Dance is an essential cultural product often overlooked in curriculum and lesson design in favor of sports, literature, visual arts, music, and other products from the target language culture. Given the similarities between the national standards for dance and for learning languages, movement and dance activities merit a greater role in world…

This article aims to provide practical strategies and examples for pre-service early education programs and early education teachers to develop music- and movement-based curricula for teacher preparation programs and early childhood music classrooms. To address the inconsistencies in early childhood music programs, the authors developed the…

Active bodily involvement in music is a key component of musical understanding. Rudolf von Laban developed a movement framework introducing the "effort elements" of time, space, weight, and flow. He proposed that by experiencing combinations of these elements, individuals internalize a movement vocabulary that fosters expressive music…

Background: Physical educators currently have a number of pedagogical (or curricular) models at their disposal. While existing models have been well-received in educational contexts, these models seek to extend students' capacities within a limited number of "human activities" (Arendt, 1958). The activity of "human practising,"…

Despite the urgent need to provide kindergarten teachers with professional development (PD) in music and movement, little is known about their needs, motivations, and preferences in this area. This interview study explores Hong Kong kindergarten teachers' prior music and movement educational experiences and their self-perceived usefulness of such…

This ethnographic study examines the development of agency in students with special needs during an experiment of classroom music teaching in a special school. The experiment took place from August 2015 to March 2016 and was based on Emile Jaques-Dalcroze's ideas of music and movement as a means of developing competencies, skills and understanding…

Discover what happens when your students step out of their daily routines and activate their engagement. Author Katherine Mills Hernandez argues that movement, talk, and the physical environment of the classroom all contribute and influence students' learning. The ideas in "Activate" will help you create a classroom optimized for deeper…

This article provides three movement-based activities for teaching health concepts to elementary school students. Two activities focus on nutrition concepts and the other focuses on teaching body systems. Diagrams are provided to show the setup of activities, as well as links for accessing materials to help implement the activities.

Pedagogical practices are fundamental to teachers' work, and in the spaces of schooling impact significantly on students' success and achievement (Evans, J. 1986. "Physical Education, Sport and Schooling: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education." London: Falmer Press.). This is especially the case for students from disadvantaged…

The voluntary after-school setting is a significant part of the educational system in Sweden and includes about 80% of the children from 6- to 9-years-old. The national curriculum stipulates that the setting should not carry on teaching, but provide a stimulating and safe environment and offer activities that support the development of values,…

Joen Bettmann's depiction of practical life exercises as character-building reveals how caring, careful, and independent work leads to higher self-esteem, more concern for others, better understanding for academic learning, and a self-nurturing, respectful classroom community. Particular aspects of movement and silence exercises bring out what…

This article focuses on the grade-level outcomes to be assessed on middle school (grades 6-8) physical education. Specifically, the article describes how to teach basic tactics and strategies while applying fundamental movement patterns to the various game and movement categories (invasion, net/wall, target, fielding/striking, dance/rhythms, &…

Adding movement to classroom activities not only engages students, but also may improve the classroom climate and reduce disruptions. In this article, the author discusses four simple activities to add movement in daily lessons. These activities are: (1) Vocabulary/Notes around the Room; (2) Cooperative Learning: Posting Task Assignments; (3)…

Historically, music educators have expressed concerns about inadequate preparation to work with students with special needs, specifically desiring skills related to instruction adaptation. Research has indicated that educational supports (written words, color coding, icons, echoing, buddy system, and other visual aids) can be particularly…

A literate child is one who is able to read, write, speak and listen. Literacy begins at birth, and continues steadily as children develop. The explicit processes that form emergent literacy are for example, phonemic awareness, letter and word recognition, vocabulary enrichment and structural analysis. These literacy practices are well documented…