GRADE

TOPIC

UNIT

Kindergarten

Dynamic Body Shapes – Transformation

Dance

Equipment Needed

Music player, Music, Control Cones, Safety Rules Poster, Stretching Station Cards, Hoops, Bean Bags, Body Part cards, Body Shape Cards, Butterfly/Caterpillar and Cocoon cards, six sided dice , slide Whistle, Chimes.

Content Standard Benchmarks or Common Core Standards

Learning Goals, Objectives, Expected Outcomes

Psychomotor

1. Physically demonstrate the cycle of the caterpillar, cocoon and butterfly through creative dance.

Cognitive

1. Discuss the cycle of the caterpillar, cocoon and butterfly throughout the lesson.

Affective

1. Move and work safely among other children.
2. Have fun!

ACTIVITY

PROCEDURE AND TRANSITIONS WITH

MODIFICATIONS AND OR ACCOMMODATIONS

SETUP DESCRIPTION OR DIAGRAM

Entrance Routine

Part 1

Warm-up/Review

Explain to the children that they are going to play five noses again.  You (the teacher) are going to call out the body part, but they are going to play in small groups and get to take turns rolling the dice for their own group.

When I say go I would like you to stand near the hoop inside our boundaries that matches your bean bag.  Leave your bean bag on the floor in your own space.

Decide who will roll first. Remember, Everyone will get a turn to roll.

First, I’m going call out a body part, let’s try foot.

Now roll the dice for your group. The dice tells you how many bean bags to touch.  That means, when I say go again, you will travel to a the number of bean bags that is on your dice, and touch each one with your FOOT.  Freeze with your foot on the last bean bag. Then I’ll know you are finished.  Ready? Go.

(You may want to choose one group to demonstrate before you have everyone try the first time.)

Teaching Tips:

(To the children:)

“Count out loud as you touch each bean bag.”

Stomach, Back, Hip, Shin, Seat, Knee, Foot, Shoulder, Elbow, Hand, Head (Show the children how to do this before letting them do it.  Keep both hands and feet on the ground around the bean bag as you touch your head to it.)

 Make sure to play long enough that everyone gets a turn to roll the dice in each group.

Part 2

Review

To the children:

•  “Stay in your own space and begin stretching your arms and legs out to make a wide shape with your body.
• Slowly curl your arms and legs in to make a round shape.
• Stretch out long in a low level to make a Narrow shape.
• Curl up into a round shape with your weight on your side surface.
• Stretch out to make Narrow shape on your front surface.
• Curl up to make a round shape on a different body surface.
• Each time you curl, change the body surface or body part you are balancing on.
• Each time you stretch, change your level.

Transition

Part 3

Practice

• Caterpillar – Narrow Shape traveling (Single chime sound for 16 counts)
• Cocoon – Round shape in own space (8 counts (slide whistle down and up) to curl into cocoon and 8 counts to stretch to a wide butterfly shape.)
• Butterfly – Wide shape traveling – (Multiple Wind Chimes for  16 counts.)

(To the children:)

• “Raise your hand if you have ever seen a caterpillar?  In the winter caterpillars rest in cocoons, it’s like a caterpillar sleeping bag! In the cocoon, the caterpillar transforms, or changes into a Butterfly!  Raise your hand if you have ever seen a butterfly?
•  “Look at these pictures, which one is a wide shape?  That’s right, the butterfly.  Which one looks like a Narrow shape?  The Caterpillar.  Which looks like a round shape.  The cocoon.  You are going to create a dance that shows how the caterpillar turns into a butterfly!”

Teaching Tips:

Do each of the following parts to the dance a couple times.  Encourage the children to try different ways of traveling, different levels and directions.  Practice curling and stretching to the 8 counts, finishing on the 8th count.  A 3-5 second freeze will help distinguish between the curling and the stretching. 

1.  “Make a narrow shape in a low level, like a Caterpillar.  I’ll play one chime note and you travel inside our boundaries like a caterpillar in a low level.  Stay Narrow as you travel.  Caterpillar’s can’t travel very fast!”
2. “Freeze, keep your body in  a Narrow long shape,”  (practice traveling narrow in a low level and freezing a couple times, try diff. ways of traveling each time. )
3. “I am going to play the slide whistle, like this…(demonstrate the sound over 8 beats).  While the slide whistle sound is getting lower you are going to make a round shape like a cocoon.  See if you can finish your cocoon at the same time I finish playing the slide whistle.”
4. “Now your butterfly is ready to come out.  This time the slide whistle going up will be your signal to stretch out into a wide shape, let your butterfly out!” (Practice curling and stretching for 8 counts a couple times)
5. “When I say go again, I will play the wind chimes, show me how you can travel inside our boundaries like a butterfly, in a wide shape.  Look at those butterfly wings flapping, I really love Julie’s butterfly she is changing directions while she flies.  remember to keep a wide shape while you fly.”  (as you practice, don’t limit the traveling to 16 counts.  While they are traveling, encourage them to try different ways of traveling.)
6. “Let’s put it all together, when you hear the single chime, that means you are a Narrow caterpillar in low level traveling around inside our boundaries.  When you hear the slide whistle begin, wherever you are, stay in your own space and begin curling into your cocoon.  After you are frozen in your cocoon, the slide whistle will guide you to stretch out into your wide butterfly shape.  Then the wind chimes will tell you to begin flying around inside our boundaries.  I’ll remind you each time your shape should change. Ready, here we go. (hit the single chime) Go, begin in a Narrow long shape and travel like a caterpillar.”

Transition

Part 4

Stretching & closure

Taking it Home

Choose 3 stretches to do with the class.

Review:

1.  What happens to the caterpillar when it goes into the cocoon? (transforms into a butterfly)
2. What shape is a caterpillar in our dance? (Narrow)
3. What shape is the cocoon in our dance? (Round)
4. What shape is the butterfly in our dance? (Wide)