Dance Integration: 36 Dance Lesson Plans for Science and Mathematics

Do you want to . . .

• create a rich and vibrant classroom environment?

• stimulate your students’ minds in multiple ways?

• transform your teaching through incorporating the arts in your mathematics and science curriculums?

Then Dance Integration: 36 Dance Lesson Plans for Science and Mathematics is just the book for you!

The dance lesson plans in this groundbreaking book infuse creativity in mathematics and science content. Students will gain a wealth of critical knowledge, deepen their critical-thinking skills, and learn to collaborate and communicate effectively.

Written for K-5 teachers who are looking for creative ways to teach the standards, Dance Integration will help you bring your mathematics and science content to life as you guide your students to create original choreography in mathematics and science and perform it for one another. In doing so, you will help spark new ideas for your students out of those two curriculums —no more same-old same-old!

And in the freshness of these new ideas, students will increase comfort in performing in front of one another and discussing performances while deepening their understanding of the core content through their kinesthetic experiences. The creative-thinking skills that you will teach through these lesson plans and the innovative learning that dance provides are what set this book apart from all others in the field.

Dance Integration was extensively field-tested by authors Karen Kaufmann and Jordan Dehline. The book contains these features:

• Instructions on developing modules integrating mathematics and science

• Ready-to-use lesson plans that classroom teachers, physical education teachers, dance educators, and dance specialists can use in teaching integrated content in mathematics and science

• Tried-and-true methods for connecting to 21st-century learning standards and integrating dance into K-5 curriculums

This book, which will help you assess learning equally in dance, science, and mathematics, is organized in three parts:

• Part I introduces the role of dance in education; defines dance integration; and describes the uses, benefits, and effects of dance when used in tandem with another content area.

• Part II offers dance and mathematics lessons that parallel the common core standards for mathematics.

• Part III presents dance and science learning activities in physical science, life science, earth and space sciences, investigation, experimentation, and technology.

Each lesson plan includes a warm-up, a developmental progression of activities, and formative and summative assessments and reflections. The progressions help students explore, experiment, create, and perform their understanding of the content. The plans are written in a conversational narrative and include additional notes for teachers. Each lesson explores an essential question relevant to the discipline and may be taught in sequence or as a stand-alone lesson.

Yes, Dance Integration will help you meet important standards:

• Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

• Next Generation Sciencce Standards

• Standards for Learning and Teaching Dance in the Arts

More important, this book provides you with a personal aesthetic realm in your classroom that is not part of any other school experience. It will help you bring joy and excitement into your classroom. And it will help you awaken a community of active and eager learners.

Isn’t that what education is all about?

Karen Kaufmann, MA, is a professor of dance and the head of the dance program at

the University of Montana. With more than 35 years in dance education, she has published journal articles and a text for classroom teachers; spearheaded a model program that laid the groundwork for this book; and prepared dance teachers, classroom teachers, and future teachers to use dance and creative movement in their classrooms. 

Kaufmann directs the CoMotion Dance Project, which promotes dance in K-12 classrooms, tours school performances, offers professional development for classroom teachers, and establishes service learning opportunities. She is also director of the Creative Pulse, a summer graduate program for teachers in the arts and education.

Kaufmann has received numerous awards over the years, including the Artist Innovation Award from the Montana Arts Council, the Distinguished Faculty Award from the University of Montana, and the Artist/Scholar Award from the National Dance Association. Kaufmann serves as a fire lookout in the mountains of Idaho. She also enjoys whitewater canoeing and backcountry skiing.

Jordan Dehline, BFA, is a dance teaching artist for the CoMotion Dance Project and an adjunct instructor at the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Montana. She has been teaching dance integrated into elementary school curriculums since 2008. Dehline has taught numerous current and future classroom and dance teachers and collaborated with dozens of classroom teachers to identify learning targets in mathematics and science. She has also created hundreds of dance integration lessons connecting to mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts. Dehline is a professional dancer with Bare Bait Dance and is a member of the National Dance Education Organization. In addition to dance integration, Dehline teaches ballet and modern dance.