Heat Wave

This week in NYC it is supposed to be 99 degrees for 3 days in a row! The rest of the days will be a cool 94 degrees. Can you believe that? Since there will be such a heat wave I have been brainstorming about places we could visit in dance class that will make us cool.

-Perhaps we could build a sun, everyone could lay down in the circle with their feet in the middle and heads pointing out. We could move our arms really sharp in air. Like rays. This could be really fun, and quite silly!

- Maybe we could visit the beach. Move like waves, build sand castles with our bodies, and fly kites. What would your kite look like?

- It is also possible we could visit the pool. Putting on our very cool sunglasses and bathing suits (pretend of course) and practicing different jumps we would do into the pool. A turning jump, a X jump could be fun, really the possibilities are endless. We could also imagine we had a sprinkler that we were dancing through. Oh, I love the pool and the sprinkler and I am pretty sure all 3's and 4's do too!

Even though I would be just as happy sitting in front of the air conditioner this week. Dance class must go on! What will you do this week to keep cool? Keep your students cool? I would love to hear!

Cones

The other day I was in target, and found these in the dollar section! Yahoooo! They have the neatest stuff in that section. Don't you think? I find a lot of stuff there! Anyway, I am planning summer classes today that will be in full swing next week. Here are some ideas I thought we could do with cones:

1) Make pathways to explore locomotor movements in. (ex: straight line, or curvey snake)

2) Leap over them, of course

3) Weaving (with a little prep and practice, I think 3 year olds could do it!)

4) Ice cream cones!

5) Funny shoes...

6) Microphones (I like to sing yeah... yeah... yeah!)

7) Very tall shape statues, use it as the base.

What about you? Do you use cones in your classes? I would love to hear your creative ideas!

Hello and Goodbye Songs

I'm looking for exceptional"hello" and "goodbye" songs for movement and ballet class! Do you sing acapella in your classes or do you like to sing along with music? I will do either! Have any recommendations? I am teaching the smallest of age groups (starting at 18 months!) this summer, and it's important that I can sign one that I like and they will love too!

Please share your songs in the comments! I bet other readers would love new beginning and ending songs too! :)

Exploring the Garden

This week, in ballet and creative movement we are celebrating the garden! Growing as different types of flowers, caterpillars to butterflies, ants, worms, and birds! My 4 year olds loved the idea saying "I wish we could visit the real garden!"

We have been doing the caterpillar to butterfly dance for a while in ballet class and they love it! Just this week many of them told me they are growing butterflies in their classrooms. Woah! I didn't even know I was connecting to curriculum, but it makes me so happy that I am! How great is it for them to see it happening and also make a dance about it using their bodies?!

Do you have a lesson in dance class that the kids tell you they are exploring at school? I would love to hear!

Milkshake!

I found a milkshakes song from the CD, Songs for Wiggleworms and it's so fantastic! We pour milk, we pour cream (stretches to the side), we stir it all up (spin), and then we shake it up! Of course, we all pick our flavors, including the flavor "pink chocolate" (haha) Doesn't that sound delicious?! I love when we can make a dance with just about anything!

Do you do any silly songs that your students just LOVE? What do you make dances about? I would love to hear?

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Coloring pages giveaway from DanceStudioOwner.com!

Calm, Quiet Bodies

In the last few weeks, I have incorporated "calm, quiet bodies" into all of my classes. It's amazing, what a difference this makes. What I started to realize is that it is just as important for children to learn how to make their bodies calm, as it is for them to learn different ways to move their bodies. I call it "calm, quiet body" (I say both calm and quiet because I found that some children respond more to one word then the other) and we usually practice this after a high energy dance. It works really well at the end of class if the students are transitioning to another activity or are on their way home. They seem to be able to demonstrate this in their bodies more in a freeze dance, which I believe is in response to music and a short window of time to be still. When I ask them to make their bodies calm and quiet, it seems to be a bigger challenge. But, challenges are good! They make us stronger, happier, and more confident. Exactly what I want my students to be!

