WRAP UP

Wow what an amazing experience I was able to have with Miss Stout's afternoon Kindergarten class at Hayden Peak Elementary! We began a little timid and nervous to move in front of each other, but as we explored and learned more about how we can move our bodies we had more and more fun every single day.

When I first arrived, I was absolutely terrified because I was going to teach kindergarteners! I feel extremely comfortable teaching older students because I feel like they understand me much better than younger children. I observed Miss Stout a few time and helped her with her typical day of teaching with her afternoon class. She already is wonderful with getting the kids moving and taught me so much about management. I felt ready to begin. I was lucky enough to get the gym one of the two days a week I was there. The commute was an hour each way and I was lucky enough to have the time to make the drive. Each time I would enter the class the kids would begin to whisper (which I felt horrible about) "Mrs. Taggart is here!". It made me happy knowing that they were excited to get up and move!

I began by having some quick fun classes on Body Energy Space and Time. The elements of dance! They learned pretty well and I learned many of my personal weaknesses. My mentor Elizabeth Hansen was able to give me some wonderful feedback on how to structure my class. It should start with something more simplistic, introductory and structured then begin to allow them some personal choices and freedom. I need to ease my students into the concepts instead of expecting them to know what to do. As a teacher I really need to think about my students and what is age appropriate. There are so many things that go into planning curriculum and I am grateful for this opportunity, for the ability to begin teaching and learning through experience. My teacher wrote me a beautiful letter saying how much she enjoyed watching her kids dance.

"One of the best benefits of having Katie dance with my kids was the opportunity for my kids to shine. I have two specific students who really lit up each time Katie came to dance with them. One student has many difficult struggles at home. Each time she took the dance floor, she seemed to enter a different world. Her creativity shown through and a smile lit up her face. I know that those few minutes dancing gave her a break from what she was dealing with. The other student who really shined was a boy. He is a very intelligent boy who comes from a stable home. It was fun to see the creativity he showed. He is usually a pretty straight arrow. I was surprised to see him participate in something I thought would be out of his comfort zone. it was just fun to watch him dance."

This experience has opened my eyes to teaching and how important it is to keep the arts in schools. I would highly recommend this experience to everyone in the arts!!!

CLASS STORY

We were able to create a class dance based on the class story that my class wrote. It had three characters: Smurf, Clone, and a Snowman. The Smurf was frying food in the forest and the Clone stole some. Hearing the cry for help the Snowman jumped to the rescue, tied up the Clone, and gave the food back to the Smurf.

We talked through the story and really learned how to move like a Smurf, Clone and Snowman. They had so much fun creating this story and performed it for their reading buddies. I am sad its our last lesson but I have really enjoyed working with these children.

RELATIONSHIPS

Today we began exploring our class story. It takes place in a forest so I decided to teach my forest relationship lesson. They learned words like over, under, around, through, on, off, above, below, far, near, beside, between, in, and out.

We began the class by playing simon says. I had them put their hand over their head, their foot between their hands, and stand beside another person. They were having a good time and liked it. We talked about relationships in the simplest way saying how our body parts can have relationships with each other.

My first mistake came when I had the kids imagine a forest as I described it. I don't think they are able to do that. I should have had them move as I described it to them, I should have taken them on a journey through the forest as they moved, rather than imagined it. I then had them create a class forest and (realizing I should have done this all along) walked them through the forest. They became a caterpillar in a cocoon, then turned into a beautiful butterfly. They flew over, under, between and landed on the tree branch. I then had the boys become trees and the girls become deer. vise versa. The kids had fun then I began to loose them. They were no longer exploring but running around like crazy children. I knew they had had enough so I cooled them down and finished the class.

I need to understand how to be age appropriate and to keep them interested. I can't give such young kids so much freedom or else they will no longer be exploring they will be just mindlessly running around.

LETTERS!!

Today we had fun with the alphabet!

