Grade by Grade
A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Dance: Movements from Nature

A1.1 A2.2About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can watch how animals, plants, water and weather move, and copy those movements in my body.
  • I can change a nature movement in different ways: its level, its speed, its size or its energy.
  • I can join nature movements into a dance phrase with a clear start and a clear ending.
  • I can use dance words to say which elements I used and why.

Words to know

imitate
To copy how something moves or looks.
natural environment
The world of nature around us: animals, plants, water, rocks, wind and weather.
dance phrase
A short group of movements joined together, like a sentence made of moves.
size of movement
How big or small a move is. You can wave one finger (small) or your whole arm (big).
force
How strong or light your energy is. A bear stomps with strength; a feather floats with lightness.
quality
The way a move is done: smoothly, sharply, cautiously (carefully), erratically (in a jumpy, unexpected way) or percussively (with hits, like a drum).
sustained
Very slow and smooth, as if the move keeps going and going without stopping.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you used locomotor moves (moves that travel, like hopping and galloping) and non-locomotor moves (moves that stay in one spot, like twisting and bending) to show creatures and objects. You also learned that every dance uses the five elements of dance: body, space, time, energy and relationship.

This year you will become a nature detective. You will watch nature very closely, copy what you see, and then change it in clever ways to make a dance.

Nature is always moving

Look out a window for one minute. What is moving?

  • Maple leaves flutter and spin down.
  • Snow drifts and swirls in the wind.
  • A squirrel darts, freezes, then darts again.
  • A river flows and ripples over rocks.
  • A Canada goose flaps its wings and glides.

Dancers get ideas from nature all the time. First they imitate (copy) the movement. Then they play with it by changing the elements.

A Canada goose flying low over a river, wings spread wide, with orange autumn trees behind.
A Canada goose flaps and glides over the water. Try showing those big, smooth wing movements with your arms. AI-generated image
Thing in natureHow it movesDance words
Falling maple leaf 🍁flutters, spins and drifts downturning, light force, high level to low level, curved pathway
Squirrel 🐿️darts, stops still, darts againfast tempo, then freeze; quality: erratic (jumpy and unexpected)
River 🌊flows on and onsmooth quality, sustained time, curvy pathway
Thunderstorm ⛈️rumbles, then cracksstrong force, percussive quality (sharp hits)
Seed growing 🌱pushes up slowly from the soilpressing effort, slow tempo, low level to high level
Canada goose 🪿flaps, then glidesbig arm moves, then gliding effort with smooth quality
Copy the movement first, then name it with dance words.

Four ways to change a nature move

Once you can copy a movement, try changing it. Each change makes a new move for your dance.

  1. Level: do it high, middle or low. (A leaf can flutter high in the tree, then low near the ground.)
  2. Speed (tempo): do it fast, slow, or sustained (super slow and smooth).
  3. Size: make it tiny (just your fingers) or huge (your whole body).
  4. Energy: change the force (strong or light), the effort (pressing, like pushing a heavy door, or gliding, like skating on ice) or the quality (smooth, careful, jumpy, or hitting like a drum).
highreach and stretch upmiddleknees bentlowclose to the floor
The three levels a dancer can use. A falling leaf might start high and end low.

New ideas to play with

Here are some Grade 3 dance ideas to try with any nature move:

  • Body bases: what holds you up? Try balancing on your seat, your knees or one foot.
  • Body zones: move only the front of your body, then only the back. A turtle might lead with the back of its shell!
  • Freeze: stop suddenly and hold still. Animals freeze when they are scared or hiding.
Worked example

Example: Let's turn a falling leaf into a dance phrase

We want to make a short dance phrase about a maple leaf in autumn.

  1. Watch and imitate. A leaf hangs on a branch, flutters in the wind, lets go, spins, drifts down, and lands.
  2. Move 1 (start): stand tall at a high level with your arms up like a branch. Freeze for 3 counts.
  3. Move 2: flutter your fingers. Start tiny (only your fingers), then let the flutter grow bigger until your arms and shoulders shake too. That is a change of size.
  4. Move 3: spin slowly while sinking from a high to a middle level, with light force.
  5. Move 4: drift sideways in a curved pathway, gliding gently.
  6. Move 5 (end): land softly at a low level in a curled shape. Freeze.

