7 Jumps / Indonesian Dance

I chose the dance 7 jumps for the class because I thought it would be a good outlet of their energy and also give them a chance to practice listening and following the music. I told them it was like a Simon says game and the music will tell them what do to. There was a boy in the class that took my Simon says reference too seriously and waited for the saying “Simon says” before he would move. Next time I’ll just let them know that the music will tell them what to do, and not connect it to Simon says:) It was so fun to watch them follow along to this dance, my favorite part was seeing their surprised faces when we put our head on the ground or when the music held much longer than they expected and they had to balance on one leg for a long time.

When I first went to their class I saw that their teacher got their attention by having them following her claps. In Indonesia they have a dance called the dance of a thousand hands that I thought would be perfect for them! 

They finished 7 jumps in a circle so I kept them there and on the floor while they followed my new clapping patterns. I realized that they need more practice knowing their rights and lefts but most of the class picked up on the clapping really quickly. After we learned the Saman hand dance in the circle I moved them to the traditional formation of a single line by having them line up in their lunch order. The second part to the Indonesian dance is called Sajojo. Sajojo is a welcoming dance and when I first played the music for them they all told me they had heard the song before:) I decided to add in Sajojo because it is more upbeat and lively compared to Saman which takes full concentration with little movement. My hopes is that the dance will be simple enough for them to remember and that they will then be able to perform the dance to the other second grade class and the principle:)