We reviewed all of the upper-case letters and noticed how some letters are very straight with bends and some are very curvy. I had the kids explore straight and curved shapes. I wish I would have started out the class with more structure and had them follow me so they knew in more detail what I expected of them. The we talked through specific letters and really made some fun shapes with them.

After the explorations I taught them a small sequence to the name SAM. They curved for 8 counts through the space then made three class straight shapes for the M they made a very strong shape and then started the sequence all over. I had a fun sing song to the sequence so they knew what to to, it went something like this "curving curving curving curving like and upper case S, Upper-----Case-------A, M-MMMMMMMMMM" then it was repeated.

The kids enjoyed the class. I needed to start more simple and structured rather than having them just explore the entire time!

VERBS AND ADVERBS

Today was my first lesson back from the break. I am now officially Mrs. Taggart instead of Miss Bourne and that gave the kids mouths something fun to practice. Today we talked and danced about verbs and adverbs. I first had them run, jump, skip, leap, walk, skitter, etc all over the room. I then asked if it was fun. They all said "YES BECAUSE WE GOT TO MOVE!" reinforcing in my mind how necessary it is to have creative dance in elementary schools. I explained that all of these moving words or action words are verbs. We practiced saying VERB about a million times and some kids really caught on. I then told the story of King ING and Queen LY. (a story my mom and others learned from Virginia Tanner)

The kings subjects are all verbs like walk, skip, jump etc. and the Queens are all adverbs like happy, quick, wiggle etc. The king and queen fall in love and join kingdoms so when the verbs meet the adverbs they become walkING quickLY and skippING happiLY. The kids didn't know what a few of my words were so I really needed to go through them and make sure they were age appropriate. All in all though they had fun running around and acting out many things. Kindergarteners are a whole different breed and its exciting trying to get to know how to teach them!

"BROWN BEAR BROWN BEAR"

Today I just wanted to have a lot of fun with the kids and see how well they remember what we have done together. I began by having a fun warm up...When I played the drum slow they dance slow and when I played the drum fast they were to dance fast. They did alright and honestly just ran around like crazy kids. Then I tried to trick them and I had them dance slowly when the drum was fast, and fast when the drum was slow. They loved it and had a really fun time. Kids just love taking off their shoes and running around!

I then brought out a book they are very familiar with. "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See." They all know this book very well and almost have the order memorized! We talked about each animal and how they moved, what quality and what level. We played around with that. I tried to get them to use their imagination and they all ended up just moving like the animal, like crawling etc. It was cute the the kids liked switching things up. It was a very relaxed day and I wanted them to just explore in their own bodies. I learned that sometimes you just need to let the kids do what they are feeling rather than going so in depth into the dance curriculum. They were all smiles after the class and I can't wait to see them after their break!

MOVE KIDS MOVE!

Today we had a fun class on locomotion steps like walking running skipping jumping hopping sliding leaping etc. I thought that since we had the HUGE gym space that it would be a way fun idea to let them MOVE. I don't know what it is but whenever we are in the big space the kids have a hard time behaving. After a quick silent warm up and a skip circle around the gym we attempted to form lines. After the lesson I decided that it would have been more effective to just call out their groups and have them explore across the floor rather than challenging them to keep their lines.

After exploring everything I took each line and had them create a certain shape in the corner. I gave them instructions. They at first were not very creative and followed the leader. I asked them to be the most creative person and that sure got their attention. I would ask the class about their shapes and pathways and what they were doing. The kids loved the guessing game.

At the end I asked them to as quietly as they could put their shoes and socks back on and line up when they were ready. I was blown away by how quiet they were!!!

I have learned a lot from these little youngsters. One thing I have been wanting to do is group work but I know that kindergarteners don't work too well in groups so I have really been avoiding that. We are going to dance a wonderful story that the class made up when they get back from a short break and I am excited for that!

