POETRY IN MOTION

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Sound source and music with a steady beat
• Magna-tiles (or make your own shapes using poster board/large paper and markers)
• Poems

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: It is best to have an open space, so moving desks and tables is advised. Remind students about rules of movement. 

 

• • Have students form a circle. 

• Begin the lesson by engaging students in movement that introduces students to the locomotor and non-locomotor movement.

• Have students arrange themselves in a circle with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.

• • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
• 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.).
• Introduce non-locomotor movements to students by directing them in the following movements.
  • Bending and Stretching: Bend the knees and stretch up high.
  • Twisting: Twist the torso to the left and right.
  • Swinging: Swing the arms gently from side to side.
  • Swaying: Sway the body from side to side with feet planted.
  • Turning: Spin in place, both directions.
  • Invite students to create their own movement.
• Introduce non-locomotor movements to students by directing them in the following movements.
  • Walking: Walk around the room with different styles (tiptoeing, heel walking, big steps, small steps).
  • Jumping: Jump in place, then move forward and backward.
  • Invite students to create their own movement.
• Tell students that they will be playing the Name Game.
  • Demonstrate the Name Game by stating your name while making a movement or gesture to accompany your name. 
  • The circle then collectively repeats your name and gesture. Continue with the next person stating his/her name and making a gesture. The circle repeats the new person's name and gesture. Then, starting with the person of origin, repeat all the names and gestures shared to that point. Continue until everyone in the circle is included.

 

Work Session

• Divide students into partners or small groups. 
• Have each group select four Magna-tiles or shapes.
  • Using the tiles, have each group create a sequence. Have students create a movement sequence to match Magna-tiles (groups may use movements from the activator to assist in this creation) and perform it for the class or for a partner group if time is limited.
  • Have audience members identify the sequence using shapes, words (locomotor and nonlocomotor), and letters to describe the pattern (ABAB, ABBA, etc.). 
• Give each group a poem.
  • Provide time for students to determine the meaning or theme of the poem using text evidence.
  • Tell students to identify the rhyme sequence in the poem (AB, ABA, etc.). 
  • Using Magna-tiles, have students create the same sequence. 
  • Challenge students to create a movement sequence to match the Magna-tile sequence. Students should also consider how their movements could communicate the meaning of the poem.
  • Allow time for students to practice their choreography with music.
  • Once prepared, students will perform their choreography for the class.

 

Closing Reflection

• Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
• Each group will perform their choreography twice.
  • First, groups perform only the movement phrase, and the audience will identify the sequence. This may need to be repeated to help audience members. 
  • Second, groups will recite the poem while performing the dance. This activity will aid verbal learners. Have audience members identify the sequence with shapes, words (locomotor and nonlocomotor) and letters (ABAB, ABBA, etc.). 
• After performances, discuss the similarities and differences between groups’ dances, especially if groups had the same sequence. Discuss the difference between a sequence and a pattern. ABAB is a pattern, but ABBA is a sequence. How can ABBA become a pattern?

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, ability to create a sequence, ability to identify a rhyme sequence in a poem, ability to interpret the meaning of a poem, ability to identify and use non-locomotor and locomotor movements, and ability to work collaboratively to create choreography that follows a sequence.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can identify a rhyme sequence.
• Students can create choreography that matches the assigned sequence (or the one they created).  
• Students can identify a sequence or pattern when performed. 
• Students can identify and use locomotor and non-locomotor movements.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration:  Discuss how creating dance is like writing a story in that both must contain a beginning, middle, and end. This extension would mean that students’ phrases would be more complex. Groups use the sequences from the poems to elaborate on the movement phrasing. Each part (A, B, etc.) must have a minimum of three parts.  Students can write their own poem using the rhyme scheme of their dance phrase. Technology Extension - Record performances of the final dance or students while they are planning or preparing for the dance and combine them in a Thinglink (https://www.thinglink.com/) with an image that matches the theme. Other ideas to include in the Thinglink: Upload images of samples of the sequence students create using available drawing software to show work of choreography. Remediation:  Work together as a class to identify the rhyme sequence of the same poem. Then, allow students to create choreography for the pattern or sequence in their groups. Discuss how different groups used different movements to choreograph the same sequence. Provide simpler poems with clear rhyme schemes.

 

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems, Greenfield  Sing a Song of Popcorn, DeRegniers, Moore, White and Carr (Eds.)  Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein  Brown Honey and Broomwheat Tea, Thomas

 

*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 by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Technology by Ramsey Ray. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW