Dear Zoo

On October 4, 2016 was our first class together and it was such a joyful experience!

My learning objective for this first day was to teach the students 2 dance terms: shapes and levels.

First we discussed different kinds of shapes.  And these first graders are so smart and know their shapes! One student even said "cylinder" which was awesome.  I then explained how in dance class when I say "shape" the students must create a shape with their bodies.  This shape can be anything they choose.  I instructed that when I hit my drum they should all hit a shape.  When I hit my drum and said "shape!" I saw the coolest most creative shapes! I was so impressed with how they made these decisions and how well they followed directions.

Then I demonstrated the three different levels: high, medium and low. We then played a game where I would say a level and they were to make a shape at that level.  We spent the next few moments of class exploring with me hitting my drum and saying "high shape!" or "low shape!" or "medium shape!"  I would sometimes go slow and sometimes go fast and the students giggled at the challenge.

To improvise new ways to move I brought a book with me called "Dear Zoo."  I took a few minutes to read this to the students.  We then drew animals out of a hat, for example: snake, monkey, elephant, etc.  When one student would draw an animal out of the hat we would all move around the space dancing like that animal.  Sometimes an animal would reflect a specific level, for example a snake is on a low level.  I played some music from the Jungle Book soundtrack to inspire our animal characters.

We split into two groups and performed for each other.  I let the students pick any animal they wanted to dance like but also to keep it a secret.  Then for the group observing I had them guess which animal they thought their friends were demonstrating.  We switched places so we all had a chance to perform and respond.  We had some good responses and many of them guessed correctly!

We had a great first class together and I am excited to dance with them again soon!