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Dance Like an Animal

First graders use their imagination to dance like animals — flapping like a bird, slithering like a snake, stomping like an elephant — exploring how different movements can express different creatures.

Grade 1Expression30 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 like an animal.
  • ✓Match animals to movements.
  • ✓Use your imagination.
  • ✓Express with dance.
Essential Question

You can pretend to be any animal with your body — flap like a bird or stomp like an elephant! How would you move to dance like different animals?

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

Match the Animal to Its Dance

Project this and match each animal to how you would move like it — tap an animal, then tap the movement.

💃 Match each animal to its dance moveTry it
Animal
How to Move
Now tap the movement!
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 — Be an Animal

4 min

Pretend to be any animal with your body — how would you move?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Move like an animal.
  • Ask which one.
  • Warm up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Guess.
  • Notice.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Explore Animal Moves

8 min

Children explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to Match the Animal.
  • Match each one.
  • Try the moves.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match.
  • Try them.
  • Explain.
3

Move — Move

9 min

Children move.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Flap like a bird.
  • Stomp like an elephant.
  • Slither like a snake.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Flap.
  • Stomp.
  • Slither.
4

Perform — Perform

6 min

Children perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Dance an animal.
  • Have others guess.
  • Be kind.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Dance it.
  • Let them guess.
  • Be kind.
5

Reflect — Reflect

3 min

Children close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name an animal move.
  • Show it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

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

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance).

NCAS
DA:Cr1.1.1

Create movement inspired by ideas.

NCAS
DA:Pr4.1.1

Move in different ways.

NCAS
DA:Cn10.1.1

Connect dance to the world.

NCAS
DA:Pr6.1.1

Perform expressively.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Animal + move cards.
  • Sentence frame: “A ___ moves by ___.”
  • Show animal pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with bird and elephant.
  • Copy the leader.
  • Move slowly.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Dance more animals.
  • Make an animal dance story.
  • Guess animals from moves.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🦋Animal pictures
  • 💻Match the Animal to Its Dance
  • 👟Space to move
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

animala living creatureflapto move like wingsslitherto move low like a snakestompto step heavilyfloatto move lightlyglideto move smoothlyimagineto make believemoveto change your body
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
How would you dance like a bird?
Flap your arms like wings and glide.
QUESTION 2
How would you dance like an elephant?
Stomp slowly with big, heavy steps.
QUESTION 3
How would you dance like a butterfly?
Float lightly and flutter your arms.

Reflect: animal dance.

Have children pick an animal and dance like it for their family to guess. A printable animal-dance 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.

🃏 Dance Like an AnimalFlip
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.

📝 Dance Like an AnimalQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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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.

🖨️ Dance Like an AnimalPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: animal, flap, float, glide, imagine, move, slither, stomp
  1. to move like wings
  2. to change your body
  3. to move lightly
  4. a living creature
  5. to step heavily
  6. to move smoothly
  7. to make believe
  8. to move low like a snake

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How would you dance like a bird?
  2. How would you dance like an elephant?
  3. How would you dance like a butterfly?
Answer key — Part A: 1) flap · 2) move · 3) float · 4) animal · 5) stomp · 6) glide · 7) imagine · 8) slither
Part B: 1) Flap your arms like wings and glide. 2) Stomp slowly with big, heavy steps. 3) Float lightly and flutter your arms.