Lesson plan ideas - 'In the wild' (year 2)

In the wild (KS1) 5-6 weeks Laura_Erwin@rocketmail.com
Learning Objectives/key skills: 1.     What constitutes a wild environment – unfamiliarity, natural , not many humans 2.     Use imagination to describe the different obstacles/creatures we might find in the wild and the things our body can do in response, contrasting this with every day life 3.     Exploration of locomotion work including leaps and jumps 4.     Contact work and weight sharing 5.     Sizes – big and small
Activity	Learning Objectives	Resources
Warm up dances 1. Taking our body to new and unusual places – inversions, spine arches Roll down from standing to table 8,  then push up to downward dog 8, coming down smoothly to sit on bottom with hands behind 8, stretch pelvis up to ceiling facing up 8, crouch and then walk out to one side the the other making a straight shape (side plank), walk feet round to stand up. Next week add – balancing on one leg the the other in downward dog, add small hand stands from crouch. 2.Arm and leg extension (practice for shapes in jumps) Simple tendus to each side – 4 to front alternating legs 8, repeat side 8 then back 8, side 8. Moving through plie in second and shooting fireworks out from body – up diagonal and down diagonal. (can you keep the same feet point as the tendu) Lunge by lowering one leg back, step that foot back and join the other one to then step back forward again 8. 2 firework steps forward, 4 steps back 8. Repeat   3. Travelling and jumping Beginning in parallel position, start to bounce, progress this to shakes, jumps, spring etc.. whatever they want to do! The sequence (based on Laban/Newlove) - 8 bounces, 8 jumps. 3 runs and then jump together to front and back x 2, side to side. Side shift bounces 8, 4 jumps on the spot with body shake, turning 90 degrees with each 8. Get bigger and bigger so leaping – how can you use your arms to help and bend your knees.	1.     Develop movement vocabulary – inversions, arches, side tilts 2.     Travel, jump and leap work 3.     Changes of speed 4.     Changes of size	‘im a celebrity’ theme – top 100 film and TV themes 2. Jackson 5 ‘abc’   Travelling and jumping:  ‘Now this is we’ by Jazzanova
Literacy link – 1 session The wild environment Discussion What kind of things might we find in that environment – children discuss in twos then suggest. Tall trees, river rapids, caves, swinging vines, waterfalls, an indigenous tribe, some animals.  Teacher to write them on pieces of paper and have the child place them somewhere in the room. Draw pictures/symbols also for EAL children. Exploration Children spread around the room and close their eyes and lie down. Teacher describes how they are transported to a place in the wild, far far away. When the music starts they will travel around the room, reading the different cards and acting out what they will do. They might imagine touching, tasting, climbing, swimming or anything they want! Must move round by themselves, imagine they are the only one there! Afterwards discuss – what kind of things did you do? How did you feel? What kind of things did you want to do? Can you share this with a partner/write it down?	1.     Understand the wild environment and the things we find their 2.     Start to imagine, describe and explore their own responses, linking environment, movement, emotions and language	Paper/cards with elements of the wild on. Or can use props – stools for trees, blue fabric for a river. Music: ‘Rainforest Reverie’ Ultimate natural sounds ‘Rainforest Run’ by Drumatic
Sizes (2 sessions) Remind ourselves of some of the words from the last session. What makes this environment ‘wild’? A school is not wild, why not? No humans, unfamiliarity, nature. How might you feel if you were to go exploring here? Unprepared, scared, excited? Story response Conveying the above emotions. An adventure in the wild involving lots of different activities. Using our imagination to think that anything is possible for us to do with our bodies. Climbing a tall tree, swing down on vines, sliding through mud to follow a snake somewhere, gliding on a rivers and then being tossed around by rapids. Discussion How did you feel during the story? What was strange to act out or exciting. How do you feel about the wild environment, imagine you are there now, what kind of things might you want to do? Use size to explore the children’s different feelings about being in the wild environment. Exploration Make the biggest shape possible, now change, change again. Now make the smallest shape possible, change a few times. Explore moving between big and small over a number of counts – 1, 4, 8, 16. What moves could you use to go between – turn, jump, roll Make a dance based on this? Elves and Giants Contrasting piece of music. Moving big, moving small when the music changes. Can travel around the room – how would you do a small/big turn, leap, jump, run, walk. Small land and big land. Divide the room in two, everyone begins with the music in big land, doing big movements, whenever they want they can change to the other side of the line and into small land. Change sides whenever you choose. Ask some children to demonstrate movements. Which land did you prefer – small or big. Shadow dances What scenarios can you imagine in the wild, maybe from our story, using big and small movements, can you lead a partner round the room, thye copy your movements. Create Choose a partner, and create a small and big dance with 6 movements.	