Dance 3 - Lesson 2

In Year 5's Dance 3 - Lesson 2, the objective is to creatively utilise space by crafting floor plans that mimic the journey of a river. This artistic exploration encourages pupils to use different directions and understand the concept of a floor plan to guide their movements. The lesson aims for students to recognise and use starting and finishing areas within the performance space. Key vocabulary such as 'transition', 'travelling', 'floor plan', and 'levels' are introduced to enhance their dance terminology. To inspire the students, they are provided with bird's-eye view images of various rivers, which serve as a visual aid and potential educational opportunity to learn about famous rivers around the world.

The lesson commences with a ten-minute warm-up, where pupils find space to move and respond to directional commands from the teacher or a peer leader. The main activity spans thirty minutes, where pupils, in pairs or trios, are assigned pictures of rivers and tasked with tracing the river's path through the room. This encourages them to conceptualise and memorise their own 'river' floor plan. As music of different genres plays, students are invited to improvise their movements along their river paths, allowing the music to influence their dance style. The lesson culminates in a performance where each group shares their river journey interpretation. A ten-minute cool-down follows, with pupils walking around the room and responding to a series of numbered commands, before stretching and quietly lining up to return to class.