Three easy to follow dance lessons based on ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ by Julia Donaldson. The lessons allow the children to create their own movements based on ideas from the text & each section of the lesson focuses on a particular (identified) skill such as balance, control, sequencing or travelling. The lessons could be amalgamated to create a short performance piece & music suggestions are included with each lesson plan.

I have delivered many, many dance cpd sessions over the years & the common question is ‘where do you find your music?’ So I have put together a list of my regular ‘go-to’ pieces, complete with the name of the artist, a direct link to that song on iTunes & themes that I think they could match with. This is obviously not a complete list but it is a really good start and I recommend building up your own library of 'music for dance - it makes finding suitable music so much quicker! But if I can give you one piece of advice when finding music for dance… don’t look for the perfect piece of music (it doesn’t exist!) - just look for a good match - then stop looking! Another tip - a good place to start are film scores - they’ve been written with a visual image in mind - doing The Romans? Then something on the score of ‘Gladiator’ will probably suit. This is mainly aimed at KS1 & 2, but a good piece of music doesn’t have age boundaries… I hope you enjoy them.

3 step by step dance lessons for KS1 based on the Traditional Tale of The 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Each lesson plan is based around the building materials used in the different houses, so lesson 1 looks at the softness of straw; lesson 2 uses the structure & qualities of different types of wood and the final lessons considers the effects of the shapes and subsequent strength of the bricks when they bond together. The lessons allow the children freedom to respond to the ideas in their own way, thus being very inclusive, whilst the story is used to give structure to the lessons and allows you to identify high quality work. Hints and tips are given along the way to ensure successful delivery, to the side is a column that identifies the skill that the children should be working on in each section and their is a suggestion of the music (plus a link) you may wish to access to speed up your planning time. If you would like any further support regarding teaching dance please feel free to contact me at cpring@live.co.uk Many thanks

3 creative dance lessons based on the story of Owl Babies by Martin Waddle. The first lesson covers the nest & could link to animal habitats, the second uses the idea of the owl babies coming out onto their various branches whilst waiting for their mother & uses the difference of the branch, the twig & the old ivy. The final lesson looks at the mother flying & returning to the nest. Each lesson comes in a step by step format & requires the teacher to simply ask questions & set tasks to allow the children to respond creatively. There are hints & tips along the way to assist, as well as a column indicating the key skill in each section of the lesson & a link to suitable music. If you require any further help please contact me at cpring@live.co.uk

Creative & active dance lessons ready for fireworks night! Each comes with suggested music & step by step tasks for the teacher to set to allow the children to devise their own responses. The lesson on bonfires uses ribbons or pieces of material & would work with ks1 or lower ks2. The Guy Fawkes lesson uses the story of the attempt to blow up Parliament & is more in line with upper ks2, it uses the rhyme ‘Remember, remember the 5th of November…’

A step by step guide to enable those who lack confidence in delivering dance. The lesson is clearly structured but allows the children to be fully active throughout the lesson, creating their own movement in response to ideas from the story. The plan includes a guide of what you hope to see for each element of the lesson to help you to assess the children and develop their skills. There is a short of list of music that would suit this lesson for you to select from. This lesson would fit with themes such as Traditional Tales or Forests.

Looking at pre-war dances such as the waltz & the factors that influenced this dance style, then how & why this rapidly changed during the war years to move towards dances like the Lindy Hop & Jive. The pack combines research tasks, practical tasks & information. Would suit upper key stage 3 or 4 students & the written/research tasks might be useful as a way of including students who are injured & unable to participate.

A series of 5 detailed lesson plans suitable for key stage one, that take inspiration and ideas from Mick Inkpen’s lovely story. Each lesson allows the children to create their own movement ideas so the teacher is free to guide, observe, describe and enjoy. The lessons are themed around the story & follow the narrative, they are ~ Lesson 1 - Penguin Small watched his friends plop into the ocean & swim away Lesson 2 - The polar bears were in a terrible mood Lesson 3 - The island was a wonderful place Lesson 4 - All night long the storm blew Lesson 5 - I can fly! I can fly!

Suitable for y2 and above, these lesson plans use the shapes that candles are often in as well as melting & setting. The lessons are creative and allow the children to devise their own movement material (rather than learning any step pattern) as a solo and in groups. The lessons come with suggestions for suitable music & could complement themes such as Festival of Light, Changing States, 3D Shapes or Light & Dark. I have assumed that lessons run for approximately 45 minutes, so you may well find that you have more than 2 lessons here if you hall time is less or that your children have little prior experience of dance.

Suitable for upper KS1 or lower KS2 this dance lesson uses the London Underground map as a stimulus to get the children travelling & stopping, passing through each other, following, connecting and separating. A highly creative lesson that will have the children busy and stimulate their imagination. Includes a suggestion for suitable music.