1.     Explore constrasting extremities of big and small sizes using different body shapes 2.     Explore different speeds of transitioning in between sizes 3.     Improvisation 4.     Recognising and creating with own size preference 5.     Travel in space 6.     Response to music	Elves and giants: l’Arlessienne suite Small land and big land: ‘Kiara’ by Bonobo Shadow dances: Jazzanova ‘now there is we’ (Mano Arriba remix)
Exploring the movement potential of the body We need to use our bodies in lots of different ways to move around in the wild environment. What kind of movements do we do in school – writing, sports, sitting (chairs and floor), walking, using our hands. Explain how our body can do amazing things but we just need to train it – think of Athletes we know. Explorations Create a wild environment for us to explore using apparatus -       Climbing over rocks (tall stools) -       Through caves (mat propped up on stools) -       Swinging on vines -       Balancing across a log on a waterfall (bench) -       Jumping over a stream (mat) -       Hopping from rock to rock across a river (spots) -       Slide down a muddy slope Rehearse skills Can you now do these without the apparatus, moving around the room to the music, 1.     Teacher to say and all practice the skill 2.     Open improvisation to music (can also watch in two groups) How far can you jump, low crawling, how long can you leap and swing. Travelling work Travelling from one side of the room to the other with a partner, when they reach the end walk round the side ready to go again. Teacher to model and then go in pairs x 2. Rehearse the format simply using walking before gradually making the moves more complex. - Skipping, galloping - Running - Leaping on each line as long as you can (long jump) - Jumping as high as you can on the line - Bunny hops over someone else - Jumping over obstacles (children lying on the floor) Can stop and look at specific skills – how can they extend the limbs and perform longer/higher movements. Free movement to music Follow a partner around the room as they do these movements. Create sequence Now lets make a sequence together- each one for 8 counts around the room. OR the beginning of the piece – can you enter the space slowly doing these movements and then faster when the music changes.	1.     Understand the idea of physical potential and the need to cultivate it 2.     Develop locomotion skills covering height and width through open and structured travelling work 3.     Develop extension into space 4.     Movement vocabulary – leaps, jumps, skips, gallops 5.     Create sequence	Video: long jump, high jump, pole vault Travelling work: ‘Isatambul (Constantinople) and ‘Mambo italiano’
Contact work (2-3 session) We can use other children’s bodies to help us lean, jump or lift higher than we can go by ourselves. 1. Walk around the room and when you hear ‘person to person’ find a partner who is about the same size as you, as quick as you can and stand back to back. 2. Teacher to call out body parts, and the children make a connection between those two – hand to hand, back to back, foot to foot, hip to hip. 3. Repeat 1 and 2 but now introduce some simple weight sharing – holding hands and pulling away, then pulling back to release. After a couple of times, can children now explore the on the side, facing away etc? How can you use a partner to go further than you would by yourself? Practice a few of these with a partner- can you find different ways. Choose 2 to show in halves of the group. 4. Now how can you use somebody else to get higher. Teach simple lifts - back to back, lock elbows, gently bend forwards so other persons feet come off the floor - front aeroplane – one person laid on the floor, lift the other person up using their feet - hip to hip, one person wraps arm around shoulder, other around hip, level to lift - shoulder jump – one kneels with one knee up, other pushes up on shoulders to jump Can you practice these, find any more? How can you come in and leave smoothly like with 3. Can you choose 3 to show to the group and join them together smoothly?	1.     Weight sharing and partner work 2.     Safe practice with others 3.     Learn simple lifts and execute with care
Possible sharing ideas: Sequence all together Jump in pairs from corner. Simple contact work