Dancing Words Blog

Alphabet Series: The Letter J

J is for....jumping, Josephine, and Jonathan!

J is for Jumping

Learning how to jump is a key movement milestone in childhood. Jumping is launching off of two feet and landing on two feet (hopping is on one foot). Create a jumping dance with your class - big jumps, small jumps, turning jumps, etc.

There are three books to read alongside your exploration:

Jumping Day - Barbara Esbensen and Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Jump Frog Jump - Robert Kalan and Byron Barton

Hop Jump - Ellen Stoll Walsh

J is for Jonathan

I love the book Jonathan and His Mommy for many reasons. It is a sweet tale of a mother and son dancing and moving around town - big steps, small steps, zigzag steps. The text will easily lead to an activity about pathway.

J is for Josephine

Explore the life and story of dancer Josephine Baker in the picture book Jazz Age Josephine by author Jonah Winter and illustrator Marjorie Pricemen. Read the story to your class, and then get them up on their feet, using Priceman's kinesthetic illustrations as inspiration for body shapes.

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Alphabet Series: The Letter I

I is for Island

I am always on the lookout for books about islands. Exploring the concept and imagery of islands, within a dance class, is a great way to talk about self-space and general space. It also goes hand in hand with the concepts of stationary/axial movement and traveling/locomotor movement. 

An Island Grows, by Lola M. Schaefer with illustrations by Cathie Felstead, is a picture book telling the story of how volcanic islands form. The book begins "beneath the sea," and ends with an island inhabited by people. 

You might not make a dance about the story, per se, but the book can be a nice introduction to a lesson for students in K-2 classes.

Pull out your hula hoops to give each student in class an "island" to explore - dancing on the island, off the island, and around the island.

I - "I am a Dancer"

While studying "I," share the book I am a Dancer. This picture book is a great introductory book for PreK-1 students about dance.

I is for Isadora

Rachel Isadora wrote a book about one of the icons and founders of modern dance, Isadora Duncan. Check out this biographical picture book.  

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The Artwork of Keith Haring

As I was just writing the post for the letter H, I was reminded of the various books I have used over the years in PreK-5 dance classes with the artwork of Keith Haring.

This post is a great example of simply using books (and their images) as inspiration for a warm up or dance study. You don't always have to read the story of a book; books can serve as quick visuals for an activity.

Keith Haring's artwork inspires students from preschool all the way up to 5th grade to explore shapes, body positions, and actions such as jumps, kicks, and balances.

For many years, I have used the simple board book Ten as our visual inspiration. There is no real story in this book. 

Explore the artwork of Keith Haring in preschool dance classes as well as K-5 classes. 

 

Alphabet Series: The Letter H

When you and your students explore the letter H, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

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H is for Head (to Toe)

Eric Carle's From Head to Toe is one of my favorite books to explore in parent/child, preschool, and kindergarten classes. The words literally lead a warm up for you....moving our heads, shoulders, hips, and toes. Purchase a used copy of this book here. 

H is for Hopping

Hopping is one of the building blocks of dance - moving on one foot. I am always on the lookout for books that involve the basic locomotor steps of: walking, running, hopping, jumping, skipping, galloping, and leaping.

Check out Ellen Stoll Walsh's Hop Jump as a springboard for exploring the concepts of hopping, jumping, and "dancing."

H is for Hummingbirds

As mentioned in several prior posts, Keith Baker's Little Green is a whimsical picture book for dancing like a fast moving hummingbird as well as moving through different pathways in space (zig zag lines, curly cue lines, etc). 

H is for Haring (Artist Keith Haring)

Keith Haring's classic drawings inspire kids to move and make shapes. Find a used copy of the board book Ten. Students can view the images and try out the positions (shapes) in their own bodies, or as a group. 

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P.S. Exploring "hands" and "high/low" are also good subjects with the letter H, but I don't have specific book recommendations today. 

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Alphabet Series: The Letter G

When you and your students explore the letter G, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

G is for Green

Explore the color green and green creatures like a hummingbird. Use Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger as a springboard for a dance about animals and environments that are green. (See previous blog post). Also check out one of my favorite picture books to study the concept of pathway, Little Green by Keith Baker, with a dancing green hummingbird (previous blog post). 

G is for Grass

Denise Fleming's book In the Tall, Tall Grass inspires us to move like a variety of creatures (caterpillars, ants, snakes, and hummingbirds).

G is for Gingerbread

The letter G is the perfect time to read a variety of versions of The Gingerbread Man. These tales naturally get us running, skipping, and dancing. For years I have loved using Richard Egielski's version, The Gingerbread Boy. I also love the variation with a female character, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

G is for Go

Like In the Tall, Tall Grass,  Off We Go! is a super easy and accessible book for movement inspiration. The various animals in the book tiptoe, hop, dig, and slither. Laurel Molk's illustrations evoke a calm and joyful energy. 

Dance teachers can use the text as inspiration for an improvisational activity, or teachers can easily create a dance based on the text.

Young dancers always love animal inspiration. Students will love exploring the movement of spiders, ducks, snakes, and mice.

G is for Giant (Carrot)

Carrots and dance? Yes, indeed. Jan Peck wrote an amazing variation on the folktale The Giant Turnip. Sweet little Isabelle'sdancing is what makes a giant carrot grow. This book is simply wonderful to read to students, to hear about dancing in a magical way. I also have a dance related to this story. Many years ago I made a giant carrot with fabric, about 5 feet high. My students' dancing makes this carrot "grow" as they circle around me and take turns dancing. Check out The Giant Carrot by Jan Peck and illustrator Barry Root. 

