In this lesson designed for kindergarteners, students explore geometric shapes and how their bodies move through motion activity.
Learning Objectives/Goals
Exploration of shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, etc.) working alone and with a partner, levels (high, medium, low), pathways in space (straight, curved, zig-zag), how different body parts move
Materials Needed
Music, drum
Introduction
Class expectations (Good listening, following directions, be creative, be active), Spaceboundaries, personal boundaries, goals for class today
Warm-Up
Ask students to make a circle with their arms, their legs, one arm and one leg, their whole bodies. Repeat with other geometric shapes. Find a partner and make a circle with your partner. Can you make a circle on the ground, in the air, sideways?
Investigate
Without partners, have students walk a circle pathway on the floor. Can they walk in big circles, in little circles? Could they skip those same circle paths? What other ways could you move and travel on a circle pathway: hop, slide, gallop? Repeat this idea with different geo metric shapes.
Create
Ask the students to show movements in the body that are made of straight lines only. Play some music and have them move around the space in different levels, using straight line movement. Repeat with circular and angular movements.
Reflect
With a partner have students, create a surprise shape to show the class. This can be repeated a few times adding different levels and using different body parts and facings.
Extension to the Lesson
With a partner shape from above, instruct students to move away from each other for 8 beats of the drum and back together for 8 beats of the drum. Can they find their same shape? Can they find their home base? Repeat with different numbers of beats of the drum or different shapes.
Follow Up Resources
RDT's lesson plan videos
