BC Education - Appendix D: K to 7 Samples

Dance Sample 1: Grades K to 1

Topic:

Nursery Rhymes

Prescribed Learning Outcomes:

Elements of Movement

It is expected that students will:

move safely in both personal and general space
move in a variety of levels, pathways, and directions, using a variety of body shapes
move in time to a steady beat

Creation and Composition

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 worldt

Presentation and Performance

It is expected that students will:

demonstrate a willingness to perform dance
demonstrate respect for the contributions of otherst

Overview

In this unit, students read and wrote nursery rhymes and created their own dances in the roles of nursery rhyme characters. Evaluation was based on teacher observation and student self-assessment.

Planning for Assessment and Evaluation

The teacher introduced students to nursery rhymes by reading examples from Big Books. The teacher wrote two or three nursery rhymes on pocket chart strips and invited students to arrange the strips in an order that matched the rhymes in the books. Then the class learned and sang nursery rhyme songs.
The class published nursery rhymes that they had composed. For each student, the teacher printed a line from one of the nursery rhymes at the bottom of a blank page. Students then illustrated the nursery rhyme lines. Some of them were able to write and illustrate their nursery rhymes independently, while others required assistance. Students shared their completed pages with the class.
Two students volunteered to role-play "Jack and Jill." The class discussed what facial expressions and movements could be included, and added props to enhance the movements. The teacher played music, and the class acted out the rhyme.
In the gym, the teacher demonstrated how nursery rhymes could be shown in dance, then taught travelling steps such as skipping and galloping. The teacher played music, and students practised travelling by themselves and then with partners.
Using the galloping and skipping steps, students worked in pairs to create dance sequences for "Jack and Jill." They were asked to combine these steps with non-locomotor movements (e.g., swinging arms as they gather the pail). The teacher circulated, giving feedback about what was working well and offering suggestions for revisions and refinements to dance sequences.
The teacher observed students and talked with them as they revised and refined their dances. The teacher and students frequently discussed the criteria they should be working toward.
The class was divided into small groups. Groups took turns performing. The audience responded with positive comments. The teacher posed questions. (e.g., What worked well? Could you add any other ideas to improve the dance? How was this group different from the other group?)
As an extension of this unit, the teacher invited students to choose their own nursery rhymes and create dances to present to the class.

Defining the Criteria

The teacher focussed observation on the following criteria:

uses body and facial expressions to interpret the nursery rhyme
makes logical connections between words in the nursery rhyme and movements
uses a variety of locomotor and non-locomotor movements
effectively incorporates travelling steps
moves to the beat of the music
moves safely in general space
willingly engages in the dance activity

Assessing and Evaluating Student Performance

Students completed checklists based on the criteria discussed in class. For each criterion, the teacher instructed them to draw a happy face if they thought they did very well, a face with no expression if they thought they did "okay," and a sad face if they thought they had difficulty. The teacher read aloud the phrases from the checklist, and students sketched in their faces.

The teacher used the list of criteria as an outline for recording observations of students both individually and as partners. The teacher provided feedback and asked students to each choose one dance goal to work toward. She recorded their choices on cards and placed them in the pocket chart for student reference.

Self-Evaluation: Nursery Rhyme Dance

Criteria	How did I do?
I used body and facial expressions.
My movements matched the words in the nursery rhyme.
I used a variety of movements.
I used travelling steps.
I moved to the beat of the music.
I performed our dance willingly.
I moved safely.