DUST BOWL ERA DANCES 5

DUST BOWL ERA DANCES

DUST BOWL ERA DANCES

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will create dances that demonstrate the impacts of the Dust Bowl on Americans. Students will use movement and energy types to show what life was like for Americans during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 5
CONTENT FOCUS: SOCIAL STUDIES & DANCE
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use different energies to show how Americans were impacted during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression.
  • I can explain how the Dust Bowl and Great Depression affected the lives of Americans.

Essential Questions

  • How can I use energy and movement to show how Americans were impacted during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression?
  • How did the Dust Bowl and Great Depression impact Americans?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

SS5H3 Explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans.

Arts Standards

ESD5.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

ESD5.CN.3 Integrate dance into other areas of knowledge.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

5.2.CC Examine the continuities and changes that resulted from New Deal programs and the impact these programs had on various groups throughout the U. S. and South Carolina

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance.

Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate dance to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Drought - A long period of time with little or no rain
  • Erosion - When wind or water wears away soil
  • Dust storm - A storm with large winds that blows large amounts of dust through the air
  • Migration - Moving from one place to another
  • Poverty - When people do not have enough money for basic needs like food, clothes, or shelter
  • Stock Market Crash - When stock prices suddenly drop fast, resulting in people losing money
  • Economy - The system in how money is created, spent, and shared in a country

Arts Vocabulary

  • Percussive - Refers to the quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy
  • Suspended - Occurs in a moment of resistance to gravity, such as the instant in which a dancer hangs in space at the top of a leap
  • Sustained - Smooth and unaccented; there is not apparent start or stop, only a continuity of energy
  • Swinging - Established by a fall of gravity, a gain in momentum, a loss of momentum, and the repeated cycle of fall and recovery, like that of a pendulum
  • Vibratory - A quality of movement characterized

 

Materials

  • Music source and speaker
  • Introduction video of dance and choreography
  • Cards with printed descriptions of time period scenarios

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Show Storytelling Through Dance with Books In Motion.
  • Have students discuss in pairs the types of movements they saw. Have students use descriptive language to describe the different types of movements that they saw.
  • Have students work in these pairs to discuss how the different types of movements showed different types of emotions or feelings.
  • Tell students about energy in dance. Discuss the different types of energy:
    • Percussive: Refers to the quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy
    • Suspended: Occurs in a moment of resistance to gravity, such as the instant in which a dancer hangs in space at the top of a leap
    • Sustained: Smooth and unaccented; there is not apparent start or stop, only a
    • continuity of energy
    • Swinging: Established by a fall of gravity, a gain in momentum, a loss of momentum, and the repeated cycle of fall and recovery, like that of a pendulum
    • Vibratory: A quality of movement characterized
  • Have students discuss when they might see the following types of energies in dance:
    • Percussive: Strong beats (stomps or claps) that show anger or intense feelings
    • Suspended: Pausing during spin to show weightless feeling
    • Sustained: Controlled/moving through water showing calm energy
    • Swinging: Natural rocking showing relaxed energy
    • Vibratory: Bouncing up and down showing nervousness or excited energy

Have students practice doing some of these types of movements to music. Play different types of music and allow students to move their bodies in a percussive way, suspended way, sustained way, swinging way, and vibrating way.

Work Session

  • Explain to students that they will be creating a dance that uses different energies to show how Americans were impacted by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
  • Review with students the time periods of the last 1920s - 1930s. Discuss with students how Americans lived compared to now, including what made living during this time period difficult.
  • Distribute cards with descriptions of scenarios of life during the Dust Bowl or the Great Depression
    • Ideas include:
      • Waiting in lines at soup kitchen
      • Experiencing a dust storm
      • Stock Market Crash of 1929
      • Bank failures
      • Hoovervilles
    • Review that in their dance students should have a beginning, middle, and end with different types of energies that tell a story. Their stories will be related to the stories that were told by Americans during the Dust Bowl era and the Great Depression.
    • Have students work in groups to create their dance. Encourage students to jot down their ideas and explanations of different types of energies being used in their dance.
      • Dance requirements:
        • A beginning, middle, and end (at least three movements)
        • At least two types of energies

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students should complete their work by writing a summary about how their dance, including movements and energies, relate to the impact that the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression had on Americans.
  • Students will share their dance with the class. The audience will discuss and share out specific movements and energies from the performance that explained the impact of the time on Americans.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will check students' understanding by observing whether students are able to establish choreography that shows how Americans were impacted during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.

