
When you and your students explore the letter B, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects.
Let's Bounce!
If you work with preschoolers, bouncing is such a fun action to explore. How can you bounce in place....traveling in the room......with a friend? There are three books to read on bouncing:
1. Bounce by Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin
2. Bouncing Time by Patricia Hubbell and Melissa Sweet
3. Emily Loves to Bounce by Stephen Michael King
Bones
You might talk about the bones of the body, improvise using bone vocabulary, or make a dance or warm up to the spiritual "Dem Bones." Check out....
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work by Steve Jenkins
Dem Bones by Bob Barner
Butterflies
As for exploring butterflies or the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, the newer book A Butterfly is Patient, by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrator Sylvia Long, is a beautiful picture book with movement-evoking larger text on each spread and elegant illustrations.
Bridges
Another great B word to try out in the body is building bridges. Whether you explore in partners or small groups, use the book Bridges Are to Cross by Philemon Sturges and artist Giles Laroche. (Find used copies for sale on amazon.com or visit your library.)
Blue
To explore the color blue, you can pull out all of your books about colors. Four examples include: My Many Colored Days, Colour, Living Color, and The Rainbow Book. What are our associations with blue? How can we translate these ideas into movement? Ideally, see if you can pull out 3-5 books on color. Look at the blue pages, and then explore movement ideas related to these pages. You can even string the 3-5 ideas together.
Ballet Books
Last, as you explore the letter B, there are many books at the local library on ballet. One of my personal favorites is Rachel Isadora's alphabet book On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC. Other great ballet books are Bea at Ballet (also by Rachel Isadora) and Beautiful Ballerina, by Marilyn Nelson with photographs by Susan Kuklin.
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