Do you have a version of calm, quiet bodies? I would love to hear!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Coloring Pages Giveaway! (you have until this Friday, May 7th)

Coloring Pages Giveaway!

My dear readers, today is my very first giveaway! (Happy Dance!) Courtesy of Suzanne Gerety of DanceStudioOwner.com, I am offering 3 lucky winners a CD of Coloring pages! What are coloring pages you ask? They are lovely teaching tools to pass out to your students featuring different genres of dance. The CD includes 26 coloring pages that show the position or step, and then gives a description! (see below) It includes tap, ballet, and recital pictures for BOTH boys and girls! Isn't that fabulous?

To give you an honest review: I passed out first position to my 3 year old ballet dancers and here is what they said...

"I can do that position, see!"

"I can't wait to take it home and color it!"

"do you have more?"

"I think I will name her princess!" (haha)

These are a true testament on how lovely and educational these coloring pages are! Here is an example that I colored! I can't remember the last time I colored a picture! Bonus: Here is a link to download first position for free! http://www.dancestudioowner.com/public/252.cfm

For a chance to win, please visit DanceStudioOwner.com, (you will fall in love with all the helpful information on this site) and leave a comment below! 3 lucky winners will be chosen at random next Friday May 7th! I can not wait for you comments! Good Luck! :)

Purple

Purple, (2nd to pink) the color that 3 year old little girls NEED to have! Yesterday, I taught an important lesson about using different colors. I usually allow the dancers to pick the colors that they want. If I run out of a certain color then they have to pick a color I have. I tell them that sometimes we don't always get the color we want. I find this works for me better than, "you get what you get, and you don't get upset." I always seem to have more upset children with that saying than just picking colors. So, I do it this way.

Yesterday I only had four purple ribbons, and they ALL wanted purple. Usually we can work it out, someone will share their purple and pick another color, but yesterday it was not the case. So we eliminated the purple. Then they wanted pink, the ribbons do not come in pink, so I said "what about red, it's close to pink" (haha) They looked at me like I was crazy!

It all worked out fine in the end, I told them we can still have the same amount of fun no matter what color we dance with. And we did, it was really supper fun! I am pretty sure they will forget about this lesson and want purple all over again next week, but at least I feel like I taught a life lesson with something as simple (big deal for them) as the color purple!

What about you? How do you handle colors? What works best for you? I would love to hear!

The Animal Boogie

This week in my preschool classes I introduced this book, The Animal Boogie! It comes with a CD to dance to and does a really great job of introducing movement words such as shake, flap, leap, and swing. After we do the dance through the book, I ask the kids what their favorite animal was and if they can remember the word the animal moved too. It has a catchy tune too!

"shake, shake, boogie, woogie, oogie"

Barefoot Books has more books like this one, perhaps I will put them on my wish list! Have you tried this book in preschool? Have you tried any new books lately that the kids love?

Octopus

How many legs does an octopus have? 8 of course! Yesterday in creative movement we were dancing under the sea. We thought about all the animals we could be under the sea. Sharks, Lobsters, Mermaids, and Seahorse. I said "what about an octopus with 8 long legs?" One of the students said "But we only have 4 legs" Another had the idea, "we should find a partner and stand behind them, that will make 8 legs!" I was so excited that she thought of this. I told them all to find a partner, which could be tricky with 4 year olds, but they did it! How creative is this idea? She thought about how we could not be a TRUE octopus with 8 legs. We had to add 4 more limbs. I'm not sure I ever would of thought of this idea. Now I will forever use that idea when dancing under the sea! What about you?

Do your students ever surprise you or give you ideas to use in future classes?