SELF SPACE (personal bubbles) LESSON

Kindergarteners love taking up space and running around, but they don't always pay attention to how they are moving or what is around them. This leads to bonks on the head and tears. So today we talked about our self space or our Kinespheres. I first took them through a silent warm up. They had to do everything I was doing but stay silent. This really got the focused. (last time they were not focused and very loud so I wanted to really get their attention this time.)

We learned how our self space or our kinespheres are like big bubbles around us and if we are too close to things they might POP! Now we can shrink out bubble or we can make our bubble very big! We explored with these concepts a lot in our bubbles. We would grow, shrink, twist, turn and balance! We also played some fun shape games, to help us remember our round, pin-like and bent shapes. We also worked on their memory and attention to detail with their body parts.

For the end of class to transfer back into their normal class I had the students line up in a boy line and a girl line. I brought in my special dinosaur friend REX and they practiced one at a time leaping as high as they could over him. They were conveniently placed right where they had taken off their shoes and socks and were told to quietly put their shoes and socks back on. To my surprise they silently put everything back on and graciously thanked me!

What I learned most about today is that the kids just want to have fun! They want you to play with them while they learn. The kids have remembered everything I have taught them and their creativity so far has been improving every time. I am so proud of these little kids. Next week we will start applying all that we have learned into dancing a story! I am excited!

ENERGY LESSON

Today was a lot more difficult than the past two lessons. We were lucky enough to get the gym space again but the children were extremely energetic. They did not want to listen, or do ANYTHING I asked them to explore. about 10 min consisted of me trying to get everyone to stay inside the "boundaries" I set for the class. I had music prepared to go along with every subject of energy I was teaching but all I had to play was my little quiet computer, so I gave up on that idea after a while and went back to use my drum.

The lesson today had to do with opposites. I went over opposites like HOT and COLD, HAPPYand SAD, and LOUD and QUIET. Then I warmed them up by skipping around the gym and reviewing a few things from our last space class by making different shapes on different levels.

SMOOTH AND SHARP

we talked about finger painting and how smooth it is. We began by moving out hands then took it into our bodies. We smoothly moved around the room. Most of the kids laid on the ground and moved like snakes. I encouraged the kids to change levels and that helped spark their creativity.

SMOOTH

We then talked about how to be sharp. I had one student demonstrate what it would look like if they were to touch a cactus. They had a sharp movement and the class got excited. We practiced being sharp with our hands then took it into our bodies. The kids ran crazy! I had to really bring them together and calm them down. My time was running out so I had to skip over a lot of movement.

SHARP

We had to skip over the section of LIGHT and STRONG . I would have talked about muscles and how you can control how strong or light you are with your muscles. We would as a class explore each concept. Then we would enhance the skills by dancing strong when I play the drum loud and dance light when I play the drum soft.

STRONG

LIGHT

We were able to discuss FREE and BOUND. I had the students travel around the room as free flowing as a river. We would twist and turn and float through the classroom. Then I would signal my drum and they would freeze. They would hold a shape as if their river had frozen.

FREE

BOUND

We finished the class with half being watching eyes and half being dancers. We also divided the space into smooth, light and free land and the other half sharp, strong, and bound land. The dancers danced and the watching eyes had a paper and crayon and were asked to draw smooth lines when the dancers were dancing smoothly and sharp lines when the dancers were sharp. At the end of the class we looked at everyones pictures. We weren't able to switch but over all the class was smiling through the class and that makes me happy.

SPACE LESSON

Space was a concept I needed to teach this wonderfulclass. The space we had to dance in was the classroom however so we didn't have much space to move. We moved all of the tables and carpet to have some space. We began with our first element of space: LEVELS. This was one of our locomotor (traveling) exercises for the class. They have been working with snowmen so I made a few posters to help them understand high, medium, and low levels.

HIGH

MEDIUM

LOW

We taveled across the floor and worked on our quiet voices. One thing the students struggled with was originality, they all copied each other. I challenged the children to use their creative minds to be more different than anyone else in the class. I had many kids really work on being original which made me really happy.

