Lesson Plan: Dancing Through the Four Seasons: Spring

DANCING THROUGH THE FOUR SEASONS

SPRING

Author: Deborah Lipa-Ciotta | Tapestry Charter School | Buffalo, NY Grade Level: 1st Grade Length of lesson: 60 Minutes

Tapestry Charter School, an Expeditionary Learning School, is a public school located in Buffalo, New York. All K-4th graders receive instruction in dance based on the New York State Standards for the Arts. Our 1st graders celebrate and dance all things related to the four seasons. This year-long curriculum blends an exploration of the elements of dance, improvisation and composition inspired by nature, weather, and the changing seasons. This lesson is one example of our celebration of spring with the beautiful poetry by Carl Sandburg, and dancing of Gene Kelly.

This lesson is easily adaptable for all ages and fun for all!

Essential question: Where do choreographers get ideas for dances? (spring season, nature, poetry)

Learning Targets:

I can improvise in my own unique style demonstrating the 8 patterns of the BrainDance inspired by spring images and poetry.

I can improvise movement ideas inspired by spring images and poetry.

Equipment: music device, computer, projector, enlarged printed copies of “Lines Written for Gene Kelly to Dance To” by Carl Sandburg, photo images relating to vocabulary in text YouTube film of “Lines Written to Dance To” performed by Gene Kelly and Carl Sandburg

1. Warming-up

Quick Warm-up: Students take a “gallery walk” outside and around the school grounds to look for signs of spring in nature.

BrainDance: inspired by spring images and text from “Lines Written for Gene Kelly to Dance To”

Breath -- breathe in the fresh spring air through our nose and out through our mouth Tactile -- brush off winter and wake up our skin and muscles with spring taps and pats -“Hey,

hey! Hey, hey!” Core-Distal -- rounded bulbs/seeds/buds/ (core) blooming/reaching upward (distal) Head-Tail -- spring animals returning (head) and (tail) Upper-Lower -- the spring wind, “wind is pushing you” “you are pushing the wind” (upper) “tell your feet where to go and watch them come back” (lower) Body Side -- birds returning in spring, can you fly one body side like a bird’s wings and then the other Cross Lateral -- skipping in the spring grass Vestibular -“be dizzy now” turning movements “and bring it to a finish with a period”

Music: Vivaldi “The Four Seasons (Spring)” I Allegro, II Largo, III Allegro

2. Introducing the Concept

We will discuss the essential question: Where do choreographers get ideas for dances? Dancers and choreographers can be inspired by nature, spring seasons, etc. Today we will create movements inspired by nature, photo images and poetry.

3. Exploring the Concept

Students take a “gallery walk” in the dance classroom of scattered photo images that relate to spring and to the text in “Lines Written for Gene Kelly to Dance To” (example: Gene Kelly, spring flowers, grass, child looking down, cartwheel, earth, alphabet, multiplication table, feet, question mark, exclamation point, commas, period, wind pushing, wooden heel shoes, silver heel shoes, feet, children dancing).

Click here to get access to a folder of images you can use for the "gallery walk" .

Then, I read the poem “Lines Written for Gene Kelly to Dance To” by Carl Sandburg slowly as students work together to gather and place the photo images in the order in which they appear in the poem.

Next, I share a short introduction of Carl Sandberg (poet) and Gene Kelly (singer, dancer, choreographer). Artists can work together (collaborate) to create performances.

Lines Written for Gene Kelly to Dance To by Carl Sandburg

Spring is when the grass turns green and glad. Spring is when the new grass comes up and says,

"Hey, hey! Hey, hey!" Be dizzy now and turn your head upside down and see how the world looks upside down. Be dizzy now and turn a cartwheel, and see the good earth through a cartwheel.

Tell your feet the alphabet. Tell your feet the multiplication table. Tell your feet where to go, and, and watch ‘em go and come back.

Can you dance a question mark? Can you dance an exclamation point? Can you dance a couple of commas? And bring it to a finish with a period?

Can you dance like the wind is pushing you? Can you dance like you are pushing the wind? Can you dance with slow wooden heels and then change to bright and singing silver heels? Such nice feet, such good feet.

This poem is in the public domain.

Creating

Improvisation/Creating: I then re-read the poem slowly as students improvise movements inspired by the text, images and choreography by Gene Kelly. (If time permits students can repeat this improvisation and perform in groups for each other.)

Music: George Winston, Blossom/Meadow from Winter Into Spring

Across the floor and Cooling Down

Goodbye Dance: Students will free dance across the floor (leaping, turning, locomotor movements) inspired by spring and the poem. Class will end with spring cool down breaths and debrief of the lesson. Where did we get ideas for creating our dances today?