Home›Lesson Plans›The Arts›Dance · Grade 11

Building a Dance Portfolio

Eleventh graders learn to build a dance portfolio — choosing pieces that show their strengths, recording their best work, selecting, refining, and presenting — preparing for auditions, companies, and college programs.

Grade 11Portfolio55 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
Start the Lesson
Assign or share this lesson
Share to Google Classroom Share to Microsoft Teams

Copy link works with Canvas, Schoology, Moodle and any other LMS — paste it in as a resource or assignment.

Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain a dance portfolio.
  • ✓Choose your strengths.
  • ✓Order the steps.
  • ✓Present your best.
Essential Question

Applying to a dance program or company means showing your best. How do you build a strong dance portfolio?

0
Lesson Phases
0
Vocabulary Terms
0
Standards Aligned
0
Interactive Task
Put in Order · Interactive

Order the Dance Portfolio Steps

Project this and have students put the dance-portfolio steps in order.

🩰 Put the dance portfolio steps in order!Try it
Tap the first step!
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Warm-Up · Explore · Create · Perform · Reflect)

55 minutes, five moves

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

1

Warm-Up — Show Your Best

6 min

Applying to a program or company means showing your best — how do you build a portfolio?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a portfolio reel.
  • Ask what makes it strong.
  • Warm up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Wonder.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Dance Portfolio

13 min

Students explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Order the Dance Portfolio Steps.
  • Order them.
  • Note selecting.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Order.
  • Note it.
  • Name.
3

Create — Create

15 min

Students create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Choose your styles.
  • List your best pieces.
  • Plan a recording.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Choose.
  • List them.
  • Plan it.
4

Perform — Perform

13 min

Students perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Record or perform a piece.
  • Refine it.
  • Give critique.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Record it.
  • Refine.
  • Critique.
5

Reflect — Reflect

6 min

Students respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name the first step.
  • Explain selecting.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name it.
  • Explain it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance, HS Advanced).

NCAS
DA:Cr3.1.HSIII

Refine and present a portfolio.

NCAS
DA:Pr5.1.HSIII

Prepare performances.

NCAS
DA:Pr6.1.HSIII

Present a body of work.

NCAS
DA:Cr2.1.HSIII

Organize a body of work.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Portfolio-step cards.
  • Sentence frame: “First ___, then ___.”
  • Use portfolio examples.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with choose and present.
  • Order two at a time.
  • Pick one piece.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Build a full portfolio reel.
  • Prepare an audition combo.
  • Write a dance résumé.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🎥A camera/phone
  • 💻Order the Dance Portfolio Steps
  • 👟Open space
  • ✏️Pens
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

portfolioa curated body of workauditiona tryout performancereela video of your dancingstylea type of danceselectto choose the bestrefineto polishpresentationhow you show your workcomboa set audition sequence
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
What is a good FIRST step in a dance portfolio?
Choose the styles and pieces that show your strengths.
QUESTION 2
What do you do after recording your work?
Select your strongest material.
QUESTION 3
What is a portfolio presented for?
An audition or portfolio review.

Reflect: show your artistry.

Have students choose two pieces or styles that show their strengths for a portfolio. A printable portfolio 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.

🃏 Building a Dance PortfolioFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
0

Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

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

📝 Building a Dance PortfolioQuiz
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.

🖨️ Building a Dance PortfolioPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: audition, combo, portfolio, presentation, reel, refine, select, style
  1. a curated body of work
  2. a tryout performance
  3. a type of dance
  4. how you show your work
  5. a set audition sequence
  6. to polish
  7. to choose the best
  8. a video of your dancing

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What is a good FIRST step in a dance portfolio?
  2. What do you do after recording your work?
  3. What is a portfolio presented for?
Answer key — Part A: 1) portfolio · 2) audition · 3) style · 4) presentation · 5) combo · 6) refine · 7) select · 8) reel
Part B: 1) Choose the styles and pieces that show your strengths. 2) Select your strongest material. 3) An audition or portfolio review.