KS1 Physical Education / Music: Water

Video summary

Three dancers dance to three pieces of classical music in animated, virtual environments.

The music they dance to includes Debussy’s Arabesque, Saint Saens’ Aquarium and Strauss’s The Blue Danube.

Designed and choreographed to actively engage children with special education needs with classical music.

This clip is from the series Dance with the Elements.

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Teacher Notes

Choreographed and animated to actively engage children with special education needs with classical music, the clip aims to encourage pupils to physically join in with the dancers on-screen.

The clip supports learning across the curriculum and can be used as a springboard for pupils to develop their understanding of the world around them.

Activities could include:

  • copying the dancers’ movements;
  • physically interpreting the mood of the different pieces of music;
  • exploring things that float and sink - for more advanced learners, students could investigate the effect adding salt has on objects placed in water;
  • investigating which shape containers and which size sponges hold the most water; using the clip to support learning around the water cycle;
  • sensory activities involving water – sprays, bubbles, hand and foot baths;
  • recreating the ocean by introducing different coral textures e.g. spiky balls, rubber and cloth textured pads, pompoms;
  • investigating ice – freezing and melting; using ice cube trays to create cubes of ice paint to use for painting;
  • investigating animals in Antarctica, and the effects of global warming.

Pupils can be encouraged to use dance and movement to explore the different emotions evoked by the concept of ‘water’, by the feelings expressed in the clip, and by the pieces of music the clip is set to; promoting the social and emotional aspects of learning.

This clip will be relevant for teaching Music or Physical Education to primary school children and children with special educational needs.

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Three dancers invoke the element Air, dancing to classical music in animated, virtual environments.

Physical Education / Music KS1: Air

Three dancers invoke the element Fire, dancing to classical music by Aaron Copeland, Saint-Saëns and Karl Jenkins in animated, virtual environments.

Physical Education / Music KS1: Earth

Three dancers invoke the element Fire, dancing to classical music by Aaron Copeland, Saint-Saëns and Karl Jenkins in animated, virtual environments.

Physical Education / Music KS1: Fire
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