Dance Lesson Plans

Students study introductory history and cultural purposes of selected Japanese dance forms. They analyze the philosophical beliefs, social systems, and movement norms that influence the function and role of Japanese dance in the lives of its people.

Students share dance moves that reflect their personalities or depict how they are feeling, explore popularity of recreational and competitive social dancing by reading and discussing the article "Follow the Flying Feet," present examples of social dancing, research dance forms performed in class, and reflect on which dance styles they like best.

Students become familiar with dance steps of colonial dances through pictures.  In this colonial dance step lesson, students view photographs in a multimedia presentation and describe the dance steps.

Students celebrate the Chinese New Year and listen to the story behind the Chinese Lion Dance.  For this Chinese New Year lesson, students research the geography and culture of China.  Students create puppets, dance the Lion Dance and find China on the map. 

Students view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance.  In this jazz dance lesson, students write a cinquain about jazz dance.  Students recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music associated with it.

Students recognize a Ceili as an Irish dance of celebration and investigate Ireland while studying the dance.  In this Irish dance lesson, students search the geography of Ireland, read poetry, identify costumes, draw and perform a dance.

Students create their own line dance, which must have a minimum of 4 parts, each part goes to a count of 4. They may select parts from the Create a Line Dance cards to use for their dance, or they may create their own parts.

Students watch a video of a performance choreographed by Paul Taylor. They research the Great Depression and issues facing teenagers today. They create a dance that shows a historic period of the United States.

Learners conduct research on Hawaiian culture, chants, and dances. They watch a video, create an illustrated storybook of the production, conduct research on Hawaiian legends, and create a booklet with suggestions for using the arts to preserve culture.

Students discuss dance elements and create a dance map. They choose a dance theme and incorporate movement into their dance maps and choreography. They also experiment with different types of music.