"Braiding and Weaving"
Dance Lesson Plan

Grade Level

Four

Space

The dance sessions take place in the school gym

Supplies

Various percussion instruments used to accompany dance, taped music, tape recorder, video camera, VCR and TV

Goal

The students will learn that there are numerous ways to braid and weave

Lesson Objectives

• Explore weaving through general space by moving within a group at various speeds, using several locomotor movements
• Improvise with other students through the use of shapes, shaping and spatial relationships
• Perform and repeat several floor patterns and pathways common to various types of folk dance
• Cooperate through movement and verbal language with another dancer
• Create a braiding and weaving dance within a group of 2-3 students
• Share their dances with their classmates through performance and discussion
• Reflect on the dances of others through discussion

Dance Elements/Movements to be Explored

• speed
• motion and stillness
• general and personal space
• locomotor movements (grapevine, slide, skip, hop, walk)
• non-locomotor movements (reach, twist, bend, stretch)
• high, middle and low shapes
• moving to a rhythm
• spatial pathways
• floor patterns
• folk dance
• shaping
• spatial relationships

Introduction

1. The students are asked to find their own personal space inside the lines that define one half of the gym. Within this small space, the students are asked to walk through general space, exploring weaving around and through their classmates. Gradually the teacher increases the speed, building from a slow walk to a run, with the students being asked to make quick changes in direction.

2. The students are asked to find a partner and to sit quietly with the person they have chosen to work with.

3. The teacher asks one pair to stand in order to help her demonstrate the shaping exercise. The teacher explains that the object is to make ten shapes that relate to one another, by braiding and/or weaving body parts. They can do this by taking turns counting and moving into one shape at a time.

4. The teacher gives the students a chance to work on this on their own, then asks two pairs at a time to do the exercise while the rest of the class watches, emphasizing the fact that these are examples of weaving and braiding using non-locomotor movements.

Development

1. The students are asked to return to the circle to listen to the next set of directions.

2. The teacher asks various students to help demonstrate how weaving and braiding are used in folk and social dances. After a demonstration she asks the students to perform these formations and patterns as a group to taped musical accompaniment, reminding the students that these are examples of weaving and braiding that use locomotor movements.

3. The teacher then gives the students guidelines for creating their own weaving and braiding dance

• Create a braiding and weaving dance within small groups
• The dance must show at least five ways of braiding and/or weaving
• It must include both locomotor and non-locomotor movements
• Your group must show a clear beginning and ending

Culminating Experiences

1. The teacher gives the students a chance to share their dances with their classmates.

2. The teacher leads a discussion about the dances by asking the students questions and encouraging the audience members to ask questions of the dancers.

Angela McDonnell
Teachers College
Columbia University
November 1993