Dancing Words Blog

Category: PreK-5 Dance Books

  • Magic and Whimsy Series: Sky and Earth

    Images-1
    Artwork: Debra Frasier

    Today's two book recommendations have a similar feel to them. I love them both. They are about our world, the earth and sky, and being a part of the whole. The two picture books for use in K-5 dance classes are:

    In the Space of the Sky by Richard Lewis with Illustrations by Debra Frasier

    Earthdance by Joanne Ryder with Illustrations by Norman Gorbaty

    Whether you use them for an improvisational activity or to create a group dance using the text, you will find elegant and touching words and ideas.

    Images  
    Images-2

     

  • Magic and Whimsy Series: All in a Day

    DownloadedFile

    Story Behind the Magic and Whimsy Series:

    About 16 years ago I was taking a "teaching methods for children" undergraduate course at the University of Utah. Teaching artist Joni Urry Wilson lead a class one day, sharing how to use the book Caretakers of Wonder as a springboard for a dance with elementary school students. The text of the book is poetic and magical. It touches your heart. The idea of the book is how we can care for the world – be a perch for the birds, repaint rainbows to brighten their colors, and such. Joni was the one to model for me how to use children's picture books as a theme for special dance projects with elementary students, especially students in grades 3-5. Thank you Joni!

    The first post in the Magic and Whimsy Series:

    All in a Day is a picture book by two stellar children's book artists, writer Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Nikki McClure. "A day is a perfect piece of time to live a life, to plant a seed, to watch the sun go by. A day starts early, work to do, beneath a brand-new sky." All in a Day can inspire a dance project for 3rd-5th grade students in elementary schools, after school programs, and dance centers.

    Images

    The book alternates with pages with a blue background and a yellow background. I love this pattern, and you can work with this pattern as the students choreograph a dance. Half of the class could dance the yellow pages/text, and half could dance the blue. You could even split your "stage space" in half, with the yellow group on one side and the blue on the other. One group could freeze while the other moves. You could even use these colors for your "costumes" for the dance (ie blue/black and yellow/black).

    Images-1

    If you have a smaller after school or studio class, with 6-8 students, this could be a duet project. You could get a few copies of the book out of the library, so that each duet would have a book to use and refer to. 

    Nikki McClure's paper-cut images have clear lines and strong images. Cynthia Rylant's text indeed has "magic and whimsy" in it. It is about hope and beauty – a perfect idea for a dance with young children. 

     

     

  • Poetry Series for Dance Classes: Mirror Mirror

    Images

    At the heart of elementary school dance classes is play, imagination, and creativity. Today's book recommendation is about just that.

    Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse is a book of poetry by Marilyn Singer, with bright, playful artwork by Josée Masse. Singer is the originator of this form of poetry. She first wrote a poem in "common form" – where you read it from top to bottom. But, the way she playfully structured it is that each poem can also be read from "down to up." Here is an example from the book:

    In Reverse

    Who

    says

    it's true –

    down

    is

    the only view?

    If you believe that,

    this poem

    will challenge

    you.

    Up 

    is

    something new.

    —–

    Something new

    is 

    up.

    You

    will challenge

    this poem

    if you believe that

    the only view

    is 

    down.

    It's true.

    Says

    who?

    —

    I would recommend using the book in classes with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. This book, in particular, has the theme of fairy tales. Students could be paired up, and each given a page from the book (which has two poems on it). Together, they can choreograph a short dance to go with the first poem. Students need to create shapes, gestures, or movement to accompany each line of the poem. Then, the students take the exact movement they created for each line, but now do the movement in reverse order, to go with the second poem.

    I envision that each pairing creates the movement, and then each student works specifically with one poem. Then, each pairing can share their two dances with the class (maybe as the teacher recites the poems).

    What I love about the reverso poetry form is that it will lead to a great choreographic project with young people – looking at form, motif, and order of ideas.

    Possible extensions to this activity include…..

    1. Your students could write their own reverso poems, and then repeat the above activity with these poems.

    2. Wearing my teaching hat, since I work at a K-8 school, I envision a joint project with students in 4th grade and 6th grade. My 6th grade students could write the reverso poems, and the 4th graders could dance the poems.

    Let me know what you discover with this project! Looking at Marilyn Singer's website, it looks like she will be publishing another book of reverso poems in the near future. Yay!

     

     

  • Poetry Series for Dance Classes: Night Garden

    DownloadedFile-2

    Oh, I love the Berkeley Public Libraries. I especially love it when I find unfamiliar books on display that I can use in dance classes.

    Last week they had "night books" on display. I took out Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams by Janet S. Wong (with illustrations by Julie Paschkis). It is a beautiful set of poems, and I love the order of the poems in the book. 

