Psychology

1. Combine feeling through movement. Prerequisite: the children are already familiar with these movements. Implementation: have children list and discuss feelings. The children then discuss how the feeling should be expressed through movements. Examples:

Happy: walk with a smile, head up, eyes open, body weight, shoulders back, light on feet, nice arm swing and walk briskly.
Sad: walk slow, slouched, dragging, frown on face, step heavy, less arm movements.
Angry: running hard, fists clenched, grit teeth, frown on face, eyebrows together, and tense body.
Joyful: leap with smile on face, relaxed arms and body spring; easy going.
Sneaky: tip toe quietly, flexed position of legs and arms; concentration.
The students may also combine different shapes with feelings.

2. Discuss group dynamics through group tasks. Divide the class into groups of three and four and give them a task such as: move across the floor with only three body parts (total) touching for a group of three, four for a group of four; using all group members create a letter of the alphabet, etc. Discuss the different ways people accomplished the task and how they decided to do what they did. Did a leader surface? Were everyone’s suggestions taken into account? (2nd – 6th)

3. Express feelings of movement: even locomotor movements

Walk – shy/timid to confident
Run – peaceful to scared
Jump – stress to relieving stress
Leap – freedom (peaceful)
Hop – happy to mad

4. Express feelings of movement: uneven locomotor movements

Gallop –playful to driven (slow to fast)
Slide – playful to aggressive
Skip – happy

5. Play music with commands; play music without commands; students observe each other. Let children express feelings without music.

6. Use locomotor movements to interpret a well known fairy tale emphasizing the basic prepositions (in, out, around, between, through, under, etc.). Allow for individual ideas for use of locomotors for prepositions (i.e., one student thinks over is jumping up; another interprets is as a leap).

7. Use locomotor movements to interpret the elements of a story beginning, middle (climax) and end; starts out slowly, then speeds up, and finally slows again.

8. Allow students to use locomotor movements to demonstrate the extent to which they like a particular story. For example: walk = not like; skip = liked very much.

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