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AllisonHorn
EducationofYoungChildren323
GiraffesCantDanceLessonReflection
IchosetodoalessonbasedondiversityandmathinmyplacementatKinderfolk
preschool.IhadtheclasssitinacircleasIreadthebookGiraffesCantDancebyGiles
Andreae.Tofollow,Iplannedamathactivityusinggiraffemaskswithpairednumbersof
paintedspots.Ihadthestudentssitattablessowecouldpracticetheactivityinsmallgroups
priortodoingitasaclass.Idemonstratedhowthemasksweretobepairedbynumberofspots.I
passedout23pairsofmaskspergroupandhadthemworktogethertomatchthemaskswiththe
correspondingnumberofspots.Withalittleguidance,thestudentswereabletomatchthemasks
correctlyinashortamountoftime.Afteraccomplishingtheactivityinasmallgroup,Igave
eachstudentadifferentmaskandtheyattemptedtofindtheirmatchinalargerclasssetting.The
studentstalkedwhilecountingeachothersspotsandalleventuallyfoundtheirmatches.Asa
class,wecountedeachpairsnumberofspotsoutloudtobuildinthemathcomponentofthe
activityagain.Theaccompanyingactivitywasadiversitypiecethatincorporateddancing.The
studentsdancedalongtodifferenttypesofmusicwiththeirgiraffemasks.Afterthevideoswere
over,wecametogetherasagrouptotalkaboutwhichdancewaseachindividualsfavoriteand
why.Wediscussedhowthedanceswerealldifferentandeveryonehadtheirownfavoritedance,
butthatwasokaybecauseeveryoneisdifferentintheirownspecialway.
Theintendedgoalsofthislessonwerecounting,usageofonetoonecorrespondence,
communication,diversity,functionalplay,andexpressivelanguage.Thefirstactivityinvolved
countingthenumberofspotsontheirownmask,andthencountingeveryotherclassmatesmask

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untiltheyfoundamatch.Thisrequiredthestudentstocountseveraltimes,recognizeamatching
setofnumbers,andcommunicatewiththeirclassmates.Thisactivityusedageappropriateone
toonecorrespondencebycorrectlycountingandmatchingsetsofnumbersthrough
communicationwithanotherstudent(Morrison,2011,p.221).Communicationabilityvaries
withinapreschoolclass,anditisimportantforchildrentopracticehavingpurposeful
conversationswithotherstudentsatthisage(Morrison,2011,p.212).Thisactivityputthe
studentsinasituationthatencouragedthemtothinkcriticallyaboutwhatquestionstoaskin
ordertosolvetheproblem.Tofollow,theobjectivesofthedanceactivitywerediversity
acceptance,playthroughdancing,andtopracticesharingtheirthoughtsinfrontoftheclass.By
dancingtomusicfromaroundtheworld,thestudentswereexposedtoethnicandcultural
diversity.Inonestudy,preschoolstudentswhoparticipatedinaneightweekracialandethnic
stereotypereductionprogramshowedlessinclinationtosortindividualsbyrace,butbyageand
gender(Bernstein,2009).Byincorporatingracialandculturalacceptanceatayoungage,
childrenaremorelikelytobecomeacceptingofdiversityastheygrowintoadults.Thenextgoal
ofthisactivitywasplaythoughdancing.Dancingpromotedfunctionalplaythroughphysical
conceptsassociatedwiththesensesanduseoflargemuscles(Morrison,2011,p.230).Inastudy
byLorenzoLasa,movementthroughdancefacilitatesmotor,sensory,cognitive,andsocial
skills(2007,p.29).Theclassdebriefofthedancingpiecewasespeciallyimportantfor
studentstouseexpressivelanguageinagroup.Sharingtheirfavoritedanceallowedthemto
articulatetheirthoughtsinfrontoftheclass,developingexpressivelanguage(Morrison,2001,p.
215).Thislessonintendedtoencompassavarietyofdevelopmentallearningexercisesrelating
backtoasimilartopic.

