Kindergarten - The Dancing Alphabet

Grade Level

Kindergarten

Summary

This project is a multiple intelligence approach to teaching and learning the letters and sounds of the alphabet. In collaboration with Dancers' Workshop, students explore the 26 symbols of the English language crucial to their educational success. The project utilizes four of the seven multiple intelligences, or learning styles.

Standards

Literacy

Class Time

Six 45 minute periods for dance instruction. The visual arts portion of the project takes place during four art class periods.

Process

Working with dancers from Dancers' Workshop, students utilize the following intelligences:

• Kinesthetic - children form letter shapes with their bodies or "paint the space" with letter shapes.
• Musical - movement is choreographed and performed to music.
• Visual-spatial - children create a "graffiti" backdrop of upper- and lower-case letters for the dance performance and paint t-shirt costumes with the letters and punctuation marks.
• Interpersonal - students work together in a group setting and interact during the dance.

PRODUCTS

Each of the letters performed by students is documented in digital photographs. These photographs are copied in the form of alphabet books for each child and then stay in the kindergarten classrooms as a long-term, visual reference to the work and performance completed during the project. These images help students progress with their learning of letter shapes and sounds throughout the year. During class time, students create letters in movement while also working with a visual artist on costumes and props for the performance. The culminating performance is given for parents.

Thanks

Many thanks to Libby Crews Wood, Susan Thulin, Babs Case and Jodeen Tebay, Wilson Elementary teachers Shirley Brock and Ann Makley for development of this project.

Lesson One

Dance: Students warm up and then explore both shape and negative space by making curved and straight lines with their body as well as other dance activities.

Visual Arts: Students make a book cover as well as draw and paint a letter

Lesson Two

Dance: Students warm up using mirroring and then explore travelling through space as well as curved and straight pathways. They also create their letter with their body on different levels.

Visual Arts: Students paint their tee-shirts as well as finish their book covers.

Lesson 3

Dance: Students use a Space Scarf to explore space above us and all around us. The Space Scarf is held by two people and the student either jumps above it or moves underneath it.

Visual Arts: Students paint flags using colored felt and white paint

Lesson 4

Dance: Review day. Students move through space, and dance their whole name. The Space Scarf is used again to remind us how much space there is above us and all around us.

Visual Art: Paint BIG (3 ½ feet tall and equally wide) letters – children use whole body to paint a letter reaching as high as they can and then going down to the floor. Students also work on the back cover of their book.  Final visual art lesson.

Lesson 5

Dance: Putting it all together/ Rehearsal as well as singing the ABC song. Here is a sample of things done in years past:

• Begin in a frozen shape.
• Melt into mirroring
• Locomote in a pathway as your letter or number is called out. Make a shape on the box. Pick up a scarf as you locomote back to your spot.
• Name dance with scarf. This takes you to be seated in a line up. Place your scarf behind you.
• Space Scarf — Students one by one or two by two create shapes under the scarf.
• Negative space. Last students hold positions and then all join into a group shape one by one.

Lesson 6

Rehearsal & Performance

DANCING ALPHABET: PREPARING FOR THE RESIDENCY

Prior to Day 1

• Inform students that they are going to do an exciting project using the letters of the alphabet that incorporates movement and visual arts. The project will culminate in a performance at the Center for the Arts.
• Collect t-shirts – Each student needs to have a t-shirt that they will decorate and use as a performance costume. The t-shirts need to have a piece of cardboard inserted between the front and the back so the paint doesn’t seek through.  NOTE: Teachers are responsible for doing this or finding a parent volunteer.
• Become familiar with the Dancing Alphabet schedule. Two classes will perform together for the culminating performance. Know who you are paired with. Between the two classes assign each student a letter from the alphabet. If there are more than 26 students you may duplicate letters or incorporate numbers or punctuation marks. Please assign capital letters only. It is okay to duplicate some letters. REMEMBER: When assigning a letter to each student pick one they already have some relationship with for instance – Amelia = A, Zack = Z, Arthur Guthrie = G so on and so forth. If no one has Q in their name chose a student who already knows their ABCs or one that will not be thrown off because they have no association with the letter.
• Inform students they will work with a visual artist to create works of art out of their letters to use as back drops in the performance. Let them know they will create a journal for writing in that has each of their pictures on a page. They will also create picture for their journal cover such as one of a kite if their letter is K.
• On picture day you will need to provide a class list to the photographer. She needs to have the correct spelling of each child’s name.
• Participation of classroom teacher is recommended. By being in the class the teacher can better integrate what is happening into regular instruction making the opportunity a richer experience. Please use the language of dance during your classroom instruction. Terms such as positive and negitive space are very helpful when teaching the letters of the alphabet.
• FYI – (Jackson Elementary only) Linda Edington will be working on some alternative ABC songs with the classes. One begins to talk about consonants and vowels that are used in the final performance.
• FYI – In all classes the artists will be scaffolding on the techniques you use in the classroom for instance: starting at the top of the page to begin a letter, straight and curved lines, using the whole space between the lines or in physical space, negative space around the letters and within the letters, etc. If there are other specific terms and techniques you use it is great to inform the artists so they can integrate the same language.
• The Movement artists would like to try and incorporate the use of the jingles you use to teach the sounds of the letters. We are working with Mrs. Carroll to get the phrases.

Materials Required

CD Player
Open movement space

Day 1 – Shape and Level

All students need nametags with their letters on them for the artists.

FYI – in the dancing portion students will take off their socks and shoes to participate. Tights are not ideal because many surfaces are slippery. If a note can go home to parents that no tights should be worn on say Tuesdays if that is the day your class does the Dancing Alphabet it could help. This is somewhat unrealistic but it cannot hurt if you chose to do so.

Day 2 – Pathways / Line and Locomotors

All students need nametags with their letters on them for the artists.

Day 3 – Space

All students need nametags with their letters on them for the artists.

Photo Day

All students need nametags with their letters on them for the photographer.

The photographer needs a class list from each class with correct spelling of each child’s name.

Day 4 – Quality and Review

All students need nametags with their letters on them for the artists.

Day 5 – Review and put it together

Send note home that solid pants (like jeans) are needed on performance day. NO DRESSES PLEASE or TIGHTS.

Day 6 – Performance

Arrive at the Center for the Arts one hour to one and a quarter hours prior to performance to rehearse.

Combine both classes and rehearse before performance.

Marylee hangs ABC Banners in the performance space.

Bring ABC t-shirts for students to wear in the performance.

MOVEMENT CURRICULUM

Dancers’ Workshop ABCs Outreach Project
Teaching Artists: Babs Case and Jennifer Walker
(307)733-6398
school@dwjh.org
www.dwjh.org

Day 1

Warm up

Mirroring — Exploring Body Parts, Qualities

Shape
Explore Shape, Level

Create shapes with the body using different body parts as support and on different levels

Create A, C and B with the body on different levels

Create their own letter with their body

Using the Kinesthetic memory students remember their shapes and what body parts where relating to one another.

Negative Space

Students identify positive and negative space on paper with letters and in space with a body in a shape.

Students paint and fill the negative space with their body and with their body in space

Day 2

Warm up: mirroring in a group or with just one other partner

Pathways

Explore curved and straight pathways / related to line
Locomotors
Traveling through space: sliding, galloping, walking, leaping, skipping, jumping, hoping, etc.
Shape Review

Create the your letter/punctuation/number with the body on different levels. Fill the shape with lots of negative space.
Combine with pathways. Begin in the shape of your letter. Freeze like it is a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence. Locomote to another shape, a different way to make your letter, maybe it is lowercase or on a different level.

Day 3

Warm up: Mirroring

Shape Review: Review their letter

Space

Dancing/Writing your name in space with scarves. Surrounding us is space. Just like in writing you fill your paper in dance we fill the space around us. Glue your feet to the floor with imaginary chewing gum. How high can you reach from there? Imagine your paper is that high. How far to each wide can you reach? Imagine your paper is as wide as you can reach and all the way down to the floor too. Lets all draw the letter A in space. Now draw the first letter of your name in space. Watch the instructor model their whole name. Lets dance our letter in this space. As you dance your letter you must fill your entire paper with each letter. Do not write your letters on top of one another. Make sure you travel in space.
Utilizing writing skills we talk about starting at the top of the paper and working to the bottom with each stroke.
Add shape, pathway and locomotor. Start in a beginning shape. Now we are going to dance our whole name. What pathway will your first letter take you in, curvy or straight? What locomotor might you use? Then go on to the next letter and so on until your name is complete. If there is extra time you may even do you middle and last names too. We will know you are finished when you freeze in your final shape.
Remember to travel and cover space. On paper you would not write each letter on top of one another. Your name takes up space across the paper, so be sure to travel.
Have half of the group observe and the other dance and give feedback. Repeat with other group.
Space Scarf

Pathways, locomotors and shape together using the space scarf. Students locomote and freeze on a shape under the scarf. The scarf reminds us how much space there is above us an all around us.
Locomote to travel over the scarf making a shape in the air.

