Dancing Words Blog

Category: Locomotor steps

Dancing Off the Page: Leap, Frog, Leap by Douglas Florian

Leap, Frog, Leap! is the third book in a board book series by Douglas Florian and illustrator Barbara Bakos. The words are simple, playful, and instantly lead to an improvisational exercise in parent/child and preschool dance classes.

Leap, frog, leap!

Creep, caterpillar, creep!

Race, rabbit, race!

Chase, cheetah, chase!

Students will have the opportunity to explore 16 different actions – which will inspire level changes, varying qualities, and locomotor/stationary movement.

For music, try out the instrumental/electronic piece "Circling" by Four Tet.

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Related posts:

Dancing Off the Page: Bears are Big by Douglas Florian

Dancing Off the Page: Flamingos Fly by Douglas Florian

Blog Series: Parent/Child Classes

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September 19, 2017
Flying Frogs and Walking Fish

I am a huge Steve Jenkins and Robin Page fan. Their books are whimsical, fact-filled, and many of their books naturally lend themselves to dance activities. Flying Frogs and Walking Fish, published in 2016, has an excellent format to launch a dance project with K-3 students, especially a large class. Narrate the book as the students dance.

The first page sets the stage for the book:

Animals walk, leap, climb, and swim. Some roll or turn flips. Others fly or glide, and a few are even jet-propelled. These creatures are found in many shapes and sizes……Have you ever seen….

Then, the book launches into an A B A B format. One page asks a question, and then the next gives 3 action words. (In classic Jenkins/Page style, every page has illustrations and smaller-type sentences describing the various animals.) To give you a feel for this, here are the first few pages….

Have you ever seen….

A Walking Octopus?

Marching, strolling, tiptoeing….

A Leaping Lizard?

Jumping, pouncing, springing….

The book inspires solo and group sections, to appeal to different kinds of movers and performers. 46 different creatures are in the book, exploring the key actions of: walking, leaping, swimming, climbing, flying, rolling, and jetting.

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Related posts:

The Letter M (featuring Move! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page)

Book List: Animal Inspiration (Including 4 books by Jenkins and Page)

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August 6, 2017
Jonathan and His Mommy

Several times a year, I have the wonderful opportunity to write for another blog, Book to Boogie. This month, I wrote about the picture book Jonathan and His Mommy. If you are looking for a book about parent/child relationships, pathways, and locomotor steps, check it out. Read more here.

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August 7, 2016
Alphabet Series: The Letter S
When you and your students explore the letter S, these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisation and dance projects.

S is for Stomping

Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp is full of playful action words to use with preschool, kindergarten, and first grade dancers.

"Mighty Tyrannosaurus loved stomp, stomp, stomping, gigantic legs striding, enormous jaws opening…."

The book explores 11 different dinosaurs and a wonderful list of action words, including:
- Stomping
- Swishing
- Gliding
- Swooping
- Soaring
- Hunting
- Pouncing
- Zooming
Use the book in a variety of ways to inspire improvisational activities, a "dino dance," or little vignettes about each animal in small groups.

S is for "Someone Says"

I am a big fan of author Carole Lexa Schaefer and artist Pierr Morgan (listing two of their books here in this post). Someone Says is a delightful version of the simple game Simon Says. I like to read the book to the class and then make my own improv – a blend of freeze dance and Simon Says. I call it "Someone Says." We start to dance around the space to music. When the music stops, I call out a student's name and he/she decides how we will move next. "Olivia says, let's……" I give each student an opportunity to select a movement idea.

S is for Squiggle

Carole Lexa Schaefer and Pierr Morgan also created the book The Squiggle. In The Squiggle a red ribbon becomes many different things – ripples in water, a snake, and exploding fireworks. The book is easy inspiration for a dance with ribbons or scarves. How many different ways can we move? Can we move like _______? What animals and objects in our world can inspire us?

S is for Skipping

Skipping is one of the essential locomotor steps. Step hop, step hop, step hop….

In Ready, Set, Skip! (by Jane O'Connor and illustrator Ann James), a girl shares all of the actions she can do, but skipping is currently not one of them. Then, her mother teaches her, and she is excited with this new action.

