Dance 1 · Week 13 · Dance, Culture, and Celebration
Dance and Remembrance
Students explore dances that honor ancestors in different cultures and connect them to traditions they know or admire.
- Students will
- Students analyze how dances from different cultures honor ancestors, connect movement choices to the ideas of the people they come from, and create a short remembrance gesture phrase.
- SEL skill
- Ask why a dance makes sense to the people who perform it before judging it
- What it looks like
- Students practice empathy by imagining why a community moves to remember, without needing to share private loss.
- Content focus
- Dance and Remembrance
- Format
- Partner exchange
Social awareness
Social awareness means understanding how other people feel and think, including people from different backgrounds and cultures. More social awareness activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- DA:Cn11.1.HSI: Dance, Connecting, Anchor Standard 11 (Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding), High School Proficient
- Artistic process: Connecting
- Level: High School Proficient
More social awareness activities for Dance 1
- Mirror Work Social awarenessPartners mirror each other's movement and practice reading subtle cues to stay in sync.
- Space and Respect Social awarenessDancing with spatial intention, students explore personal and shared space and how to respect the space of others.
- Dance at Día de los Muertos Social awarenessStudents analyze traditional dances seen at Día de los Muertos celebrations and discuss what they mean to the communities who perform them.
- Dance in the Coachella Valley Social awarenessStudents explore dance traditions in the valley, from folklórico groups to hip hop crews, and what they reveal about the people who dance them.
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RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.