Dancing Words Blog

Category: PreK-5 Dance Books

  • Summertime Themes: Clouds

    Happy summer! While I myself am on summer break, I do know that many teaching artists continue to work throughout the summer. I hope that the posts over the next month will inspire some summertime lessons for preschool-fifth grade students.

    Images

    Today I am thinking about CLOUDS. Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker is a nice springboard for a dance with students in approximately 2nd-4th grades. Students will be able to work on solo and group shapes, different qualities of movement, and varying sizes of movement. The text begs for a multi-layered dance study over a few weeks to create a group dance.

    Images-1

    For younger students, I recommend Little Cloud by Eric Carle. This book easily translates into a dance. I suggest reading it once to students (preschool age) and then reading it a second time, while having the students move at the same time.

    As always, please add a comment on the blog to help share more information with fellow teachers. Thank you!

     

  • Alphabet Books

    I love alphabet books and the many ways young children can engage with these concept books. Today I would like to highlight four (and please note that one additional one was highlighted in my last post.)

    Images-2

    Let's start with the Smithsonian Institution's Alphabet of Dance by Barbie Heit Schwaeber. This 2010 publication offers a great variety of images of dance styles from around the world. I especially love the number of images of male dancers. While the examples bounce around from dance vocabulary to a variety of dance styles, the strength lies in the pictures. This book is a great addition to libraries for children in preschool-second grade. 

    DownloadedFile

    Don't be fooled by the title of the next book, A Dictionary of Dance. Liz Murphy's 2007 book is a wonderful alphabet book with a rich vocabulary of dance words for both young boys and girls: breakdancing, folk dance, improvisation, stage, and more.

    Images-1

    Alphabet Movers by Teresa Benzwie (2002) is filled with beautiful action words to inspire warm up activities, improvisations, or words to create a dance with students ages 4-7. 

    Images

    Last, I would like to mention A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play by Ida Pearle. The artwork is simply wonderful and joyful. The words are of simple actions, such as eat, feed, grow, hide, and jump. I have used this as a starting activity in preschool classes, and each student could "dance" his/her favorite page. This book can be a great springboard with preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students, exploring how to take everyday actions to create a dance.

    Alphabet books on movement and dance are multi-functional for young children, to articulate the language of dance as well as starting points for movement explorations.

     

  • Young Thoughts of Ballet

    It is fascinating to me – now as an adult, a teacher, and a parent – to see when the "dream of a ballerina" fills a young child's daydreams, especially young girls. I was indeed that child. 

    At the K-8 school in which I teach dance full-time, the head librarian recently mentioned to me that Jill Krementz's book A Very Young Dancer still gets checked out. The copyright on this book is 1979. I love that it has held up all of these years, but I am also surprised at how few good, accurate, and inspiring books are available to young ones swept up in the idea of ballet.

    Today I would like to highlight two ballet books.

    Images

    Ballerina!  by Peter Sis is available as a board book and hardback/paperback. It is perfect for children 2-6 years old. What makes this a good ballet book is two-fold. The action words are lovely: twirl, leap, tiptoe, reach, dip, flutter, and float. Second, Sis nicely references the major ballets in the book: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, etc. 

    DownloadedFile

    Second, I love Rachel Isadora's On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC.  This book is a more unique alphabet book with illustrations of young boys and girls. The language of the book references dance steps (develope, arabesque, etc) as well as elements used in ballet (music, costumes, etc.) Students ages 4-7 will enjoy this book. While out of print, you can easily find used copies  on the internet. 

    Ballet books can so easily fall into stereotypes, and I encourage you to check out these two book suggestions for a fresh take on ballet. 

  • Animal Movement, Part I (I Love Steve Jenkins)

    One of my favorite children's authors and illustrators is Steve Jenkins. I would like to highlight three of his books that can inspire great movement explorations and group dances.

    Images-1

    Into the A, B, Sea by Deborah Lee Rose, with illustrations by Jenkins, is a beautiful alphabet book filled with action words. Whether your students improvise as you read through the book, or you select several of the actions to create an "ocean dance," the book is full of possibility with students in preschool – 2nd grade. The action words include: cling, crawl, spin, and soar. 

    Images-2

    Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea is new to me, and seems like a perfect book to be a springboard for a group dance about the levels of the ocean and the creatures that inhabit each part. I imagine this will be a fun project with 2nd graders. (If you want more specifics on a particular lesson plan, please email me at jillhrandall@sbcglobal.net.)

    DownloadedFile-1

    Last, I would like to highlight Move! by  Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This book is also filled with language rich, dance inspiring actions. I love the images in the book, but I especially love the size and placement of words in Move. The list of words can create a high energy dance for students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Here is the direct list from one of the last pages of the book:

    • waddle
    • slide
    • float
    • dance
    • run
    • fly
    • climb
    • slither
    • leap
    • swim 
    • dive
    • walk
    • swing
    • move!

    In terms of music to accompany these animal explorations, I recommend selections from Carnival of the Animals, easily purchased on iTunes.

     

  • What IS Modern Dance?

