Round, Straight and Curvy

Students are becoming more familiar with our class format.  We begin dancing in a circle, then move out to our perfect spots, then travel across the floor in lines and end together again in a circle. In our 2nd lesson we built on our explorations of levels  (high, middle, and low) and added the ideas of moving our bodies in three different ways - round, straight, and curvy.

It is clear that the students' spatial awareness is growing - there is less bumping into one another while dancing in one place. Students are also gaining physical control while creating and holding various shapes.  The team work needed to move across the floor together is another concept everyone is getting better at.

Students are also gaining confidence in their ability to solve movement problems. For instance, they are more comfortable creating their own round shapes and round movements and less likely to copy the teacher. 

Students were able to use all parts of their bodies, arms, legs, spines, fingers, etc, to create interesting shapes and moves. You will see these individual differences in the pictures included here of the first graders.  Some of the most creative shapes today were the curvy shapes.

THINGS TO TRY TOGETHER AT HOME:

We are working on moving sideways. 

Ask your child to demonstrate this by walking sideways (like a crab) to the right side and to the left.

You might also ask your child to demonstrate round, straight, and curvy shapes. 

Then see if they can do round, straight, and curvy dances and hold for 8 counts at the end of each dance.