Use the book as a lesson starter as you embark on skipping with your students.

S is for Star Climbing

Over the years, Star Climbing (Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson) is one of the picture books I have used most in dance classes. The words literally dance off the page and inspire a magical, whimsical project. A little boy dances amongst the stars:

Tiptoe over low-lung clouds

Leap from star to shining star

Skip across bright silver stones.

S is for "Silly Sally"

"Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards, upside down." So begins this playful picture book by well-known children's author Audrey Wood.

The main character encounters different animals, and does a certain action with each one (a jig with a pig and leapfrog with a dog).

One idea would be to create a whole dance using the entire text; another idea would be to read the book to your students and then play with some of the key concepts, especially ways of moving backwards and upside down. Use the book as a starting to point to explore many ways of moving backwards and upside down (or the concept of "direction" in general).

S is for Seasons – Spring and Summer

I love books and poetry that explore the seasons. Over the years, I have written about numerous books with a seasonal theme. Check them out here.

S is for Snow

Snow Dance, by Lezlie Evans with illustrations by Cynthia Jabar, is a great book for children in preschool through second grade. Can our dancing make it snow? What are all of the wonderful actions we do outside on cold days and snowy days?

This book is simply a fun book to read during the winter months. You might also use this book as a springboard for a wintery dance.

Purchase a copy here.

S is for Slow

The concept of fast and slow is always a source of play and joy with young ones. These two books can be read before you explore fast and slow with students. How can animals inspire us?

Fast and Slow: An Animal Opposites Book - Lisa Bullard

"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth - Eric Carle

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July 10, 2015
Alphabet Series: The Letter R
When you and your students explore the letter R, these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. R is for: red, ribbons, rainbows, raindrops, running, and rectangles.

R is for Red

To explore the color red, you can pull out all of your books about colors. Four examples include: My Many Colored Days, Colour, Living Color, and The Rainbow Book. What are our associations with red? How can we translate these ideas into movement? Ideally, see if you can pull out 3-5 books on color. Look at the red pages, and then explore movement ideas related to these pages. You can even string the 3-5 ideas together.

R is for Ribbons

Students love exploring props. Purchase some spools of ribbon at the local fabric or craft store (enough so that each student has a piece 24 inches in length).

Carole Lexa Schaeffer's book The Squiggle is a favorite of mine. In the story, the ribbon becomes many different things and images. The book's text easily can translate into a dance.
R is for Rainbows

Surprisingly, there are only a few children's stories related to rainbows. The two that I keep coming back to for dancing inspiration are:
- Don Freeman's 1978 book A Rainbow of My Own
- What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Schwartiz and illustrator Dona Turner
Purchase some reasonably priced tulle at the fabric store in a variety of rainbow colors.

As mentioned above, The Rainbow Book by Kate Ohrt is a unique addition to your collection of books about colors and emotions. Instead of images of people or animals, the art in the book is a series of paper cut outs, reminiscent of handmade snowflakes or Mexican cutout banners:

The text on each page will inspire an improv, or help you create a group dance. "When I feel orange, I am energetic and strong…..When I feel blue, I am calm and peaceful."

R is for Raindrops

Rain is coming. You can feel it in the air.

So begins the new picture book Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre.

With clear photographs and poetic text, this is an example of a book where the words literally dance off the page and inspire students to move. Most of the text can be directly used to create actions and movement phrases. Verbs include: plop, drop, patter, spatter, wash, weigh down, and thud.

Try out the instrumental song "Halinkata Djoubé" by Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Siegel for your project.

R is for Running

"Run run run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!"

So goes the classic chant from The Gingerbread Boy. I love Richard Egielski's version of the tale, this time taking place in the city. Even young students quickly catch on and remember the chant. (For the chant, I have the students run in place.)

R is for Rectangles

Reference picture books and poetry books that talk about various shapes. From there, students can make rectangle shapes with other students. You can also make loops of elastic (about 4 feet in length) so that students can use the elastics to explore rectangles as well.
Books to reference include:
- When a Line Bends….A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrator James Kaczman
- Shape Me a Rhyme by Jane Yolen and photographer Jason Stemple
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April 5, 2015
Alphabet Series: The Letter M

When you and your students explore the letter M, these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects.

