Patterns and Sequencing - 18 November 2016

This week, we had another integrated lesson. The class had been learning about patterns and sequencing (how to determine a sequence based on a pattern) in math, so I decided to work with that concept through dance for this lesson. After warming up, we practiced dancing different patterns by playing with different levels, speeds, shapes, energy qualities, and pathways. Once we were comfortable, we turned it into a game of "Miss Lambert Says" (exactly like "Simon Says"), so they had to pay special attention to instructions as well as listening closely to figure out the pattern.
At one point while playing "Miss Lambert Says," I called out, "Miss Lambert says do the Macarena!" At that moment, I discovered that over half of the class did not know how to do the Macarena, so we stopped the game and learned the Macarena. It was a great application of how patterns and sequences are used in dance--especially line dances! Since we enjoyed the Macarena so much, we decided that next week we would have a line dance lesson, so there'll be more on that in the next post!

Above, we are learning the Macarena. Below, we are working on our final project of the day.

Our final project of the day was to choreograph a dance as a class by using patterns to build sequences. First, we made a pattern for the outline of the dance: ABCB. Next, we made a pattern for the "chorus" of the dance (Part B), and we assigned different movements to the different symbols in the pattern. After that, we split into two groups (Group A and Group C), each with their own pattern for a their part of the dance, and they choreographed their parts using the same methods we had used to choreograph Part B. Finally, we put all the parts together with music, giving each movement four counts. By using patterns to build our sequences, we choreographed a dance over three minutes long, in just fifteen minutes! I was really impressed with their choreography, their memory, and their endurance--it was a long, aerobic dance, and I was so proud!