KS1 Physical Education / Music: Earth

Video summary

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

The music they dance to includes Saint Saens’ The Elephant, Karl Jenkins’ Adiemus and Aaron Copeland’s Appalachian Spring.

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 – particularly the simple rhythmical sequences; physically interpreting the mood of the different pieces of music;
  • feeling and playing with mud, sand and grass; making foot and hand prints in mud and sand;
  • using the clip to illustrate life processes and living things; exploring different fruits by smelling, touching and tasting them;
  • investigating healthy eating and where our food comes from;
  • investigating cause and effect e.g. in the scene where the dancers shake the trunk of a tree and fruit falls down;
  • investigating the effects of gravity.

Pupils can be encouraged to use dance and movement to explore the different emotions evoked by the concept of ‘earth’, 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: Fire

Three dancers invoke the element Water, dancing to classical music by Saint Saens, Debussy and Johann Strauss in animated, virtual environments.

Physical Education / Music KS1: Water
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