The dance lesson plan explores the concept of speed through movement. Students will warm up by moving to music that alternates between slow and fast speeds, mimicking the life cycle of a butterfly. They will then explore different speeds by moving to music that changes pace. Next, students will practice movement sequences in pairs at different speeds. Finally, students will move across the room imitating different insects and staying true to each insect's speed. The lesson concludes with a discussion of speed vocabulary and physical demonstration of speeds. The goal is for students to understand and apply the concept of speed in dance by the end of the lesson.
1. Serena Porter March 31, 2017
Practicum Dance Lesson
Title: Exploring Insects Through Movement
Age/Grade: Grade 2 (30 minutes total)
Equipment: The only materials necessary are strips of paper with sequence movements for the
developing skills activity.
Concept: Speed
Objectives: The students will be able to understand and apply the concept of speed in dance.
Standards: K-3.D.3.1.2 - Demonstrate how the body can change, create shapes, change levels,
and move through pathways and in space at various speeds.
Introduction/Warm-up (5 min.): The students will be doing a brain dance that focuses on the
life cycle of a butterfly. Each movement pattern (breath, tactile, etc.) will alternate between
speeds. We will start slow and progressively get faster before we slow back down. Each
movement will also be associated with a part of the life cycle of a butterfly.
Exploring the Concept (5 min.): Students will hear music that changes pace frequently. They
will be instructed to move slowly in any way they want to when the slow music is on, move
faster as the music speeds up, and move very quickly when the music is fast. The students can
move through levels, patterns, and relationships that they have already learned. They can use
their whole body moving through as much space in the room as possible or standing still just
moving a single body part. This is dependent on the space given and the creative choice of the
students.
Developing Skills (7 min): Students will be given small strips of paper that have a familiar
combination of movements, and they will be paired off. Each pair will go through their
movements using different speeds for each of the movements on the strip of paper. After 3-4
minutes, I will start walking around the room asking pairs to show me their sequence so that I
can see if they understand the concept of speed.
Creating (8 min): Students will be asked to think of the many insects they have been learning
about in class while they stand on the perimeter of the classroom (if the space allows) or on the
perimeter of the given space. While music plays, students should move towards the center of the
room choosing whichever insect they want to imitate and trying to stay true to the speed of that
insect. For instance, a caterpillar should be inching very slowly across the room. The students
will be told to try a different insect and different speed each time they head back to the perimeter
of the room and to the center of the room. I will encourage all kinds of movements through
levels, speeds, and patterns.
Cool Down/Closure (5 min): Because the time is limited, we will be doing a closure circle
where we discuss as a class the speed concept vocabulary (slow, medium, fast) verbally and then
physically.
Assessment: Through each step, I will be continuously walking around the room to assess
students’ understanding of the concept. The warm-up/ introducing of the concept will be the only
section not assessed because the concept is only being introduced and the dancers are just
2. Serena Porter March 31, 2017
warming up for movement.
Resources: Gilbert, Anne Green. Creative dance for all ages: a conceptual approach. 2nd ed.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2015. Print.
Reflection: Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to teach this lesson due to time and
space constraints.
