Interdisciplinary Learning Through Dance:101 Moventures

The lesson plans in Interdisciplinary Learning Through Dance: 101 MOVEntures are broad (covering six disciplines) and deep (101 plans in all). Each lesson is based on national standards and has been field tested with students in grades K-5 with positive results. In fact, both teachers and students enjoy the plans and the learning gained through Interdisciplinary Learning Through Dance: 101 MOVEntures.

Teachers value the materials: a book, a music CD to be used with selected lessons, and a 60-minute DVD that demonstrates teaching methodologies and shows selected lesson plans in action. All are designed to be used in lessons that focus on science, social studies, language arts, math, physical education, and creative arts.

Students respond with enthusiasm to the active learning of subjects through playful movement.
The book's content inspires engaging and active learning with these features:
- Basic language of dance
- How-tos of lesson planning
- Classroom-management techniques
- Thinking tools for promoting conceptual understanding
- Assessment choices and forms

Each lesson plan addresses the national standards for dance and the core curriculum subject areas, as well as the grade level, length, student objectives, and materials needed. In addition, each plan contains these special features:
- Introduction
- Moving adventure
- Assessment
- Extensions

The book explores the benefits of crossing curricular boundaries with dance and delves into the vocabulary of dance and the pedagogy for creating moving adventures, or MOVEntures. It lays out the 101 lesson plans in six disciplines, providing assessment tools, lesson schematics, and additional resources– including the national standards and thinking tools.

Complete. Cross-disciplinary. Broad and deep. Instructive. And fun. Teachers can't go wrong with Interdisciplinary Learning Through Dance: 101 MOVEntures, because the students learn the subjects and come back wanting to learn more.

Lynnette Young Overby, PhD, is the director of the Program for Interdisciplinary Learning Through the Arts at Michigan State University. She has taught dance, theater, and physical education across multiple disciplines in public school and university settings for 30 years, and she has created several dance and theater productions that teach curricular content. Overby has served as president and conference director of the National Dance Association, a board member of Dance and the Child International, and conference director and founding member of the National Dance Education Organization.

Beth C. Post, MS, is a creative arts teacher for K-5 students in Williamston, Michigan. Post has extensive teaching experience in public schools using an interdisciplinary approach to learning. She has designed and implemented an interdisciplinary creative arts curriculum for grades K-5 and is an advocate for movement education in the schools, having presented at state and national teacher professional development conferences. Post is a veteran member of the Happendance Professional Contemporary Dance Company, working as a dancer, choreographer, director, and educator. She was named Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year in 1998.

Diane Newman, MA, is the founder and director of the Happendance Professional Contemporary Dance Company, which serves up to 10,000 students per year. She developed a 10-level curriculum of ballet training and instituted a progressive syllabus for creative dance and dance composition for Happendance students. She also has taught dance and conceptual learning through movement in various settings for more than 30 years. Newman is a popular presenter at dance, dance education, service learning, and K-12 teachers' professional development conferences. She was named Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year in 1981.