Bugs

Today was a very silly day! I taught science! Silly Science that is! It was so fun. I filled in for a teacher who had an emergency, but it turned out to be such a great experience. All the kids were 2 and so very talkative. The theme was bugs! We read The Hungry Caterpillar and then used magnifying glasses to search for bugs around the room. They were so cute looking through the glass! Even though it was science, you better believe I incorporated some movement into the lesson. We slept in our cocoon and then became beautiful butterflies, just like in the story. They wanted to do it over and over, before I knew it, I had to remind myself that it wasn't a movement class. It just shows how much little ones' imagination soar when they move their bodies.

Next week I think I will explore bugs with my creative movement classes! How would you move like a ladybug? How many different types of bugs do you think you could dance about? I am sure the kids could think of more than I could!

Sneaky

One of my favorite words to explore in dance class with the young ones is the word sneak! Yesterday, we practiced sneaking across the floor. I asked the dancers where we could imagine being sneaky. They said "I think we could sneak into the kitchen and get a cookie!" "Maybe we could sneak in between the trees!" All great ideas! I also told them to imagine there was someone looking in the mirror or the window, and to try to sneak by without that person seeing them! So fun! We practiced sneaking a bunch of different ways. Backwards, down low, slow, quick, turns, bounce, and on and on!

Have you ever done the word sneak with your dancers? If your looking for something to bring a smile to you and your students faces, try this!

Same spot, New spot

Do you ever notice that when your students come into the room they always sit or stand in the same spot? Well, I have window clingers, mirror touchers, piano players, and barre hangers all in my tap class. I noticed today that, they always seem to gravitate to the same spot in the room every week. I wonder if they feel safe there? When I think about when I take dance class, I usually stand in middle, that's where I feel safe. I thought about bringing them out of their comfort zone, so today I tried something new. Every time we moved to a new exercise, I had them find a new spot. I thought maybe this would enable them to see what other parts of the room are like, and maybe stand next to a new person too! It seems so silly, but I think it is a habbit to many of them, and I want them to be able to dance anywhere, not just in the same spot, in the same room every week.

Do you find your students like to do this? Do you think its good for them to be in the same spot every week? Or is it best to change it up? I would love to hear!

Until Next Time...

I have been thinking a lot lately about the way I end my dance classes. For ballet, I sing a song or we do our reverence nice and slow. For creative movement, we become a bear or rabbit or dance our way out with a prop. For tap, we talk about what we are going to practice over the week. I wonder what other creative ways I can explore ending a dance class?

What about you? How do you end your class? Do you have something special you do? Say names, do solos? I would love to hear!

Red Rover

It's Friday! Our last lesson of the week is shared by Catherine Tully of 4dancers!

I would start on one side of the room, with the children on the other. Once I had one kid on my side, we’d just call out, “Red Rover, Red Rover, let (name) come over, and then I would add something for them to do on the way, such as the “princess walk”, or marching. I’d let the child who got called tell me who to call over next. It sounds so basic, but the kids absolutely loved it!


Isn't this a great lesson? It's easy to incorporate so many action/movement words into the game. What a great idea to fuse dance education and a game normally played at recess or in gym class! Thank you Catherine for sharing this great idea!

I hope you have found the lessons shared this week helpful and were able to gather some ideas for your own classrooms and students. That is the goal, afterall! Thank you to everyone who shared your ideas and Thank you to all my dear readers! xo

(picture via asbjorn lonvig)

Sharp Hands, Soft Hands

This lesson is shared by Tiffany Braniff of the popular blog Dancing Branflakes! Tiffany says this lesson was adapted from Royal Acadamy Dance Syllabus a long time ago!


Sharp Hands for 3-5 year olds

I have the children sit in a circle and pretend we are about to make a "witches brew." Then I ask, in my witch's voice, what witches wear. We put on our cloak, hat, and pointy nose and begin throwing things in the pot. We throw dragon eye balls, poisoned apples, and whatever gross and scary things we can think of. I make sure we throw them with "sharp hands" with stretched out fingers and palms. We make plopping or sizzling sounds depending on what's getting thrown in. The point is to get the kids to think about their hands and what they are doing. And at the end, we of course drink our poisoned brew then collapse to the ground.