Our leaf phrase has a clear start and ending (two freezes). We changed size (tiny to big flutter), level (high to low) and energy (light force, gliding effort). Every move came from watching a real leaf.

1. tall branchfreeze 3 counts2. flutter:tiny to big3. spin andsink to middle4. drift on acurved pathway5. land low,freeze
The maple leaf phrase in five pictures. Notice the level changes from high to low, just like a real leaf falling.
Worked example

Example: One animal, many ways

A frog hops. How many different moves can we make from one hop?

  1. Original: a normal frog hop forward.
  2. Change the level: a tiny hop while staying crouched low.
  3. Change the speed: a hop in slow motion: sink for 4 counts, lift for 4 counts, land for 4 counts (sustained).
  4. Change the size: a huge leap with arms and legs stretched wide.
  5. Change the energy: a hop with strong force and a loud landing (percussive), then a hop with light force and a silent landing.

From one frog hop we made five different dance moves. Changing the elements is how dancers make lots of moves from one idea.

Just for fun

Joke: Why did the maple leaf sign up for dance class?

It wanted to learn how to fall gracefully!

Hands-on activity

Nature walk to dance

You need: a short walk outside (or a window), paper, a pencil, and some open space with nothing to bump into. Dance in bare feet or running shoes, not slippery socks.

  1. Go on a 10-minute walk with a grown-up. Watch for four things that move: an animal, a plant, water and the weather.
  2. For each one, write or draw how it moved (flutters, darts, flows, sways).
  3. At home, imitate each one with your body.
  4. Change each move one way: level, speed, size or energy.
  5. Put the four moves in an order. Start with a frozen shape and end with a frozen shape. That is your nature dance phrase!
  6. Perform it for your family. Ask them to guess what each move came from.

Your turn

1

Imitate a squirrel looking for food. Use a freeze in your dance.

2

Show snow falling gently. Which force did you use: strong or light?

3

Show a tree in a windstorm. Now change its size: make the storm small, then huge.

4

Name two things in nature that move smoothly.

5

What does sustained mean in dance?

6

A dancer shows a woodpecker tapping a tree with sharp, quick head moves. What quality is that?

7

Imitate a caterpillar. Then change one element and do it again. Say what you changed.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does imitate mean?

2

Is a falling leaf light or strong?

3

Name the four ways to change a nature move from this lesson.

4

Show a freeze.

5

Which level is a snake usually at: high, middle or low?

More practice: on your own

1

Make a move for rain that is percussive, then one that is smooth. How are they different?

2

Show a bear waking up using a pressing effort.

3

A dancer shows a Canada goose. She flaps her arms hard, then holds them out wide and travels smoothly. Which two efforts or qualities does she use?

4

Balance on your seat as your body base and show a turtle in its shell.

5

Why do dancers change a move after they copy it from nature?

Challenge

1

Make a 4-move dance phrase about the four seasons in Canada, one move per season. Name an element for each move.

2

Imitate a fish, then change it two ways at once (for example, size and level). Explain your choice.

3

Your friend's dance about a hummingbird looks the same as her dance about a crow. Suggest two changes to make the hummingbird different.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What do dancers do first when making a dance from nature?

2.

Which is a light movement?

3.

A dancer makes a flutter with just her fingers, then with her whole body. What did she change?

4.

Which movement is percussive?

5.

Moving very slowly and smoothly without stopping is called ___.

6.

A dancer sits on the floor and balances like a turtle. What is her body base?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: In Grade 3, students imitate movements from the natural environment (animals, plants, water, weather) and then change them by altering level, speed, size and energy, and join them into a short dance phrase (A1.1). They also name the elements they used and explain why (A2.2).

How to help at home:

  • Go on a "movement walk". Ask: "How is that moving? Fast or slow? Smooth or jumpy? Strong or light?"
  • Play "change it": you do a move, your child changes one element and names it.
  • Make sure the space is clear of furniture and the floor is not slippery.

Common difficulties:

  • Copying the shape but not the movement. Ask, "How does it move?" rather than "What does it look like?"
  • Changing too many things at once. Encourage one change at a time, then naming it.
  • Shyness. Dance alongside your child. Silly is fine! Effort and ideas matter more than polish.
  • New words. Words like sustained, percussive, erratic and pressing are new this year. Use them in everyday talk ("The snow is falling in a sustained way today").