"Heal out, Heal out, Heal out, Clap, Clap!"- Lesson 3

This lesson was so fun and I was grateful how receptive the students were to the learning and how quickly they were able to pick up the content I was teaching them. Parts of me still feel like I wasn't completely ready to integrate but this lesson provided a great opportunity for me to continue to learn.

I decided to split this lesson into two different days and really emphasize the importance of sequencing. I also really wanted to teach them a folk dance and learn more about signals, classroom management and as mentioned above arts integration (crazy right?).

Here was the first part of this lesson plan:

Utah Core Standard: Third Grade, English Language, Writing Standard 1, “Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure [sequencing] that lists reasons.”

Lesson 1: (30 minutes) Oct. 7

Sequencing in Dance-

1. Teach a folk dance. Emphasize the importance of sequencing. “One dance move comes after the next.”
2. Discuss what would happen if you danced it in the wrong order/ wrong dance moves/ etc.
3. End with dancing the dance one more time.

Dance Objective: Skills Development “Folk Dance: a simple folk dance to re-energize from slower floor work. Benefits: memorizing steps; creating community connecting culture.”

Even though I wanted the lesson to eventually have a focus of sequencing and integration- I wanted to make sure that in this lesson I was specifically working on teaching dance and management in the classroom.

It was so fun!

As I taught the kids the dance, I looked around and noticed that all my students were participating and part of the experience. I noticed that I had some students who were a little behind in some of the steps but the majority of the students were quickly identifying the dance and were working really hard.

I'm excited to see how the next lesson goes as we continue to follow up on sequencing.

The Importance of Sequencing- Lesson 4

"Rock n' Stop" & Expectations- Lesson 1

I love teaching and it's so fun to be back in the classroom again. Though I certainly feel out of practice and have forgotten even some of the very basic things of teaching, I'm so grateful to be back and am grateful to be learning again.

I knew that because many of the students were new to dance and were unfamiliar with how it would work in a classroom- I made sure that I set clear expectations and rules from the beginning. I was directed that as a dance teacher and even as a teacher in general- you want to have few rules, but lots of procedures. I also had been taught that if the students can help come up with the rules and have a say in expectations, the students will want to follow expectations and work hard.

So after formally introducing myself, I asked them the question "What is dance?" Many of the students commented by saying, "It's ballet- it's what I do after school" or "It's like hip hop" or "It's something that happens when your body moves." Starting by asking this question, really helped me to assess and evaluate where I would need to start as a teacher and what the students already knew. After allowing a few of them to define dance, I then continued by the discussion by helping them understand that dance was something they did all the time. It happens when they walk. It happens when they play at recess. It happens in all they do. I told them that I would be coming to their class for the next couple of weeks and when I did, I would be helping them to learn dance and to learn more about how we move our bodies and learn.

You could tell that some of the kids were excited and some were a little hesitant- so I knew this was the time to explain some rules and set some expectations as a class. I started by saying that because we would be moving around and because we would be interact with each other, we needed to set a few rules. I asked them, "What do you think would be some important rules for us to follow as a class while we are dancing?" Many student's hands shot up and after some discussion, we came up with three specific rules we wanted to follow.

1. Be respectful- of each other and equipment in the room.
2. Be active- be involved and give your best.
3. Have fun!

With these rules set and the students anxious to start we began. I wanted to start with something basic and just get the children warmed up. I decided to use the song "Rock n' Stop" and help the student's get moving. This song/ activity includes music that plays a couple of measures and then freezes. The students start at a lower level sitting down and then each measure get a little higher and higher in their levels.

They loved it. You could tell what a relief it was for the students to be moving around, experiencing new movements and trying something new.

As a teacher I found that I had to participate and help the kids along the process. If I had just sat back and told them what to do, I knew that many of the students would not want to participate and may even feel "stupid." But because I was involved and dancing right along side them, the students participated and had a great time.

I also saw the importance of calling out tasks and help remind the students what was expected. I would need to say things like, "find a new shape" and "try something new" and commenting on shapes, dance movements and other qualities I noticed from the students. The students were quick to heed the advice I gave them and it was so fun to see some of the new ideas and ways of movement that the students would try.

