TOP FIVE WAYS DANCE CAN HELP EDUCATORS
Last year , a third grade classroom of 10 girls and 8 boys had five hour-long sessions of movement to help them become investigative readers . Through dance , students improved their ability to infer by 30 % and to identify story elements by 36 %.
Using dance does not require an educator to be a trained dancer . Fundamental movement skills can be taught and applied to classroom experiences to liven up learning and help educators understand their students ’ personalities and reactions .
TOP FIVE WAYS DANCE CAN HELP EDUCATORS
1 . Revealing a students ’ distinctive personality : How students choose to move , or non-verbal cues , provide educators with a glimpse into their personalities . For example , a student who exhibits extraversion traits will most likely move with their entire body ( trunk , head , hands and extremities ) and be highly expressive . A child who chooses to move but perhaps stays only with one localized part of the body could be revealing that they ’ re open to new experiences but cautious . A child who exhibits high neuroticism personality traits , may exhibit small , jerky movements in the classroom . These non-verbal movement cues can help educators understand what their students may be experiencing in the classroom .
2 . Helping bring a student from Point A to Point B : Dance movement can help a tired body or sleepy brain adjust itself by moving fresh blood and oxygen through the body . Simple exercises can be taught by teachers to students on how to self-assess what their body is experiencing and how to make healthy changes .
3 . Making innovative connections to core curriculum : Teachers can use movement to help students understand many different areas of curriculum . For example , language used can be expressed in gestural movements . The movement for rocking a baby is a universal movement that everyone understands regardless of language , age , religion , sex or ethnicity . Identifying how movement relates to language , math , science and history can help educators get the kids moving while making longlasting learning memories .
4 . Giving authority to students to take ownership of their learning : When the students get to move within their own bodies , learning becomes personal . Since each student has different ranges of motion , the work becomes unique to each individual student . Giving them the authority to take creative license also allows them to discover new connections , create new pathways and map out their personal learning .
5 . Teamwork or individual work produces wonderful takeaways : We live in a world that honors the extrovert more . For example , look at the classrooms . We place them in little pods and have the students discuss and decide together . While this may be helpful for extroverted students , it may hinder learning for introverted students who would rather process alone . Dance allows teamwork and solo work to be important , necessary and encouraged .
STEAMed Magazine
31
January 2016 Edition