- Observing, choreographing & performing
movement
- Verbal and/or non-verbal discussion
- Take-Home Journal
Modifications
- Scaffolding the lesson (before, during, after)
- Visual Support
- Modeling
- Extended Time
- Verbal & non-verbal dialogue/expression (use of personal mini white
boards during discussions)
Stage 3 – Learning Plan

2. Learning Activities (Assessment section):
- Opening review
- Watch dance videos & discuss
- Warm Up
- Choreograph
- Perform
- Closing Review/Discussion between students and teacher
LESSON PLAN #2:
Lesson Topic/Goal (Big Idea): working with a partner to analyze artwork and create movement in
response to it
Grade level: 9th
Length of lesson: 70 mins
Day of the Week: Friday
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Content Standard(s):
Anchor Standards: DA:Cr2.1.HSII , DA:Pr5.1.HSII , DA:Cn10.1.HSII NJ: 1.1.12prof.Cr2b , 1.1.12acc.Pr4a , 1.1.12acc.Re9a
Understanding (s)/objective:
Students will understand: the analytical and
collaborative component of movement making.
Essential Question(s):
- How can dance relate to other forms of art?
- Why is non-verbal communication important within executing
partnerwork?
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to: identify characteristics of an artwork to communicate with a partner and create a duet that is 3-5 eight
counts long.
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s) (Procedure):
- Choreographing & performing movement
- Choreographic Checklist
- Verbal and/or non-verbal discussion (mini
white boards)
- Take-Home Journal
Modifications
- Visual Cues/Support
- Sound Cues
- Non-verbal dialogue (mini white board)
- Teacher Partner

3. Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning Activities (Assessment section):
- Opening Review
- Warm-Up
- Assign & Analyze Artwork & Partner
- Choreographing
- Performing
- Closing review/Discussion
In a post-pandemic world, students are craving positive social interaction & connection as well as
the freedom to express and move beyond the confines of their home. Both of these lesson plans focus on
standards in arts education (creating, performing, responding, connecting) and Social-Emotional
Learning (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, & Responsible
Decision-Making) to provide students with an enriched curriculum. The goal of the intended curriculum is
to enable creative freedom in a collaborative environment to help garner self expression and social
awareness through dance. With the use of clear objectives, intentional instructional and classroom
accommodations, and student-centered activities, this classroom curriculum can inspire meaningful and
long-term learning.
The first lesson presented focuses on observing 3 professional dance works, analyzing the use of
the movement to portray intent/emotion, and then creating a movement phrase to embody & express 3
specific emotions to an audience. Allowing students to observe movement and emotion at the beginning
of class is both a visual support and a pre-lesson assessment to gauge understanding. The warm up allows
for guided improv and movement modelings in order to exercise connecting movement to emotion.
Finally, students will perform their movements for the class and provide contextual evidence when
describing how their movements showcase a specific emotion. Additionally, they are required to observe
movements performed by peers. The lesson utilizes backwards design, visual supports, extended time, and
use of verbal & non-verbal dialogue to prioritize accommodating student needs to achieve the end goal.
The accommodations are helpful for student populations with auditory, social, emotional, physical and
or/mental variations in learning. In effective SEL plans, it is important to include both pre and post test
assessments to accurately monitor the learning process as well as activities that measure student behavior
change and not just “changes in student attitudes or knowledge” (CASEL, 2003, p.13). Diversifying the
delivery of content through moments of observation/analysis, discussions, and
modeling/performing/creating is a way to keep students interested and engaged with the material
throughout a 70 minute class session. The class is broken into sections for both independent and
collaborative work, honing in on the SEL components mentioned in the first paragraph. Overall, the
lesson falls under a “content” category that simultaneously teaches SEL and an academic subject
(CASEL, 2003, p. 14).

4. The second lesson presented focuses on collaboration, cross-content analysis, and creating
movement from the analysis. At the beginning of the lesson, the opening review and warm-up focuses on
key aspects of artwork that relate to dance (line, shape, color, depth, etc.). Then groups of 2 are
intentionally established and tasked with observing an assigned artwork and interpreting the observations
through movement. At the end of class, students perform their movement scores and can elaborate on
their movement interpretations to the class. The class ends with a final review to hone in on the key
take-aways and implications of the lesson. This specific lesson plan is organized so that concepts are
scaffolded for independent and collaborative learning. It provides visual and auditory support, an
interdisciplinary approach, use of teacher/para partners if necessary, and the use of both verbal and
non-verbal dialogue for discussions. An integral part of this lesson is the need for students to be actively
listening to their partner’s observations while making their own interpretations and inferences about the
artwork. Students must work together with respect for each other’s opinions and artistic preferences
during the choreographic and performance process. Having students participate in content activities that
work on both intrapersonal and interpersonal skills is how they build on self, social, and emotional
awareness. Both of these lessons were created with the knowledge that “the best learning emerges from
supportive relationships that make learning both challenging and meaningful,” which is why they both
include independent and dependent study (CASEL, 2003, p. 5).
The SEL based curriculum aligns with the school’s vision in the sense that they are both
interested in closing the achievement gap between high and low-performing students and between
“disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.” (CASEL, 2003, p.2). Instilling students with
social emotional competencies through arts-based content can prepare students for adulthood as they must
go onto communicate with, interact with, and contribute to society independently. This curriculum
supports the school-wide notion that every child is capable of success if they have the right support. In
order to continue prioritizing the student experience in the classroom, SEL can be implemented in efforts
to re-examine the power dynamics that often prohibit students from an individualized, meaningful
experience in the classroom.