Dance in PE

In the grade 6 dance unit the students are discovering different types of dance ranging from modern hip hop, waltz, to swing dance. Students not only work on timing, balance, coordination, teamwork, and cooperation, but also learn how the tempo and speed of the song affects the dance. For waltz in particular, students learnt how do the same steps while altering their body movements and posture to match the music, while dancing to a modern pop song, classical music, and musical theatre melodies. In the video below, the students are waltzing in "musical theatre style" to Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast, which was a favourite as many of them participated or watched the musical earlier this year.

6th Grade TAPS

TAPS Grade 6

We are currently in our story telling unit in Grade 6. For this unit, students are learning how to use facial expressions, voice, and body language to appropriately tell an engaging children's story.

Sometimes it can be difficult for students to effectively communicate through their posture and body language as well as their words. That is why we have been using our Mac books video functions. Students get the opportunity to see how they would appear to others by filming their attempts. Alongside teacher feedback and guidance, students can now get immediate self-feedback as well.

Two students enthusiastically telling a story while filming.

Students can monitor how they improve as they go, this helps them to strive for success. 

Two students watching themselves tell the story. Observing what they are doing well and what they could change.

Students writing out self-evaluations in the form of a P.I.P. Positive Improvement Positive. And setting goals for the following class. 

Using Glo Bible to Create Visual Understanding

The Glo Bible application has been installed in all MS student's computers. One of its benefits is that  students can view actual photographs of actual Bible locations that are mentioned in specific passages. We used the following pictures when discussing the events of 2 Kings 3, which take place in specific geographic regions, which have an important connection to understanding what happened and why.

Plains of Moab

Dead Sea

Desert of Edom

Mountains of Edom

Classdojo for PE

One of the things that makes PE frustrating is that there are so many good things happening that sometimes we miss them, this is why the PE department continues to use smartphones/ipads etc in order to capture much of what happens. This also helps inform summative and formative assessment.

Classdojo is something we use for a number of different aspects of our teaching but one of the great features is the 'Class story' function which allows me to post pictures and videos that I take during class. It also allows students and parents have access to these and are able to 'like' and comment on content. It is a great way for parents to see, in real time, what their students are doing in class at that very moment.

Here is an example of its usage with my 8th grade boys doing some gymnastic movements.

Reflecting using video footage in TAPS

As part of our Children's Book Reading unit, focusing on conveying meaning through vocal and facial expression, students were required to film and reflect on their reading performance.  Students used their laptops to film, then uploaded this footage into their TAPS folder.  They filled in a self-graded rubric (uploaded googledoc), noting specific strengths and areas for improvement.  

Students then took this information, and recorded some 'Feed Forward' - to ensure that they're aligning their areas of growth, to our next book buddy session and will be specifically looking for these aspects in their next footage collected.

Standards and Benchmarks:
1.0 ARTISTIC PERCEPTION

• Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to Theatre.
• Students observe their environment and respond, using the elements of theatre. They also observe formal and informal works of theatre, film/video, and electronic media and respond, using the vocabulary of theatre.

Comprehension and Analysis of the Elements of Theatre 1.2 Document observations and perceptions of production elements, noting mood, pacing, and use of space through class discussion and reflective writing.

Feed Forward by anonymous students:

Feed Forward
On the next session, I would like to work on vocal tones, because I felt that my performance in this session was not that good. My voice was at times monotone, and it did not capture the attention of the 2nd grader.		I felt that my gestures though, were plenty and spaced evenly throughout my presentation. I felt that they pulled my buddy into the story.		I feel that I should also work on eye contact, because I rarely look at my buddy while reading, with meaningful eye contact.

For my third session, I want to focus on maintaining long and meaningful periods of eye contact by finding a good time to pause and look at my book buddy. I can do this by planning out where I am going to pause and memorize a few of the next words so I can speak while looking at my buddy. I also want to make sure that when I am making eye contact it doesn't get too long or too awkward, because that would creep my buddy out. Another thing that I want to focus on, is my voice. I want to be able to do more with my voice by portraying more emotions in it and changing it to match the characters of the book.

Mrs. Catherine Widdifield