Lesson #3: Life Cycles

Had my third lesson on November 11th. We started out reviewing what we went over last week. Then we continued to talk about animals, but focused on life cycles for this lesson. We discussed how some animals, such as mammals, look the same from birth to adulthood. Other than getting larger, they have the same body shape. We also discussed animals that look different from birth to adulthood, such as a frog who starts as an egg, grows to a tadpole, and then becomes a frog. We played with low, medium, and high levels and used these levels to represent the period of life an animal was in: low for a baby, middle for a “teenager”, and high for an adult. They shadowed and copied each other, one on the ground as the baby animal, and one standing as the adult to represent an animal that looks the same from birth to adulthood. We then went across the floor showing animals who look different in each stage of life. For example, for the first 1/3 of the floor, we went across like an egg. The next 1/3 like a tadpole, and the last 1/3 like a frog. For the creating portion, they got into groups of 3 and chose two animals, one that looks the same throughout their life, and one that changes. They used levels to show what each animal looked like during different stages. They did a pretty good job on their performances. 

Next time, I hope to be more clear on my directions. Some groups really got the directions, and others were confused. I also want to help them focus on the qualities of an animal rather than just acting out an animal. I was hoping to get to discussing it this time, but I ran out of time. By the time they leave my class, I want them to realize that dance is not just “acting out” or pretending to be an animal or something you're not. Role playing is great but is not always dance. I want to boost their creativity as well as their understanding of their core curriculum.