Lesson

Plan
PDHPE
Lesson Title: The Heart of Dance Class: Year 3-4 (Stage 2)

Strand: Dance
Subject Matter: Locomotor

Skills: Interacting, moving, communication through movement.

Outcome/s
Indicator/s
Values and Attitudes- V3: A student
Values and Attitudes- V3: values the
enjoys a sense of belonging.
need to work cooperatively


Skills- MOS2.4: displays a focus on
Skills- MOS2.4: performs a simple
quality of movement in applying
dance combining locomotor and non-
movement skills to a variety of
locomotor movements.
familiar and new situations.



Knowledge and Understanding-
Knowledge and Understanding-
DAS2.7: performs familiar movement
DAS2.7: practices and reproduces a
patterns in a variety of dance
simple folk or teacher-devised dance.
situations.
Pre-existing knowledge/skills
Walking
Running
Galloping
Hopping
Sliding
Skipping
Step hop
Marching
Step tap
Jumping and leaping
NOTE: These will be readdressed in follow the leader with skipping in the warm up and a follow
on for heel and toe.
Safety Considerations
Guiding children to perform movements correctly and safely (k-6 syllabus support
document: stretching main part B and yoga stretches).

Ensure that guidance is provided to help children understand their individual limitations
(k-6 syllabus support document: all activities).

Sound body alignment (posture) and the avoidance of contradicted exercises should be
emphasised (k-6 syllabus support document: particularly in part B and yoga, however
should be considered during all activities).

Warm up and cool down activities are really important to prevent injury (k-6 syllabus
support document).

Ensure the boundaries are made known and the children are aware of not going near the
car park (all activities).

Routine check of the area is completed keeping in mind ditches and any litter or
potential hazards (prior to the commencement of the lesson).

Grace Leva 28/9/2015 10:39 AM

Comment [1]: The focus of this lesson is
on locomotor skills as each students
physical development is furthered though
dance.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:15 AM

Comment [2]: As identified by Vygotsky
each students zone of proximal
development is pivotal in shaping the
learning which takes place within the
classroom. Although the focus of the lesson
is on dance, these locomotor skills are
crucial to supporting students overall
development. The prior knowledge forms
an important component of the new skills to
be taught throughout the development of
the lesson.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:20 AM

Comment [3]: Safety is paramount
particularly in PDHPE, locomotor is
important and can only be achieved when
students are appropriately supported and
thus learn the skills properly.
Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:22 AM
Comment [4]: The individual limitations
of students are vastly diverse and should be
considered when such skills are the focus of
a lesson. As a teacher recognising this and
enabling students to reach their potential
without injury is also very important.

Activities/Teaching Strategies/ Organisation

Resources/Materials


Warm Up-
Skipping ropes
Individual skipping followed by group stretches mainly for

the legs and arms to be completed in a circle (3 mins).
Music for heel and toe
Remember:

Ensure the class is looking away from the sun
Speakers
Talk clearly


Instrument for follow the
Lesson Focus-
leader.

Part A- Follow the leader where the teacher will lead
activities such as walking, running, galloping, hopping,
skipping, step hop, marching, step tap, jumping and leaping
with changes in pace and intensity. (Faster/Slower, Light
steps, Marching) (5 mins).

Remember:
Ensure the class is looking away from the sun
Talk clearly
Give clear and concise instructions
Students are in a line for follow the leader
No signalling out occurs.

Part B- Simple folk dance, heel and toe without changing
partners will be introduced and explored. (5 mins)

Remember:
Ensure the class is looking away from the sun
Talk clearly
Give clear and concise instructions
Inclusion occurs when partners are selected for the
heel and toe
No signalling out occurs.

Cool down-
Simple yoga activities with a focus on breathing (2 mins).

Remember:
Ensure the class is looking away from the sun
Talk clearly
Give clear and concise instructions
No signalling out occurs.

Integration Strategies
Note: These strategies should be applied to all activities including the warm up and cool down as
well as the main activities.

Students with ADD
Position at the front for the minimal distractions and can see and hear instructions
clearly.
Ideally limit any distractions within the classroom to ensure students are able to
focus on the learning experiences.
Establish a few clear and simple rules in regards to behaviour.
Provide students with explicit and systematic instructions in the teaching-learning
process.
Provide clear explanation of the goals of the activity and what the student is to do.
Ensure instructions are simple and to the point.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:26 AM

Comment [5]: The warm up of this lesson
focuses on skipping a general skill which
students have already learnt and thus bring
with them.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:27 AM

Comment [6]: The lesson is separated
into 2 key part, the first of this is a follow of
the leader where the focus is on the skills
which students bring with them. Here they
are able to spend additional time focusing
on the skill itself so that these may then be
built on throughout the lesson.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:28 AM

Comment [7]: The second part of the
lesson provides the platform for students to
apply these locomotor skills in a different
context one where they are not focused on
in isolation but rather embedded in a much
broader way.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:31 AM

Comment [8]: It is recognised that there
are a range of students within each class, as
a result the need for differentiation is made
evident. The example used in this lesson is
students with ADD. When planning for this
lesson the goal was not to change the lesson
for these individual students but find a way
to support all students collectively with
minor adaptations.