3 Dance lessons suitable for upper KS1 or lower KS2 based on the Kenneth Greene novel The Wind in the Willows. Each lesson is creative & simply requires the teacher to ask the children questions to inspire them to move - all of which are laid out in a simple step-by-step format. The first lesson uses the idea of the river, it’s bank & the plant life often found in such settings. The second lesson uses Mole’s spring clean as a starting point, this is developed into partner work as we introduce Ratty & their journey down the river. Finally we meet Toad in the episode with this motor car & travelling haphazardly along the country lanes. Music is suggested for each lesson which is easily accessed via the internet, but feel free to add your own! The lessons are designed to keep the children moving throughout the lesson & to develop their own ideas.

A key stage one resource where the 4 lessons encourage the children to explore and develop their own movement ideas (you don’t have to dance a step - unless you want to!) Each lesson comes in a step by step format with notes and prompts for you to ensure the children are developing their skills - and each lesson also comes with a recommended piece of music that is easily accessed via the internet. Lesson One includes Autumn leaves falling & bonfires with curling smoke. Lesson Two uses the angular shapes & sudden actions of Jack Frost. Lesson Three is the swirling patterns of snow, gusting and settling. Lesson Four looks at travelling through the snow & links with arctic explorers such as Scott of the Antarctic. Each section of the lesson has a clear aim, these might involve physical skills such as balance or control; performance skills such as projection or focus; teamworking skills such as cooperation or giving feedback; or choreographic skills such as mirroring or strucutring their work.

Four creative dance lessons covering the key steps in the process of chocolate making. Lesson 1 covers the pods growing on the trees & how they are harvested and fermented. Lesson 2 looks at drying, transporting & roasting. Lesson 3 looks at the winnowing process Lesson 4 covers grinding, mixing & refining the chocolate. Each lesson gives the children endless opportunities to decide how they will respond to the tasks which makes the lessons very inclusive of different abilities and levels of experience, whilst requiring the teacher to simply set the tasks (verbally) & give feedback. There are opportunities for team working and for groups to observe and give feedback. These lessons are very much written with the non specialist in mind, they are in a clear step-by-step format with hints along the way, they also include a suggestion for music that will suit, but please feel free to add your own choice.

This resource uses themes and ideas linked directly to David Walliams wonderful novel ‘Gangsta Granny’. Each lesson comes in a clear, easy to follow format where the children respond to tasks (rather than learn patterns of steps) that make the work creative, inclusive and easy for the non-specialist teacher to deliver successfully. The links to the text are clearly identified, thus consolidating their understanding of techniques used in literacy lessons. There are also hints and tips along the way to assist classroom management, and the skills for each section are shown in a side column - not forgetting a music suggestion for each lesson (with a direct link). There are 16 lessons in total - these are for you to select from (you don’t need to complete all of them!), or if you were thinking of putting on a whole school performance you might split the sections between a number of classes.

These 3 dance lessons cover themes of plate tectonics & how this affects Japan, Mount Fuji (volcanoes), The painting The Great Wave & tsunamis as well as the Japan being known as ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’ & its flag. All lesson plans are written in a step by step format taking you through the lesson logically, but with the focus being on the children generating the movement ideas rather than you teaching them ‘steps’ for them to recreate. With each section of the lesson there are hints and tips along the way regarding how to structure sections, or things to look out for… the key skill(s) of each section is also identified. There is a suggestion of the type of music you might use & a link to it… this is purely to save you time… feel free to select other music that you might prefer or think more suitable for your group. The lessons can be delivered in any order & they could be amalgamated at the end to create a ‘Japan’ dance.

A one-off dance lesson linked to the music ‘Dance Macabre’ by Saint Saens’. The dance is very closely linked to the structure of the music starting with the clock chiming 12 followed by footsteps & uses the typical ghoulish characters of skeletons, ghosts, witches, spiders and black cats. Each ghoulish character has a different movement quality, e.g. skeleton is stiff and angular, the ghost is light & floaty etc… As the music changes from one section to the next the children change from one character to another, thus all of the children are active all of the time. The teacher notes indicate when the sections change in minutes & seconds - most systems are able to show these as part of their display. The dance lasts approximately 2 minutes & it resolves itself by the children realising they are looking at a fancy dress party - thus hopefully not giving anyone nightmares!

A single dance lesson plan what would be suitable for upper ks1 or lower ks2. The lesson introduces the animals involved in the traditional story & how they move - then it progresses to use ‘the race’ to identify which order the years appear in the Chinese calendar. The plan could be easily split into 2, if your lessons are short or your children are younger. Each section of the lesson comes with hints & suggestions to enable you to deliver it successfully as well as the key skill being developed at that stage. Further to this there is a recommended piece of music that should be easily accessible through platforms such as iTunes, Spotify or YouTube

3 dance lessons aimed at ks2 covering science themes of Light Reflections The Eye Each lesson plan is written in detailed step by step format that simply requires the teacher to ask questions & set tasks, thus allowing the children the opportunity to be creative in their responses & consolidating their knowledge of key scientific principles. The lessons include hints & tips to help you to support or challenge the students as appropriate. The skills of each section are clearly identified along with a suggestion for the music you might use - an iTunes link is included but the track will also be available on other platforms such as Spotify or YouTube.