Dance - Farm - Lesson 5

Lesson 5 of the Reception Dance - Farm series is designed to help young students rehearse a dance about farm animals, combining movements they've learned in previous weeks. The learning objectives are clear: pupils should be able to remember and perform the movements, work together as a group, and stay in time with the music. The lesson is structured with a warm-up, main activity, and cool-down, each lasting around 10 to 30 minutes. During the warm-up, children engage in colour-coded actions corresponding to different cones placed around the room, following instructions from the teacher to jump, balance, turn around, or hop. The teacher leads a series of movements to prepare the children for the main activity, including head, shoulder, hip, and foot rotations, as well as jumping and stretching exercises.

The main part of the lesson involves putting together a dance sequence that mimics the movements of various farm animals, such as horses, sheepdogs, chickens, and ducklings. The teacher provides step-by-step instructions, often using visual aids like animal posters to help the children understand the sequence of the dance. The pupils practice the movements in pairs and groups, with the teacher using claps and other signals to indicate transitions between the different animal representations. The lesson aims to prepare the children to perform the dance in front of an audience in the following session. To wind down, the teacher guides the children through a series of stretches and relaxation movements, encouraging them to release any tension and listen attentively before concluding the class.