Dancing Words Blog

Category: Seasons

Green on Green by Dianne White

Oh, this is such a wonderful book, which combines two of my favorite themes – the seasons and colors! Green on Green is a 2020 publication by Dianne White, with illustrator Felicita Sala.

Check this out for explorations with K-4 students. The rhyming, poetic text is beautifully chunked, naturally lending itself to sections and "parts" for small groups of students.

Yellow the flower.

Yellow the seed.

Yellow and black the buzzing bee.

Lemonade petals.

Sunflakes between.

Lemonade, sunflakes, and yellow on green.

Spring the meadow.

Spring the pond.

Spring the season of new birds' song.

So begins the book! Check out author Dianne White reading it here in this Youtube video.

The text offers space for multiple kinds of explorations. You and your students might create a shape or movement for each line, or for each section as a whole. It is a great springboard for playing with literal ideas and also poetic/abstracted expressions. As for music, may I suggest "Toufoula" by Ballaké Sissoko, Driss El Maloumi and Rajery?

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February 8, 2021
Seasonal Dancing: “Sometimes Rain”

Published in 2018, Sometimes Rain is a great new addition to your collection of books on the theme of seasons. Try it out with students in preschool, K, 1st, and 2nd grades.

Meg Fleming's text is spacious and poetic to invite interpretation and choreographic choicemaking. The words inspire a dance with many sections, and possibly trios for each page spread.

As seen below, the text is rhyming. "Sometimes dreaming. Open skies. Sometimes chasing butterflies."

The text takes us through the seasons, describing both weather changes and activities enjoyed within each season. There are lots of action words for dancing: blazing, finding, stomping, and jumping, to name a few.

As for music, consider using "Recurring" by electronic artist Bonobo.

Enjoy!

November 27, 2020
Yellow Time – To Explore Colors, the Season of Fall, and Props

Yellow Time by Lauren Stringer is a picture book with numerous possibilities within a dance class for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classes. Check out this book if you are interested in exploring: colors, the season of fall, props, or turning a story into a group dance.

Colors

Yellow! The book is about a tree turning a beautiful yellow. My research has yet to find a book just on the color yellow, so this is a great opportunity to explore this primary color.

To see other books about colors and rainbows, click here.

The Season of Fall

"Fall/autumn" is always a rich theme for dance classes – to explore change and transformation, the actions of falling and floating, and props to represent leaves and various colors.

To see other books about the seasons, click here.

Props

The story of Yellow Time inspires me to give each student some yellow fabric (or scarves) to create some dancing leaves. Students LOVE props and the simple joy of something in their hand to toss, sway, circle, and zigzag. Head to your local fabric store to purchase a few yards of fabric. You can purchase tulle for everyone, or select a variety of fabrics in varying shades of yellow.

A Story into a Dance

Lauren Stringer's story easily leads to a full dance with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The students can be the crows in the trees. They can fly in and then be still (as dance students practice shapes and stillness). The crows can "hide" yellow pieces of fabric behind their backs, and then the leaves begin to dance. Use a music selection from Vivaldi's Four Seasons……

Crows love yellow time.

They fill still-leafy trees with their voices announcing it's coming to everyone.

Just before yellow time, the air smells different. Like wet mud and dry grass with a sprinkle of sugar.

Yellow time comes before white time. Every time.

Everyone is ready. The trees can't hold on forever.

The sky billows gray with clouds, and then it begins…..Whoosh! Whoosh! WHOOSH!

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Lauren Stringer has also illustrated other books mentioned on this blog:

Deer Dancer

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky

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July 16, 2017
Projects about the Four Seasons

Quiet and still

long enough

for birds to make nests?

This is one of the haiku poems we selected about spring, from the book Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons.

In December, 15 7th and 8th graders in my Dance Elective course created a wonderful 60 minute production about the four seasons. We had several dances related to each season. The school's two choruses also joined us for the production. It was a beautiful collage of dance, song, poetry, and film.

