Dance/ELA 1st Grade
The Tortoise and the Hare
An Integrated Dance/Language Arts Lesson
Lesson developed by: Ashley Pedrotti, 12/08/10, DNS 483
Grade level: 1st grade
Length of lesson, or number of lessons in sequence: 30 minutes
Prior knowledge: They may already know that a tortoise moves slower than a hare.
Curriculum focus: Character traits and compare/ contrast AND Time: Tempo: Fast/Slow Duration: sustained/quick
Objectives: Students will – Demonstrate the differences between fast and slow movement and students will compare and contrast character traits of the hare and tortoise.
Focus questions: How do we use locomoter movement to demonstrate the difference between fast versus slow and quick versus sustained movement? How do we use character traits to compare and contrast characters in the picture book?
Literature Source: Hurry Up and Slow Down, Layn Marlow, ISBN-13: 978-0-8234-2178-7
Brief Synopsis of Book: The Hare and the tortoise are friends. The hare is always racing through the day and doing activities quickly. On the other hand, the tortoise is very slow and takes his time with everything. When night time comes Hare wants tortoise to read him a bed time story. Tortoise finishes reading the book fairly quickly and Hare is sad. Hare asks Tortoise to slow down so they can look at the pictures. Then tortoise reads the whole book over again slowly for his friend hare.
Key vocabulary words: tempo, fast versus slow, character traits, duration, sustained, quick
NYS Standards addressed: NYS Art Standard 1- Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Arts Dance • create and perform simple dances based on their own movement ideas This is evident, for example, when students: Demonstrate the movements of various animals, a cat, a dog, an elephant, a monkey, etc.
NYS ELA Learning Standard 1- Language for Information and Understanding • gather and interpret information from children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams This is evident, for example, when students: Follow directions that involve a few steps
Hare versus Tortoise
Objective(s): • Fast versus slow movement • Compare and contrast character traits
Focus Question(s): How do we use locomoter movement to demonstrate the difference between fast versus slow and quick versus sustained movement? How do we use character traits to compare and contrast characters in the picture book?
Materials/Resources: chart paper, marker, Hurry Up and Slow Down by Layn Marlow
Attribution: N/A
Sequence of Activities:
1. First the teacher will read out loud to the class Hurry Up and Slow Down by Layn Marlow.
2. Then on chart paper as a class they will compare and contrast the character traits of the hare and tortoise. They will discuss how are they alike? How are they different? Encourage the students to give direct examples from the story.
3. Discuss how the hare moves fast and how the tortoise moves slow. Ask them to name activities they do fast? Slow? Ask them if they know why they do certain activities faster than others? For example do they brush their teeth fast because they do not like brushing their teeth?
4. Now ask the whole class to move like the hare. The hare moves quickly and lightly through space. Ask them to hop quick and light. Have them act out eating fast like in the book. Have them discus how the movement felt. Was it tiring? Was it hard to do everything at a quick pace?
5. Now have the whole class move like the tortoise did in the book. While they are moving explain sustained movement. Tell them that the tortoise moves in slow motion. The movement takes long strides and is not choppy. Have them walk using slow and sustained movement, Then have them crawl doing the same.
Assessment:
1. Break the students up into groups of about five depending on class size.
2. Have them come up with another animal other than a tortoise or a hare.
3. Once they pick the animal they must move like the animal using fast/quick movement or slow/ sustained movement.
4. They must share with the class the animal they picked and the movement choice they decided to use and why.
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