Dance Strand 4: Integrating dance in the wider curriculum

This week’s tutorial convinced me to use dance to get students to learn abstract concepts in other curriculum subjects can spark imagination and inspirations thereby increasing their motivation to learn. Dance can be specifically used to help them to think mathematically, which will help them in solving problems confidently and easily or to help them understand the meaning of a particular text, which will help them in their reading and writing skills. As Gersak (n.d.) states, dance can be used to motivate and help students understand mathematical concepts, science and literacy easily, making the curriculum more tangible, accessible, memorable and effective for young learners.

Hence, in a Mathematics lesson focusing on three-dimensional shapes, I will get them to create movements that have their body parts creating shapes such as square, circle, rectangle and triangle. I will then give students images of prism, pyramid, cylinder, cone and sphere followed by getting them to work in groups of 3 to create and perform symmetrical movements of one of these shapes. Symmetry is important in dance as it allows them to create repetitive patterns that will allow them to understand what features make shape a three-dimensional shape (Pitici, 2012, pp.80-83; Wasilewka, 2012, pp.454-455). Other students can then predict what shapes each pair has created and what makes it a three-dimensional shape. 

References

Gersak, V. (n.d.). Creative movement – An opportunity for affective education. In S.W. Stinson, C. Svendler Nielsen & S-Y. Liu (Eds.), Dance, young people and change: Proceedings of the daCi and WDA Global Dance Summit, Taiwan: Taipei National University of the Arts. Retrieved from http://ausdance.org.au/uploads/content/publications/2012-global-summit/dance-learning-rp/creative-movement-an-opportunity-for-affective-education.pdf

Pitici, M. (2012). The best writing on Mathematics. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Wasilewska, K. (2012). Mathematics in the World of Dance (Thesis, University of Southern California). Retrieved from http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2012/bridges2012-453.pdf

Dance Strand 3: Space - general and personal space

I never knew that different levels, sizes, directions, dimensions, pathways and spaces have different messages within till experiencing it in this week’s tutorial.   

However, giving student a visual, auditory, tactile, kinaesthetic or ideational stimulus is a good way to start a dance lesson, to inspire and engage them (Smith & Pocknell, 2007, p.12). When giving them stimulus, teachers must develop learning experiences that connect to everyday living (National Dance Association, 2010, p.43). As Ministerial Council on Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (2008) states, teachers must teach learners how they can deal with current issues in real life confidently. For instance, getting us to think about what the homeless would experience allowed us to create movements easily. This influenced me that homeless individuals should be treated as equal individuals and should be offered a helping hand. This will teach students how they can help homeless individuals, teaching them how to be good citizens.

However, in my future classroom, I would get students to watch a video instead to give them more ideas to create movements. Prior to that, I will show them that movements can be performed in different levels, directions, shapes and sizes and how personal or general space can be created, getting them to think about what each movement makes them feel. 

References

Ministerial Council on Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Victoria: Author.

National Dance Association. (2010). Implementing the national dance education standards. Illinois, USA: Human Kinetics.

Smith, F., & Pocknell, L. (2007). A practical guide to teaching dance. Leeds, United Kingdom: Coachwise Business Solutions.

Dance Strand 2: Effort and Dynamics

This week’s tutorial influenced me that all students should be given the opportunity to perform their interpretations of movement qualities such as swing, lyrical, percussion, vibrator and sustained on the spot, giving them opportunities to improvise.  This gives them freedom, confidence, and feeling positive about themselves (Collins, 2014, p.3).

To make it more expressive, I believe in getting my students to apply the Laban’s theory on movement, which consist of direct and indirect direction, heavy and light weight, quick and sustained speed and bound and free flow. I believe that these movements will surprise audiences, which is the key to an entertaining dance.  As Magruder (2013) states, the more energy is put into the dance, the more it will excite audiences’ imaginations, which will make it entertaining. Energy can be achieved when Laban’s theory is used in children’s dancing. This allows them to perform dances that will deliver their intended message effectively and clearly.

I will get them to use the strategies listed above to express their thoughts about the personality of a character of a picture book that the teacher is about to read. Getting them to express their thoughts without restrictions will increase their engagement, allowing them to encounter experiences that go beyond the daily experiences (Bond & Stinson, 2001, as cited in Fegley, 2010, p.6).

References
Collins, K. E. (2014). Artistic Expression Through the Performance of Improvisation (Senior Thesis Preparation, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=dance_students
Fegley, L. A. (2010). The impact of dance on student learning: Within the classroom and across the curriculum (Masters thesis, The Evergreen State College, USA). Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.428.3993&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Magruder, E. H. (2013). Dancing for Young Audiences: A Practical Guide to Creating, Managing and Marketing a Performance Company. North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.