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.