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High & Low Dancing

First graders learn that dancers can move at high and low levels — reaching up tall on tiptoes or crouching down low to the floor — adding variety and fun to a dance.

Grade 1Space30 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Dance up high.
  • ✓Dance down low.
  • ✓Sort high and low moves.
  • ✓Change your level.
Essential Question

You can dance way up high on your tiptoes, or way down low on the floor! Moving high and low makes dancing more fun. Can you tell high moves from low moves?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

High Move or Low Move?

Project this and sort each move into a high move or a low move.

💃 Sort each — high move or low move?Try it
🔺 High Move
🔻 Low Move
Tap a move, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Warm-Up · Explore · Move · Perform · Reflect)

30 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Up High, Down Low

4 min

Dance high on tiptoes or low on the floor — that’s levels!

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Reach up, then crouch down.
  • Ask which is which.
  • Warm up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Move.
  • Guess.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Explore Levels

8 min

Children explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to High Move or Low Move?
  • Sort each one.
  • Try high and low.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort them.
  • Try them.
  • Explain.
3

Move — Move

9 min

Children move.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Dance up high.
  • Dance down low.
  • Go high to low.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Go high.
  • Go low.
  • Change it.
4

Perform — Perform

6 min

Children perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a high move.
  • Show a low move.
  • Be kind.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Show high.
  • Show low.
  • Be kind.
5

Reflect — Reflect

3 min

Children close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a high move.
  • Name a low move.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Name one.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance).

NCAS
DA:Pr4.1.1

Move at high and low levels.

NCAS
DA:Cr1.1.1

Explore levels in space.

NCAS
DA:Pr5.1.1

Practice moving in space.

NCAS
DA:Re7.1.1

Describe high and low movement.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • High/low picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “This is a ___ move.”
  • Move together.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with reach vs. crouch.
  • Use pictures.
  • Sort one at a time.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add a middle level.
  • Make a high-low pattern.
  • Move high to low smoothly.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🎵Music
  • 💻High Move or Low Move?
  • 👟Space to move
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

highway up talllowway down near the floorlevelhow high or low you movetiptoesstanding on your toescrouchto bend down lowreachto stretch outcrawlto move on hands and kneesspacewhere you dance
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name a high move in dance.
Reaching up on tiptoes, jumping high, or waving arms overhead.
QUESTION 2
Name a low move in dance.
Crouching low, crawling, curling up small, or rolling.
QUESTION 3
Is jumping up high a high move or a low move?
A high move.

Reflect: high and low.

Have children make one high move and one low move for their family. A printable levels sheet is in the Arts library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 High & Low DancingFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 High & Low DancingQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ High & Low DancingPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: crawl, crouch, high, level, low, reach, space, tiptoes
  1. way down near the floor
  2. to move on hands and knees
  3. way up tall
  4. standing on your toes
  5. to bend down low
  6. how high or low you move
  7. to stretch out
  8. where you dance

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name a high move in dance.
  2. Name a low move in dance.
  3. Is jumping up high a high move or a low move?
Answer key — Part A: 1) low · 2) crawl · 3) high · 4) tiptoes · 5) crouch · 6) level · 7) reach · 8) space
Part B: 1) Reaching up on tiptoes, jumping high, or waving arms overhead. 2) Crouching low, crawling, curling up small, or rolling. 3) A high move.