Day 4

Warm up: Mirror briefly

Quality of Movement

Quality is like texture in visual art. When we move we often tell others how we are feeling. Make a shape that tells me you are happy, sad, angry.
Introduce Swing, Sharp (Percussive), and Smooth (Sustained) qualities.
Moving through the space in swing (sharp, smooth) for 8cts and freezing in a shape on different levels for 8cts
Two groups A freezes and B locomotes through A’s shapes. Then switch. Filling all the space in the room.
Add negative space depending on the focus of the group.
Review Space

Start in a beginning shape. Now we are going to dance our whole name. What pathway will your first letter take you in, curvy or straight? What locomotor might you use? Then go on to the next letter and so on until your name is complete. If there is extra time you may even do you middle and last names too. We will know you are finished when you freeze in your final shape.
Remember to travel and cover space. On paper you would not write each letter on top of one another. Your name takes up space across the paper, so be sure to travel.
Space Scarf

Pathways, locomotors and shape together using the space scarf. Students locomote and freeze on a shape under the scarf. The scarf reminds us how much space there is above us an all around us.

Locomote to travel over the scarf making a shape in the air.

Day 5

Putting it all together/ Rehearsal

Class runs as if it were the performance. There is a lot of talking the students through each part and getting them from place to place.
Begin in a frozen shape.

Melt into mirroring spots using a smooth quality of movment.

Mirroring

Sharp quality of movement to sit facing the boxes for letters

Skip or gallop in a curvy pathway as your letter or number is called out. Make a shape on the box. Pick up a scarf as you skip or gallop back to your spot in a straight pathway.

Name dance with scarf. This takes you to be seated in a line up. Place your scarf behind you.

Swing quality of movement

Space Scarf — Students gallop one by one or two by two create shapes under the scarf.

Negative space. Last students hold positions and then all join into a group shape one by one.

Sing the ABC song.

Day 6

Rehearsal with both classrooms and performance.

2010-11 schedule pending.  

Below is the schedule for the 2009-10 school year for reference.

Jackson Elementary, 2010

All rehearsals take place in the JES gym, except on Wednesdays, Feb. 17 & 24 when that group will go to the rec center.

Week of February 8-12

Tuesday, Feb. 9
9:00-10:00
Ryland Aronowitz & Lisa Gingery
10:40-11:40
Alia Harland & Elaine Doyle

Thursday, Feb. 11
9:00-10:00
Lauren Amen & Jessica Vargas
10:40-11:40
Quinn Stanton& Jean Carryl

Week of February 15-19

Tuesday, Feb. 16
9:00-10:00
Alia Harland & Elaine Doyle
10:40-11:40
Ryland Aronowitz & Lisa Gingery

Wednesday, Feb. 17 – (Rec Center)
10:40-11:40
Quinn Stanton & Jean Carryl

PICTURE DAY – Peg sets up in the kinder hallways and pulls students from classrooms.

Thursday, Feb. 18
10:40-11:40
Lauren Amen & Jessica Vargas

Week of February 22-26

Tuesday, Feb. 23
9:00-10:00
Alia Harland & Elaine Doyle
10:40-11:40
Ryland Aronowitz & Lisa Gingery

Wednesday, Feb. 24 (Rec Center)
10:40-11:40
Quinn Stanton & Jean Carryl

Thursday, Feb. 25
10:40-11:40
Lauren Amen & Jessica Vargas

Week of March 1-5

Tuesday, March 2
9:00-10:00
Ryland Aronowitz & Lisa Gingery
10:40-11:40
Alia Harland & Elaine Doyle

Wednesday, March 3
9:00-10:00
Quinn Stanton & Jean Carryl

Thursday, March 4
9:00-10:00
Lauren Amen & Jessica Vargas

Week of March 8-12

PERFORMANCES!

Tuesday, March 9
9:00-10:00
Ryland Aronowitz & Lisa Gingery
10:40-11:40
Alia Harland & Elaine Doyle

Wednesday, March 10
9:00-10:00
Quinn Stanton & Jean Carryl

Thursday, March 11
9:00-10:00
Lauren Amen & Jessica Vargas