Summative

Checklist:

  • Students can identify and explain a specific scenario related to the time period.
  • Students can align movements and energies to the scenario that shows how Americans were impacted during the time period.
  • Students can explain how movements related to the impact the event had on Americans during the time period.

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Allow students to research specific first or second hand accounts from the Dust Bowl or Great Depression to get inspiration for their dances.

 

Remedial:

  • Give students specific stories instead of only scenarios.
  • Establish feeling cards to correlate with scenarios or stories.

 

 

Additional Resources

Classroom Tip: Before performances, set up students chairs/desks in an arc to be facing the performers. This allows for more student engagement and encourages students to engage in other student performances.

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Megan Banks

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  April 2026 @ ArtsNOW

 

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PIECING TOGETHER OUR WORLD 9-12

PIECING TOGETHER OUR WORLD

PIECING TOGETHER OUR WORLD

Learning Description

In this lesson, students explore the power of creative expression to raise awareness about global geographic patterns and issues by creating a mixed media collage that communicates a geographic message. After analyzing examples of awareness campaigns and artworks that use collage to address global topics such as cultural diffusion, migration, or globalization, students select a geography theme, research its causes and effects, and plan a visually compelling message designed to educate and inspire their audience. Through collaborative or individual work, students create a collage incorporating creativity, clear communication, and accurate geographic content. They then explain how their artwork addresses the topic and reflect on how art and media can influence public awareness and understanding of geography and human migration.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 9-12
CONTENT FOCUS: SOCIAL STUDIES & VISUAL ARTS
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can explain a geographic concept and its impact on people and places.
  • I can design a creative message that raises awareness about a geographic issue or theme.
  • I can use mixed media and collage to communicate a geographic message effectively.
  • I can reflect on how creative media can inspire understanding and action.
  • I can create a message that inspires others to think about the impacts of migration on people and places.

Essential Questions

  • How can art and creativity inspire others to understand and reflect on global geographic patterns and issues?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

World Geography:

SSWG5 — Analyze human interactions with the world's environments.

Arts Standards

VAHSVA.CR.1 Visualize and generate ideas for creating works of art.

VAHSVA.CR.2 Choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan and create works of art.

VAHSVA.PR.1 Plan, prepare, and present works of art for exhibition in school, virtual environment, and/or portfolio presentation.

VAHSVA.PR.1.a Exhibit works of art with a written supporting artist statement that communicates purpose and/or intent.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Human Geography:

HG.1.5.HS — Evaluate the cultural, economic, environmental, and political impacts of human migration on human settlements in various regions.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use the elements and principles of art to create artwork.

Anchor Standard 2: I can use different materials, techniques,  and processes to make art. 

Anchor Standard 5: I can interpret and evaluate the meaning of an artwork.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate visual arts ideas to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Cultural diffusion — The spread of cultural beliefs and activities from one group to another
  • Globalization — The increasing interconnectedness of countries through trade, ideas, and culture
  • Migration — Movement of people from one place to another
  • Urbanization — Growth of cities as people move from rural to urban areas
  • Population density — The number of people living in a certain area
  • Human-environment interaction — How humans adapt to and modify their environment

