Session Outline

• Why integrate Children’s Literature with Dance?

• Selecting Literature for Dances

• Presenting Literature to Children

• Translating the Text and Illustrations into Dance Movement

• The Elements of Dance – Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe and Little Cloud

• Creating shapes and movements – Chris Raschka’s Yo! Yes?

• Using Poetry as inspiration and accompaniment – A tribute to Shel Silverstein, “Dancing Pants” and “Fancy Dive”

• Creating Character’s and Events – Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are

Session Notes
 

Why integrate Children’s Literature with Dance?

• Means of demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the literary experience (listening, viewing, and reading).
• Provides a way for kinesthetic learners to demonstrate their interpretation and meaning of children’s literature.
• Provides a rich resources of ideas for creating dances

Selecting Literature for Dances

• Emily Styles’ “Windows and Mirrors”
• Children see those things that are not a part of their life – Windows
• Children see themselves in the literature (their culture, background, or hobbies) - Mirrors
• Selection can dismiss stereotypes – showing girls in roles not otherwise thought of a girl’s role, a mother working and not staying home, or various cultures participating in areas not thought of as common to them.

• pick out books that have dance or dance as the theme (Color Dance, Barn Dance, Dance, Can you Dance Dalila? Giraffe’s Can’t Dance);
• books with content about color or shape or books with words or pictures to use when starting/developing dance and movement (Snowy Day; In a Small, Small Pond; Why the Sky is Far Away):
• books to encourage children to dance; dance in the title but not about dance – use the words to create (Water Dance).

• Teacher reads to children – traditional, used with large group – make sure to rehearse
• Children read to themselves or in small groups
• Student reads to the large group
• Teacher gives information to set the context of the book - about the author, the author’s background, comments about the cover, other pages, dedication

• The Elements of Dance – Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe and Little Cloud
• Poster – The Elements of Dance are the tools used to manipulate the words
• They offer new ways to explore movement
• They allow for the formation of dance shapes in the construction of the dance

• Creating shapes and movements – Chris Raschka’s Yo! Yes?
• Call and response
• Use of voice and body shapes
• Teacher directed – on a rhythm of 3 counts
• Student directed – natural rhythm between two groups (the Yo’s and the Yes’s)

• Using Poetry as inspiration and accompaniment – A tribute to Shel Silverstein, “Dancing Pants” and “Fancy Dive”
• Choral reading – Dancing Pants
• Voice as accompaniment – Fancy Dive
• Consider literal shaping – then increase variability and move toward the abstract

• Creating Character’s and Events – Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are
• Wild Rumpus – two words – use poster

• Line dance construction:
• 2 steps R, 2 steps L, repeat twice
• Step Fwd, pivot on L, Step Back – repeat
• Turn to R, L, R wiggle then back turn L, R, L wiggle

• Creating a dance together – Mary O’Neill’s “The Sound of Water”