Grade 2 Drama and Dance
The ACS Drama and Dance program is guided by the National Core Arts Standards for Theater and Dance. The Dance requirements are also addressed by the SHAPE America Standards that provide guidance for the Physical Education program.
The standards include:
CREATING
Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Refine and complete artistic work.
PERFORMING/PRESENTING/PRODUCING
Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
RESPONDING
Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
CONNECTING
Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.
For the complete list of standards from PreK through high school, please click below:
Ensemble Building
Unit Sketch
This unit will reintroduce students to the class and introduce students to each other. They will review about the Actor's Toolbox, Class expectations, theater ensemble games, stage directions, critiquing and how to use them to have fun and make decisions in class.
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that...
The word Ensemble is defined as a group of people working together as a team.
There are clear expectations of behavior and participation in dance and drama class.
Skills
Students will be able to...
Enter and start class without help and effectively
CREATE Warm-ups for each class
EVALUATE and critique their own participation
Elements of Dance
Unit Sketch
Students will learn the four elements of dance: Body, Energy, Space and Time and use them to become emerging choreographers with a group of their peers. This Unit consists of two components: using activities to learn the elements of dance and using the elements of dance to create a dance routine.
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that...
The Elements of Dance are the Body, Energy, Space and Time.
We use the things we learn, see and hear in our own life to create and express movement.
The elements of dance are the tools we use to choreograph and be our BEST.
Dancers concentrate on on making physical choices to communicate an idea.
Dancers do PQPs and edit their dances to make sure their idea is clearly communicated.
Skills
Students will be able to...
Explore movement inspired by a variety of stimuli (for example, music/sound, text, objects, images, symbols, observed dance, experiences) and suggest additional sources for movement ideas
Combine a variety of movements while manipulating the elements of dance
Choose movements that express a main idea or emotion, or follow a musical phrase; explain reasons for movement choices
Demonstrate clear directionality and intent when performing locomotor and non- locomotor movements that change body shapes, facings, and pathways in space. Identify symmetrical and asymmetrical body shapes and examine relationships between body parts; differentiate between circling and turning as two separate ways of continuous directional change
Identify the length of time a move or phrase takes (for example, whether it is long or short). Identify and move on the downbeat in duple and triple meter; correlate metric phrasing with movement phrasing
Select and apply appropriate characteristics to movements (for example, selecting specific adverbs and adjectives and apply them to movements); demonstrate kinesthetic awareness while dancing the movement characteristics
Demonstrate a range of locomotor and non-locomotor movements, body patterning, and dance sequences that require moving through space using a variety of pathways
Move safely in a variety of spatial relationships and formations with other dancers, sharing and maintaining personal space
Repeat movements, with an awareness of self and others in space. Self- adjust and modify movements or placement upon request
Describe, create, and/or perform a dance that expresses personal meaning and explain how certain movements express this personal meaning
Dance Improvisation Mini Unit
Unit Sketch
We will revisit dramatic improvisation (acting without a plan or script) and apply it to dance. Students will create and critique short improvised performances using the skills they learned in the Dance Elements Unit.
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that...
The job of the performer is to entertain the audience by communicating a clear story using the Dance Elements and matching it with the music
I concentrate on on making physical choices to communicate an idea.
Dancers do PQPs to make sure their idea is clearly communicated.
Skills
Students will be able to...
Identify the mood, weight and tempo of a given song
Develop organic creative movement
Create improvised dance pieces
World Dance
Unit Sketch
In this unit students will learn:
A variety of movement specific to one culture or region OR
Movement from different cultures and regions
If time permits they will be tasked with creating movement that defines the ACS community.
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that...
Dancers use their own life to interpret the viewing, creation and performance of dance
Before dancers learn a dance - they ask why it is danced.
Criteria for evaluating dance vary across genres, styles, and cultures. (The culture and type of dance decides if a dance is good or not.)
We use the things we learn, see and hear in our own life to create and express movement.
Skills
Students will be able to...
Experience dance movements from the culture or region introduced
Identify key characteristics of that shared group
Evaluate the effectiveness of a shared dance
Create a class dance