Halloween movement ideas, a dance story, and a short Halloween story!

Hello and Happy Fall,

Here is a playful movement lesson plan based on the classic picture book Barn Dance! by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, along with a Halloween-based warm-up and a very short original story!

Halloween Warm Up and the

Barn Dance! Dance Story

WARM UP

The children will make up movements for the Halloween characters below. Ask them to stand in a circle. Begin with "Bat,"  ask the children to move away from the circle like a bat, and then back to their spots in the circle. Continue this same exercise through the list:

Bat

Scarecrow

Rolling Pumpkin

Robot

Black Cat

Falling Leaf

Outer Space Alien
Spider

Take suggestions from the children for more ideas, and continue this activity as long as the children are engaged.

 BARN DANCE! DANCE STORY

*A special thank-you to Kathleen Smith, fellow creative dance teacher, who introduced the ideas for this lesson plan to me.*

Materials:  

• The book Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
• Lively musical selections, such as a classical piece, and blue grass instrumentals
• Optional props (1 per child): 
• Sparkly/swirly streamers (crepe paper or fabric)
• Bandannas
• Orange paper plates

Instructions for presenting the dance story:

Read the book aloud to the children. Ask the children to spread out in the space.

Retell the story through movement, using the following movement prompts. Allow the children to explore each one until you move on to the next one.

It is a very quiet, clear night. Lie down and listen to the night sounds. Now wake up, stretch, tiptoe to the window, and sneak outside.  (Note:  remind the children this is a pretend story, and they should never sneak out of the house!)

Now let's dance about the night: the sparkly stars, the floating clouds, and the wind!  (play classical music selection, and pass out swirly streamers if you have them)

Listen!  The scarecrow is calling all of the animals with his music. How does a scarecrow move? Let’s move like the scarecrow. Can you play a pretend fiddle, like the scarecrow?

Now move like the animals who were following the scarecrow to the barn!  There were horses, sheep, cows, pigs, raccoons, foxes, rabbits, chickens, skunks, and crows!  (play a bluegrass piece)  

Help the children put on bandannas, give everyone a "pumpkin" paper plate, and instruct the children to go to a corner of the room to hide (like the little boy in the story), asking the children to cover their faces with their paper plates. One by one, call the children's names. When you call a name, instruct the child to put her "pumpkin" down, run and jump over the apple barrel, and go back to her hiding place.  

Now ask them to all come out together and spin around like the pigs (play another bluegrass piece). Finish this section by asking each child to make a shape like a dizzy pig, and turn off the music.

Now grab a pretend apple!  It's time to go home! Do you hear the rooster crowing? That means the sun is coming up.

Walk quietly up the stairs, and sit on your bed. Take a bite out of your "apple." Was it a dream, or did the barn dance really happen?

And now, for a short (97 words!) Halloweensie story:

                     

             

                Prelude

Oh my deary, time to get ready.

What shall I wear to the Hallow’s Eve Ball?

My crookedy hat,

my raggedy gown, 

my tappity boots

for my clackity dance. 

My face will be painted a ghastly green,

with lumpity warts on full display. 

My scraggledy “do” I’ll primp and prime, 

with cobwebs twisted and tangled and tied.

And what shall I bring?

My cleverest spells, 

my gnarliest broom,

my trickedy, terrible, powerful wand.

The finishing touch:

My stinkedy, horrible potion perfume.

A little dab here, a little glop there, 

and I’ll be the smelliest of them all!

DANCING Down the STREAM: Movement Activities about Water

Dancing is a fun and enriching arena for teaching children STEM concepts.  In this lively lesson, we will study many aspects of water.  Dance adds the "A" for the Art component, and using books and stories adds the "R" for reading,  to complete the idea of STEM to STEAM to STREAM!  

I have created two movement activities based on the following books:

Make a Splash, by Catherine Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau, Free Spirit Publishing, 2013

Water is Water, by Miranda Paul, Illustrations by Jason Chin, Roaring Brook Press, 2015

MAKE A SPLASH Dance Story

Based on the Section From "Stream to Sink"

Have you every wondered where the water from our faucets comes from? This dance story will help us to learn about it!  

Read the short section of the book on page 29.  Put on some quiet instrumental music for the background of the activity, then begin:

Let’s brush our teeth. Put toothpaste on your toothbrush, brush those teeth, up and down, turn on the water . . .

Wait, where does that clear, cool water come from?

We will find out! The water from our faucet starts out in a lake, reservoir, or river near your town, or maybe from a well in the ground.  Let’s visit a lake and then see where it goes!

Here we are at the beautiful lake.  Let’s take a boat ride.  Climb aboard! (sit on the floor cross-legged, and imagine you are rowing a boat).  