Soft hands for 3-5 year olds
The opposite of sharp hands, we sit in a circle and pretend we are either princesses picking flowers in the ground or fairies picking stars from the sky. We have to do it with gentle fingers as to not crush the flowers or stars, depending on who you are that day. We put either the stars or the flowers back into our baskets for safe keeping. The girls love to tell me what color dress and tiara they are wearing. Then we all get up and pretend we are throwing the flowers onto the ground like flower girls and tossing the stars back into the sky so we can see them later.

Like sharp hands, this exercise helps students pay attention to their fingers and helps with fine motor skills.

Thank you for sharing this lesson with us Tiffany!

Listen, Draw, Move

The third lesson of the week is from Lauren Warnecke of Art Intercepts! Thanks Lauren for sharing this creative lesson!

Lauren says she has tried this lesson on ages 3- adult and has had success!

This lesson plan is a great way to develop sensitivity for musicality and characteristics in movement and music such as accent and tempo. First I have the kids lay in a circle with their heads into the circle. I turn off the lights and play them a piece of music that has a specific quality I want them to grasp. They practice active listening with their eyes closed. While they are listening, I set out a big piece of butcher paper and colored markers or crayons. We then open our eyes and listen to the music again—this time I ask them to “draw what the music looks like” paying attention to what colors they use, what their lines look like (strong and jagged or soft and curved), and taking into account that all of the dancers are making a collaborative piece of art. Once the music ends I hang their art as a back drop and play the song one more time and this time they get to free dance to the music trying to incorporate the qualities we listened to and drew in our artwork.

For contrast, I’ll repeat the entire activity with a totally different song that exhibits opposite qualities from the one we just did. This lesson takes about 30 minutes to complete and is always really fun!

(photo via Menomonee Club)

Dora and Diego

This is a lesson shared by Christina Ratatori, a K-5 dance teacher at Elm Creative Arts Elementary School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Christina uses this lesson for her 4 and 5 year old dancers.

To teach pas de chat, I use floor dots (called "dancing dots" with my dancers). We pas de chat over the dots. Before this occurs...

All the girls in the room are referred to as Doras; the boys Diegos. We yell out 'backpack' like in the show (put on our imaginary backpacks) and yell "map" as well. When we take our our maps, I tell the story of how there is a treasure to be found. Uh oh. But there is a hill in the way. We try jumping over the hill. Then marching over the hill. And tip toe over the hill. Nothing works. (This is a great review of our locomotor skills.) The only movement that will work is the special pas de chat. All the Doras pas de chat... then the Diegos... then everyone. The dancers love this! And the lesson ends with a celebration dance using creative movement.


Thank you Christina for sharing this wonderful lesson!

Seasaw

I love the image of a seasaw, especially for dancers. I use this image to teach cause and effect. When one thing happens, it causes something else to happen. I put them in partners and we create an entire dance about when one person goes down the other goes up. We do it close together, far apart, backwards, it's so fun! It's also a quick, fun, warm-up, if you are looking for something new to incorporate!

Do you teach cause and effect to your students? What images do you use?

p.s. Don't forget to share your lesson plans to be featured next week!

Share your Favorite Lesson on Move. Create. Educate!

Do you have a favorite lesson? A lesson you love to teach? A lesson that always works? If so, I would love to hear from you! Submit a lesson or idea that Move. Create. Educate readers could take and use in their own dance rooms and I will feature your idea right here! Sound like a good idea? I thought so!

Write me at maria.f.hanley@gmail.com with a lesson plan of your choice. It doesn't have to be a "formal" lesson plan, it can just be a description of your idea and how you would teach it to the kids. It can be any type of dance for any age group, just as long as it is creative! If you would like, you can send along a picture too!

I would like to start posting these next week, so if possible send me your ideas before Monday, March 29th. I look forward to reading your ideas!