Student Assessment

Possible assessment strategies include:
Ask students to add a step pattern that could be included in a dance routine.
Ask students to with a partner compose a possible dance with a couple of step partners.
Similar to Simon Says, the teacher could ask students Simon says to complete a step
pattern.
Separate the class into groups and ask them to demonstrate locomotor skills from the
lessons in a non-threatening way.
Having the childs name at the top of a page with the outcomes down the side and just
completing this checklist to determine id they are confident, developing etc.
Lesson Evaluation:

Reminiscent of days gone by, when childrens laughter filled the air , carefree a thousand miles
from nowhere , but on Friday May 11 2012 our lesson plan for Dance locomotor was put into
place, comprising of skipping and stretches for warm up, follow the leader and heal and toe
polka dance for our locomotor dance activity and simple yoga to cool down. I was very nervous,
as this was my first experience in putting a lesson plan together followed by implementing it. Our
lesson was entitled the heart of dance and personally I felt we successfully achieved this as we
all laughed and reminisced about our past experiences. The syllabus states Dance develops the
ability of students to communicate and express themselves through movement and this is what
we aimed to achieve whilst also providing an enjoyable and memorable dance experience.
Firstly, our warm up, which was skipping, followed by some stretches. Therese conducted this
part of the lesson successfully and I feel that our decision to provide everyone with an
opportunity to skip at their individual level and learn new skills as their own pace ensured that
no one was pointed out, it was inclusive and easily adjusted to consider various special
requirements for children with additional needs. As a group we chose to include skipping in our
warm up as its a component of the skills to be acquired in stage 2. Although this was the case this
part of the lesson felt very rushed , I also feel that we should have mentioned or even asked the
class the way to measure the rope and how to determine if its appropriate for ones height. I also
felt we should have stressed the importance of having enough space to skip without injuring
another person. Therefore, I feel that this was a good strong start to further developing the skills
for the locomotor dance in stage 2 although there is definitely room for improvement in
conducting this aspect of the lesson.

Moreover, the main component of our lesson was dance locomotor and we felt that the best way
to approach this was through 2 activities that would guide students to learn the skills and then
bring them together to create a dance. This is where we intended on putting our outcomes into
place. After follow the leader I had become confident with the lesson as the nerves seemed to
have slipped away. I felt that Follow the leader was a successful activity although I do think it
may have been a better idea to have music on a CD player rather than to sing it as those at the
back struggled to hear it, the tambourine was brilliant and certainly helped to keep the beat. All
in all this part of the activity was better than anticipated and next time I would include music as
well as find a way to participate in the activity and provide students with the opportunity to
interact more as even I became bored after a while. Furthermore, after this came the heal and toe
polka dance which disappointed me a little and I felt concerned because this was my part to teach
although we practiced lots and went through the steps, with the music, without the music it just
seemed challenging to teach and the group had decided that it would be too challenging to
include the turns and changing of partners and to be honest Im glad. I think that I have learnt a
lot from this experience and feel it may be easier to teach this in a circle rather than a line and
separately in two separate groups and then bringing then together. Explaining the steps was also
much more challenging than anticipated and I was out of breath from the previous activity so this
didnt help. The music from our speakers wasnt working and lucky we were lent speakers
however I just felt it wasnt working. Im glad in one way that it wasnt perfect as coping with
these challenges are what teachers are faced with in every decision of the school day and being
able to resolve these and continue to teach surprised me. The more I think about the lesson the
more I feel that the best way to approach this may be to watch a video first, then separate learn
the steps and come back together and dance. All things considered I had a great time teaching
this and enjoyed myself and I feel that I did my best and thats all I can do with practice I hope to

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:32 AM

Comment [9]: Assessment can be
achieved in an array of ways and these are
just a few. When we implemented this
lesson we simply undertook observations
and made notes after the lesson itself.

Grace Leva 29/9/2015 9:34 AM

Comment [10]: This lesson was
implemented in its entirety and at its
conclusion I evaluated it to determine what
could be altered in future lessons, a
necessary component of professional
development in teaching.

do so much better. Thus, I feel that this ran fairly well, not the way we wanted but I have
certainly learnt a lot and am grateful of the experience.

Lastly., our cool down was something different and I think that for this reason everyone was
interested as it was more than just stretching, it helped to bring the classes breathing back down
and helped them to relax. Once again I do however feel that it was not long enough but a perfect
ending. Isabella led this activity; I was amazed at how everyone participated in it. Im glad that
the exercises chosen were for various levels and it was mentioned that if anyone struggled there
was an alternative; no signalling out occurred however I do think that some stretches could have
been incorporated into the cool down perhaps prior to the yoga stretches. All in all this was an
interesting ending and it just felt right.

After the classes feedback I was glad that we had chosen to include skipping as we received
positive comments towards this. One that I valued very much was that of the heel and toe polka
dance referring to the fact that the instructions for the dance were difficult to understand and
this is something which I have taken on board. For future lessons I hope to be more clear and
specific in my instructions as well as provide opportunities to reminisce as well as develop skills.