Sway back and forth when there is a wave!  Let’s paddle all the way across the lake.  Look at those pipes!  That is where water starts its journey to your sink.  Now, let’s jump out and swim back! How many different strokes can you do?  Swim all around the room.

The next stop for our water is at the water treatment plant.  This is where the water from the lake gets cleaned and filtered. Imagine you are the water flowing through the pipes that takes it to our homes and other buildings.  

What would that feel like? What would it sound like?  Can you make the sounds of water swishing and flowing through pipes?

Next, smaller pipes are going to carry you to your sink!  Let’s imagine we are following the pipes that are underground, under the streets, parks, and buildings.  Up above, we hear cars, then a playground, and children playing above us.  What else do you think is above us?  Keep going – the water can flow fast!   Let’s each move in many different directions, imagining we are flowing through the system of pipes underneath a city.

You have finally arrived at your sink!  Imagine you are a drop of water, and you plop into your sink at home.

Finally, swirl and swirl and imagine that you are slowly spiraling toward the drain. That was a long journey!  To finish our dance story, gently fall to the floor and imagine you are a puddle.

WATER IS WATER Dance Story

Here is another dance activity about water in all of its various forms.  Read the book Water is Water.  Put on some quiet instrumental music for the background of the activity. Use the text of the book mixed with movement prompts as you retell the story and add lots of ideas for the children to explore:

Water is water . . . Can you imagine you are water?  Flowing, slowly, then faster. Think of all the different places you have seen water, and move like water as it travels slowly in a river, or quickly over a waterfall.

Unless . . . it heats up and becomes steam.  Whirl, swirl, curl, feel lighter than air.  Rise and fall, move as quietly as you can.

Steam is steam unless . . . It cools high in the air.  Can you imagine you are a cloud?  

Can you change slowly from one shape to another, just like a cloud on a lazy summer day? Move silently across the sky as you change into many different shapes.

Clouds are clouds unless: they form low . . . imagine you are misty fog . . . Twist, curl, uncurl, go high and feel light, and low as you feel heavy.  

Fog is fog unless . . . it begins to fall.  What is it? Rain!  Fall fast and slow, heavily and lightly.  Blow back and forth in the strong wind.  Now put on your raincoat and rain boots.  Run quickly as the fat raindrops fall on you.  Now let's splash in the puddles!

Rain is rain unless . . . puddles freeze! Let’s imagine the floor of the room is covered in a sheet of ice.  Put on your skates!  Skate forward, backward, make patterns like figure 8’s with your feet. Can you balance with one leg behind you? 

Can you turn?  Faster?  Let’s play ice hockey!

Ice is ice unless . . . it is snowflakes!  Imagine you are a snowflake.  What shape snowflake are you?  Let the cold wind carry you, as you glide, turn, swirl, and blow.  Gently fall to the ground.  Make footprints in the snow.  Now let’s build snow people!

Pack the snow, roll, first a big section for the base, then make smaller sections, and put one on top of another. What will we use for the face?   Now let’s go sled-riding.  Let's throw snowballs!

Snow is snow unless . . .spring comes back!  Let’s imagine we are a creek.  We begin on the top of a high mountain as melted snow.  Then we come tumbling down the mountainside, over rocks, waterfalls, and rushing through the valley. Now we will play in the mud. Squish, slip, slide. 

  

Let’s pick apples, like the children in the story.  Climb the ladder, reach for the big juicy apples!  Now let’s jump into the lake.  

Go for a swim in all of that lovely, soft water on a summer day. Float on your back and look at the clouds as they drift across the sky.

Keep on Dancin',

Connie

Moving is Learning!

Dancing from STEM to STEAM to STREAM!

Hello!

Dancing to stories is one of the main activities that young children have enjoyed in my creative movement classes over the years.  Reading a book or story, then using verbal prompts to encourage the children to relive the story through dance and music, is also a wonderful way to incorporate the all-important "A" for Arts and the "R" for Reading into STEM. 

STEM to STEAM to STREAM -- let's go!  

Recreating the story with movement helps children to understand the concepts in the book and learn about them kinesthetically.   This process also helps children identify with settings, characters, plot and themes of the story, and helps with sequencing, comprehension, and vocabulary.  Most of all, though, this activity makes story time lively and even more fun.

Here is a dance story that I have created based on Eric Carle's classic book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Along with instructions for presenting the dance story, I have included photos of a visit I made to a school in Nicaragua.  I had the Spanish version of the book, La Oruga Muy Hambrienta.  

I often supplement a dance story with props.  In this case, I used colorful scarves which become the wings when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  

The materials you will need for this activity are:

1.  The book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
2.  Colorful scarves or fabric scraps, about 12" square 
(2 per child)













3.  Two lively instrumental musical selections, one of which has a conga rhythm



Now you are ready to begin!  Gather the children together and read the story.