Arts Vocabulary

  • Media — The tools and materials an artist uses to create an artwork (e.g., paper, fabric, paint, photos)
  • Collage — A composition created by gluing colored paper, photographs, magazine pictures, fabric, and other two-dimensional materials onto a flat surface
  • Mixed media — Combining different materials and techniques in a single artwork.
  • Balance — A sense of stability in the artwork; created by repeating shapes or distributing visual weight evenly
  • Contrast — The arrangement of opposite elements (light vs. dark, rough vs. smooth, etc.) to create interest; also known as variety
  • Emphasis — Creating points of interest or a focal point that draws the viewer’s eye to important parts of the work
  • Movement — The arrangement of elements that guides the viewer’s eye through the artwork, creating a sense of motion
  • Pattern — Repetition of specific visual elements, such as a shape or form, throughout the artwork
  • Proportion — The size relationships between different parts of the artwork; how elements relate to each other in terms of size, scale, and placement
  • Rhythm — A sense of motion created by repeating shapes, lines, or colors in an organized way
  • Unity — When all the parts of a design work together to create a harmonious, complete whole. Similar to harmony or color harmony

 

Materials

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Introduce the driving question and lesson objectives.
  • Present collage and mixed media concepts; review vocabulary.
  • Show examples of collages that communicate powerful messages. Ask students:
    • What message does each convey?
    • How do the materials, composition, and design support the message?
    • Discuss the Principles of Design and how they are used in artwork.

Work Session

  • Students choose a geography topic from a provided list (e.g., migration, cultural diffusion, globalization, urbanization, etc.).
  • Students conduct brief research on the topic.
  • Students then complete the Student Handout Planning Sheet.
  • Students identify the message they want to convey.
  • Plan imagery, materials, and design approach (show students Mixed Media Techniques tutorials to help them visualize/plan their collage). *Teacher can suggest to students they may have items at home they’d like to use in their collages.
  • Using the Mixed Media Techniques tutorials as a guide, students begin creating their collages using the provided materials and/or materials they bring from home. Before starting, they should identify which techniques they plan to employ.
  • The teacher should help guide students and have them consider each piece of their collage and what purpose it brings to the overall message (ex. as opposed to just including elements simply because they are pretty).
  • Once they are finished with their collages, the students should each write a brief artist’s statement explaining the techniques they used and how their collage communicates their overall message. The statement should connect the purpose of different elements used to the message.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Class gallery walk: Students display and view each other’s work.
  • Peer feedback: Write one strength and one suggestion for at least two classmates.
  • Exit ticket: Reflect — What did you learn about your topic, and how did art help you express it?

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Observations and questioning
  • Student Handout Planning sheet
  • Discussions

Summative

  • Finished collage
  • Artist’s statement
  • Participation in gallery walk
  • Rubric

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Research additional mixed media art techniques such as montage or papier colle and share new techniques with others.

 

Remedial:

  • Provide templates, pre-selected materials, and sentence starters for artist’s statement.

 

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Joel Levinson, Shannon Green, Gretchen Hollingsworth

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  April 2026 @ ArtsNOW

 

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SOUNDSCAPES OF SOUTHWEST ASIA: MUSIC & THE ENVIRONMENT 6-8

SOUNDSCAPES OF SOUTHWEST ASIA

SOUNDSCAPES OF SOUTHWEST ASIA: MUSIC & THE ENVIRONMENT

Learning Description

Students will investigate how environmental factors such as drought, desertification, and resource availability affect people in Southwest Asia. They will apply their understanding by collaboratively creating a musical soundscape that represents an environmental issue, using elements of music to communicate meaning and reinforce geography vocabulary.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 7
CONTENT FOCUS: SOCIAL STUDIES & MUSIC
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can describe environmental challenges in Southwest Asia.
  • I can express the meaning of geographic vocabulary.
  • I can create music that represents an idea or problem.
  • I can explain how sounds connect to real-world issues.

Essential Questions

  • How do environmental conditions shape human life and settlement in Southwest Asia?
  • How can students use music to represent and communicate environmental challenges?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 7:

SS6G7 – Describe the impact of location, climate, physical characteristics, distribution of natural resources, and population distribution on Southwest Asia.

Arts Standards

Grade 7:

MSGM7.CR.1 Improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

MSGM7.CR.2 Compose and arrange music within specified guidelines.

