Today in integrated arts we had our first dance input. At first, I was apprehensive of this part of the module but I fairly enjoyed todays input. Cone (2009) determined that dance should be a fun, safe, meaningful and child led activity.
In the first part of the input we played some warm-up games which could be used within the classroom in relation to dance. I feel that this would be a good way to introduce children to dance and show them that it can be fun and that they do not have to be a great dancer to participate.
During the second part we were looking at warm up techniques. In groups, we labelled bones, organs and muscles in the body from a list on the wall to deepen our understanding of the parts of the body and why it is important to stretch and warm up these parts of the body.
Finally, we discussed the 10 skills we, as teachers, require to teach dance. These 10 skills are: turn, kick, jump, hop, gesture, twist, reach, balance, roll and slide. Using each of these words, we came up with an action/dance move within our group which we will use for the next dance inputs.
Although, some teachers may choose not to teach dance, it is a beneficial subject. The Curriculum for Excellence states that dance allows learners to have “have rich opportunities to be creative and to experience inspiration and enjoyment”. It also suggests that dance allows children to participate in physical education and develop their “technical skills and the quality of their movement, and use their imagination and skills to create and choreograph dance sequences”. Therefore, dance can be constructive for many children as well as expressive and enjoyable.
Finally, we discussed the 10 skills we, as teachers, require to teach dance. These 10 skills are: turn, kick, jump, hop, gesture, twist, reach, balance, roll and slide. Using each of these words, we came up with an action/dance move within our group which we will use for the next dance inputs.
Although, some teachers may choose not to teach dance, it is a beneficial subject. The Curriculum for Excellence states that dace allows learners to have “have rich opportunities to be creative and to experience inspiration and enjoyment”. It also suggests that dance allows children to participate in physical education and develop their “technical skills and the quality of their movement, and use their imagination and skills to create and choreograph dance sequences”. Therefore, dance can be constructive for many children as well as expressive and enjoyable.
This was an extremely fun and interesting input. I had never really been a dancer myself but with the skill set and knowledge I gained today, I would feel more comfortable teaching dance in a primary school setting.
For our second input, we were looking at the theoretical side of music. In groups we were given a section of International Journal of Music Education (2010) and were to create a mind map of the key points. Our section was given the heading of creativity. I found this quite interesting as both Simpson (1969) and Kalmar (1982) agreed that children who study music or play an instrument are more creative.
After a class discussion on our mind maps we created a lesson plan based on or heading. We came up with the idea of children creating their own instruments that make noise related to different weather. Although this lesson was less practical than usual it was also fairly interesting.
References
Cone, T.P., 2009. Following their lead: Supporting children’s ideas for creating dances. Journal of Dance Education, 9(3), pp.81-89.
Education Scotland (009) Curriculum for Excellence: experiences and outcomes. [Online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed: 11 December 2017]
Hallam, S. (2010) The power of music: Its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people. International Journal of Music Education, 28(3), pp.269-289.
Kalmar, M. (1982) The effects of music education based on Kodaly’s directives in nursery school children: From a psychologist’s point of view. Psychology of music.
Simpson, D.J. (1969) The effect of selected musical studies on growth in general creative potential (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California).
