Grow Up Great
Note: This is a movement activity that is great for transitions and is best taught prior to the lesson, All Aboard the Movement Train!
Note: Before beginning the lesson, put tape on the floor to make pathways around the room. Include straight, curved, and zigzag paths.
1. Begin a discussion about the word travel; ask children to share the places they have traveled, both in the community (like the grocery store) and outside the community.
2. Tell them that traveling involves movement, and movement is a part of transportation. All vehicles such as cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, and buses move. Our bodies move too, and movement is part of dancing. When we dance, we can move our bodies from place to place as we move along a pathway.
3. Show pictures of the different pathways and discuss.
4. Have the children trace a straight pathway in the air using a finger. Have them try drawing the pathway using their arm, shoulder, nose, and toes. Repeat with curved and zigzag pathways. Tell them that they will be moving through pathways around the room using different movements.
5. Discuss the important rules of dance lessons (see Lesson Tips), and have the children stand up to perform the steps of the warm-up:
a. Breathing – Take several deep breaths in, and make a train whistle sound while breathing out slowly.
b. Touch – Pretend the fingers are cars moving at different speeds and pathways along the body.
c. Get Moving – Do several movements that will get the blood flowing:
6. Choose a locomotor movement, such as tiptoe, gallop. skip, march, etc., and demonstrate how to move along the pathways doing that movement.
7. Play some music, and keep time using a drum; have the children follow the pathways.
8. Have the children repeat moving through the pathways using different movements.
A pathway is the trail a person, animal, or vehicle takes in getting from place to place. When referring to dancing, a floor pathway is the trail left by the dancer moving through the dance space. When dancing on a floor, the trail can be straight, curved, zigzag, diagonal, or any combination of these.
These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge.**
A pathway is the trail a person, animal, or vehicle takes in getting from place to place. When referring to dancing, a floor pathway is the trail left by the dancer moving through the dance space. When dancing on a floor, the trail can be straight, curved, zigzag, diagonal, or any combination of these.
Pathways or trails used for transportation usually imply that they are unpaved. Pathways in nature can be for walking, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, skiing, or other outdoor activities. Paved pathways are commonly referred to as “roads” or “highways.” These routes are commonly used by motorized vehicles. Other vehicles create different types of pathways. Airplanes create pathways in the sky, trains follow pathways created by the tracks, and boats create pathways in water.
- This is a great lesson to use for transitioning from one activity to another.
- Musical selections can be found online. Search for Introduction/Royal March of the Lion from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns (Warm Up); Limbo Rock by Dora the Explorer (What To Do); Caribbean Leaps by Eric Chappelle (What To Do); Voliere from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns (Explore, Extend & Integrate); and Le Cygne from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns (Cool Down).
- Important rules of dance lessons:
a. Listen to the teacher; wait to move, and stop movement when the teacher tells you.
b. Keep your body safe while moving.
c. Stay in your own self-space.
-Sun Dance, Water Dance by Jonathan London
- Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist
- Lines That Wiggle by Candace Whitman
- Getting There by Marla Stewart Konrad
While we believe that the books and resources recommended may be of value to you, keep in mind that these are suggestions only and you must do your own due diligence to determine whether the materials are appropriate and suitable for your use. PNC has no sponsorship or endorsement agreement with the authors or publishers of the materials listed.
There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
Read a summary of privacy rights for California residents which outlines the types of information we collect, and how and why we use that information.