Following the recommendations I decided to try teaching The Gay Gordons dance, probably because it is one of the dances I had at least heard of before. Again I searched for 'Gay Gordons dance' to show me the steps, thus enabling me to teach it to the children. Below is the video I discovered and have now used with the children.
When I first told the children we would be learning a Scottish country dance in P.E. their reaction was a loud and resounding cheer! This surprised me because having only taught country dancing in KS2 before I was expecting the usual groan from most of the class. Then when I went on to say the dance was called 'The Gay Gordons' I expected at least a titter but no, not even one. This was so refreshing, eager children and a fun dance to teach, I couldn't wait to get started!
On Tuesday we had our first lesson and it was great fun. We began by watching the video in the hall, then I put the children into pairs depending on height and of course boy/girl where possible which wasn't as easy as it seems as I have 22 boys and only 12 girls in my class. This resulted in some boys being partnered with boys but again being KS1 this was again not a problem at all.
By the end of the first lesson we got as far as getting the correct hold, walking forward for four beats and backwards for four beats, which they have managed remarkably well. The same cannot be said however of the 'pirouette' part which resulted in lots of tangled hands and arms and a good deal of laughter, most of which was mine.
I am really looking forward to the second lesson next week and I know they are too! I will let you know how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment