These SHARP Kiddos' Performance was on POINTE!!

For the culminating project, The students learned a dance entitled "Zemer Atik", This dance originated in Israel. I thought this would be a wonderful dance to teach to the students for many reasons.

1) The students are learning all about Christmas around the World and how other cultures, countries, and religions celebrate the holiday season--what they do and do not celebrate. I thought this was a good introduction to this unit because Israel has so much history and is inhabited by such a rich variety of culture. I began the lesson by telling the students where Israel is located. Some of the students began to identify cities that are near or are in the same region as Israel and discuss the significance of those cities to them. This began a wonderful discussion on the different groups of people that all live in Israel, and their different beliefs. We discussed that many of the people who live in this region have different beliefs,celebrate different holidays, practice different religions, and have different daily routines from one another. This allowed me to begin to explain that although people may have different beliefs, or practice different religions, or live differently than how we live, we can still respect them and treat them with kindness.

2) Dance and music are universal!! There are diverse dance techniques and diverse sounds, but they can be enjoyed by all groups! We furthered our discussion as I explained that even though Israel is very diverse the people dance to celebrate! "Zemer Atik" is one dance which shows unity of all people!

3) I loved how this dance incorporates all students, and the cooperation of the class to be performed. I also loved how this dance incorporated music as the students clap and could draw upon both the music and dance terminology they have learned this semester. I was ecstatic to see what the students drew upon as they learned this dance!

I began by having the students hold hands, and quickly found that some adaptations should be made to make this dance more developmentally appropriate for the students and their fine motor skills. Ms. Smith assisted by suggesting a tape circle on the ground for the students to follow. This was beneficial to me as a future educator because I saw how teachers should be flexible and adapt lessons to allows student success, learning, and growth. I began to count the steps the students would take in a circle " one and two and three. . ." and students began to express, "Oh no! This is going to be hard!!" But First Graders can do HARD things!! Before long, all of the students were counting along with me " one and two and three. . . one and two and three. . ." and smiles filled the room. We then added the claps. After the students had mastered this, we did the inward and outward steps. The students soon began running into the middle. Ms. Smith and I took this opportunity to reinforce that dancers need to stay in their bubbles. I then issued a dancing challenge: " Do you think First Graders can walk in and out to the dance without touching their neighbors and still following the music?!" The students assured me that they could-- and they totally did!!

On the day of the performance, the students grabbed hands and began counting and dancing together. When their Reading Buddies entered the room to watch them, the students surprised me and stopped counting. Up to this point they had always counted " one and two and three . . ." But they danced the exact number of times around the circle and took the perfect number of steps and truly worked together to perform this dance for their Reading Buddies. This was such a proud teaching moment for me as I felt the joy of their success and accomplishment. The students listened to the music, followed the music, counted, and danced with precision and unity. I hope that this culminating dance performance allowed all in attendance to witness the unity and power that comes from dance and music. I further hope that this lesson enhanced the learning that would occur in the cultural holiday unit planned.

I have loved working with the students, and Ms. Smith! I feel as though I have learned so much and have grown as a person and as an educator! I hope that this experience has planted a seed of love for music and dance in the children and that they continue to develop their musical and dance potentials! These students constantly amazed me with their knowledge, their ability to apply the knowledge they possess, and to learn and master new skills. Ms. Smith and my BYU mentors were so helpful in helping me to develop my pedagogical beliefs, implement lesson plans, and develop necessary skills such as classroom management.

Final Culminating Performance:

Culmination Practice Videos: