Dance K to 1
Creation and Composition

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

• move expressively to a variety of sounds and music
• create movements that represent patterns, characters, and other aspects of their world

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

Suggested Instructional Strategies

• Play a selection of instrumental music. Ask students to imagine themselves moving through general space as types of weather (e.g., snow, wind, rain, sunshine). Suggest ways students could change the elements of movement to portray the weather differently (e.g., different levels, energy, pathways). Play the music again and have students move to it, incorporating these changes.
• Invite students to use media such as pastels, crayons, or paints to create visual representations of a music selection. Have them share with partners the reasons for their choices of colour, shape, and line. Play the music again and ask students to use movement to interpret the music.
• When students are doing patterning activities in other subject areas, invite them to use movement to act out the patterns. For example, a student could wiggle-bend-wiggle-bend to represent a 1-2-1-2 pattern. Help students to see how their movements reflect the patterns.
• Read a story to the class, then ask students to discuss the characters and their feelings. Read the story again and have students move around the room portraying their interpretations of each character (e.g., Is the character happy or sad? Old or young?)
• Use a drum to establish a beat, then vary the intensity or tempo. Ask students to move to the beat, changing their movements each time the beat changes. Invite students to take turns playing the drum.
• Read a poem or story that suggests a variety of movements (e.g., quick and crisp, slow and relaxed) and ask students to create movements in response. Read the story several times to allow students to exlore a range of movement possibilities.

• When students use weather-related movement to interpret music, discuss the reasons for the movements they chose in relation to the music. Observe and note evidence of their:
  • awareness of space
  • response to directions
  • inventiveness in creating movements
  • abilities to make logical connections between the sounds they hear and their movements
• Have students work with partners to create movement sequences and repeat the patterns. Ask each pair to demonstrate its movements while other students identify and repeat the patterns. Then invite observing students to work with their partners to imitate the demonstrated movement sequences. Collect evidence that students are able to:
  • create their own movement sequences
  • accurately repeat the patterns demonstrated by others
  • accurately identify movements in their demonstrations of movement sequences
• As students dance to a selection of instrumental music, videotape the whole class. Have students watch the video. Ask them to focus on themselves to notice:
  • when they moved with lots of expression
  • when they demonstrated enjoyment of the dance Students could ask older buddies to help them record their responses.

• Adventures in Creative Movement Activities
• Creative Dance
• Creative Dance for All Ages
• Dance for Young Children
• Movement Improvisation

• Can You Speak Dance?
• The Creative Dance Keys Kit
• Dance Education Initiative
• Teaching Beginning Dance Improvisation

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

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