Explain the dance story, and tell the children that you will be giving them movement prompts so that they will be retelling the story with dance and music.  Make sure to give the children plenty of time to respond to each of your movement suggestions.

Play the music softly in the background.  

Begin:  

You are a little egg on a leaf, in the moonlight.

Pop out of your egg!

You are so hungry.  Where would you find some food?     Proceed through each day in the story as the caterpillar finds new things to eat.

Eat as much as you can and become a great big caterpillar!

Your tummy hurts! Eat a nice green leaf to make you feel better.

Now it is time to spin your cocoon! Turn, turn, spin, spin, spin!  Wait inside your cocoon while you make your amazing transformation.  

While the children are waiting, use a clothespin to attach a scarf to each of their shoulders.

Nibble a hole in your cocoon, and push your way out. Push hard.  Push with your feet, your wings, and look, you are a colorful butterfly! Your wings are still wet.  Try to flap them up and down, very gently.  Now, flap harder, and fly.  Fly around the room, beautiful butterflies!

Now we will finish our story by making a giant caterpillar! Form the children into a line, and put on the conga music.  

Play the conga music, stand at the front of the line and introduce the conga step:  one, two three, touch heel to one side (rhythm:  one, two, three + four), repeat to the other side, and continue all around the room.

Caterpillar Conga line.  One, two, three, and four!

Happy dancing -- 

from STEM to STEAM to STREAM!

Keep on dancin',

Connie

MOVING IS LEARNING!

Reinforcing Early Reading Skills with a Multi-Layered Dance Activity

Hello!

This movement lesson explores letter knowledge, including recognizing letter shapes, making the shapes with the body, and learning the sound the letter represents.  It also explores sequencing, word meanings, and making words and sentences.  In addition, encouraging children to make letters in space, whether standing, sitting, lying down, or jumping, helps to develop a child's spatial sense.

Before we begin, it is important to note that the kinesthetic exploration of letters is what is important in this activity.  Whether or not he accomplishes the exact letter shape, it is the child's recognition of the letter, his attempts to make the shapes with his body, and exploring new ways to move that are the valuable learning experiences.

Dancing About Letters!

Time of Activity:  20-40 minutes

Materials:  2, 3, 4, or 5 letters written on paper, or letter flash            cards; and a large, open space, if available

Music: 1 or 2 upbeat musical selections (suggestions below*), and a drum or tambourine, if available

• Choose two to five letters that make a word, and write each of them on separate sheets of paper (or use flash cards). As an example, let's use the letters D-A-N-C-E.

• Hold up one of the letters, say the name of the letter, and have the children repeat the name and the sound of the letter.  Now ask the children to make this letter using their whole body (not just hands and fingers).  Do the same for each letter.  Practice this until the children can make each letter in their bodies without needing the visual cue of the letters you are holding. 

Continue with these playful activities that will help to reinforce the learning: 

• Play a lively piece of music.  Allow the children to dance while the music is playing.  Stop the music and call out one of the letters, and ask the children to make that shape in their bodies.  Continue this until you have named each letter several times, in random order.

• Using a drum, tambourine, or just clapping your hands, now call the letters out one after the other on each beat or clap.  Ask the children to make the shape as you name each letter.  Start out slowly, and increase the speed as the children become more efficient at responding.  When you have done it as fast as they can respond, ask them to freeze in the shape of the last letter you called out.  Then ask them to melt to the floor holding the shape as long as they can, and then make the letter shape on the floor with their body.

• Bring five children up to the front, or to a place where everyone can see them.  Have them make the letters for the word "D-A-N-C-E" in order, and see if the class can figure out the word.

• Move the children around so that the letters are out of order, and see if the class can remember the correct order of the letters in the word.

• Once the letters are in the correct order again, ask each child to hold an imaginary pencil and trace the letters of the word one by one in the air.

• Finish with a free dance about the letters or the word the letters make, such as an alphabet song or a song about dancing.  Two examples are Dance in Your Pants by David Jack, and Funky Bluesy ABC's, by Taj Mahal.*

Expand the activity:

• Choose a different word each time you do this activity

• Repeat the activity using another corresponding word, or several words, such as D-A-N-C-E  I-S  F-U-N.  This is a good exercise for practicing sequencing and making sentences.

• Build this lesson around a specific piece of music that includes the word you are using, or tells a story using the word (for example, if you are spelling the word F-I-S-H,  play Goldfish*  by Laurie Berkner).

• Try doing the word or words using all uppercase letters first, and then do the same using lowercase letters. 

• Ask the children to walk the path of each letter on the floor, imagining they have paint or chalk on the bottoms of their shoes.

Keep on Dancin',

MOVING IS LEARNING!

Connie