DANCING SENTENCES

Dancing Sentences

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will explore punctuation and capitalization through movement and choreography.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE & ELA
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can demonstrate my understanding of ending punctuation marks by matching energy quality to punctuation.
  • I can demonstrate my understanding that every sentence should begin with an uppercase letter through movement.
  • I can choreograph a five movement phrase that uses the elements of dance as a tool of communication.

Essential Questions

  • How can I use movement and choreography to show my understanding of the conventions of the standard English language?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

ELAGSEKL1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. Print many upper- and lowercase letters. d. Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how). f. Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

ELAGSEKL2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. a.  Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.  b.  Recognize and name end punctuation.

Grade 1:

ELAGSE1L1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a.  Print all upper- and lowercase letters. j.  Produce and expand complete simple and compound sentences in response to questions and prompts (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory). k.  Print with appropriate spacing between words and sentences.

ELAGSE1L2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. b.  Use end punctuation for sentences.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

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

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

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

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

Grade 1:

ESD1.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

ESD1.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

ESD1.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

ESD1.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1:

1.NSBT.1.c. Read, write and represent numbers to 100 using concrete models, standard form, and equations in expanded form1.NSBT.4 Add through 99 using concrete models, drawings, and strategies based on place value to: a. add a two-digit number and a one-digit number, understanding that sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten (regroup)

Arts Standards

Grade 1:

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Punctuation - Used to separate sentences and their elements, clarify meaning, and end sentences

  • Declarative sentence - A type of sentence that makes a statement or expresses an opinion ending with a period

 

  • Exclamatory sentence - A type of sentence that expresses strong emotion or excitement ending with an exclamation mark

  • Interrogative sentence - A type of sentence that asks a question ending with a question mark

Arts Vocabulary

  • Movement phrase - A series of movements linked together to make a distinctive pattern

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

 

  • Level - One of the aspects of the movement element space; in dance, there are three basic levels: high, middle, and low

Energy qualities:

  • 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

  • Sustained - Smooth and unaccented; there is not apparent start or stop, only a continuity of energy
  • Percussive - The quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy
  • Vibratory - Quality of movement characterized by rapidly repeated bursts of percussive movements like “a jitter”
  • 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

 

Materials

  • Sound source and music with a steady beat
  • Cards with ending punctuation marks written on them (one per card)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Open space as much as possible. Guide students through choreographic decisions rather than suggest ideas. Ask questions as to why they are making their choreographic choices to check for understanding. Remind students that it isn’t about a final product, it’s about the experience in the process. Reminder–A noisy classroom isn’t necessarily an off-task classroom. 

  • Begin by engaging students in movement that introduces students to the Elements of Dance: Body, action, space, time and energy.
    • Have students arrange themselves in the classroom with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.
    • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
    • Element of Body: First, have students bring awareness to their bodies by leading them through gentle stretches starting from the head and moving to the toes (e.g., head circles, shoulder shrugs, toe touches, etc.). Then, ask them to make different shapes with their bodies.
    • Element of Energy: Now, direct students to explore energy variations with different movement qualities such as sharp movements–quick, precise actions like punches or snaps, and smooth movements–slow, flowing actions like waves or circles with arms.
    • Element of Space: Levels - Bring students’ attention to levels (high, middle, low) with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, crouching in a small ball close to the floor, and bouncing in place at a middle level.
    • Have students practice what they just learned by saying words such as “high level movement” and have students create a spontaneous high level movement.
    • Have students return to their seats or the carpet.

 

Work Session

  • Divide students into partners or small groups. Tell students that they are going to pick three movements to put together to make a brief dance/movement phrase.
    • Allow time for groups to choreograph and practice.
    • Allow time for those who would like to perform to share.
  • Next, ask students what type of letter every sentence must start with. Students should respond with an uppercase letter.
    • Using dance levels, ask students to create a new movement to represent an uppercase letter in their movement phrase and where it should go (the beginning). Students now have a four movement phrase. 
  • Next, assign each group an ending punctuation for their movement phrase. Ask what type of movement they could create to show the assigned punctuation (i.e., an exclamation mark might be a high-energy jump).
    • Remind students of the element of energy from the activator. Ask students how energy can be used to communicate different types of punctuation. 
    • Provide time to guide students through experimentation of different energy qualities and movements. 
    • Ask students where their punctuation mark should go in their movement phrase. Students should respond that it should be the final movement in their phrase. 
    • Students will then go back to their groups or partners and add a movement to reflect their punctuation. Students should have a total of five movements in their choreography.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students will perform their dances for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
  • After each performance, the audience will identify the movement that showed the uppercase letter and the type of ending punctuation mark. Students should explain how they came to their conclusions.
  • Have students finish by creating a sentence that uses their ending punctuation mark.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of uppercase letters and ending punctuation, ability to translate punctuation into energy levels in movement, and collaboration with groups to choreograph a movement phrase that demonstrates uppercase letters and ending punctuation.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can demonstrate their understanding of ending punctuation by matching energy quality to punctuation.
  • Students can demonstrate their understanding that every sentence should begin with an uppercase letter through movement.
  • Students can choreograph a five movement phrase that uses the elements of dance as a tool of communication. 
  • Students can produce a sentence that correctly uses their ending punctuation mark.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Challenge students to create choreography demonstrating the sentence that they created at the end of the lesson. Students can add in other types of punctuation, such as commas. Students can think about how they can express their nouns and verbs through movement.

Remediation: 

  • Complete the whole five-movement choreographic process as a class before assigning individual partners/groups their own choreography.
  • Chunk the lesson by creating the three-movement phrase in one session, adding a movement for uppercase letters in a second session, and adding a movement for ending punctuation in a third lesson.

 

 

*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: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright:  August 2024 @ ArtsNOW

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