Rhythmic Activities and Dance : Dancing for Fun and Fitness

This text aims to help select and teach developmentally appropriate dance and rhythmic activities to students. Chapter 1 provides guidelines for developing K-8 rhythmic activities and dance programmes, planning units and lessons, managing classes and evaluating students. This introductory chapter lists cognitive, affective, and psychomotor characteristics as well as the needs and expectations of children in grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Subsequent chapters contain activities that focus on a specific type of dance or rhythmic activity including: 28 rhythmic games and activities; 18 aerobic and rhythmic dance routines; 32 line dance activities; big set figures, square dances, and clogging; and 32 folk dances. To help physical educators individualize instruction, the activities in chapter 2 through 7 are divided into a progression of three developmentally appropriate skill levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced.

John Price Bennett, EdD, has been teaching dance to people of all ages, from preschool to older adults, since 1969. He is a professor in the health and applied human sciences department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he has taught dance since 1992. His primary teaching areas in dance are pre-K-12 children's creative dance, folk, square, ballroom, and Latin dance. His major focus in his teaching and research is on the preservation of our intangible cultural heritage through the medium of dance and bringing people together through dance.

John has written more than 100 publications and given more than 350 presentations throughout his career, and he stays in high demand to teach dance and provide staff development across the United States and abroad. He has been bestowed with many honors, including the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Honor Award for 2004 for meritorious service. He has served in many capacities on AAHPERD committees and is a member of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the National Dance Association (NDA). He has received numerous state and national teaching awards.

Pamela Coughenour Riemer, MA, has been teaching physical education since 1969 and has had recreational dance as a major component of her curriculum. Currently she is a teacher in the Scotland County School System in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Her teaching integrates the North Carolina Standard Course of Study across the entire curriculum. Her physical education program was a North Carolina President's Council on Physical Fitness Demonstration Center for 14 years.

Pamela was named North Carolina Secondary Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 1990-1991. She was the creator and choreographer for the Sycamore Lane Dance Company that has performed at 10 state AAHPERD conventions and 3 national AAHPERD conventions along with more than 200 presentations and staff developments on a state, national, and international level. She was one of the authors for the current North Carolina Standard Course of Study dance component. Pamela has served on the board of directors for the North Carolina Dance Association and is a member of AAHPERD, the NDA, and the North Carolina Dance Association. She was hired as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense to teach and demonstrate her techniques for teaching recreational dance in Wiesbaden, Germany.