Leaf Dancing

• Wilhelmina Laughlin
• Posted 9/22/23
• 0 comments

Scaffolding Creative Movement

What better way to celebrate the changing season than with a creative movement lesson plan? This year, the students in my 4^th and 5^th grades collected unique leaves of varying sizes, shapes, and colors to study their movements when the leaves met with environmental stimuli.

Whole Group Leaf Dancing  

Individually, students tossed their leaves in the air. As a class, we observed each leaf fall to the floor and then imitated the movement of each leaf as it fell to the floor.  Each dance imitating the leaf was eight beats in length.  I chose Gossip by Andy Monroe to use as a musical accompaniment. 

Composing Small Group Dances 

Students self-select into groups of four. Within the group, students chose a starting formation – (a line, circle, on the floor, backs turned, etc..) Next, each student performed an individual leaf dance for eight beats.  Within the group, students decided the order of their performances.  Each group of students will perform a total of 32 beats for the first section of their dance. 

Students are naturally creative and may disproportionately divide beats between members if the total number of beats is 32. 

In the next part of the process, the groups choreographed whole-group movements based on how their leaves move.  Leaf dances vary dramatically due to the diverse spectrum in which gravity acts upon individual leaves.  

The four members may decide to float down, up, outwards, and finish moving inwards. The group needs to move as a unified entity, but the individuals can sway, twirl, leap, etc., in differing ways within the macro dance of the group. 

From this point in the creative process, you can let your imagination “dance away”! Do groups perform individually? In pairs? A group may float away for 8 beats while a new group replaces them within the performance, fusing the individual dances.  

Imagine students creating QR codes with their videos and presenting them on flyers for their families!  

Final Performance Example  

I hope your students have as much fun as mine with this lesson. 

Wilhelmina Laughlin 
Alexander Elementary, K-6 

References

Monroe, A. (2015, November 10). Gossip. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vkcEO5dglo