The Color Green

Exploring COLORS with children is always full of possibility, for students in preschool all the way up to eighth grade.

• Explore all of our associations with a color and what in our world is that color
• Play with props (fabric, ribbons, hoops) of a specific color
• Explore emotions related to each color

Today, let’s focus on GREEN. Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Caldecott Honor Book, Green, is a perfect introduction for a project or activity associated with green. The poetic text can also easily translate into a dance – “forest green…sea green….slow green….glow green….” Seeger’s book looks at objects, animals, and environments that are the color.

Use Green with students in preschool-2^nd grade. 

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Alphabet Series: The Letter F

When you and your students explore the letter F, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

F is for Feet

Exploring the letter F is the perfect time to study our feet  and the many actions they do. Check out the following books:

• The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
• Hooray for Feet by Susan Pearson
• The Soles of Your Feet by Genichiro Yagyu
• So Many Feet by Nichole Mara and Alexander Vidal

Use the text to inspire a list of actions of feet - fast, slow, high, low, etc. Make a warm up or improv activity with these various actions.

F is for Flowers

I love the alphabet book A Garden of Ordinary Miracles. This alphabet book of various flowers is fun inspiration for making different shapes in our body, or in a group. 

F is for Flamingos

As I have written about on the blog previously, Flora and the Flamingo is pure inspiration and joy for dance classes. It is a great book to explore the concepts of following a leader and mirroring. 

F is for Fast

Opposite words are great to explore in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade dance classes (fast/slow, high/low, up/down, etc). Explore the book Fast and Slow: An Animal Opposites Book by Lisa Bullard. This book can easily turn into a group dance. 

 

F is for Flamenco

George Ancona's book Olé Flamenco is a detailed book with classic Ancona photos as well as text about the dance style of flamenco and its costumes, music, and use of the hands.

Alphabet Series: The Letter E

When you and your students explore the letter E, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

E is for Earth

My Mama Earth  and Earthdance are two books I have highlighted over the past year in the Magic and Whimsy Series. Both books use poetic text to look at many aspects of our world. Both can lead to group dances evoking a feel of awe and wonder about the natural world. 

E is for Emotions

Two of my favorite books on emotions are great for dance classes.

On Monday When It Rained, by Cherryl Kachenmeister and photographer Tom Berthiaume, inspires students to explore facial expressions and show how our face changes when we are worried, excited, and confused.

My Many Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss and illustrators Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, creates a beautiful dance about colors and our associated emotions (happy, sad, mad, busy). 

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Alphabet Series: The Letter D

When you and your students explore the letter D, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

D is for Dancing!!

Exploring the letter D is the perfect time to gather up all of the wonderful picture books about the art form of dance. Check these out from your local library and find great deals on used books on amazon.com. 

• Dance - Bill T. Jones and Susan Kuklin
• Dance! - Elisha Cooper
• Let's Dance - George Ancona
• I am a Dancer - Pat Lowery Collins and illustrator Mark Graham
• Dance with Me - Charles R. Smith Jr. and Noah Z. Jones
• Dictionary of Dance - Liz Murphy
• Alphabet of Dance - Barbie Heit Schwaeber and illustrator Damian Ward (Smithsonian Institution) 
• Mabel Dancing - Amy Hest and illustrator Christine Davenier
• Dancin' in the Kitchen - Wendy Gelsenliter

D is for Down

I am always on the lookout for books about prepositions. Up, Down, and Around (Katherine Ayres and illustrator Nadine Bernard Westcott) is a great exploration of prepositions as well as plants. 

D is for Digging

I recently wrote a blog post for the Book to Boogie Blog about Emma Garcia's book Tip Tip Dig Dig. This playful picture book explores the actions of construction vehicles. Find out more here. 

D is for Day

One of my favorite alphabet books is Ida Pearle's A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play. The actions in the book include: catch, jump, open, and view. Use the book as an opening warm up with your students, exploring our everyday movements. Then, how can you string several of these together, add music, and make a dance? 

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Alphabet Series: The Letter C

When you and your students explore the letter C, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

C is for Clouds

There are three great books about clouds. Little Cloud by Eric Carle can easily turn into a dance exploration, with students shifting shapes and levels; pair this with Sora and the Cloud by Felicia Hoshino. Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker is a picture book for K-5 students about the varieties of cloud formations.

C is for Color

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, with illustrations by Steven Johnson and Lou Fancher, is a fun exploration of colors and the emotions associated with each one. This book is a great example of a picture book that so easily "lends itself to movement."

C is for Circle

There are numerous poetry books about shapes. Check out When a Line Bends....A Shape Begins (by Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrator James Kaczman) and also Shape Me a Rhyme (by Jane Yolen and photographer Jason Stemple). Use the poems specifically about circles to make a new warm up activity with your students.

C is for Carrot

Carrots and dance? Yes, indeed. Jan Peck wrote an amazing variation on the folktale The Giant Turnip. Sweet little Isabelle's dancing is what makes a giant carrot grow. This book is simply wonderful to read to students, to hear about dancing in a magical way. I also have a dance related to this story. Many years ago I made a giant carrot with fabric, about 5 feet high. My students' dancing makes this carrot "grow" as they circle around me and take turns dancing. Check out The Giant Carrot by Jan Peck and illustrator Barry Root. 

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