Literacy through Movement

Literacy skills are an important part of a preschoolers education. We don't mean learning to read and write, but a broader understanding of language and how it all connects together. After teaching dance to this age group for many years, it has become clear how powerful incorporating stories and vocabulary into the dance lessons is. All children are going to learn in their own way, but we've noticed that as toddlers and preschoolers, the connection of language with their physical experiences helps to make some of these abstract concepts we teach more tangible. 

Here are few tools that we love to use in dance class that are related to the fall season and incorporate literacy elements with movement.

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A poem to inspire a dance

November Leaves
‘The leaves are falling upon my head. The leaves are falling yellow, brown & red.
The leaves are floating gently down, like a colourful quilt they don’t make a sound.’
-J .Davis-Munro
Using a chiffon scarf, explore the movements of a leaf falling.  High, low and around you go! 

Storybooks to inspire a hike

There is nothing better than going on a leaf hunt for beautiful colour’s and shapes of leaves.
Suggested books: 

• "We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt"  by Steve Metzger                                                     
• "Autumn" by Fiona Pragoff

Art activities inspired by fall"

We also love incorporating literacy into our art classes! For an interesting Art and Science activity I would suggest – Baking Soda Painted Leaves
We also wrote a blog post last month with more art activities with the theme of Fall. You can read that here. 

​Happy last days of fall everyone!