Creative Movement
Lesson Plan:
My Body Is Me:
Becoming aware of different parts of the body and the ways they can
move
For pre-school aged children
Learning Objectives
¥ Express thoughts, feelings and preferences about creating different movements for different parts of the body.
¥ Identify familiar and less familiar parts of the body.
¥ Describe the functions of various parts of the body.
¥ Build vocabulary about parts of the body.
¥ Generate a variety of movements, including changes in direction and speed, for various body parts.
¥ Create dances using movements of various body parts.
INCLUDING ALL CHILDREN
Teach children the American Sign Language signs for key body parts, and use these signs during the
dance. For children with cognitive disabilities, those who are shy, or those who have difficulty understanding verbal directions, the leader should first demonstrate the movements and perform the exercises as example and inspiration. Give only one or two movements to focus on at a time. Build sequence gradually. For children with physical disabilities, fully include them in all dance activities. Don't avoid words, topics or areas because you think a child cannot do the activity. For instance, a child can "kick" a soccer ball using the footrest on his or her wheelchair; a child using a walker may be able to "jump" rope. A person in a wheelchair can climb a mountain with the proper equipment and assistance. Try not to isolate the children with disabilities by giving them "special"
scenarios. For children with vision disabilities, use thick cord taped to the floor in either circles or squares to mark the children's personal performance space. Now they can "feel" the edge of their dance and movement space with their
feet. For children with hearing disabilities, provide visual cues such as red and green cards to indicate when the drumbeat or music has stopped
or started.
READ WITH ME: Books that highlight different parts of the body. Read the book and let children dance to the story as you
read.
Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird
Bones: Our Skeletal System by Seymour Simon
Dance, Tanya by Patricia Lee Gauch, Illus. by Satomi Ichikawa
Face Talk, Hand Talk, Body Talk by Sue Castle
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Jonathan and His Mommy by Irene Smalls-Hector, Illus. by Michael Hays
Muscles: Our Muscular System by Seymour Simon
My Feet by Aliki Nick
Joins In by Joe Lasker
Nina, Nina Ballerina by Jane O'Connor
Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie dePaola
The 5 Senses Series: Touch, Taste, Smell, Feel, Hear by J. M. Parramon and J. J. Puig, Illus. by Maria
Rius
The Balancing Girl by Berniece Rabe
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss
We Can Do It! by Laura Dwight Key
Vocabulary:
Limbs: arms, hands, legs, feet, thigh, calf, fingers, toes
Torso: hips, pelvis, back, spine, ribs, chest, abdomen or stomach
Joints: knees, ankles, elbows, wrists, shoulders
Head: neck, jaw, mouth, tongue, nose, eyes, forehead, ears
LISTEN UP: Songs about the body
¥ "Bean Bag Boogie" by Greg and Steve from Kids in Motion
¥ "I'm Not Small" by either Bill Harley from Monsters in the Bathroom or Sharon, Lois and Bram from One Elephant, Deux Elephants
¥ "The One and Only Me" by Lisa Atkinson from The One and Only Me
ARTS EXPERIENCE
Getting Started
In planning this lesson, consider:
¥ Organizing the lesson into many segments over time. With each segment, increase the complexity of the movements and the identification of body parts.
¥ Ways to define children's personal space.
¥ Have them stretch their arms in all directions. If they touch a classmate or furniture, then they are too close.
¥ Have them move through space surrounded by a bubble. Bubbles should not touch each other, but if they do they bounce off gently.
¥ Defining starting and stopping points by providing a rug square for each child, or taping an X for each child on the floor.
¥ Use a hand drum, or other musical signal, to "freeze" the children if any bumping occurs. Adjust their spaces as necessary and then begin again.
TIP: "Freezing" when the music stops is an excellent classroom management technique. New instructions can be given
easily.
Connecting to Past Experience
Invite children to recognize their own personal space by having them spread out around the room, an arm's length apart.
Expressing Through Dance and Movement
Encourage children to identify various parts of their bodies. Start with familiar parts, such as fingers and hands, and advance to less familiar parts, such as wrists. Have them explore what each part can do. For each body part invite children to:
¥ Explore the direction that it can move: forward, backward, sideways, up and down.
¥ Explore moving it at different speeds: fast, slow, very fast, super fast.
¥ Move it with different qualities: smooth, stiff, floating, flicking.
¥ Explore what it can do: stretch, wiggle, jerk, lead the rest of the body around the classroom, meet a friend, create a
dance.
Expand the experience by combining the movements of two or more body parts.
¥ Create a dance with, for example, just wrists and fingers.
¥ Move two body parts at once; for example, create a dance with an arm and a leg. Add music or drumbeats to the
movements.
Continue to expand the experience by creating a dance for limbs, or for the torso, the head or the joints. Create a:
¥ Fast dance, slow dance.
¥ Dance that is low to the ground, dance that is high in the air.
¥ Dance that is moving all around the room, dance that is only in one spot.
Expand the experience further by moving inside the body.
¥ Experience the lungs expanding and contracting. Relate this to a balloon and/or bellows.
¥ Feel the heart beat. Stamp a beat that is consistent with the heartbeat. Move to the rhythm of the heart.
¥ Talk about the bones. Feel them under the skin. Create a stiff bones dance. Create a loose "no bones"
dance.
Talking About Dance and Movement
How does it feel to move different parts of your body by themselves? How does it feel to move different parts of your body together? Which parts move the easiest? Which parts are the hardest to move? Which parts feel stiff? Which parts feel loose? What did you like about creating movements for different parts of your body?
Extending the Experience
¥ Have a child take a turn leading the group by moving one body part while the group mirrors his or her actions.
¥ Invite children to imitate activities they like to do for fun, such as climbing, running, jumping rope, shooting baskets, kicking a soccer ball, swinging or turning cartwheels. Have them notice the way the different parts of their bodies move for each activity.
¥ Introduce alignment and balance. Ask children to stand very tall and name each part of their bodies from their feet to their heads. As each part is named, have the children feel how it aligns on top of the part underneath. Have children change their position so that they are leaning in one direction and hold the pose. What did you do to hold your balance? How did your body change?
¥ Play a drumbeat or music. When the drum or music stops, ask children to stop and notice the position of their bodies. Where are your legs? Where are your arms in relationship to your legs? Where are your toes in relationship to your nose? Where is your belly button?
INTRODUCING AN ARTIST WITH DISABILITIES
Alicia Alonso was born Alicia Martinez in 1921 in Havana, Cuba. She studied ballet in Cuba, London and New York City. She became a premiere ballerina, dancing for George Balanchine, the famous choreographer for the American Ballet Theatre, and in Broadway musicals. She danced even though she has visual disabilities.In 1948, she returned to her home in Cuba and formed the Ballet Alicia Alonso, which was renamed the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. The ballet school is well known for the quality of its recruiting and training.
LEARNING LOG
Options: Invite children to draw themselves moving. Add a sentence that describes the
movement. Draw different parts of the body in different positions. Write a sentence about how it feels and
looks. Suggested Title: When I Move or How Body Parts Move My Body Is Me