Third Visit- Thank- You Bones Part Two

Visit Three!! I love coming to Ms. Thorstroms class, her class is full of caring and energetic students who are bursting with creativity. I did a continuation of the last lesson about the skeletal system. We warmed up by playing a version of Simon Says as I called out different body parts using their latin or greek name. After that warm-up, we reviewed the "Thank-you Bone" dance we created last time. Students learned four new dance energy qualities- explosive, vibratory, swing and collapse. The challenge that I find when teaching a specific subject or concept through dance is what elements I should focus on when teaching. My mentor Pauline Kacher suggested guiding the students more closely using words of that specific subject, instead of new dance vocablary. I found that I was trying to teach science and dance almost as two different subjects, instead of letting each of the subjects support and inform about the other. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would have not added more dance moves to the end of their dance, but rather have the students explore the movement that already knew using the different energy qualities. I feel this would help create deeper meaning to the material they have already learned.