Kinesthetic Learning Rationale “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I will understand.” -Confucius No matter what it is referred to as - dance, creative movement, kinesthetic learning, creative dance, or dance-based learning - it is beneficial to all students when incorporated into the classroom. Movement is the key. Creative movement is a form of dance, so students are using and introduced to the basic elements of dance: body, energy, space, and time. According to Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst at the University of California, Berkeley, “Creative movement is a joyful way for children to explore movement through music, develop physical skills, channel energy, stimulate imagination, and promote creativity.
Again, all students are participating in one way or another when movement is incorporated in the classroom. But it does not end there. Dance is ubiquitous, found all over the world. As dance involves all students, it can also incorporate the diverse cultures celebrated at school. Every year, a new population of students arrives in the classroom, and I never know what types of students will be part of our classroom, especially in Kindergarten. They could be an array of students from different cultures or speaking different languages. Creative movement enhances and brings knowledge to the students of cultures around the world. Introducing dance from different cultures is a must-do. One way to achieve this is through movement and story. An example explained in the article "The Power of Creative Dance" teaches dance stories. This is a powerful way to choose multicultural books, poems, or songs to show images of different cultures while creating dance movements based upon these stories, poems, or songs.
Including multicultural dance in the curriculum also offers an excellent opportunity to invite professional artists to share their expertise with children" (Griss, 1994, p.79). Connie Bergstein Dow suggests selecting five to seven images that could spark movement from a particular song or book. This could be an image of a character or a scene. The students then create movements to bring the character, scene, or story to life. Music can then be added. The story is read aloud, and after the reading, the students take their image and practice once more. As the music plays and dance cues are called out, the students, by group, bring the image to life. At the conclusion of the dance movements, the students freeze and hold their shape or sculpture. They then come together and discuss their experience (Dow, 2010, p.35). This type of lesson incorporates many aspects of teaching. The students are engaged, communicating, being expressive, developing social skills, thinking critically about the story concepts, collaborating, and, above all, creating. This sounds like students are using and acquiring 21st-century skills. Is it possible for the Common Core State Standards and 21st Century skills to be taught through movement? The answer is a definite "yes." A 21st Century classroom aims to establish a student-centered, project-based environment that focuses on creating lifelong learners.
...re of different dance cultures within the vocabulary of their scope, then the results would be so astounding as to give that dancer an unspoken quality distinguishing them from among their peers. Movement knowledge is cultural knowledge and remembering that each culture is beautiful and different in its own way can help create a dancer that will resonate with any audience member.
Ballroom dancing in New York gives underprivileged children the opportunity to be exposed to the arts, which is usually a program that is cut from low-income schools. This program is a part of a fine arts curriculum with a focus on movement/dancing. A fine art curriculum approach integrates the different aspect of the arts to enhance the learning experiences of the students (Agrelo, 2005; “Dancing Classrooms- Mission”, 2015; Gorski
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
The freedom of the American life and culture of the 1970’s overflowed to make a major impact on music and dance during this period. American culture flourished. The events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade. Choreographers wanted to motivate the dancers to leap into the unknown and experience the contact of dance in their own way.
Teaching using creative methods can help develop the whole child. It can make learning experiences more exciting, more relevant, create different contexts for learning, al...
“ The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s
For the dancer, music and choreography are paramount. The music guides the dancer, and the moves express the music. However, the dance has to start from somewhere.
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
Art and its education are crucial in the development of young children. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance to ensure that our young children are being taught about art and its education in order for them to be successful contributing members of society. June Vail, a professor of dance at Bowdoin College explains, “The arts bring energy and creativity, a kind of learning that can only enhance every other kind of learning. (Vail).” She continues by saying that, “The enterprise of a liberal arts education is integrative, to educate students to be creative and flexible, to harness their energy in a different way (Vail).” Art begins to lay the foundation of success early for young children by developing their motor skills through paining with a paintbrush and drawing with crayons. Furthermore, it also helps promote language development by learning new shapes, colors, and allows them to describe their artistic creation. Lastly, it also helps children improve academically. A report that was done by the Americans for the Arts demonstrates that young people who participated regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, participate in a math or science fair, or win an award for writing an essay as opposed to students who do not participate in the arts (PBS). As a result of this, it is imperative to ensure that adolescent children of today begin
Dancing is a form of art that allows many children to express themselves through body motion while developing many skills. Children throughout the world have been dancing since the day they began walking. When a child to take their first steps and puts together the simplest combination of movements, that would be considered as dancing. Music also plays a major role in the development of children understanding dance, because it is can be used as an accompaniment, and can help children get a better feel for the rhythm in dances. Over the past century educators have come to the conclusion that dance serves as a form of art, and should be taught in public schools and colleges to help the growth in children of all ages both physically, mentally, and academically.
Overby, L. (1992). Status of dance in education (Report No. ED348368). Washington, DC: Eric Clearinghouse on Teacher Education. Discusses the status of dance as a part of the elementary school curriculum. This Digest examines the rationale for dance in education, the status of dance education, and selected issues in dance education.
... in my daily work and in my future classrooms by including diverse activities that challenge different aspects of physical and motor development, such as safe outdoor activities like climbing, encouraging motor development through an art station, and developing fine motor skills through the use of finger plays. It will encourage me to always be aware of the uniqueness of each child's developmental abilities so my teaching methods are inclusive and in-depth.
"THE STRUCTURE AND METHODS OF MOVEMENT EDUCATION." THE STRUCTURE AND METHODS OF MOVEMENT EDUCATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. .