As we are planning for the coming school year, let's explore the theme of wind.
There are numerous books to explore the concept, to inspire students to move "like the wind" – exploring the qualities of lightness and strong force, fast and slow,and over/under/towards/away. In your classes your students can explore being the wind or being moved by the wind.
While You Were Chasing a Hat by Lilian Moore can be an easy introduction to the concept of wind and all that it moves in our world. Students in preschool and kindergarten will identify with the text, and the text can inspire a simple improvisation of being moved "by the wind."
When the Wind Bears Go Dancing by Phoebe Stone is a playful book about the "wind bears in the sky." Again, children ages 4-7 will delight in hearing this story and creating a dance with you in class as you become the magical bears in the sky that make things move.
For students in K-2, there are two books with poetic text that could lead to beautiful group dances with a windy theme. I recommend both Where Does the Wind Blow? (Cindy Rink) and Like a Windy Day (Frank Asch and Devin Asch).
Wind can be a beautiful theme to explore along side, or instead of, your usual theme of the season of fall and leaves.
Dancing Words Blog 
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