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for VAPA Lesson Plans
Retell A Story Through Dance
Click
here to download
this lesson plan in Microsoft Word format.
Click
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the flipchart that goes with this lesson.
CONTENT STANDARDS
- Artistic
Perception:
- 1.2
Perform basic loco-motor skills
- 1.4
Performs movements in response to oral instructions
- Creative
Expression:
- 2.1
Create movements that reflect a variety of personal experiences
Language Arts:
- 2.4
Retell familiar stories
OBJECTIVES & STUDENT
OUTCOMES
- Students
will…
- develop
skills in communicating through physical movement
(pantomime-dance)
- be
introduced to the story of The Nutcracker originally by E.T.A.
- understand
how a story may be told through dance
- learn
about ballet as a means of expression and storytelling
MATERIALS NEEDED
- A
well-illustrated children’s book of The Nutcracker.
Suggested: Hautzig, Deborah and Diane Goode (illustrator). The Story of the
Nutcracker Ballet.
RELATED WEB LINKS
Sources:
- Hayward,
Linda. A Day in the
Life of a Dancer. London: Dorling
Kindersley, 2001.
- Pytor
Illych Tchaikovsky: The
Nutcracker - Complete Ballet ~ Valery
Gergiev (Composer), Kirov Orchestra and Choir (Conductor)
VOCABULARY
- Story:
scene
Dance: pantomime- mime, choreograph- choreographer
- Ballet:
ballet, ballerina, cavalier (ballerina’s male
partner), pirouette (turn), etrechat (jumps while crossing legs in the
air) chasssé (skip/gallop)
- (see
abt.org link above for more terms)
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE -
WARM UP
- (Engage
students, access prior learning, review, hook or activity to
focus the student for learning)
Arrange the classroom space so that students have space to move around.
Say “Now that we’ve learned how to speak without
words using our faces and body movement, we are going to retell a story
with dance.”
Review prior lesson: Tell the students you will speak to them without
using words. “I will Pantomime or use facial expressions and
body movement. I will then point to a student who will tell us what I
am feeling or saying”. Wave with a smile on your face. Point
to a student. (The student says “hello” or
“You’re happy”). Then frown and pretend
to cry (a student should say “you’re
sad”). Finally, skip with a smile on your face (a student
should say you’re happy, excited…”).
MODELING
- (Presentation
of new material, demonstration of the process, direct
instruction)
Say “I’m going to pretend to do something. I am
going to pantomime. You must guess what I am trying to communicate with
pantomime.” Pantomime an action such as getting into a car
followed by getting gas or driving in a parade. Begin with one action
then move into an event. When you have finished each pantomime, ask
students what you were doing and “how did you know?”
GUIDED PRACTICE
- (Application
of knowledge, problem solving, corrective feedback)
Tell the students that they will now do a pantomime. Have them get up
and start moving by walking around the room. Tell them to pretend that
they are walking to school. Then, give the students the following
prompts. (Give them about a minute to adjust to each new scenario):
- You
are walking to school in the pouring rain.
- You
are walking to school after a big snowstorm, and there is a foot of
snow
on the ground.
- You
stayed up late, so you are very tired when you are walking to school.
- It
is the last day of school, and you can't wait to get there.
When you
have finished the exercise, ask the students to talk about what kinds
of things they did to show the different situations. How did they
change their body movements to show that they were walking through
snow? To show that they were tired?
Ask students if they think it would be possible to tell an entire story
without words. Tell them that you are going to read them a story. As
you read, they should listen carefully and think about how they could
tell it without words. How they would pantomime the scene.
Read the story of The Nutcracker aloud. (Note: for more information on
The Nutcracker, see The Nutcracker: Story and Music or The Nutcracker
Ballet Web site.) After you have read the story, tell the students that
you are going to re-tell part of the story through pantomime. Their job
is to guess which scene you are miming.
Choose a scene that you would like to recreate for your class. A good
scene to use for this exercise starts when Clara is happily twirling
and dancing in the parlor at the beginning of the ballet. She is
holding one of her dolls. She looks at it lovingly and holds it to her
chest. Tchaikovsky wrote the musical piece Marche to portray this
moment.
Pantomime the scene and ask the children to guess the character you
portrayed (Clara). Ask the students what happened in the scene you
pantomimed. (Clara woke up and went to her find her doll.) Ask the
class if you spoke any words (No). If not, how did they know what was
happening and what you were feeling.
Tell the class that it is their turn to pantomime a scene. Tell them
that this time, they will work in groups to tell the story together.
Choose a scene to be re-enacted through pantomime, or use the following
example. Call on students as groups of 3-4 to pantomime. Choose a
student to play Clara, another to play her brother Fritz, and a third
to play their godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer. Ask the class what happened
when Herr Drosselmeyer first came to the party? (Herr Drosselmeyer gave
Clara and Fritz gifts.)
Ask the chosen students to pantomime getting gifts from their
godfather. Remind the children that no words may be spoken. Now choose
the next three students to pantomime the same scene, adding another
action: have Clara and Fritz now show each other the gifts they have
received.
Building upon the previous two presentations, ask the class what now
happens in the story. (Fritz, being jealous of the Nutcracker doll
Clara has received, takes the doll and breaks it.) Choose three new
students to play the parts, adding in the breaking of the Nutcracker
doll. Tell the class that it is time to dance a scene (part of the
story).
Tell the students that the story of The Nutcracker has often been told
without words, through a type of dance called ballet. Tell the students
that ballet is similar to pantomime, because it tells a story without
words; however, it is different, because dancers perform special dance
movements and steps to music. Explain to the students that the music is
also an integral part of the story and closely relates to the mood set
for the pantomime. In many instances you only have to hear the music
and scenes pop into your mind. You can visualize what might be
happening and the characters involved.
In the following video excerpt from Act One, Scene 1 of The Nutcracker,
you will see this scene and hear a portion of the music. Allow students
to view this scene, observing the pantomime/dance used by the dancer
portraying Clara in the clip.
Review:
connect to prior lesson on movement --jump, turn and skip
Teach
new vocabulary: ballet, ballerina…see
vocabulary above and web link for demos
Practice: the movements using ballet vocabulary.
Tell the class that it is their turn to dance the same scene previously
pantomimed. Choose students to dance the scene using the movements and
vocabulary.
DEBRIEF & EVALUATE
- (Identify
problems encountered, ask and answer questions, check for
understanding, assess)
Closure
Have students view the two video clips from The Nutcracker shown
earlier in the lesson.
After they view the clips, have them discuss how the dance helped to
tell the story without words.
- How
did the dancers' movements help to show you what was happening in the
story?
- How
were their movements similar to the movements you used when you acted
out the scene?
- How
were the dance movements different from your pantomimes in class?
- Have
students look back at the information you recorded on the board after
the first viewing of the clips from The Nutcracker. Chart the new
answers beside the old to show students that they have grown in their
understanding of dance and pantomime. Assessment:
Ask each student to think of a story that could be told without words
(such as a fairy tale). Have them think of a scene from the story and
pantomime it for the class. (Have them identify the story that they are
pantomiming before they start the scene.)
- Evaluate
students' ability to:
- select
an appropriate story
- identify
an appropriate scene
- communicate
the scene through pantomime
EXTENSION
- (Expectations
created by the teacher that encourage students to participate in
further research, make connections, and apply understanding and skills
previously learned to personal experiences)
Encourage children to write their own pantomime stories, stories read
in class or come up with their own situations to pantomime. Have them
work in small groups of their choice and then perform their pantomime
for the other children.
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