DANCING DIFFERENCES

DANCING DIFFERENCES

Learning Description

This activity will allow students to explore comparing and contrasting through movement and choreographic sequences. Discover how to integrate dance into your language arts curriculum and engage your students in a brand-new way!

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 2-3
CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify similarities and differences between texts, whether they are dances or written literary works.

  • I can express in complete sentences my analysis of similarities and differences among two subjects. 

Essential Questions

  • How can movement and dance help us compare and contrast written texts?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2:

ELAGSE2RL9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

 

ELAGSE2RI9 Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

 

ELAGSE2W2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

 

ELAGSE2SL1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

 

Grade 3:

ELAGSE3RL9 Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).

 

ELAGSE3RI9 Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic

 

ELAGSE3W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. 

 

ELAGSE3SL1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Arts Standards

Grade 2:

ESD2.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

 

ESD2.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

 

ESD2.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance.

 

ESD2.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts to dance.

 

ESD2.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

ESD2.CN.3 Identify connections between dance and other areas of knowledge.

 

Grade 3:

ESD3.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

 

ESD3.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

 

ESD3.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, technique, and terminology in dance

 

ESD3.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts in dance.

 

ESD3.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

ESD3.CN.3 Identify connections between dance and other areas of knowledge.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2:

READING - Literary Text (RL) 

Meaning and Context (MC)Standard 7: Analyze the relationship among ideas, themes, or topics in multiple media, formats, and in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. 

7.2 Read or listen closely to compare and contrast multiple versions of the same story; compare and contrast texts in author and genre studies.

 

READING - Informational Text (RI)

Meaning and Context (MC)

Standard 7: Research events, topics, ideas, or concepts through multiple media, formats, and in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. 

7.1 Compare and contrast topics, ideas, or concepts across texts in a thematic, author, or genre study heard, read, or viewed

 

WRITING - Range and Complexity (RC)

Standard 6: Write independently, legibly, and routinely for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences over short and extended time frames.

 

COMMUNICATION - Meaning and Context (MC)

Standard 1: Interact with others to explore ideas and concepts, communicate meaning, and develop logical interpretations through collaborative conversations; build upon the ideas of others to clearly express one’s own views while respecting diverse perspectives.

 

Grade 3: 

READING - Literary Text (RL) 

Meaning and Context (MC)Standard 7: Analyze the relationship among ideas, themes, or topics in multiple media, formats, and in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. 

7.2 Compare and contrast how an author uses characters to develop theme and plot in different texts within a series.

 

READING - Informational Text (RI)

Meaning and Context (MC)

Standard 7: Research events, topics, ideas, or concepts through multiple media, formats, and in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. 

7.1 Compare and contrast diverse texts on the same topic, idea, or concept.

 

WRITING - Range and Complexity (RC)

Standard 6: Write independently, legibly, and routinely for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences over short and extended time frames.

 

COMMUNICATION - Meaning and Context (MC)

Standard 1: Interact with others to explore ideas and concepts, communicate meaning, and develop logical interpretations through collaborative conversations; build upon the ideas of others to clearly express one’s own views while respecting diverse perspectives.

Arts Standards

Grades 2-3:

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 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

  • Compare - Search for similarities between two or more subjects

  • Contrast - Search for differences between two or more subjects

Arts Vocabulary

  • Choreography - The art of composing dances and planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers

 

  • Choreographer - A person who creates dances 

 

  • Level - The vertical distance from the floor that a dancer occupies during a movement

 

  • Locomotor - Movement that travels from one location to another in a pathway through space 

 

  • Non-locomotor - Movement that occurs without the body traveling from one point to another point

  • Energy Qualities -
    • Percussive - A quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops, staccato jabs of energy

    • Suspended - A quality of movement that 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 - A quality of movement that is smooth and unaccented. There is no apparent start or stop, only a continuity of energy.
    • Swinging - A quality of movement established by a fall with 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 by rapidly repeated bursts of percussive movements

 

Materials

  • Sound source and speakers
  • Audio recording 
  • Stories or literary excerpts 
  • Venn diagram for projection for class-wide viewing
  • Printed copies of Venn diagram to distribute for small group work

 

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Tell students that they are going to explore movement. Have students stand up. Be sure that they are spaced out from one another to avoid collisions. 
  • Pre-select several dance terms (see vocabulary) to introduce to students.
  • Turn on music. Informally teach students a variety of dance movements by demonstrating them to the music. Have students copy your movements. As you demonstrate movements, describe them using dance vocabulary (see vocabulary).
    • Movements can be very basic, such as a side to side step showing locomotor movement. Another movement could be gradually crouching down, wrapping your arms around yourself to make a tiny ball with your body and standing back up expanding arms to make a big movement. This would show levels in dance (high, medium, and low). 
  • Facilitate a discussion to compare and contrast movements. Encourage students to use dance vocabulary in their descriptions.

 

Classroom Tips:

  • Clear desks to have an open space and be tolerant of noise and excitement but set limits. 
  • Review rules for appropriate audience behavior. 

 

Work Session

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING MOVEMENT

  • Divide the class into small groups. 
  • Tell each group to create a short movement phrase using 3-4 of the movements learned in the warm up.
    • Without other groups knowing, assign each group a quality (see vocabulary) that they must use when performing their dance, i.e., fast, slow, etc. 
  • Allow each group to perform their dance for peers.
  • As each group performs, facilitate a discussion identifying the similarities and differences between the different group dances, recognizing qualities of movements such as fast or slow. Document these on the projected Venn diagram. 
  • Tell students that they will write about the similarities and differences between the dances.
  • Allow each group to present their dances a second time.
  • Each group should select two dances to compare and contrast using a Venn diagram.
  • Students will turn their Venn diagram into a written paragraph.
  • Select two groups to present their work and engage classroom discussion by asking students whether they agree or disagree with the analysis and why. 
  • Tell students that they will be using the same strategies of comparing and contrasting to compare and contrast two written texts.
  • Share two texts that address the same story or topic to the class, and ask them to work in small groups to complete a Venn diagram to document similarities and differences between the texts, working on concepts that have been learned in class, such as theme, setting, characters, etc.
  • Individually, students should turn their Venn diagram into a written paragraph.
  • Allow a few students to present their work and engage class discussion.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Ask students to recall creating the Venn diagrams in dance. Ask them what got their attention when they looked for similarities and differences in movement phrases.
  • Ask students to think about creating the Venn diagrams for the written texts. Ask them what got their attention when they looked for similarities and differences in those works.
  • Ask students to compare and contrast the processes of the work they just did, analyzing dances versus written texts. Is one similar to the other? Is one different from the other?

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess understanding by observing students’ use of dance vocabulary while creating dance phrases, students’ recorded data using a Venn diagram, and students’ ability to work collaboratively.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can create dance sequences according to the criteria set by the teacher. 
  • Students can identify similarities and differences in the performed choreographic sequences. 
  • Students can successfully compare and contrast the two written texts.
  • Students can express ideas clearly in written form.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration:

  • Use three texts instead of two.
  • In addition to movement quality, assign to each group an emotional theme to express in the dance phrases. This theme is then analyzed along with movement quality when completing the Venn diagram. 

Remediation:

  • Rather than working in small groups, work as an entire class to create the compare and contrast piece about two dances.

 

 

*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.

Ideas contributed and updated by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy and Julie Galle Baggenstoss

Revised and copyright:  May 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

Back to Modules