Why a Strong Dance Unit in Physical Education is Essential!
When I started my first job at Lincoln High School in Lake City, MN I heard about the high expectations to fill as a teacher in the Dance Unit. With little experience teaching dance to high school students I relied on technology, PE conferences, and a lot of time practicing how to best fill this important role as a physical education teacher for my students.
I like to answer the question "why". Students deserve to know, and I should have a reason why I teach what I teach and why it is important.
#1: Dance is a LIFETIME sport: It’s a timeless activity that is perfect for all age groups, from k-12 and beyond! It works out your coordination, rhythm, flexibility, and various muscle groups throughout the body. Unlike contact sports and many other activities, dancing is low impact if you do it right, so it’s easy on the joints. It’s also easy to vary the difficulty or intensity of any dance to fit students’ skill levels and preferences.
#2: Music is a great timer and motivates movement: Music is a great way to keep track of time without using a clock. From tabata style workouts to interval training, it is an essential tool for my teaching strategies that help with motivation and classroom management.
#3: Music enhances performance and increases confidence: Music helps naturally block the voice in your head that tells you to quit when you get tired. In our modern world where almost everything is turned in online combined with social media and gaming, this current generation of kids need practice socializing with others. The quote I use for this unit is "get comfortable being uncomfortable".
Dance Unit Outline
Day 1: Intro to dance! On day one I start out with ice breakers, and silly dances to get students out of their comfort zone and learning how to feel confident moving forward. Of course as the PE teacher you must make it clear that we will all make mistakes and may be embarrassed at some point during this unit. Including myself..
Day 2: Virginia Reel. The Virginia reel is a fun, full class folk dance that I break into small steps with smaller groups, and then complete as a full class.
Click on this link to see a video of the Virginia reel
Steps:
Day 3-4: Swing Dancing! Always seems to be students' favorite type of dancing to learn. This has taken quite some time to practice as a teacher, and I challenge myself to learn 1-3 new steps each day. I teach this early in the unit so students can practice if any other dance ends with some time left in class. In 2015 we had two professional ballroom dancers come in to teach for a full day. It was AWESOME to say the least! www.instagram.com/p/BfdtRYlhzHt/
This link will bring you to the full lesson outline with more links that show which swing dance moves we learn!
Day 4: Polka - This Link will bring you to the full lesson outline
Day 5: The Waltz - This link will take you to the full lesson outline
Day 6: Social Dances cont.
Day 7-10: Dance Routine Prep/Performance
Dance Routine: This is where the fun continues. I give my students three days to prepare for a dance that they need to come up with on their own. The dance needs to be at least one minute 10 seconds long and no longer than 4 minutes. Below are a few videos that show what kids come up with when I give them the opportunity to CHOOSE whatever they would like to do by using dances we have learned throughout the unit as well as new ones they can look up.
Day 1: Intro to dance! On day one I start out with ice breakers, and silly dances to get students out of their comfort zone and learning how to feel confident moving forward. Of course as the PE teacher you must make it clear that we will all make mistakes and may be embarrassed at some point during this unit. Including myself..
- Chicken Dance
- Electric Slide
- Cha-Cha Slide
Day 2: Virginia Reel. The Virginia reel is a fun, full class folk dance that I break into small steps with smaller groups, and then complete as a full class.
Click on this link to see a video of the Virginia reel
Steps:
- Bow
- Right Elbow
- Left Elbow
- Two Hands (clockwise)
- Dos si do
- See Saw
- Head Couple down, everyone claps
- Couples go down the set, right (together) opposite line, left to the outside, meet your own with the right, left to the outside ect…
- Peel the banana, one person (head couple) bridge.
Day 3-4: Swing Dancing! Always seems to be students' favorite type of dancing to learn. This has taken quite some time to practice as a teacher, and I challenge myself to learn 1-3 new steps each day. I teach this early in the unit so students can practice if any other dance ends with some time left in class. In 2015 we had two professional ballroom dancers come in to teach for a full day. It was AWESOME to say the least! www.instagram.com/p/BfdtRYlhzHt/
This link will bring you to the full lesson outline with more links that show which swing dance moves we learn!
- Intro to steps
- Go through moves 1-5
Day 4: Polka - This Link will bring you to the full lesson outline
- Basic Polka steps
- Partner Polka
- Heel and toe polka dance
Day 5: The Waltz - This link will take you to the full lesson outline
- Box Step
- Forward Step
- Back Step
- Rotating Steps
- Phase 2 step (If dance floor is packed this is a good modification!)
- --If time, play swing music and practice---
Day 6: Social Dances cont.
- Cupid Shuffle (steps then whole song practice)
- Down south shuffle (steps then whole song practice)
- Biker Shuffle
- Faskern (Swedish Dance)
- Troika (Russian Dance)
Day 7-10: Dance Routine Prep/Performance
- All hour, for three days students with iPad's choreographing a dance that is creative to present to the rest of the class.
Dance Routine: This is where the fun continues. I give my students three days to prepare for a dance that they need to come up with on their own. The dance needs to be at least one minute 10 seconds long and no longer than 4 minutes. Below are a few videos that show what kids come up with when I give them the opportunity to CHOOSE whatever they would like to do by using dances we have learned throughout the unit as well as new ones they can look up.