MSGM7.PR.2 Perform a varied repertoire of music on instruments, alone and with others.

MSGM7.RE.1 Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

MSGM7.CN.1 Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 7:

Standard 2: Analyze the cultural, economic, environmental, physical, political, and population geographies of contemporary Asia.

7.2.2.ER Identify climate and vegetation regions of Asia and the spatial distributions and patterns of natural resources, including the impact of their location on human activities.

7.2.3.HS Explain Asia’s current human population distributions and patterns, and use geographic models to compare the conditions driving migration and demographic change.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can arrange and compose music.

Anchor Standard 2: I can improvise music.

Anchor Standard 4: I can play instruments alone and with others.

Anchor Standard 6: I can analyze music.

Anchor Standard 9: I can relate music to other arts disciplines, other subjects, and career paths.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Arable – Land that is good for farming and growing crops
  • Desertification – When fertile land slowly turns into desert because of drought, climate change, or poor land use
  • Drought – A long period of time with little or no rainfall
  • Resource Management – The careful use and protection of natural resources like water, land, and oil
  • Urbanization – The growth of cities as more people move from rural areas to live and work there

Arts Vocabulary

  • Body percussion – Percussive sounds made with the body, such as slaps, stomps, snaps, etc.
  • Soundscape – A piece of music that uses sounds to create a picture, place, or story
  • Rhythm – Long and short sounds and silence
  • Tempo – The speed of the beat
  • Dynamics - Loud and soft sounds; volume
  • Texture – How many layers of sound are happening at the same time (thin = few sounds, thick = many sounds)
  • Timbre (TAM-ber) – The distinctive quality of sounds; the tone color or special sound that makes one instrument or voice sound different from another
  • Steady Beat – A constant, even pulse in music
  • Pattern – A sound or rhythm that repeats
  • Silence (Rest) – A moment with no sound, used for effect or contrast
  • Layering – Adding different sounds on top of each other to build complexity

 

Materials

  • Map of Southwest Asia
  • Audio clips of desert wind, water, city sounds, middle eastern instruments
  • Classroom percussion and/or found sounds
  • Chart paper / smartboard
  • Sticky notes

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Ask how students are arriving/feeling in their body and begin with them echoing the teacher who models body percussion, vocal percussion (drum-set with voice), creating sound that might mirror the desert, water, urbanization sounds.

Work Session

  • Play audio clips and ask:
    • 1) What place do you imagine
    • 2) What might the environment be like there?
    • 3) How might weather and land affect people living there?
  • Have students describe the sounds using musical vocabulary, such as texture and timbre. Have students experiment with sounds that they can make with their bodies that could imitate the audio clips.
  • Locate Southwest Asia on map.
  • Introduce the following environmental challenges: drought, arable land, desertification, resource management, urbanization
  • Divide class into four groups each with an environmental challenge theme.
  • Each group creates a 30-45 second soundscape (no words - telling the story with sound).
  • Have students use their imagination by talking through a made-up story first. Remind students that stories should have a beginning, middle, and end, just like songs.
  • Then, students in their groups, “tell” their story through sound only using musical elements such as rhythmic and dynamic choices. They can use body percussion, found sounds, vocal percussion, voices etc.
  • Stories can be serious, funny, moralistic etc. provided they represent that group’s environmental challenge of drought, desertification, urbanization, or resource management

 

Closing Reflection

  • Each group performs their story. After each group performs, other groups make educated guesses about what story is told based on the theme.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Observe group soundscapes for accurate representation of environmental challenges.
  • Observe proper use of vocabulary in discussion.

Summative

  • Students can explain the environmental challenges in Southwest Asia based on performances.

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Students use rhythm choices and create sentence stems with rhythmic speech explaining their soundscape.

 

Remedial:

  • Exaggerate environmental challenges by adding dynamics swings, layered rhythms, tempo shifts.

