LESSON OVERVIEW

Lesson Topic: Dance and Culture

Unit Topic: Different Cultures
Subject/Grade Level: Social Studies grades 1-3
Lesson Duration [can be longer than a single class period]: 1 class period about 1 hour
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS | Factual, Debatable, & Provocative
Questions
Essential Question(s) for Unit: What are cultures made up of? How to
cultures differ? Are cultures really that different?
Essential Question(s) for Lesson: How do people of different cultures
express themselves?
OBJECTIVES
- Knowledge: Students
understand that people
of different cultures use
the same art forms (in
different ways) to
express themselves,
their views, and beliefs
- Knowledge: Students
understand that hip hop
culture and Hindu
culture are two different
cultures that use dance
as a way of expressing
views, beliefs, and
whats important to
members of the
community
- Attitudes/Beliefs: An
understanding that
something from
another culture, that
may seem unfamiliar, is
not weird - its just
different, and can still
be beautiful.
- Skills: use different art
forms to present
learning on a topic

ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE DEMANDS
- Comparing and
contrasting two dances
and the cultures that
produced those dances
- Exposure to new,
complicated terms that
come from a new,
foreign language

STANDARDS
WI Common Core State
Standards
(English/Language
Arts): Reading
Informational Text Grade 1 students:
- Identify basic
similarities and
differences between
two texts on the same
topic. (CCSS R1 #9)

RATIONALE
Students need exposure to various cultures, and various aspects of those
culture. Students will experience pieces of two cultures - one they might
not ever have heard about, and one that most will be familiar with.
ASSESSMENTS
Diagnos
tic
Assessm
ents

We will
have
already
gone
through
several
days of
the
Different
Cultures
unit, so I
will have
prior
understa
nding of
students
knowledg
e and
skills
about
comparin
g and
contrasti
ng, what
a culture
is, and
what the
aspects
of culture
are.
We will
start the
lesson
with a
discussio
n about
dance

(see
below:
Lesson
Opening).
This will
help me
gauge
what
students
understa
ndings
about
dance
are.
Formativ
e
Assessm
ents

Teacher
will
monitor
research
and
project
creation
while the
students
work.
Students
will peeredit each
others
paragrap
hs to
check for
spelling
errors
and make
suggestio
ns about
writing.

Summati
ve
Assessm
ents

Students
will turn
in or
present a
project
about

dance
and
culture.
(See:
Assignme
nts,
below).
DIFFERENTIATION
[Because you are not designing your lessons for a specific group of
students, youll need to describe in general the following categories given
the grade levels of your target students.]
Student
s
Develop
mental
Assets

Students
have a
wide
range of
abilities
at this
age,
which will
be
satisfied
by the
range of
products
for them
to choose
from for
their
summativ
e
assessme
nt. Many
at this
age are
kinestheti
c
learners,
or at
least
enjoy
movemen
t and

rarely sit
still. They
will be
eager to
learn
about a
new
topic,
especially
one as
energetic
as dance,
that can
get their
bodies
moving.
Student
s Prior
Knowled
ge

Students
may be
familiar
with hip
hop
dance,
but not
this
specific
video. I
would
say its
safe to
assume
theyve
all seen
dance in
some
form or
another,
so they
understa
nd that
dance is
used to
express
oneself,

but may
have
never
thought
deeply
about
dances
meaning
or
importan
ce to
culture.
Possible
Misconc
eptions

- After
seeing
the
bharatnat
yam
dance,
students
may think
that all
dances
have
religious
meaning.
I hope to
combat
this
misconce
ption by
presentin
g the
idea that
hip hop is
a culture,
with its
own
dance,
clothing
style,
speech,
music,
and

artwork.
Individu
al
Learning
Needs

Students
reading
abilities
may not
be
advanced
at this
point
(especiall
y for first
grade) so
the use of
videos
will be
accessibl
e to most
if not all.
LESSON CONTENT OUTLINE

Lesson
Opening

Learning
Activities

Large group discussion: Has anyone ever seen a dance

performed? Has anyone ever performed a dance for
other people? Do you like to dance on your own - not
as a performance? What music do people dance to?
PowerPoint Presentation
Hinduism
A religion found all
over the world, but originated in India.
They worship many
gods and goddesses, who each have a
personality and role in the religion
A culture: highlight
this by showing several of the 7
Elements of Culture w/in the religion:
Social
organization: India has somewhat
rigid class (Caste) organization,
which sets some people above
others by birth
They
have their own language - hindi.
There is

a specific type of singing related

with hindu worhsip, as well as a
specific type of dance. This dance
is called bharanatyam, which
well see today
Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UTZD06_HSe0
This
type of dance has different
important pieces to it:

E
ach different hand
movement, foot
movement, and facial
expression has a different
meaning. When put
together, they tell a story
meant to honor the Hindu
Gods and Goddesses, such
as Ganesh and Brahma

T
he costume the dancers
wears also signifies pieces
of the story, with differnt
colors, jewelry, and even
hairstyle holding meaning.

T
he music (both lyrics and
rhythm) that accompanies
the dancer shares an
important piece of the
message
Student
s can try out some of the
movements seen in the video
Hip Hop
Hip Hop
(both music and dance) is an art
form that comes from the African
American creative community,

going back to New York City in

the 1970s. It has spread around
the world and pops up in many
different, sometimes unusual,
places
Hip Hop
is a culture itself that many
people feel connected to - have
any of you ever listened to hip
hop music or danced in a hip hop
style?
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=sJMY44T42qE (~5 mins, start
@ 0:16 and end at 5:40)
This
group also uses dance, music,
and costume to tell a story. What
is the story theyre telling?
Mood of
the story: slapstick comedy,
humorous, entertaining, fastpaced and crazy
Discussion: Does dance always
tell a story? What other forms of media or
action can we use to express meaning or
spread ideas? What ways does your culture
express things?

Lesson
Closing

Students will, if theyd like to, share their projects

(See: Assignments). Those who chose to perform a
dance must perform in front of the group. If they are
not comfortable performing in front of the crowd, they
can perform for just me at recess/lunch/another time.

ASSIGNMENTS
- Students will research a cultural dance. They can show their learning
through any of the below:
- presenting a photo of a dancer in performance dress, with a
paragraph describing the outfit and what meaning it holds.
- finding a video of a world dance (any lyrics must be clean. All
dancers must be dressed appropriately), with a few short sentences
describing the mood of the dance, and why this culture might
appreciate it.
- Performing their own version of a cultural dance, can be their own

culture, and turning in a brief writing assignment describing their

performance and the culture it represents.
MATERIALS/RESOURCES/TECHNOLOGY
-SMART Board/Projector for videos
- Classroom computers/school computer lab
- Music speaker for students who wish to perform a dance