WATER DANCE

 

Georgia Standards

Grade 6:

S6E3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to recognize the significant role of water in Earth processes. 

1. Plan and carry out an investigation to illustrate the role of the sun’s energy in atmospheric conditions that lead to the cycling of water. (Clarification statement: The water cycle should include evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, infiltration, groundwater, and runoff.)

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Sound source and music 
• Water cycle visuals
• Poster paper
• Markers

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Set up chairs and tables in a circular format to maximize students’ engagement and ability to see their peers during the activity and performance. Also establish parameters for acceptable movement choices and discuss audience behavior/etiquette with students.

• Begin the lesson 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.
• 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.).
• Next, bring students’ awareness to the rhythm of the music by having them march in place to the beat with high knees, swinging their arms side to side. 
• 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.
• Finally, bring students’ attention to levels (high, middle, low) directions (forward, backward, sideways), and locomotor and non-locomotor movements with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, moving low to the ground and crawling forwards and backwards, and bouncing in place at a medium level.

 

Work Session

• Next, play Pass the Movement. The objective of the game is to create a sequence of movements by passing a dance move around the circle or group, with each student adding their unique twist. 
• Encourage students to experiment with what they learned about dance in the activator. This activity provides a chance for students to practice creating movement prior to creating their own choreography.
• Have the students stand in a circle or line, making sure there is enough space between them to move comfortably.
• Explain the rules of the game. Each student will create a simple movement and "pass" it to the next student, who will then repeat the movement and add their own.
• Choose one student to start the game. This student will perform a simple movement, such as a clap, a jump, a spin, or a wave.
• The starting student then "passes" this movement to the next student by making eye contact and gesturing towards them.
• The next student repeats the initial movement and then adds their own unique movement.
• This student then "passes" the combined movements to the next student.
• Each subsequent student repeats the previous movements in the correct order and adds their own new movement.
• Continue passing the movement around the circle or along the line until all students have had a turn.
• Once the movement has gone all the way around, have the group perform the entire sequence together from start to finish.
• Tell students that they will be using movement to explore the stages of the water cycle.
• As a class, discuss/review the stages of the water cycle. 
• Look at visuals of each stage. Ask students to describe what is happening to water molecules in each stage.
• Divide students into groups. Assign each group a different stage of the water cycle. 
• On large poster paper, have students write adjectives that describe the state of water and the role of water in their stage.
• Have each group present what they wrote on the poster paper to the class. 
• Ask the class if there is anything that they group should add to their poster.
• Next, explain to students that they will be expressing their stage through movement.
• Remind students of what they learned about dance earlier in the lesson: Directions, locomotor/non-locomotor movements, movement qualities, levels, etc.
• Allow time for students to brainstorm what types of movements would best express their stage of the water cycle. Students should reference what they wrote on their posters.
• Provide time for a couple of groups to share.
• Tell students that they will choreograph a three movement phrase to express their stage of the water cycle.
• Turn on music or sounds of rain in the background while students choreograph.
• Circulate the classroom to work with students as they create their choreography.
• Students will perform their movement phrases for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
• After each performance, the audience should be able to identify the stage of the water cycle expressed in the movement phrase. 
• Next, allow time for the group to teach the movement phrase to the class.
• Finally, put all group sections together in a logical order to create a whole class/complete water cycle dance that the whole class will perform.

 

Closing Reflection

• Facilitate a discussion around how movement communicated the stages of the water cycle.
• Students should then write a reflection (in the STEAM journal if students use one) about how they used movement to represent their stage of the water cycle.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, descriptions of their stage of the water cycle, movement brainstorming in small groups, and contributions to group choreography. 

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can describe their stage of the water cycle.
• Students can create and perform choreography that effectively expresses their stage of the water cycle using the elements of dance.
• Students can identify the stage of the water cycle represented in the other groups’ choreography.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration:  Challenge students to incorporate props with classroom materials, such as strips of paper taped together to make “ribbons”, to further communicate movement.  Allow students to select music that they feel reflects their stage of the water cycle. Remediation:  Reduce the number of movements students are required to include in their choreography.  Choreograph a class dance for one stage of the water cycle to model the process before students break into groups to create the dance for their stage of the water cycle.

 

*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. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW