October 30, 2014

This was my first time teaching both of Mrs. Rigby's kindergarten classes and we had a blast! Their curriculum this week focused on syllables and on rhyming.  Combining the curriculum into a dance lesson was actually fairly easy and integrated really well.

Introduction

The first thing I did when introduced to each of the classes was to introduce myself and to explain some rules in order to make sure that everything ran smoothly. This kids were visibly excited to see me and get the opportunity to dance! The three rules that I consider most important for a dance class are:

1. No touching--objects, desks, walls or other classmates
2. "We dance with our bodies, not with our mouths" --no talking
3. Have fun and be creative 

The students were overall fairly responsive to these rules and it helped keep everyone in a good mood and safe!

Also, while teaching each class I had a magic word. The magic word was a signal for the students to quietly find their own space in the room where no one else was. The first time I used the word "popcorn." After talking to my mentor, who observed the first class, she suggested I explain what "self-space" was for the students because some seemed to struggle with the meaning. For the next class, I demonstrated what finding my own space looked like and changed the magic word to "bubble" so they could have a visual image in their minds of what their space looked like.

Warm Up

After finding their own space we did a quick stretching warm up to a rhyme that helped focus the students and get them ready to move. We did this several times and I allowed them to say it with me while we stretched.

Activity #1

The first activity I did was using pictures of animals that had different numbers of syllables in their names. Using those words, such as "kangaroo," I used simple but rhythmic movements the students could perform while I said those words to get an understanding of how many syllables were in the name. This helped them to not only hear the syllables verbally but gain a kinesthetic understanding.

Activity #2

For this activity I found a poem that had a wonderful amount of dancing words. The poem was all about the different qualities of a shadow so while I read the poem out loud--and danced along side them to demonstrate--the class explored different words such as grow, jump, slow, in and out.

Conclusion

I felt my first experience with the classes went really well. The kids were eager for me to return and seemed to grasp the concepts well. I also appreciated getting to watch Mrs. Rigby's calm demeanor with the class.  She allowed the students a lot of independence without micro-managing every detail but also expected them to act responsibly and gently reminded students if they forgot.

Arts Bridge- Lesson 1: Rhymes and Syllables