Medium Term Plan - Dance - Year 3

The Year 3 Dance medium-term plan spans six lessons, aiming to cultivate the ability to move rhythmically to music, varying in shape, direction, level, speed, and tension. Students will explore creating simple characters and narratives inspired by a range of musical stimuli, expressing feelings and moods through dance. The plan encourages collaboration for evaluating and refining movements, as well as understanding the physical and mental benefits of exercise. The curriculum is designed to build on the students' existing knowledge, including the replication of movements to music, the significance of timing, and the presentation of dance to an audience. The skills developed through the lessons encompass gestures, expression, jumps, and turns, with a focus on sequencing movements to express emotions and progressing towards more complex group performances.

The scheme of work, titled 'Dance – The Enormous Crocodile', is based on the narrative of the book and involves interpreting its characters and plot through dance. Each week's objectives guide students from understanding the dance concept, replicating movements, and responding to changes in music, to the final performance where they demonstrate their learned sequences. The lessons incorporate a variety of music, from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5 to contemporary tracks like 'Pump it' by Black Eyed Peas, and fairground tunes, each chosen to evoke different emotions and stimulate creative movement. The plan outlines a progression from beginning, where students replicate basic patterns, to exceeding levels, where they create inspired motifs and demonstrate excellent timing. Cross-curricular links with literacy and numeracy are also embedded within the lessons, and the use of video recording plays a key role in self-assessment and improvement. By the end of the term, students will have developed their dance skills, decision-making, problem-solving, personal development, and the ability to evaluate and enhance their performances.