Adventures in exploring the Parts of Speech and the Dance Elements

Introduction In the English language, parts of speech make up the entire sentence structure to get ideas across explicitly and clearly. In dance, dance elements are used to convey meaning in a similar way. In this exercise, you will be making connection between the two in order to understand both concepts fully. Parts of speech are the basic classifications of words that help build sentences and the elements of dance are like words that help express the meaning of piece of art being performed. To accomplish the task, use the websites and best relate elements of dance to the parts of speech.

Task The purpose of this assignment is to understand that like our written and spoken word, dance is a language. By the end of this process you should be able to: Understand the uses of the parts of speech Understand the uses of the dance elements (BESTR Vocabulary) Make connections between dance and written language Demonstrate this understanding through creating a small dance phrase

PROCESS

Step 1 Go to this website and learn about the parts of speech and also use as a reference for later in the assignment

Step 2 Take notes on parts of speech, paying particular attention to the purposes of each part of speech.

Step 3 Please follow the link to the interactive Exploring BESTR Vocab webpage!

Step 4 Now fill out a chart. Take the different dance elements and decide what parts of speech can be best represented by them. Each group will be given a couple of sentence they must “translate” into dance using your chart and your creativity!

Dance ElementsParts of Speech BODY: shapes BODY: movement ENERGY: quality ENERGY: emotion SPACE: formations SPACE: pathways TIME: duration TIME: phrasing RELATIONSHIP Your chart should look like this:

Evaluation

Objective4321Score Student contributes to the completion of the task (chart, dance phrase) Student participates in the group, contributing ideas to the chart and creating movements for the phrase Student contributes some ideas to the chart and creates some ideas for the phrase Student contributes some idea to the chart or the phrase Student hardly participates in group work Student demonstrates an understanding of parts of speech The student can explain the relationship between the parts of speech chosen for each dance element n/aThe student demonstrates a general understanding of the parts of speech based on the chart, but cannot confidently support their choices on the chart n/a Student demonstrates an understanding of BESTR vocab Each element can be seen in the phrase, and all of the categories are used. Each element can be seen in the phrase, but not all of the categories are used. 3 or less of the elements are used appropriately in this phrase Only one element is used appropriately in the phrase Both the chart and phrase demonstrate the connections between dance and written word The chart is completed thoughtfully and the dance clearly uses all the elements of dance. The connections are well thought, not all spaces are filled. The dance uses all elements of dance The connections are well thought, not all spaces are filled. The dance uses less than 3 of the dance elements Connections are not clear and the dance uses one element of dance.

Conclusion You have now fully explored the concepts of the elements of dance and parts of speech. You should understand the practice and purpose of dance much more clearly now, as well as sentence structuring. These skills will help you culturally and within the context of schooling, such as if you wish to learn another language or participate in a dance event or musical. You should also now have experience with choreographing dance scenes. If you followed the rubric your results should be satisfactory!