Dancing Words Blog

Category: PreK-5 Dance Books

  • Volcano Wakes Up!

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    Volcanoes move and dance. We too can take inspiration from their movement – brewing, exploding, pouring, oozing, and spreading. Explore this concept with students in 1st-4th grades.

    I love the book Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters and illustrator Steve Jenkins. Through a series of poems, a story of a brewing volcano is shared. Through five different perspectives – such as a cricket nearby and the sun and  moon – you learn about a Hawaiian volcano. 

    I suggest reading the whole book to your group. This can become your research and brainstorming. Write down words and images that come to mind. In small groups, can your students list 6-8 ideas from the book and make a vignette based on it? How can the students explore dynamic qualities, pathway, direction, and tempo? Or, take some of the short poems from the book, divide into groups, and create vignettes based on the poems. 

    You could also select several of the illustrations, in the same manner (about 6-8), to create a movement phrase. There is lots of potential within this single book.

    Have fun!

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  • The Stars are Waiting

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    While the book The Stars are Waiting is about 15 years old, the story is new inspiration to me. I recently stumbled upon it at the library. The text will inspire an improvisation or a dance project with students ranging in age from preschool through 2nd grade. I think the text beautifully pairs with exploring stopping and moving – dancing and freezing – with young students. It also lends itself to exploring shape, pathway, and entrances/exits.

    Over the hill, behind the moon, the stars are waiting…

    Waiting for wrens to quietly gather,

    Waiting for squirrels to cease their chatter. 

    Waiting for sparrows to end their flight,

    Waiting for day to fade to night.

    I feel that you could easily use the entire text for a project. Use the text to inspire solos, small group sections, or whole group dancing. The Stars are Waiting is being added to my list of "magic and whimsy" books to use with students in Prek-5. 

    The Stars are Waiting is by Marjorie Dennis Murray with illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers. Purchase a used copy here.

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  • Veloz como el grillo

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    I was thrilled to stumble upon this on the web this morning – the beloved book Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood and Don Wood, and in Spanish.

    Quick as a Cricket explores many similes and ways of moving – quickly, slowly, large, small, strong, weak. This picture book can be explored in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classes.

    Purchase a copy in Spanish here.

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  • New Poems for Wintery Days

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    I am always searching for books about the seasons. Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold is a great new addition with poems by Joyce Sidman and gorgeous illustrations by Rick Allen.

    The poems are suitable for students in grades 1-4. Sidman writes about the animals of winter, with unique poems about moose, tundra swans, and bees that can inspire dances in your classes. And, the poem "Snowflake Wakes" is a new favorite of mine – filled with moving words such as drifting down, settling, whirling, and "a pinwheel gathering glitter."

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  • Raindrops Roll

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    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. 

    This book can be used with students in preschool and also K-2 classes. Try out the instrumental song "Halinkata Djoubé" by Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Siegel for your project.

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  • Magic and Whimsy Series: Rise the Moon

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    I am a big fan of illustrator Raúl Colón and was excited to recently stumble upon the book Rise the Moon (with author Eileen Spinelli). This story can serve as inspiration and a conversation starter with a wide age range – preschool through 5th grade. What do we do under the light of the moon?

     

    Encourage your students to each come up with an original idea - What do you want to do under the moonlight? What is the imagery? Potential dance steps and action words? What is the movement quality and speed?

    As the teacher, you can capture the ideas on paper. Students in grades 3-5 can write their own ideas.

    String the concepts together to create a beautiful score for an original, unique dance project. You can even use moon-related music, such as "It's Only a Paper Moon" (various versions).

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  • Flora and the Penguin

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    Fun, play, skating, gliding, and conversation. This is the beautiful "dance" of Flora with a penguin in Molly Idle's latest wordless picture book, Flora and the Penguin. If you loved Flora and the Flamingo, check out this new book! 

    The artwork literally dances off the page. The book is a great springboard for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classes as you explore partner work, working together, mirroring, and shaping. 

    You can use the book for inspiration, the images for actual movement ideas, or the storyline to create a group dance. The book is also a fun addition to your "winter" book collection.

    As for music, the classical skating piece "Les Patineurs" is a great option!

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  • Water Can Be….

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    I love exploring water within a dance class – the actions of water, the states of water, and how water travels high to low, across, around, and through. I explore water in elementary school classes and even with my 6th grade middle school students. 

    Water Can Be… - by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrator Violeta Dabija – is a great addition to your collection of springboards for water dances. The text is poetically written, and most of it could be the script/narration for a dance with students in 2nd-5th grade. 

    Water is water –

    it's fog, frost, and sea.

    When autumn comes chasing,

    water can be a…..

                Cloud fluffer

                Fire snuffer

                School drink-er

                Bruise shrinker

                Salmon highway

                Eagle flyaway

    The text is divided by the seasons. The descriptions and actions are varied and playful. The variety of text can easily lead to giving each student a "part" for the dance.

    In the back of the book, the author provides "more about water," detailing scientific facts about each concept touched upon in the book.

    Water Can Be… will provide rich connections between science and dance — exploring the movement and action of water in our world.

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  • The Rainbow Book by Kate Ohrt

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    The Rainbow Book by Kate Ohrt is a unique addition to your collection of books about colors and emotions. If you work with 4-7 year olds, check out this book.

    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:

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    Seven colors are represented in the book:

    1. Pink
    2. Red
    3. Orange
    4. Yellow
    5. Green
    6. Blue 
    7. Purple

    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."

    The Rainbow Book will be a great springboard to explore different emotions and different movement qualities with students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.

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  • Dancing Towards Halloween

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    Today I would like to highlight two playful books of monsters and skeletons, to add to your Halloween collection.

    The 2013 book Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters, by Jane Yolen and illustrator Kelly Murphy, portrays some very busy monsters. The text will engage 4-7 year olds. "Monsters stretch. Monsters twirl. Monsters catch. Monsters hurl." The action words in the book vary from some easily danced and improvised ideas – hopscotch, teeter, totter, stretch, and twirl. Other words are very literal – eating, playing with balls, etc. 

    I would suggest reading the book to your group and then pulling out the strongest movement options to make a dance or improvisational activity. Exploring monsters can lead to talking about big/small, heavy/light, and slow/fast. 

    With Halloween Hustle, the 2013 book by Charlotte Gunnufson and illustrator Kevan J. Atteberry, your preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade students will get in the Halloween spirit. With rhyming words and repetition, a skeleton dances (and keeps falling apart) around town.  

    The dance ideas include:

    -toe tapping

    -twisting and shaking

    -shuffling and scuffling feet

    -high hops

    -jumping

    -shimmying, swinging, and swaying

    Playing with the repeating words – "Bones scatter! What a clatter! Spine is like a broken ladder!" – the text can inspire exploring falling to the ground or "falling apart movement" from high to low (and angular actions). Teaching students to safely fall to the ground is a great skill, and they love falling.

    For both of these books, find some classic Halloween music, whether it is "Monster Mash" or the "Fossils" section of Carnival of the Animals (great for skeletons dancing).

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    For more Halloween ideas, please click on the subject "Halloween" in the column to the right.

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