Week 6

Classical Indian

Since the 4th grade curriculum focuses on Utah history, I have been teaching the students about the Utah pioneers, and dances they would have done. Today I expanded  on the topic of pioneers, and was able to teach the students about pioneers in other countries. Mrs. Gandara hoped that I could teach about other cultures. I immediately thought of Classical Indian dance, because of the intricate hand and eye gestures that are an important part of this dance form, and which are also very different from western dance. I was able to borrow an Indian costume from BYU to use as a visual to get  their attention. The children loved it! It was interesting for me to experience the power that a visual has to increase learning. The students interest was caught, and they were so interested in learning about the costume and culture that there was no need to spend time asking for their attention and waiting for them to quiet down.  I was able to share facts about the bindi and how it symbolizes a third eye.  They were all fascinated as they found ways to dance with their eyes. The subtle movement of classical indian had their full concentration as they isolated their head into a head bobble while moving their eyes and hands.  After they learned the dance they all asked if I would put on the costume and dance for them. I loved seeing how eager they were to see more and learn more about this culture. It really taught me that when one teaches, it’s important to plant a desire to learn in the students, or they won’t absorb the information.  This was a great lesson for me, and for my next lesson I’ll be looking for ways to help them find a desire and interest while I teach. 

Week 5

Finger Polka and Jelly Fish Dance

My goal for the fourth grade students this week was to set them in a new formation; the circle. I chose a simple dance so the students wouldn’t become too confused with the different set up. I was pleased with how well the class handled the circle formation! Mrs. Gandara had given me some teaching tips for her class, and I was able to practice using several new strategies. To help regain attention and reset the student’s minds I would have them sit down when I gave them instruction, then stand back up and apply what I just said instead of trying to talk over them when they are still thinking about the new movement. I also found it very effective to choose frequent helpers- students who are being quiet and respectful. That always gets their attention and the whole class becomes fantastically well behaved for those few moments. Because the class learned the first dance so well, we had time to calm down with the Jelly Fish Dance. This simple dance allows the students to follow along and copy slow repetitive movements with breath. This was a nice place to end, and calmed the students down before they went back to their room to take a test. 

Week 4

Patty Cake Polka

My goal for this lesson was to give the class more of a connection with the pioneers by sharing a story about my great great great grandpa.   My hope is that they will be able to see the pioneers as real individuals. I am also hoping that they can learn how information and traditions are passed down through generations. After the story, I began teaching them a dance that the Utah pioneers used to dance called the Patty Cake Polka. In order for the students to learn this dance more easily, I decided to make some modifications to the dance by taking out the partner polka, and teaching the dance in a line instead of a circle.  This ended up being a great way to teach the students. They were able to concentrate on the dance steps without having to also concern themselves with staying in the more complicated circle formation.  I have learned while teaching this class that they learn more easily by seeing the dance performed before they actually do any dancing. It seems to help them understand and retain the dance steps more efficiently. Also, when they are sitting down and facing me, it is easier for them to attend to new information. This is how we continued to learn. I would teach   

something new, and then we would reset our formation and they would begin dancing. When they were ready to move onto something new, I learned the best way to get their attention wasn’t to talk louder, but to change their formation (ie. turn to face me, or sit back down to watch the next section).We got through less material than I had hoped, but the students learned more effectively, and we had an enjoyable time with the dance.

Week 3

Virginia Reel

This week, I spent some time making sure I had some new material for these quick learning fourth graders. I really want them to enjoy dancing, because it has been so much fun for me. We all had a great time.  I was able to start the class off by asking them if they knew who the Pioneers were. I was surprised when about half of the class instantly raised their hands eager to share their knowledge of the pioneers with me. This eagerness continued on through the lesson. I read them a picture book about the pioneers which captured the class’s attention really well. By the end there was very little talking and the students all wanted to know and do the same activities as the pioneers. We lined up the students and I started teaching them the dance step by step. The little background I had taught them before was very helpful as they did their right and left elbow swings. The students would even count along with me as we practiced the steps.  As the dance became more complicated and I was teaching new steps, I was surprised to see the other students helping me keep the class quiet. They held up their quiet ‘coyote sign’ to other students that were speaking out of turn.  This was another positive experience that showed me they wanted to learn more. By the end of the class I was able to add music to the dance and the students were able to keep up and have fun. This was a very positive experience that ended on a good note for the students. I can’t wait to teach them again next week. 

Week 2

Reviewing Activities

This week I decided that it would be important to review the “Hit the Trail” material the students had learned last week. The size of the room and the number of students created a setting that made it difficult for them to hear my voice when giving the dance commands.  I was able to teach them right and left arm swings, along with right and left hand star. We practiced listening, but because of the repetition I don’t think they were excited to learn.  This was a great learning day for me to think more like a fourth grader and see that they didn’t need a whole day to repeat what they had learned last time. Even though we did add new elements, they needed more of a change.

Week 1

Personal Bubble and Hit the Trail

For my first lesson teaching the 4^th graders at Canyon Crest, I was excited to implement some dancing tips I had learned at a teaching workshop called Pourparler. Mrs. Gandara let me know the class was learning about pioneers, and she loved the idea of me teaching pioneer dances and other folk dances to help the class gain a better understanding of who the pioneers are.

With this in mind I had the idea to start them off simply by building their knowledge of basic square dancing and folk moves. I researched several techniques to teach the students while keeping them actively moving and learning.  

In the gym we talked about personal bubbles and not running into the other students close to them. Once we had established our boundaries, we moved on to our Hit the Trail activity. The students would walk around the room and on my call would practice getting into different groups: groups of 5, groups of 3, a partner, a new partner. We quickly adapted from setting forming groups, to forming a given number of groups on the floor. If the math didn’t work out the students didn’t know what to do. Once we were in these groups we would circle to the left and right, walk in and out, and skip in a circle as a couple. Keeping safety first we also had a discussion about not skipping too fast, and not running into our neighbors.  During this activity I learned that the students really need to be able to hear the calls clearly, or they will have little opportunity to comply with requests. It was also important to tell the class that they need to dance with everyone. We reinforced this by having them dance with a new partner, or find the person closest to them and dance with them.