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Warming Up for Dance

Fifth graders learn a safe dance warm-up — gentle movement, isolations, stretching, and bigger movements — to prepare their body, prevent injury, and dance their best.

Grade 5Safety45 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…

  • ✓Explain a dance warm-up.
  • ✓Do isolations & stretches.
  • ✓Order the steps.
  • ✓Prevent injury.
Essential Question

Dancers never jump straight into a routine — they warm up first to protect their body and dance better. What’s the order of a good warm-up?

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

Order the Warm-Up Steps

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

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

45 minutes, five moves

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

1

Warm-Up — Never Jump Straight In

5 min

Dancers warm up first to protect their body — what’s the order?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a cold start vs. warm.
  • Ask why warm up.
  • Get ready.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Consider.
  • Reflect.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — The Warm-Up

11 min

Students explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Order the Warm-Up Steps.
  • Order them.
  • Note isolations.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Order.
  • Note it.
  • Name.
3

Create — Create

13 min

Students create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Do gentle cardio.
  • Do isolations.
  • Stretch slowly.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Move.
  • Isolate.
  • Stretch.
4

Perform — Perform

11 min

Students perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Lead a mini warm-up.
  • Keep it safe.
  • Give critique.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Lead it.
  • Be safe.
  • Critique.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name the first step.
  • Say why warm up.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name it.
  • Say why.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance).

NCAS
DA:Pr5.1.5

Warm up safely for dance.

NCAS
DA:Pr4.1.5

Prepare the body to move.

NCAS
DA:Re7.1.5

Understand warm-up purpose.

NCAS
DA:Cr1.1.5

Explore preparatory movement.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Warm-up step cards.
  • Sentence frame: “First ___, then ___.”
  • Warm up together.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with gentle move and stretch.
  • Order two at a time.
  • Do one stretch.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Design a warm-up routine.
  • Explain why isolations help.
  • Lead the class.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🎵Music
  • 💻Order the Warm-Up Steps
  • 👟Open space
  • ✏️Pencils
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

warm-uppreparing the body to danceisolationmoving one body part alonestretchto lengthen a musclecardiomovement that raises heart rateinjuryharm to the bodypreventto stop before it happensflexibilityhow far a joint movessafefree from harm
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 warm-up?
Gentle movement to raise your heart rate.
QUESTION 2
What is an isolation?
Moving one body part at a time.
QUESTION 3
Why do dancers warm up?
To prepare the body, dance better, and prevent injury.

Reflect: warm up right.

Have students design a short dance warm-up they could do before performing. A printable warm-up 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.

🃏 Warming Up for DanceFlip
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.

📝 Warming Up for DanceQuiz
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.

🖨️ Warming Up for DancePrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: cardio, flexibility, injury, isolation, prevent, safe, stretch, warm-up
  1. free from harm
  2. moving one body part alone
  3. harm to the body
  4. to lengthen a muscle
  5. to stop before it happens
  6. preparing the body to dance
  7. how far a joint moves
  8. movement that raises heart rate

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What is a good FIRST step in a dance warm-up?
  2. What is an isolation?
  3. Why do dancers warm up?
Answer key — Part A: 1) safe · 2) isolation · 3) injury · 4) stretch · 5) prevent · 6) warm-up · 7) flexibility · 8) cardio
Part B: 1) Gentle movement to raise your heart rate. 2) Moving one body part at a time. 3) To prepare the body, dance better, and prevent injury.