Year 4 Dance Unit 1 Lesson 2

Lesson Summary

Learning Intentions

  • Can demonstrate control and precision to refine the quality of their movements
  • Can select and apply some performance skills to suit the intent of the dance
  • Can frequently offer constructive feedback and make some improvements to their own work

Success Criteria

  • I can learn the agent phrase, practicing my accuracy and balance
  • I can perform the agent phrase with developing my characterisation and focus skills
  • I can watch other people dancing and give feedback to help their accuracy, balance and performance skills
  • I can improve my accuracy, balance and performance skills in response to feedback

We are Learning...

how to remember, perform and master an agent phrase.

Curriculum Links

NC Apply control and balance with some consistency

L Spell the word position and use in a sentence about today’s lesson

N The side of the dance square is 12m. How long is the perimeter?

Music Suggestions

Key Questions

  • What are the dynamics of a secret agent?
  • How can I improve my balance and accuracy?
  • What skills do I need to perform?
  • How can I improve and help others do the same?

Agent Phrase (Middle)

This section of dance, Agent Phrase, learned today forms the first part of the middle section of the final dance children will perform at the end of the six lessons. Please see the attached crib sheet to see how all sections come together to form the full dance and to see where Lesson 2s Agent Phrase fits. Remind children that all dance performances have a beginning, middle and end and today we are learning the first part of the middle section.

Secret Solo Phrase Teaching Points

  • Move 3 – Jump. Use the arms and eyes to gain height here. Remember to bring your feet together. When you land, place the hands on the floor either side of the feet to help balance in the squatting position.
  • Move 4 – Gesture. When moving back up the ladder, lean forwards slightly and push the heels down to help balance.
  • Move 5 – Balance. When kicking the legs to the side of the body, counter balance the leg by leaning to the opposite side. Use your eyes – look at the side you are kicking towards

General Teaching Points

  • It might take a while to learn the agent’s phrase – remind the children they are not expected to remember it all straight away and that there will be plenty of opportunities to practice it over the coming weeks
  • Encourage the children to be each other’s cheerleaders when sharing back their dancing – how can they lift each other up so they all do well together?
  • Once the children are in their groups of 3, they could choose secret team names to unite their groups together

Lesson Content

Starter Activity

Recap: Refresh memories on the character of a secret agent – what kind of actions do they do? What kind of dynamics do they use? Brave, strong, serious, quiet

Still image: Ask the children to stand in a space and create a still image of a secret agent. How can they be still but also show that they are being secretive? Could they choose a shape that shows they are hiding behind something else? Are they peeking out from a newspaper they are pretending to read?

Movement: Now bring these characters to life – ask the children to come out of their still image and begin moving around the room as secret agents.

Lesson 1 Practice: Finally, ask the children to recall and practice their Secret Solos from the last lesson (lesson 1) using their 3-5 actions that travel off the spot.

Variations: Can they also remember the spatial variations they added in the last session? (different levels and different directions).

Activity 1 - Agent’s Phrase

In the last session, the children made their own Secret Solo, which was based on actions that travelled. Today, they will learn a new phrase based on actions that stay on the spot (gestures, turns, jumps, and balances). This will form the first part of the middle section of their final dance.

You can learn the phrase yourself and then teach it to the children or use the video directly with the class.

Starting position – standing legs wide, arms folded

  • Gesture: punch forward with the right arm, then repeat with the left arm
  • Turn: duck down, bending the knees, then straighten back up again
  • Jump: jump the feet together into a pencil jump and land in a squatting position
  • Gesture: use the hands to climb upwards into a standing position
  • Balance: kick the right leg to the right side, then place the feet back together
  • Balance: kick the left leg to the left side, then place the feet back together
  • Turn: jump the feet so they are crisscrossed then pivot around on the toes/heels to circle all the way around
  • Jump: jump the legs apart and push the hands out to the side of the body at the same time

Dynamics: Can they practice the dance using the dynamics of a secret agent – brave, strong, serious? Control: Can they practice the dance with precision and control?

Activity 2 – Group work

Set up and practice: Get the children into groups of 3. Task the children to practice the Agent’s Phrase together in their threes – what can they remember? Can they rehearse it in the correct order? Can they practice the dance in the character of a secret agent (brave, strong, serious)?

Share: Now, each child takes turns to share the phrase with their groups of three. Encourage the dancer to consider their performance skills

  • Keep going even if they make mistakes
  • Try to dance as much as possible as a secret agent character (brave, strong, serious)
  • Keep their focus and be in the moment

Feedback: Ask the two children watching to give feedback…

  • Did they perform it in the right order?
  • What movements were accurate – did they make the right shapes with their bodies?
  • Did they wobble at all? Do they need to work on their control?
  • Did they demonstrate the dance with some performance skills? did they stay in character? Did they keep their focus? Did they have spatial awareness etc?

Take turns so everyone has an opportunity to perform for their group.

Whole class practice: Ask the children to practice the Agent Phrase again as a whole class in unison, making some improvements to their movements based on the feedback their group gave them.

Activity 3 – Teams of three, trios

  • Get the children back in their groups of 3. They are now a team of agents working together.
  • The threes now need to practice the Agent’s Phrase together, doing the same moves at the same time as a team (in unison). Encourage the more confident children to support their groups to remember the phrase.
  • Can they create a still image for the start of their Agent Phrase? Can they create an ending position to add on after they have completed move 8?

Secret Mission Task: Ask the teams to discuss what secret mission they will complete together. We will return to this in a future lesson (5). Examples of secret missions include escaping from a building late at night, recovering a lost or stolen valuable item from the enemy, hiding a secret message/tape, etc. Encourage children to have ideas of their own.

Cool Down

  • Ask the children to shake off their energy and gain more stillness. Find different parts of the body to shake, loosen tension and become themselves again.
  • Finish with a stretch – something that feels good for their bodies today.