Sample Lesson Plans

DANCING SNOWFLAKES

Created and copyrighted by Roslyn Biskin

Ages:  3 – 5

Goals: 

• Students will extend knowledge of one of the seasons into a dance study. 

• Students will gain understanding of verbal and movement concepts of “float”, “drift”, “gentle”, “soft”, “swirl”, “melt”, etc.

• Students will participate in a dance with a beginning, middle, and end. 

Materials:

CD player, Together in Dance CD volume 1(warm-up), “Dance of the Snowflakes” from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”, cutout snowflake shapes

Warm-up:

Group warm-up led by teacher in a circle.  Warm-up should include movements that are smooth. 

Motivation:

Look at shapes of cutout snowflakes.  Discuss different types of shapes.  Discuss what snow looks like when it falls. 

Optional:  listen to a few moments of the musical selection – listening for snow that gently falls, and is heavily falling.

Exploration:

• Students make snowflake shapes with their own bodies, trying many different shapes on different levels. 

• Students move their shapes by floating, drifting, swirling (whatever words came up in discussion of how snow moves).

• Teacher models, then students try, creating a giant snowflake with a partner or small group – without touching (look at cutout shapes once more). 

Development:

Using Dance of the Snowflakes, one child at a time dances their snowflake shape into the circle, and freezes.  Once all children have danced in and all are frozen in a giant snowflake shape…..a gust of wind comes, and swooshes all of the snowflakes, scattering them everywhere, snow flying and swirling until…..all of the snowflakes gently drift to the ground, and……slowly, slowly melt into puddles.

Reflection:

Leading question such as “what was your favorite part of the dance?” OR draw a picture of a snowstorm.