 

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Lyn Koonce

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  April 2026 @ ArtsNOW

 

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THE WHOLENESS GROUP 4-5

THE WHOLENESS GROUP

THE WHOLENESS GROUP

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will be assigned a role as a fraction, and then interact with peers as their fraction through a variety of drama activities and strategies. They will use questioning to discover their identities, engage in a simple group improvisation to explore the relationships among fractions, and then write about the experience from their fraction-character’s point of view.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 4-5
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & MATH
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can assume the role of a fraction and interact with other fractions to explore math concepts.

Essential Questions

  • How can characterization and improvisation be used to explore fractions?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4:

4.NR.4.3 Compare two fractions with different numerators and/or different denominators by flexibly using a variety of tools and strategies and recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole.

Grade 5:

5.NR.3.3 Model and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators.

Arts Standards

Grade 4:

TA4.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

Grade 5:

TA5.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4:

4.NR.2.3 Generate equivalent fractions, including fractions greater than 1, using multiple representations. Limit fractions to denominators of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 25, 50, and 100.

Grade 5:

5.NR.2.1 Compare fractions and mixed numbers with like and unlike denominators of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 25, and 100 using equivalence to create a common denominator. Use the symbols for is less than (<), is more than (>), or is equal to (=) to record the comparison.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 3: I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

Anchor Standard 8: I can relate theatre to other content areas, arts disciplines, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Fraction - A number that represents a part of a whole, or a number of equal parts of a whole; it consists of a numerator and a denominator.
  • Numerator - The top number in a fraction, showing the number of parts of the whole
  • Denominator – The bottom number of a fraction, showing the number of parts that the whole is divided into
  • Greater than – Having a higher numerical value than, indicated by the sign >
  • Less than – Having a lower numerical value than, indicated by the sign <
  • Equivalent – Having the same numerical value
  • Common Denominator – A shared multiple of denominators of different fractions
  • Simplest form – The equivalent fraction having the smallest possible values for the numerator and denominator
  • Proper fraction - A fraction that is less than one, with the numerator less than the denominator
  • Unit fraction – A fraction with a numerator of 1

Arts Vocabulary

  • Character – An actor or actress in a specified role
  • Improvisation –  A moment in a play that is not rehearsed or “scripted”, or acting without a script. For example: if an actor forgets a line, he/ she may improvise the line in the scene.  Improvisation is also a style of theatre that lends itself to comedy that is created “in the moment”

 

Materials

  • Set of clip-on name tags with proper fractions that have denominators of 12 or less (e.g., 2/6, 3/8, 7/12, 4/9, etc.). The collection need not be curated with a goal of one-to-one correspondence; some randomness is fine. It can include some equivalent fractions.
  • A container (can, box, bag) to hold the tags
  • Wholeness Group Journal Sheet – create a worksheet with a space for “Character Name,” a space for “Nicknames,” and a ‘journal’ area beginning “Today I went to a Wholeness Group, and here’s what happened . . . ” with ample blank lines.
  • Index cards and writing utensils

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

PROMPTED MOVEMENT

  • Teach poses to go with vocabulary prompts:
    • Numerator – Stand, or go up on toes
    • Denominator – Sit, duck or squat
    • Greater than – arms angled to right
    • Less than – arms angled to left
    • Equivalent – parallel horizontal arms
    • Unit fraction – single finger up, above a horizontal arm
  • Call out prompts randomly for students to respond to with the prescribed poses.
  • Possibly: Once the activity is established, draft volunteers to call out the prompts.

Work Session

“WHO AM I?”

