Dancing Words Blog

Think Big

Today's post is about a book with a simple but important mesage for young ones - thinking about and making art. The book explores multiple art forms, not just dance. The text is simple and in phrases...."Brainstorm...Blank Page....Scene set...Onstage...."

Think Big by Liz Garton Scanlon and Vanessa Brantley Newton is a great addition to preschool and kindergarten bookshelves. It pairs nice with the book To Be an Artist for students in first grade and up. 

Let's make the language of artmaking an integral part of preK and kindergarten classrooms!

 

Sora and the Cloud

I was happy to stumble upon this book as well today at the library! Sora and the Cloud by Felicia Hoshino is a beautiful book in English and Japanese. 

Sora is a little boy who dreams of being up in the clouds. The book is playful and imaginative in text and watercolor artwork. The story will easily lend itself to movement exploration of clouds, high and low levels, delicate movement, and more. 

Sora and the Cloud will be a fun exploration with students in preschool and kindergarten. 

Magic and Whimsy Series: The Falling Flowers

I stumbled upon this book at my school's library today, and the story inspired me! It is a book from 2005 entitled The Falling Flowers, by Jennifer B. Reed and Dick Cole.

In modern day Japan, a young girl and her grandmother are "heading somewhere." The grandmother doesn't give away where they are headed. They journey through the city, passing familar places. 

In the end, they end up in front of a grove of blooming cherry trees - a magical place of pink and falling pedals. The story says that in Japan the trees only look like this for about one week each year.

For the sophisticated dance teacher, you could create a dance of magic and whimsy with students in 2nd-5th grades. For the first part of the story, the text inspires me to create a "map dance" of the city and explore different pathways.

For the second part of the story, when the girl and her grandmother find the blossoming cherry trees, I see the students embodying the idea of "pink" and elegant, delicate trees and blossoms. You could get each student artificial cherry tree branches at a craft store, or give students long pieces of pink fabric. 

The story, and your dance, can capture a beautiful and special moment in time.

Exclamation Mark!

The librarian at my school shared this playful new book with me this week, Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. She knows the kinds of books I like, that "lend themselves to movement."

The characters in the story are punctuation - periods, exclamation marks, and question marks.

It will be fun to embody and explore how each punctuation is different in quality, purpose, and size. Try this book out in 3rd-5th grade classes. Play with being the narrator for your class, or recording the text. For students ready to explore qualities of movement and size of movement, check out Exclamation Mark.