Howard Ward has the first of four dance sessions based on Greedy Zebra by Mwenye Hadithi.
1. Time for change
The first session in a unit based on the well-known picture book Greedy Zebra by Mwenye Hadithi. This session focuses on: introducing the story; moving to words and music; exploring space and levels; balance and off balance; body shapes and tensions.
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)
Lesson summary:
Through the leafy forest. Using the words and music as their stimulus, the children are guided through the first part of the story.They begin by imagining moving through a leafy forest, exploring the space up and down, over and around, and squeezing through squashed places. The atmosphere is quiet and eerie, but nothing changes: the sounds are always the same.
Under your feet. As the ground beneath them begins to rumble and move, the children experiment with movement ideas based on balance, and losing your balance. This progresses to being shaken and tossed about. They explore different body shapes and tensions as they collapse and stretch.
Inside the cave. Discovering the beautiful skins and horns, the children show their excitement, as they create their own animal, and think about how that animal might move. Then they show each other what they have made.
Final thought. Relaxed, lying flat and looking up at the ceiling, the children imagine what their animal mighthave looked like.
More from this unit of KS1 Dance: Let's Move
2. News travels fast. audio
Part 2 of 'Greedy Zebra' by Mwenye Hadithi.
3. Spots, stripes and a stitch in time. audio
Part 3 of 'Greedy Zebra' by Mwenye Hadithi.
4. Zebra's lesson. audio
The final part of 'Greedy Zebra' by Mwenye Hadithi.