  • Tell students that they will become fraction characters.
  • Have each student pick a name tag from the container of tags, or give each student a name tag. Instruct them to keep the tags to themselves, and not to let others see the fraction they are holding.
  • Have each student pin the tag they are holding on the back of another student. The tag becomes the second student’s character.  The student must see the fraction on the tag.
  • Give each student an index card and writing utensil for recording what they learn about their character.
  • Model for students the process of letting another student see the tag on their back, and then asking the other student a ‘yes or no’ question. Instruct them to use first person pronouns in their questions.  g., “Am I greater than ½?,” “Is my numerator even?,” “Is my denominator double digits?,” or “Am I in my simplest (or most reduced) form?” (not “Is my fraction greater than . . .” – they are their fraction character).  Model noting information on the card (shorthand is fine), such as “> ½,” “Even num,” “single-digit denom,” or “simplest form”.
  • Have students pair up, look at each other’s fraction, ask each other a yes-or-no question about their fraction identity, note the information, and then move on to another partner to repeat the process.
  • When a student deduces their fraction (“Am I 4/6?”) they can move the tag from their back to their front.
  • Coach students as needed in the process.
  • If the process becomes frustrating for some students, tell students that, rather than asking a yes-or-no question, they can ask for a hint. The other student should give a hint that does not totally reveal the answer.
  • When most students have figured out their identity, stop the activity and have all students move their tag from the back to the front. The tag gives them their identity.

 

SOCIOMETRICS

  • Sociometrics is a term from Sociology that means dividing a larger group into smaller affinity groups. In this activity, the students will divide themselves into groups according to mathematical prompts.
  • Identify two areas of the room. Give a mathematical prompt, and have students move to one side of the room or the other accordingly.
    • g., “Go to this side of the room if your denominator is even; go to that side of the room if your denominator is odd” or “Go to this side of the room if your value is greater than one half; go to that side if your value is half or less”.
    • Prompts can deal with even/odd for numerator or denominator; greater than/less than for total fraction or for numerator or denominator; number of digits in denominator; simplest form; unit fraction; difference between numerator and denominator; etc.
  • As students move to one side of the room or the other, monitor for accuracy; also, students can help each other find the right place. As needed, stop and let the class observe checking everyone’s placement.

 

MEET’N’GREET (optional)

  • Give students a chance to walk around and introduce themselves to one another, tell about themselves, see what they have in common, etc. Remind them to use their vocabulary, e.g. “We have the same numerator” or “Your denominator is greater than mine” or “We are both less than one half,” etc.

 

IMPROVISATION:  THE WHOLENESS GROUP

  • Hand out the “Wholeness Group” worksheet. Have students fill in their character name – their fraction identity.
  • Discuss how nicknames are other names for a person (as in Chuck for Charles), and have students write nicknames for their character – other names they are known by, i.e., equivalent fractions. Provide guidance as needed – they can multiply or divide both numerator and denominator by the same number to find an equivalent.  Possibly, ask students: “How many nicknames does each fraction have?” (infinite number).
  • Have students stand in a circle. Welcome them to the “Wholeness Group”.  Speak as a group facilitator, and tell them, “We all get lonely sometimes.  We all wish we could find someone special, someone who makes us feel whole.  This is your chance.  When I tell you, you can go around and meet different fractions.  See if you can find a fraction friend, or maybe a couple of fraction friends, with whom you make a whole.  Realize you might not have the same denominator – you might have to determine a common denominator.”
  • Give students time to try to partner or group up. Monitor and coach as needed.  Clarify that they are not finding an equivalent fraction, nor just a fraction with the same numerator or denominator.
  • Generally, some students will find partners to make a whole with, and some won’t – this is fine.

 

JOURNAL-WRITING

  • Have students return to their worksheets, and write, in character, about what happened for them in the Wholeness Group. Remind them to use their vocabulary, e.g., “I met 6/9, but she was too much for me – together we were greater than 1” or “I talked to 4/10 and we had a hard time finding a common denominator.”
  • Allow students to share their journal entries.

 

Closing Reflection

Ask:  “How did you become characters in math?  How did you figure out whether another fraction could make you whole?  How did these drama activities help you think about fractions?”

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students participate and interact willingly in character
  • Students respond thoughtfully to prompts
  • Students collaborate smoothly in the “Who am I?”, Meet-n-Greet and Wholeness Group activities.

Summative

  • Students’ journal entries reflect comprehension of the math concepts, and describe their interactions in the Wholeness Group activity.

