Workshop 3: Site Specific Dance Education

Topic: Site Specific Dance Education
Context: Who- VELS level 3 Grade 4 When- Beginning of topic Where- Inside (dance room) & Outside (playground) What- Site Specific Dance Why- To establish a relationship between the body and the landscape/space & to be independent learners and actively problem solve
Theme: ·         The elements that will be explore and manipulate are relationships, space and body ·         Body movements and physical skills such as mirror, mold and extending in shapes in different levels. They will use their bodies in any ways (safe ways) that can effectively use the space around them to move. ·         I will be teaching students the skills of Canon, Mirror, mould and extend and allowing them to practice them with the class and in small groups before putting it altogether at the end where they will need to use all four in their sequence.
Learning outcomes – the children will be able to…. Cognitive (Intellectual/artistic):Create their own site specific dance Psychomotor (Thinking/Physical):Students must be aware of safety aspects whilst using the playground and be solving dance problems Affective (Emotional/Social/Cultural): Students will establish a relationship with the space as they dance
Assessment I will be observing and continuously attending to groups of students questioning and prompting them. I will assess their cooperation, choreography and performance as I record it on video. Students at Level 3 select and combine ‘the dance elements of time, space and energy to develop dance ideas. They learn about and use knowledge of devices such as repetition, unison and canon to plan, create and present movement sequences and short dances for particular audiences or purposes.’ (VCAA 2009)
WHAT - content	HOW – strategies and approaches
Warm up – Kinesthetic tune-up Students move around the space and follow movements of the teacher such as stomping, faster, slower, freeze on different levels etc. Form a circle and practice canon. Teacher leads students to stretch where they are and then form themselves into shapes demonstrating objects of nature at different levels eg. Tree, volcano, grass, sun, cloud. They can do this individually for some, then call out objects to create in groups. Finish with creating a cave in pairs. Discuss the many places where people can dance and why they might dance there.	Management of children in the space safely Students will be reminded to move with caution on the playground (looking around them before they move and not rushed/silly) Teacher will be facing majority of the students at a time, walking around to all students in groups and individually. Establishing rules and expectations of behaviour Teacher will state the signal to stop and listen at the beginning of the class Students will be told they are expected to behave sensibly and respectfully of each other and the teacher Consequences will be communicated and followed through eg. 3 warnings and time out Safe dance practice of physical skills? I will need to check student’s personal and shared space as well as if they are using the playground area appropriately and safely. Aesthetic Awareness How will you develop their movement/character response? A slideshow of images of nature can be shown in the background while teaching in the classroom to inspire thinking about spaces Sounds of nature music playing when dancing Discussion about use of space when dancing and for what purpose Feedback to children about their movement response Modelling movements and skills showing a variety of options of movement. References Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2009, Background to VELS: The Arts Domain, State Government of Victoria <http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/arts/background.html>
Development  - Exploration Teach students how to mirror and mould with a partner. After they pratise this, mix up the groups again by asking students to create a river in threes. Show students how to ‘extend’. Students practice mirror, mould and extend in their groups of three while using transitional movements in between. Move outside toward the playground. Get the students to follow your actions as you walk through and in and out of the playground equipment. Beginning with one person then mirror, mould or extend around the playground as a class. In groups of 4-5, get students to mirror, mould and extending using the playground space. Together they must create a short sequence using canon and mirror, mould, extend beginning away from the playground, and ending within it.
Culminating Dance  - Presentation Students perform their sequences one after the other standing where they are, watching one another ready to start when the group before them finishes.
Discussion – Memory integration -          Their physical skills? What kind of movements did you need to practice the most? Why? Did you mostly stay on a high, middle or low level? How fast or slow did you move? Why? -          Their safety skills? How did your group make sure you were all dancing in a safe way? What did you need to do to make sure no one was going to get hurt easily? -          Their creative skills? How did you come up with your movements? What were you thinking when you were creating the dance? What were you trying to do? How did you feel dancing outside on the playground? How did you use the playground in your dance? How would your performance have changed if you used a different part of the playground?
Closure Find a nearby tree to mirror, mould and extend around again as a class.