Dance Lesson Ideas

Name of Activity: Wipe Out

Purpose of Activity: To improve the performance of specific movement patterns while moving accurately to the beat of the music. To make the connection between a simple, repetitive dance and aerobic endurance. This lesson fulfills National Dance Standards #1 and #6.

Prerequisites: Knowledge of 3 basic swim strokes: front crawl, back crawl and breaststroke. Ability to count music in 8 count phrases.Knowledge of how to change levels slowly and quickly. Teach or review the dance moves of the Twist and Monkey.

Suggested Grade Level: K-2

Recommended music: Wipe Out by the Surfaries

Beginning dance formation: Start in a circle with everyone on a low level, in tuck position.

Description of Idea

Variations:

After the basic pattern of steps is learned and the students can count, keep the beat, and remember the sequence of the steps, some of the movements can be made more challenging. For instance: one of the swimming movements could have students doing the crawl 4x on one leg while balancing in a front scale,or doing the back stroke with a backward skip, or doing the breaststroke with jump half turns every 4 strokes. All theses could be taught in the course of the song and may also be used as challenges for students that wish to add more variety to this dance. That would add interest and physical challenges without slowing things down.

To make this dance more difficult start in lines facing and travel safely between people.

Assessment Ideas:

Teacher generated check list that focuses on teacher observation of the students' performance. The list could include: rhythm, memory, etc.
If the class has discussed the effect of exercise on the heart, students could be asked to feel their heart rates before the dance and after the dance in order to demonstrate the effects of exercise on the heart.

Adaptations for Students with Disabilities:

To make this appropriate for the less skilled students or wheelchair bound students the whole dance could be done in a stationary position using just the arm movements.

Wheelchairs could be pushed forward, backward or in a circle by assistants or classmates.