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Curate the collection of fractions with a wider variety of denominators, and fractions that will be more challenging to match up.
  • Have students include nicknames expressed as decimals or percentages.

 

Remedial:

  • Help students with the “Who Am I?” activity, and stop to scaffold before students become frustrated
  • Curate the collection of fractions with simpler fractions, including duplicates of different fractions.
  • Model the sociometrics carefully, and take time to guide the students to their destinations.

 

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Barry Stewart Mann

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  January 2026 @ ArtsNOW

 

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DANCING UP A STORM 6-8

DANCING UP A STORM

DANCING UP A STORM

Learning Description

Students will plan a choreography that demonstrates how high and low-pressure systems, as well as warm and cool air, interact in the atmosphere.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 6-8
CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE, SCIENCE & STEAM
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can demonstrate how high pressure and low pressure systems interact in the atmosphere.
  • I can imagine and test ways in which movement communicates ideas about the interaction of high and low pressure, as well as warm and cool air
  • I can use the elements of dance to vary movements that will communicate multiple ideas in one choreography.

Essential Questions

  • How does dance movement demonstrate the cause and effect of weather events?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 6:

S6E4.d Construct an explanation of the relationship between air pressure, weather fronts, and air masses and meteorological events such as tornados and thunderstorms.

Arts Standards

Grade 6:

MSD.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

MSD.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

MSD.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

MSD.CN.3 Demonstrate an understanding of a dance as it relates to other areas of knowledge.

Grades 9-12:

DHSDC.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

DHSDC.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance.

DHSDC.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in all aspects of dance.

DHSDC.CN.3 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as it relates to other areas of knowledge.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 6:

6-ESS2-5. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance.

Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements.

Anchor Standard 4: I can perform movement skills and techniques

Anchor Standard 5: I can describe, analyze, and evaluate a dance.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate dance to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Anticyclone - A mass of air with high pressure and light winds that blow in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere
  • Depression - A mass of air with low pressure, condensing water vapor, and possibly precipitation, with winds that blow in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere
  • High pressure - A mass of air with relatively higher atmospheric pressure, descending air molecules, relatively lower cloud formation, and lighter winds that blow away from the center of the system
  • Low pressure - A mass of air with relatively lower atmospheric pressure, rising air molecules, relatively greater cloud formation and precipitation and strong winds

Arts Vocabulary

  • Choreography - The art of designing and arranging sequences of movements, steps, and gestures to create a dance piece
  • Clockwise - A movement pathway that proceeds in the same direction that hands of a clock move
  • Counterclockwise - A movement pathway that proceeds opposite of the direction that the hands of a clock move
  • High Level - In regards to dance, movements that are made in the space that is at a greater distance from the ground, such as a jump or stretching the arms above the shoulders
  • Low Level - In regards to dance, movements that take up space that is closer to the ground, such as a squat, crouch, or stretching the arms downward so that the hands touch the knees or toes while standing up
  • Steady - In regards to dance, movements that take place at a consistent and unchanged interval
  • Sudden - In regards to dance, movements that occur quickly and without warning, and may elicit a reaction of surprise by the observer

 

Materials

  • A variety of music selections
  • Music source and speakers
  • Projection or printed cards showing dance terms in PART 1
  • Cards printed with weather conditions; one card per small group

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Show students one card at a time from a projection or a stack of cards printed with dance vocabulary words: high level, low level, sudden, steady, clockwise, counterclockwise (note that the terms fast/slow in PART 1 are not included in this list for an activating strategy).
  • Ask students to execute the movement while you play music for 5-10 seconds. When the music stops, students will freeze.
  • Change cards when the music stops and repeat this activity several times so that students become introduced to the different movements.
  • All students should move at the same time to create a low-stakes activity. Variation in movement is encouraged so that students produce individualized movements rather than copying peers. This is a time for students to experiment with movement and individuality.

