Dance 2 to 3
Dance and Society

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:

identify similarities and differences between dances
describe a variety of reasons why people dance

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Dance and Society in other grades click on an icon below.

Suggested Instructional Strategies

Ask students what dances their families and other people in the community participate in. Provide opportunities for individual students to demonstrate steps from dances they have learned outside of class, either within their cultural communities or through private lessons. Invite parents or other guests to talk about and demonstrate the dances of cultures represented in the community, including the costumes, traditions, and music involved. Challenge students to work in groups to create TV scrolls to explain the significance of the dances they have learned.
Have students observe dances from a variety of cultures, live or on video. Ask them to make contrast charts of the similarities and differences they see.
Using a folk dance style that students know, model a simple 8-beat sequence (e.g., walk 4, turn 2, clap 2). Ask students to create their own 8-beat patterns. Then have them work with partners to learn and practise their respective patterns and combine them into 16-beat sequences. Finally, ask pairs to share with other pairs, combining their patterns into new 32-beat sequences for presentation to the class. Discuss the range of possible combinations and arrangements, and relate these to other folk dances that students have already seen or learned. Help students understand the common foundation of basic movements for many folk dances.
As a class, brainstorm the reasons why people dance. (e.g., Does dancing tell a story? Is it used for enjoyment? Is it used in advertising? Is it used to say who we are?) Encourage students to consider the purposes of the dances they have learned. Invite them to reflect in their journals on how they use dance in their own lives.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

Have small groups of students each research one aspect of dance in their community. Invite the groups to present their findings. Observe whether students have:
- developed an awareness of the variety of dance opportunities in their community
- given reasons for why people dance
Ask students to become dance researchers for one week by gathering data about dancing (e.g., from TV programs, films). Prepare a viewing sheet for students to take home to explain the task to parents or guardians and request their support. In their research, look for evidence that they can:
- make logical predictions about why people dance
- accurately record a variety of dances
- include relevant data in their research
When parents or other guests talk about and demonstrate dances from their cultures, encourage students to ask questions about the purpose of each dance and to participate in dance demonstrations. Afterward have them complete response sheets that include sentence prompts such as:
- Two things I learned about the presenter's culture are ---------- .
- One reason for this dance is ---------- .
- I think the presenter expressed emotions in the dance when ---------- .
- One connection I can make between this dance and the dances we have been learning about in school is ---------- .
- One question I have about the dance is ---------- .