    My teaching mind already goes to using this book with students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. I would encourage you to use all of the poems, in their order. I envision a set of beautiful solos for brave, young choreographers. This could turn into an elegant culminating performance at the end of your semester or session. 

    The poems are of night, dreams, magic, and whimsy. One of the poems from the book:

    Gently Down the Stream

    Like one fast fish

    I'm swimming free,

     

    water washing

    over me,

     

    seeing clear

    through eyes like glass,

     

    following

    a moonlight path,

     

    one fast fish,

    no breathing troubles,

     

    followed by

    a trail of bubbles,

     

    swimming long, 

    swimming lean,

     

    swimming gently

    down the stream.

     

    The poems can be your starting point for movement. In terms of reciting the text, you could record each student reading his/her own poem. You, the teacher, could be the narrator of the poems. Or, students can switch off and read for another student.

    I very much envision this project as a group of solos. 

  • Opening the School Year

    A85988e0e59411e1b18c12313d051969_6

    One of the things we choreograph a lot, as teachers, is that first class of the new school year. Today I would like to share some of my favorite books for preschool-2nd grade students.

    One of these books might be a part of your "intro" with a class on the first day. Or, you might lend one of the books to the preschool teacher or classroom teacher with which you work. He/she could read the book to the students prior to coming to your dance class.

    Great choices for preschool students:

    Dance with Me by Charles R. Smith Jr.

    I am a Dancer by Pat Lowery Collins

    Let's Dance by George Ancona

     

    Selections for K-2 students:

    Dance by Bill T. Jones and Susan Kuklin

    To Be an Artist by Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko

    Let's Dance by George Ancona

    I am a Dancer by Pat Lowery Collins

     

    I hope that your fall planning is going well!

  • A Theme for Fall Dance Classes: Wind

    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.

    Images-3

    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."

    Images-1

    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.

    Images   DownloadedFile

    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. 

  • Alphabet Movers

    Images

    Today I would like to share about Alphabet Movers by Teresa Benzwie.  I used it for my opening activity in a preschool creative dance class this morning, with 4 and 5 year old children. 

    Benzwie's book goes through the alphabet, highlighting various action words to inspire young ones to stretch, reach, leap, and dance. For example, the text on the R page is:

    "R is for rolling reaching and running a race

    Are you ready? 

    Get in place"

    Robert Bender's illustrations are a great complement to the text – illustrations of both boys and girls in regular attire moving and dancing.

    For my opening activity, with a group of 8 kids sitting near by, each student got highlighted. I greeted each child and asked the first letter of his/her name. We then read the accompanying page, and then got up on our feet and moved. 

    I did not read the book from start to finish, but simply used it as a springboard for a warm up. The students loved it and eagerly waited for "their turn."

    I purchased this book years ago through the NDEO website (www.ndeo.org), but I also noticed today that Powell's Books sells it as well. 

     

  • Kitchen Dances

    Today I would like to highlight two playful picture books for young ones in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. These books are fun for parents, librarians, and teachers to share with students.

    DownloadedFile

    The theme is dancing at home. Kitchen Dance by Maurie J. Manning is a story of a mom and dad dancing in their kitchen. Their two young children hear sounds from their room, and sneak out to find their parents joyfully dancing together in the kitchen one night. In the end, all four of them are dancing.

    DownloadedFile-1

    Dancin' in the Kitchen (Wendy Gelsanliter and Frank Christian) is also a whimsical tale of a family cooking, dancing, and celebrating together. Marjorie Priceman's illustrations are one of the highlights of this picture book. 

    These are great books to share with young kids who simply love dancing informally at home.

    Both books can be found used on amazon.com.

  • Lines that Wiggle

    Images

    "Lines that wiggle…..lines that bend….wavy lines, from end to end."

    These are the first few lines from Candace Whitman's playful picture book. The book is poetically written, and the text can be your "script" for a dance with many sections for students in grade 1, 2, and 3. Use the book to explore lines and pathways.

    Have fun!

     

  • Tap Dancing!

    DownloadedFile

    While vacationing on the big island of Hawaii, we like to stop into the library to load up on books for my two young sons. Of course, I couldn't resist checking out their dance collection while there.

    I found a book on tap dancing that I would like to share with you today. Tap is an amazing percussive dance form, and there are few books on the form. Tap by Lisa Dillman is part of the "Get Going! Hobbies" series that Heinemann publishes. This informative book is ideal for school libraries and is geared towards students in 2nd-5th grades. 

    The text includes history, alignment and balance, safety tips, and how to produce "single sounds" and "multiple sounds." Throughout the book there are great photos of famous tappers over the years – Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire, and Gregory Hines. (Photos of some more female tap dancers would have balanced out the book more….)

    For lovers of tap, I would also recommend the joyful picture book about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles – Think of That!. There is also the autobiography of Savion Glover, Savion!: My Life in Tap.