    DownloadedFile   Images

    For many students in K-8 school based dance programs, the main style of dance they will be exploring is modern dance, or creative-based dance. In my teaching position, I teach 200 students a year in grades 5th-8th grade. My classes are primarily modern dance, with some exploration of hip hop and culturally based dance forms.

    Despite being a professional modern dancer myself, it remains tricky to explain clearly to students "what is modern dance." Two books for children attempt just that, and I must say, did a fine job at it.

    Modern Dance by Wendy Garofoli (copyright 2008) is a book for your school library. For students in grades 3rd-5th, this book explains in basic terms the origins of modern dance, some history, the format of a dance class, and more. The photos in the book are of teens dancing as well as several photos of professional artists.

    Modern Dance by Andrew Solway (copyright 2009) is also a must for your school library. While similar to Garofoli's book, this book goes more in depth about the timeline of modern dance from the early 1900s until the present. There is content about dance outside of the United States, post-modern dance, and more. The visual structure of this book includes a wide variety of photos of professional level dance and text boxes with facts and short biographies. How can you not love a book that includes Trisha Brown, Pina Bausch, and Akram Khan? I would recommend this book for students in grades 3-6 (possibly as high as 7th grade).
     

  • For 3-5 Year Old Dancing Girls – Mabel Dancing

    DownloadedFile-1

    Mabel Dancing, by author Amy Hest and illustrator Christine Davenier, came out in 2000 but only recently came to my attention.

    This is a great 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. I was this little girl.

    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.

    The watercolor images are the strongest element of this book. I also love that the story is about dancing in a general way (avoiding the stereotype of girls only dreaming of ballet).

    I would recommend this book for children, especially girls, ages 3 to 5 years old.

    You can purchase used copies of this book on amazon.com:

    Mabel Dancing

  • Dancing Towards Mother’s Day

    As we head towards Sunday, May 8th, there are two great books to share about a child and mother dancing:

    My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray

    Jonathan and His Mommy by Irene Smalls-Hector

    DownloadedFile
    DownloadedFile-1

    My Mama Had a Dancing Heart is a sweet tale through the seasons of a girl dancing with her mother. The book is ideal to read in a preschool, kindergarten, or first grade classroom.

    Jonathan and His Mommy is a picture book with a young boy dancing with his mother. They explore different ways of moving around town – big steps, zig zag walks, and more. After reading this book, you can easily translate this story into a dance. It is ideal for preschool and kindergarten age students.

    My Mama Had a Dancing Heart is out of print but available online used:

    http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?keyword=My+Mama+Had+a+Dancing+Heart&mtype=B&hs.x=0&hs.y=0&hs=Submit

    My Mama Had a Dancing Heart is available through the Berkeley Public Library, Oakland Public Library, and SF Public Library:

    http://encore.berkeley-public.org/iii/encore/record/C%7CRb1348496%7CSMy+Mama+Had+a+Dancing+Heart%7CP0%2C1%7COrightresult%7CX5?lang=eng&suite=pearl

    http://catalog.oaklandlibrary.org/search/X?t%3A%28My%20Mama%20Had%20a%20Dancing%20Heart%29&searchscope=1&Da=&Db=&l=&m=a&m=l&m=e&m=i&m=k&m=q&m=n&SORT=DX

    http://sflib1.sfpl.org/search~S1?/XMy+Mama+Had+a+Dancing+Heart&searchscope=1&SORT=D/XMy+Mama+Had+a+Dancing+Heart&searchscope=1&SORT=D&SUBKEY=My%20Mama%20Had%20a%20Dancing%20Heart/1%2C3%2C3%2CB/frameset&FF=XMy+Mama+Had+a+Dancing+Heart&searchscope=1&SORT=D&2%2C2%2C

     

    Jonathan and His Mommy can be purchased online through the independent bookstore The King's English:

    http://www.kingsenglish.com/book/9780316798808

    Jonathan and His Mommy can be found at the Berkeley, Oakland, and SF Public Libraries:

    http://encore.berkeley-public.org/iii/encore/record/C%7CRb1293044%7CSJonathan+and+His+Mommy%7COrightresult%7CX5?lang=eng&suite=pearl

    http://catalog.oaklandlibrary.org/search/X?t%3A%28jonathan%20and%20his%20mommy%29&searchscope=1&Da=&Db=&l=&m=a&m=l&m=e&m=i&m=k&m=q&m=n&SORT=DX 

    http://sflib1.sfpl.org/search~/a?SORT=D&searchscope=1&searchtype=X&searcharg=Jonathan+and+His+Mommy&SORT=D&x=0&y=0

     

  • Books in Yesterday’s Photo

    I have been asked which books are in the image from yesterday. Listed below are all nine books, some of my favorites. Clockwise from the top left corner:

    Move! – Robin Page and Steve Jenkins

    Alphabet of Dance – Barbie Heit Schwaeber and Damian Ward (Smithsonian book)

    A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play – Ida Pearle

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

    A Dictionary of Dance  - Liz Murphy

    Dance – Bill T. Jones and Susan Kuklin

    Beautiful Ballerina – Marilyn Nelson and Susan Kuklin

    I am a Dancer – Pat Lowery Collins and Mark Graham

    Mountain Dance – Thomas Locker (there is also Cloud Dance and Water Dance)