M is for MOVING

Move! – Numbers on the Move – Alphabet Movers

Float….swing….leap! Join the animals moving in Steve Jenkins's book Move!, available in hardback and board book formats. Move! inspires you and your students to do a wide variety of locomotor actions.

Teresa Benzwie has written two movement-related books, exploring the alphabet and numbers. Both are great for warm ups and getting students to move in various ways:

Numbers on the Move

Alphabet Movers

M is for MOM

There are great books with mothers and children dancing together, My Mama Had a Dancing Heart and Jonathan and His Mommy. I especially love Jonathan and His Mommy, as it is a beautiful springboard to explore walking and pathways with students.

M is for MABEL

Mabel Dancing is a playful book to share in a preschool setting or at home with parents and child. It is a “classic story” in some ways of a little girl who dreams of dancing and naturally wants to move and dance at home.

Mabel’s parents dress up to have a dance party downstairs in their large house. Mabel is tucked into bed for the night while the party takes place. She cannot resist, and ends up sneaking downstairs to have her short moment dancing too.

M is for the MOON

Eric Carle's 1986 book Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me is a gentle story between a girl and her father. The daughter so wants the moon, and the father "catches" it for her. But, as we know, the moon "appears" and "disappears" in our lives each month. The story is a playful way to explore the phases of the moon. And, like the images in the book, students can also dance with a crescent moon if you make a prop for the class. Play one of the those classic jazz tunes – like "It's Only a Paper Moon" – as you and your students dance.

M is for MERMAIDS

Last, have you had students who have requested to dance a "mermaid dance?" This book – literally titled Mermaid Dance - can be translated into a dance for your students.

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Search for these great "M books" at the school library, public library, or online. Many are reasonably priced (used) on amazon.com.

Exploring letters and the alphabet through reading, movement, and dancemaking creates powerful connections for young learners.

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December 31, 2014
Alphabet Series: The Letter J

J is for….jumping, Josephine, and Jonathan!

J is for Jumping

Learning how to jump is a key movement milestone in childhood. Jumping is launching off of two feet and landing on two feet (hopping is on one foot). Create a jumping dance with your class – big jumps, small jumps, turning jumps, etc.

There are three books to read alongside your exploration:

Jumping Day - Barbara Esbensen and Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Jump Frog Jump - Robert Kalan and Byron Barton

Hop Jump - Ellen Stoll Walsh

J is for Jonathan

I love the book Jonathan and His Mommy for many reasons. It is a sweet tale of a mother and son dancing and moving around town – big steps, small steps, zigzag steps. The text will easily lead to an activity about pathway.

J is for Josephine

Explore the life and story of dancer Josephine Baker in the picture book Jazz Age Josephine by author Jonah Winter and illustrator Marjorie Pricemen. Read the story to your class, and then get them up on their feet, using Priceman's kinesthetic illustrations as inspiration for body shapes.

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October 29, 2013
Alphabet Series: The Letter H

When you and your students explore the letter H, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects.

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H is for Head (to Toe)

Eric Carle's From Head to Toe is one of my favorite books to explore in parent/child, preschool, and kindergarten classes. The words literally lead a warm up for you….moving our heads, shoulders, hips, and toes. Purchase a used copy of this book here.

H is for Hopping

Hopping is one of the building blocks of dance – moving on one foot. I am always on the lookout for books that involve the basic locomotor steps of: walking, running, hopping, jumping, skipping, galloping, and leaping.

Check out Ellen Stoll Walsh's Hop Jump as a springboard for exploring the concepts of hopping, jumping, and "dancing."

H is for Hummingbirds

As mentioned in several prior posts, Keith Baker's Little Green is a whimsical picture book for dancing like a fast moving hummingbird as well as moving through different pathways in space (zig zag lines, curly cue lines, etc).

H is for Haring (Artist Keith Haring)

Keith Haring's classic drawings inspire kids to move and make shapes. Find a used copy of the board book Ten. Students can view the images and try out the positions (shapes) in their own bodies, or as a group.

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P.S. Exploring "hands" and "high/low" are also good subjects with the letter H, but I don't have specific book recommendations today.

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October 29, 2013