Diane Louise Jordan has the first of two dance sessions turning the clock back to explore a Victorian Christmas.
1. Decorate the tree
In the first session of the unit Diane Louise Jordan is looking forward to Christmas, with a dance making extensive use of the well-known Christmas carol O Christmas tree:
O Christmas tree,
O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches.
O Christmas tree,
O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches.
In summer sun and winter’s snow,
A coat of green you always show.
O Christmas tree,
O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches.
Resources
Download the audio for this dance session as an mp3 file.
Guidance on using the dance sessions in this unit with your group (pdf)
Christmas dance music sequence (refer to Teacher's Notes for the elements of the dance included).
Lesson summary
Warm up: skipping through the space in time with carol music.
Marching as the tin soldier: first marching on the spot then travelling around the space.
Skipping while playing penny whistle: skipping around the space making finger movements for playing the penny whistle.
Paper-chain shapes: working in groups of about 6, finding ways to interlink arms etc to crate paper-chains.
Refining paper-chains: groups choose three favourite paper-chain shapes and find ways to link them together smoothly.
Angels and stars: in pairs, children move one after the other as either angels or stars.
Christmas tree dance: in a class circle beginning to create a dance based on the words of the O Christmas tree carol.
Related units of KS1 Dance: Time to Move
A traditional harvest. collection
Diane Louise Jordan has two dance sessions for Autumn exploring a traditional harvest from 100 years ago.
See also from KS1 Dance: Let's Move...
Twas the Night before Christmas. collection
A two-part unit based on the famous poem 'Twas the Night before Christmas'.
The Nutcracker. collection
Join Cat Sandion to explore the much-loved story of 'The Nutcracker' through movement and dance.
The journey of the Magi. collection
Dances inspired by the arrival of the three kings in Bethlehem. Presented by Katy Ashworth.
