NO PREP Chinese New Year Unit: Music and Dance Unit for Elementary Students
Description
Looking for a quick, and easy way to teach your students about how China celebrates their biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year? This resource is perfect for your Grades 1-8 music and/or dance classroom then! You can easily use this resource for distance learning or in-person instruction. Use all the slides in the deck, or delete and add some of your own as you desire, when teaching this unit.
This resource includes:
- a guide on how to use this resource
- clear links on how this resource ties to the Music and Dance Expectations from the Ontario Arts Curriculum
- Introduction to how Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, with regards to food, music, dance and traditions (YouTube video)
- five comprehension questions about what Chinese New Year is about
- Introduction to the Lion Dance (YouTube video)
- three video comprehension questions about the purpose of the lion dance in Chinese culture and the instruments heard in the music
- Another video for more in depth information about the Lion Dance
- Comprehension questions from the video about the values represented through the lion dance performance and the costume that the dancers wear
- Video featuring an animated lion dance at a shop during Chinese New Year (YouTube video)
- an interesting lion dance parody that will make your students smile (YouTube video)
- a video to teach your students some basic lion dance moves for them to follow along with (YouTube video)
- Introduction to the "Dragon Dance", another common, although less popular dance to celebrate Chinese New Year
- Reflection Questions and Wrap-Up to conclude the mini Lunar New Year Unit on music and dance in China
Depending on how often you see your music/dance classes, you could do this in one period or spread it out to two periods, with the discussion questions being more in depth, depending on the grade level. If you have your music and/or dance once a week, you could do this with all the classes in your program, from Grades 1-8.
If you have any questions or comments about this resource, please feel free to email me at theartswithmadame@gmail.com. I welcome your feedback!
