Week 11 in-school experience
Being the last lesson, we wanted to do something with the students that was fun and enjoyable. As we have yet to have experience with music and dance, we decided that we would integrate the two strands. Initially, we wanted to do activities that followed on from the drama and picture book, however with the time that we had with the students, we felt that it would not have been ideal. This is because the activities such as composition would be rushed, making the learning experience not very meaningful. Therefore, introducing quick and fun activities ensured that the students were having fun on their last day. As we felt that our behavioural management skills were much better and we had more control over the class, we decided to do our entire lesson outside after setting explicit expectations and boundaries inside the classroom. The music and dance related activities were:
1) Send off the star
Students needed to imagine that they were the little boy from the picture book in the previous drama lesson. The aim of the activity was to send the star off and back into the sky. Standing in a circle, the students needed to send the star off to the person next to them using a clapping hand motion until it reached the final person. Played several times, there were a range of variations, which included: different speed and direction. This activity allowed the students to be engaged and focused as they needed to watch the star closely and send off when it is their turn.
A modification for next time could be for students to incorporate sounds. Particularly in a space theme, students can make a sound that relates to space or stars when sending off the star to the next person.
2) Miming
Pairs needed to mirror their partners and copy the exact movements. This was modelled explicitly prior to the students trying it out themselves. The modelling enabled students to understand the importance of using different levels and body movements. Focusing on each other built cohesion and focus between the pairs. It is confirmed that this activity permits students to explore their own body movements, which makes them feel more comfortable when engaging in more dance related activities (Gibson and Ewing, 2011). As such, this served as a good transition to the next activity as it assisted in creating a safe space for students to experiment and explore.
3) Follow the space leader
To ensure that students understand the activity and the expectations, explicit modelling ensured that students would not muck around in the groups. This reflected in the activity as the students were behaving and were thoroughly engaged with the dance movements. They incorporated a variety of different levels and dynamics, which demonstrated their understanding of the elements of dance. As such, it required students to copy their leader’s dance movements and when the teacher yelled “swap,” the leader would move to the back of the line and a new leader is in place. The dance movements incorporated the space theme and linked to the previous drama role-walk as it required students to represent space objects through different movements. Incorporating this activity enabled students to express their inner thoughts in relation to space. Hence, Gibson and Ewing (2011) suggest that when students are moving creatively, they are engaged in problem solving and creativity.
Throughout the outside lesson, we did not need to remind the students to keep their voices low and stayed within the boundaries that we set. We felt that the students progressed and our management skills improved. In hindsight, establishing the expectations and boundaries ensured that we established a positive, creative dance context for the students. Gibson and Ewing (2011, p. 39) reiterate by stating that facilitating positive dance climates arise when teachers discuss signals, organisations and expectations, “including the need to share the space amicably.”
When students were asked to reflect upon the past four weeks about their favourite lesson or activity, many students said ‘Follow the Leader’ and the freeze frames. Students elaborated on this and suggested that they were enjoyable and engaging activities, making them want to go back and redo the activity. This confirmed that the Arts has the potential to provide students with learning experiences that are engaging, motivating and fun. Moreover, it allows students to tap into their human experience, emotions and thoughts whilst building upon a deeper understanding of concepts from other key learning areas.