Our next concept was SHAPES. This was our axial (non traveling) part of class. I had them travel out into the space and choose their perfect spot. I would have them explore each shape and have them explore the shapes on different levels as well. The kids really loved making all sorts of shapes.

ROUND/BALL LIKE

STRAIGHT/PIN LIKE

BENT/BOX LIKE

Our next element of space was PATHWAYS. I had the students get into one long line (like they are used to when walking from classroom to classroom) and follow me as we moved in the different pathways. This was fun and I challenged them to be quieter than the other students. Another game for the students was a guessing game. I called up about 5 students at a time and very seriously told them what pathway they were to travel in. They HAD to keep it a secret. The "watching eyes" (or students who were watching) had to pay close attention to what type of pathway the dancers were moving in. All the students were very quiet and paid close attention.

STRAIGHT

CURVEY

ZIG ZAG

We reviewed all that we had learned that day and I left my posters with them to hang up in the classroom. I can see the children becoming a little more comfortable moving in front of each other. They are trying to be more and more creative and really allowing themselves to do what THEY want, not what their friends are doing. I would say that today was a successful class!

BODY PARTS LESSON

Today was my first lesson with Hayden Peaks Kindergarten classroom with Cristina Stout. We were lucky enough to get the gym for 30 min for me to teach them a lesson on body parts. Our end goal with this experience is for the students to, as a class, write a story and dance it! I hope to teach them the B.E.S.T. dance elements, so they have a basic knowledge of dance. Their "performance" of the story will be increased because of their creative exploration and knowledge of dance elements.

Kindergarteners have a lot of energy and short attention spans. The students in this classroom cover a large range. Many pay attention some act out every few minutes. Some understand the concepts Mrs. Stout teaches and some are very lost. Some are very social and some wont talk. I was excited to dance with the students because I could see how much they love to move. Mostly all of the students squirm in their chairs when they work. Mrs. Stout does a wonderful job at moving them around the classroom often to get the wiggles out.

Today we quietly walked into the gym and sat on the stairs as I discussed what we were going to learn today. I had a large poster of a body and cards with body parts written on them. I asked for help from the students. They were all very eager to help and they were sure to raise their hands quietly so I would choose them. The students taped the name cards on the correct body part, for example on the head, ribs, hands, legs etc.

I had them skip out into the space, to find a place that was their own perfect spot. I told them to stand so still and to put their finger on their nose to show me they were ready. These kids really liked having something to accomplish, when they had all the directions, they really obeyed them. This is something I plan on using as I continue to teach them. I had them balance on one leg and to not move one muscle, that really quieted them down because they were all trying to be so still.

During the class I used Mrs. Stout's hand drum that she had recently purchased. The drum was very effective and the children really listened to it and took direction very well because of the auditory cues.

Most of my creative experiences were Axial, so the children weren't able to really travel through the space, except for the transitions. This is something I realized when I had them create their own dances concentrating on one body part. All the kids took off running through the space. My next class I want to be sure to allow them to really move and travel through the space.

With kindergarteners it is hard to have them do exactly what you want them to do. For example with the dance they created with one body part. The kids were just moving their entire body, but I understood that they were thinking about it and really trying and I was so proud of them for giving it all they got.

Mrs. Stout always talks about "watching eyes" ( I picked up some of her auditory clues while observing her class one day, so the kids would have teachers directing them similarly) When we split up in two groups (dancers, and watching eyes) I got down on their sitting level and very seriously told them what their task was. I made sure they knew it was a big deal. Not one kid flinched while watching the other kids. Their eyes were glued on the dancers trying to see what I had asked them to look for. I think sometimes with kids you need to really just give them something they can do and do 100%. I could tell that they were proud of themselves for really concentrating and knowing what the dancers were doing.

I am learning a lot about How to teach younger children and I am loving this experience.