After repeating this activity a few times and giving some specific feedback- I brought the students back together and asked them what they thought dance was now. Their responses included some of the things we had discussed before but they also brought in new definitions and brought in some things they had experienced through the activity.

I love dancing. I love seeing student's learn. But most importantly, I love seeing how these students learn through dance. I'm so grateful to be doing this.

Observation #1- the Wonderful Mrs. Lacrua

If you want to see a GREAT teacher, I would highly recommend stopping by the 3rd Grade classroom of Mrs. Lacrua. From the moment I stepped into her classroom, I was thoroughly impressed.

For my first observation, I had the opportunity to watch her teach a literacy lesson.

Classroom Management

If someone would have told you that you had stepped into a 3rd grade classroom, you may not have believed them for how well behaved these students were. They all had their eyes focused on the screen and was strictly focused on the content at hand and what the teacher was teaching them.
Mrs. Lacrua did an amazing job of gathering ideas from the students while also maintaining a high expectation of focus and dedication from the students. I was frantically taking notes of things I could use and incorporate in my future classroom.

Art's Incorporation

Whether Mrs. Lacrua realized it or not, she was incorporating the arts. When the students were writing their persuasive essay on while vanilla ice cream was the best, the students were using this song, (to a familiar children's lullaby)

"Hook, opinion, reasons three. Example, opinion, so you'll see. Stating our opinion help us be. Writers of the century!"

The students knew every word! She was teaching them the sequencing of writing while also allowing them to learn music. The combination of the two created a memorized song that the students will be able to store in their memory for a long time.

This practice continued when I heard the song for all the multiples of 3, to clean up and different attention signals. I could see just in this first observation that Mrs. Lacrua had a great ability to incorporate the arts and I could see how her students were already benefiting from this tool.

After this observation...I'm excited to get started! I'm excited to see how I can take arts integration one step further by incorporating it in movement. I'm excited to learn how to continue to teach students how to dance and help them learn content through music and dance. I know I've got a supported and phenomenal teacher backing me up, a great mentor at BYU supporting me and an amazing experience ahead of me.

The What, Why & How!

The What, Why & How of BYU Art's Bridge

My name is Miss Miner and I am currently an Arts Bridge Scholar at Brigham Young University. As an elementary education major, I am learning that there is a good way of teaching and then there is a great way. 

The secret is to incorporate the arts. 

You may just think I'm saying that because it's my job but there are many studies that show when children are able to learn from more tools than just a textbook, where they can dig deeper into a concept and explore using their movement- their better able to learn and obtain the information that is used for life. 

Think about it. You remember the 50 states because of the song you learned. You suddenly remember the thriller song even though you learned it ten years ago. You remember in 5th grade when you put on that silly play but how much it meant to you. You remember. 

Even with all the studies that show what a different the arts can make in a classroom though, many teachers aren't incorporating it, faculty members don't support it and some people are unsure of how to change their style of teaching or don't want to change their style of teaching. 

This is where the BYU Art's Bridge comes in. 

Art's Bridge is a wonderful program where current BYU students have the opportunity to be paired with a teacher in the local schools districts, and the students incorporate a certain art form in the classroom. 

The BYU Art's Bridge website says, "Art's bridge provides an opportunity for classroom teachers to have an in depth and practical experience in the selected art form. Art scholars have the opportunity to spend time with a practicing teacher, gaining experience in classroom management, lesson planning and team teaching. BYU faculty provide mentoring for the arts scholars while building relationships with public school teachers. The Art's bridge program follows the model from ArtsBridge America, a national network of similar programs that has been implemented in over 30 universities throughout the United States."

The Arts can make such a huge difference and whether it's dance, music, art of drama, these art forms take students from just being basic learners to being exceptional learners. I've seen this. I've personally experienced this. 

So for the next couple of months,  I will have the opportunity to incorporate the art form of DANCE in an amazing third grade classroom. I will be posting my lesson plans, experiences and incorporating both the Utah Common Core and dance in the classroom.