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Thestrengthsofthislessonincludedthecommunicationbetweenstudents,practice
counting,andtheuseofexpressivelanguagethroughsharingwiththeclass.Whilepracticingin
smallgroups,Inoticedhowthestudentswereworkingtogethertodeterminewhichmaskshad
thesamenumberofspots.Onestudentwouldcountthespotsonamask,andthenaskthegroup
aboutthematchingmask.Thestudentswouldcountthespotsontheothermasksuntilthey
foundonewiththesamenumber.Theywouldthentellthefirststudentandsetthematchaside.
Theactivitywasmorechallengingonthelargerclassscale,butthestudentswereabletosucceed
withminimalguidancefromtheteachers.Thelargerscalematchinggameallowedstudentsto
successfullycommunicatewithmoreclassmatesandtopracticecountingmorespots.
Thisactivitywassuccessfulinhavingstudentsuselanguagetoconveygoalsandmeanings,
whichisacriticalpartofachildslanguagedevelopmentatthisage(Sawyer,1997,xxii).
Anothermajorsuccessinthislessonwastheuseofexpressivelanguagethroughsharingwiththe
class.Thestudentshavepreviousexperiencewiththistypeofspeaking,astheyhaveshowand
telleveryday,butitwasstillchallengingforsomestudentstocommunicatetheirthoughtstoa
largegroup.Theabilitytoarticulatetheirideasvariedwidely.Somestudentsspokeextensively
astowhytheylikedaspecificdancebestandexplainedeverydetail.Theywerecomfortableand
confidentinthissituation.However,othersspokeverylittleoftheirfavoritedanceandseemed
uneasysharingtheirthoughtstoalargegroup.Theopportunityforthesestudentstopractice
expressingthemselvesinagroupiscriticalinthislessonandaveryimportantpartoftheirfuture
development.
Despitethesuccessesofthislesson,thereweresomeweaknessesthatIdidnotexpect
untilIbeganteaching.ThefirstflawInoticedwastheabilityofthestudentstostaywiththeir

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partneraftertheyfoundtheirmatch.Oncetheyfoundtheirpartner,theyquicklybecame
distractedandstartedwanderingaroundtheclassroom.Iwasnotabletodeterminewhen
everyonehadfoundtheirpartneruntiltheteachersandIsteppedintohelpthemstandtogether.
AnotherproblemIencounteredwasthatsomeofthestudentswerenotwillingtodance.This
wassurprisingtomebecausethestudentswereoverlyexcitedaboutthisactivitytheentireday,
untilitcametimetoactuallydance.However,thismayhavebeenduetousingdancesthatwere
notinterestingtothepreschoolmind.Someofthedanceswereaslowerpaceandsomewerenot
typicalsongstheywouldhearintheireverydaylife.Besidestheseminorweaknesses,Ifeltthat
thelessonwentexceptionallywell.
IfIweretoimplementthislessoninaclassagain,Iwouldsuggestmakingafew
improvementstoaccountforthephysicalandmathematicaldevelopmentalstagesofthe
students.Someofthedanceswerechallengingforthestudentstofollowandshouldbechanged
inordertocatertoapreschoolersability.Astudyhasshownthatbasicballettechniquesand
animalmovementsareappropriatedancemaneuversforchildrenofthisage.Ballettechnique
teachesthechildhowtocontroltheirmovementsandmoveatypicalpartsofthebody.Animal
movementsallowthestudentstopretendplaywhilelearningthemovement,combininga
physicalandmentalactivity(LorenzoLasa,2007,p.26).Thestudentscouldpretendtomove
likeagiraffe,monkey,frog,elephant,parrot,andanyotheranimal.Incorporatingthese
movementsintothedanceactivitywouldimprovetheageappropriatenessofthelessonand
directlyrelatetotheanimalthemeofthebook.Animprovementtothemathematicspiece
involvesunderstandingthatnumberwordsandsymbolsrefertoquantities,animportant
developmentalconcept(Morrison,2011,p.221).Iwouldgiveeverystudentablankmaskanda

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cardwithanumberonit.Then,thestudentswoulddecoratetheirownmaskasagiraffeand
drawthenumberofspotsthatisonthecard.Havingstudentsdrawaspecificquantityofspots
fromanumericdigitisanageappropriateactivitythatisacriticaldevelopmentalaspectof
countingandaddition.Onestudysuggestsanactivityofthistype,suchassettingthetablefora
party,canhavechildrenuseonetoonecorrespondence,counting,andunderstandinghowto
generatequantitiesfromanumeral(Clements,2007,p.140).Individuallymakingthemaskscan
incorporateallofthesecrucialaspectsofapreschoolersdevelopment.EventhoughIfeltthe
lessonwentwellwiththisclass,thereisroomforimprovementinthephysicalandmathematical
developmentalappropriatenessoftheactivitiesforpreschoolstudents.

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References
Bernstein, J., Zimmerman, T. S., Werner-Wilson, R. J., Vosburg, J. (2009).
Preschool children's classification skills and a multicultural education
intervention to promote acceptance of ethnic diversity. Journal of
Research in Childhood Education, 182-192.
Clements, D.H., Sarama, J. (2007). Effects of preschool mathematics
curriculum: summative research on the building blocks project. Journal
for Research in Mathematics Education, 139-163.
LorenzoLasa,R.,Ideishi,R.I.,Ideishi,S.K.(2007).Facilitatingpreschoollearningand
movementthroughdance.EarlyChildhoodEducationJournal,Vol35,No.1,2531.
Morrison, G. S. (2011). Fundamentals of early childhood education. Pearson
Education Inc.
Sawyer, R. K. (1997). Pretend play as improvisation: conversation in the
preschool classroom. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.