Work Session

PART 1

  • Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a set of three cards that list conditions expected during a three-day period in the atmosphere over a given fictitious city. Each card should include conditions that do not completely describe the weather, such as:
    • CARD EXAMPLE 1 (discusses pressure systems)
      • Day 1: Winds 5 MPH, sunny skies; temperatures are 80-90 degrees.
      • Day 2: Low pressure passes over the city at 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m.
      • Day 3: Winds return to 5 MPH with sunny skies; temperatures are 50-60 degrees.
    • CARD EXAMPLE 2 (discusses weather conditions)
      • Day 1: Light rain all day and night. Temperatures are 60-70 degrees.
      • Day 2: Light rain all day. Rain ends at sunset. Temperatures are 60-70 degrees.
      • Day 3: Sunny skies all day. Temperatures are 65-75 degrees.
    • Students consider the problem: Create a dance that reflects the weather forecast for the next three days by showing how high and low-pressure systems, as well as warm and cool air, will interact in the atmosphere.
      • Use the following dance elements:
        • Speed: Fast/Slow
        • Level: High/Low
        • Energy: Sudden/Steady
        • Rotation: Clockwise/Counterclockwise
      • Students list the questions that they need to answer before brainstorming dance movements.

PART 2

  • Create three movements to show the changing conditions. Each movement should show the weather for one day, making sure to focus on the cause and effect relationship/interaction between the high- and low-pressure systems that will create the predicted weather conditions. Students need to prioritize their questions listed in PART 1 in order to focus on the cause and effect relationship of atmospheric systems. Students identify the dance elements that they will use in their movements.

PART 3

  • Students will order their dance movements to communicate the forecast based on the conditions printed on their cards.

PART 4

Students will write down their forecast. They will review the forecast to make sure that it represents the assigned conditions on their cards. Students will correct any inaccuracies, focusing on the high-and-low-pressure systems.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Ask students to describe the interaction of high and low pressure in various situations (i.e., a slow-moving high-pressure system versus a fast-moving system), using vocabulary of the Elements of Dance (dance vocabulary words on cards or their own words).
  • Ask students to explain how moving their bodies or observing dances in this lesson helps them to understand and describe the differences between high-and-low-pressure systems and how those systems interact in the atmosphere to create weather that we experience on the surface of the planet.

 

Assessments

Formative

Visually observe students formulating questions and exploring movement while discussing atmospheric concepts.

  • Teacher observes students correlating temperature, precipitation, and winds with anticyclones and depressions.
  • Teacher observes students using vocabulary of the Elements of Dance and vocabulary of atmospheric pressure, together, as they create and sequence movement.
  • Teacher observes students arranging movements so they demonstrate atmospheric systems that create weather conditions.

Summative

MATTER IN MOTION CHECKLIST

  • Students first list questions, and then prioritize the questions.
  • Movement qualities focus on cause and effect/interaction between atmospheric conditions, rather than the weather observed at the surface of the planet.
  • Movements are imagined first and then ordered.
  • The choreography effectively uses dance to communicate properties of atmospheric systems that contribute to weather conditions.

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Ask students to consider the impact of land forms in their forecast and vary their movements to show how the atmospheric conditions would change due to the presence of an ocean, mountain, etc.
  • List fewer details about weather or atmospheric conditions on the cards so that students have to draw more conclusions to create their predictions.

 

Remedial:

  • Divide the class into three groups. Work with only one card printed with weather/atmospheric conditions. Each group creates one movement to show the interaction between low-and-high-pressure systems for one day. As a whole class, order the movements to show the forecast for the three days suggested on the printed card.

 

Additional Resources

Classroom Tips:  Use the opening activities as opportunities for students to identify movements that they will use later in the lesson. If as a whole class students struggle with a movement during this creative time, then recognize effective movement and ask the whole class to model it.

Execute each part of the main activity one at a time, revealing each subsequent step after the current one is completed. In other words, do not permit students to work ahead to encourage the creative effect that results from the scaffolded directions.

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Julie Galle Baggenstoss

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  January 2026 @ ArtsNOW

 

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