We included several poems within the performance, with one student reading and 1-6 students dancing for each poem. Even in middle school, picture books with poems can offer ideas and inspiration. We pulled poems from:

Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko

Seasons: Rhymes in Time by Michael DeWall and Peter Elman

If looking for new inspiration for a project this winter, check out these books! We especially loved the haikus as short interludes within the show. I also used these short poems as opportunities for brave students to try out solos and duets for the first time.

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January 4, 2016
New Poems for Wintery Days

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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February 22, 2015
Dancing During Poetry Month: Firefly July
Yesterday I got to stop into one of my favorite independent bookstores in the US, The King's English Bookstore in Salt Lake City. The new poetry compilation, Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, was on display.

The book jumped out at me for various reasons:
- Melissa Sweet's artwork is colorful and whimsical.
- I am always looking for new poems to use within dance classes.
- I love poetry books that are categorized by seasons.
- Upon a quick browse, I knew the content evoked a sense of "magic and whimsy."
Paul B. Janeczko has compiled a strong collection of very short poems, perfect for 3rd-6th grade dance students. Poets include: Eve Merriam, Robert Frost, Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser, and Joyce Sidman. The brevity of the poems will lead to movement studies as well as a series of vignettes within a larger class, that could be strung together for a performance. For example,

Spring

Rain beats down,

roots stretch up.

They'll meet

in a flower.

-Raymond Souster

Melissa Sweet's illustrations and color scheme can also easily inspire costume selections.

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April 15, 2014
Magic and Whimsy Series: Snowflakes Fall

"After the flowers are gone

Snowflakes fall.

Flake

After flake

After flake

Each one a pattern

All its own –

No two the same -

All beautiful."

So begins the new picture book by a stellar duo, author Patricia MacLachlan and illustrator Steven Kellogg. If you are still seeking a magical picture book for a project in the coming weeks in PreK-5 dance classes, check out Snowflakes Fall.

Whether you use the actual text as a springboard for a dance project, or simply read the book for the start of a idea, Snowflakes Fall will lead you to some great Winter dancing. The words in the book talk about the actions of snow – falling, drifting, and swirling. The book ends talking about the water cycle – snow melting, streams flowing, evaporating, and raining.

The overarching idea of the book expresses the uniqueness of us all. Even in times of sorrow and loss there is still hope. Snowflakes Fall definitely inspires us to find beauty and to find hope.

November 23, 2013
Snowflakes and Symmetry

One of my favorite books in my classes this fall (6th-8th grade) is the small photography book Snowflakes, featuring the incredible "micro-photography" of Kenneth Libbrecht. You can purchase new and used copies on amazon.com.

There are numerous uses for this book. The book is full of pictures and quotes, not a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Even in this digital age, my students always love having a book in hand and beautiful color images as inspiration.

1. With my 6th grade students, we have an entire "water dance project" in conjunction with the 6th grade science curriculum. One component of the project includes states of water. This book is a great addition to my collection, to use as springboards.

2. With all of my classes, the book is a great example of symmetry. I am always on the lookout for visual images to use when exploring symmetry and asymmetry in classes.

3. In my 7th/8th grade dance elective course, we are creating an entire performance around the theme of Winter. We are using these images and embodying them as we make a stop motion film this trimester.

This book can easily be used in elementary dance classes as well.

October 8, 2013
New Book/CD About the Seasons

I spotted this book in the window of Mrs. Dalloway's in Berkeley just the other day. It is a great find, just in time for the beginning of Fall.

Local educator Michael DeWall has created a beautiful book and CD to explore with children in preschool, kindergarten, first, and second grades. Illustrator Sara Kahn has created color-rich watercolors to accompany the lyrics of the songs. In the back of the book you will find the sheet music for these nine original songs as well as a CD.

The music is definitely "children's music," but I like it a lot. My own children are enjoying listening to it, and I can easily see PreK-2 dance teachers and classroom teachers using it in classes. The music is joyful and a great addition to your music collection about the seasons. The songs explore a variety of themes including: changes, rain, picking berries, and the four seasons.

Check out Seasons: Rhymes in Time here.

September 24, 2013
Happy Fall! Exploring the Seasons through Dance

Happy first day of Fall! If you look at the column on the right on this blog page, you can see the new category "Seasons." Click on it and you will find a variety of books to explore.

Happy dancing!

September 22, 2013