Demonstrating the activity with a student partner gets everyone excited for what's coming up.

making school subjects fun through dance

What is a Creative Dance School Residency?

Essentially, Nicole is a guest artist who comes to the school for 3-5 Classroom Sessions with the students. The content is driven by teachers' needs and curriculum goals. Every lesson directly connects dance with state and national standards for a true arts integration experience.

Nicole's 5 Easy Steps to a Fantastic Residency:

Nicole chats with teachers via email to decide the basics: who/what/when
A short Planning Meeting is held to fine tune the curriculum details.
Nicole emails her lesson plan and any advance materials to all the teachers.
Nicole delivers 3-5 Classroom Sessions at the school.
Students perform their dances for parents (during class, at an assembly, or in an STEAM night).

All the activities are structured improvisations--ideal for students of all talents and skills. Teachers, regardless of their background, can implement these tools even after the residency is over. As a veteran, Nicole easily "reads the room," and individualizes her activities for a variety of students. There is a role for every child.

Questions?

Do you have a subject you want to connect to dance? Do you wonder if it can be done?

What We Teach

MATH

ENGINEERING

SCIENCE

You can make math dance?!?! Yes, we can! I will show you how, and we'll create a great class dance together. If you want a math residency, here are some topic ideas:

K- Greater Than/Less Than, Addition 1-20, Subtraction
1/2: Part/Part/Whole, Congruent/Symmetrical, Fraction Basics (Whole, Half, Fourths)
3-5: Multiplication (Arrays, Factors, Multiples), Angles (Acute, Obtuse, Right), Lines (Parallel, Intersecting, Perpendicular)

SCIENCE

ENGINEERING

SCIENCE

Science and dance are a natural fit. Systems, patterns, cause and effect can all be covered through dance. Here are some topic ideas:

K-2: Life Cycles, Habitats, Ecosystems
3-5: Water Cycle, Solar System, Forces
6-8: Newton's Laws of Physics, Cells, Chromosomes

ENGINEERING

LANGUAGE ARTS

If you think of choreographers as inventors, then there's lots of possibilities. Can students “engineer” a dance that educates their audience about important civics/social science topics? Students can cover topics like:

wealth/scarcity
consequences of cooperation/conflict
differing perspectives
role of citizens in a government
bias/injustice/discrimination/stereotypes

LANGUAGE ARTS

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

LANGUAGE ARTS

Stuck in a chair reading for Language Arts? Get moving instead!

K: Characters, Setting, Adjectives
1-2: Beginning, Middle, End, Problem/Solution, Comparing Two Versions of Same Story, Theme
3-5: Fables/ Folktales, Narrative Writing, Sequencing, Moral

HISTORY

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

Too many people think History is boring, in my opinion. I actually have a B.A. in History, so I love it when I get to combine my love of history with my passion for dance. Students get to bring History to life, bonus!

Some topic ideas include Causes of the American Revolution
The strengths/weaknesses of the Mayans, Incans, and Aztecs

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

Dance is a natural teacher of many social/emotional lessons. Here are some topics we have covered:

Citizenship
Cooperation/Teamwork
Growth Mindset
Adaptability

Sample Lesson Plans

Subtraction (K)

Life Cycle of Plants (2)

The Kindergarten students at Scouter's Mountain were struggling with the concept of subtraction. After my dance residency, their teacher told me they all scored As on their subtraction tests.

Addition/ Subtraction Lesson Plan

Life Cycle of Plants (2)

The second grade teachers at Free Orchards Elementary wanted to focus on observations of nature and seeds, but their kids also needed more help with adjectives and adverbs.

Life Cycle of Plants Lesson Plan

Narrative Writing (K-6)

Life Cycle of Plants (2)

Narrative Writing (K-6)

The staff at Lenox Elementary decided to focus on Language Arts for their whole-school residency. We started with this framework, then tweaked content for each grade.

Narrative Writing Lesson Plan

Solar System/Models (5)

STEM: Invention Challenge (6-8)

Narrative Writing (K-6)

The Solar System has been a popular choice for 5th grade teachers. For this class, I was asked to focus on model-building, so our student showcase culminated in a student-performed, dancing model of our solar system.

System/Models Lesson Plan

STEM: Invention Challenge (6-8)

The science staff at Arbor School of Arts and Sciences wanted to prepare their students for an invention challenge. The teachers asked me to focus on the concepts of collaboration and revision. The students created dances, gave each other feedback, and performed them. They created some really cool dances. (It was awesome!)

Invention Challenge Overview

Newton's Laws (6-8)

STEM: Invention Challenge (6-8)

At the middle school level, physics can get really fun. Newton's Laws come to life in small group dance games. When they are stacked together, these games become student-created choreography. It might take a while to warm them up, but the reward is great when I see the students begin to shed their inhibitions.

Physics Lesson Plan