Lesson plan: The grand old Duke of York

Song bank link

The grand old Duke of York (Traditional)

Subject links

• PE QCA Unit 2: Dance activities

Duration

Minimum 1 hour

Learning objectives

• Children will compose and perform dance phrases and short dances that express and communicate moods, ideas and feelings, choosing and varying simple compositional ideas.

• Children will explore, remember, repeat and link a range of actions with coordination, control, and an awareness of the expressive qualities of the dance.

• Children will understand the importance of warming up and cooling down.

• Children will watch and describe dance phrases and dances, and use what they learn to improve their own work.
  
  

Resources

• Hall or large space

• The grand old Duke of York – all audio tracks

• Drum and woodblock

• Recording of The Love for Three Oranges Suite by Prokofiev (optional)
  
  

Introduction

• Share the Learning objectives with the children at the start of the session.

• Talk with the children about marching: Can anyone demonstrate? How do marchers use their arms and legs? Who marches as part of their job?

• Watch some footage of a ceremonial march such as the Trooping the Colour. What do the children notice (eg. the highly synchronised movement of walking and swinging arms on the beat, and how the marchers move exactly the same way)?

• Listen to The grand old Duke of York together. Use your hands to model high and low and in between to reinforce the meaning of the words: ‘when they were up they were up and when they were down they were down, and when they were only halfway up, they were neither up nor down!’ (See the Song Bank Activity notes.)

• Encourage the children to join in with singing the song (many will already be familiar with this traditional nursery rhyme), and to try the hand actions too!
  
  

Main activity

First warm up:

• Ask the children to find their own space in the hall and to stand tall and straight like soldiers.

• Stand on the spot and practise swinging arms rhythmically, one forward, one back, keeping to a steady beat played on a drum or tambour.

• Now without arms, try marching on the spot to the same beat and when the children are ready, add the swinging arms. Be aware of those who try to use the same arm and leg, instead of opposing limbs and correct this where possible by modelling yourself or asking a successful ‘marcher’ to demonstrate to the class.

• Finally, ask children to march freely around the available space.

Then play the following game:

• Play a follow-my-leader marching game. Get the children to work in pairs, marching around the space, one behind the other, following a steady beat played on a drum or using a well-known recorded march extract, such as Colonel Bogey. When the leader calls out ‘Change!’ the pairs reverse so that the ‘follower’ becomes the leader.

• Establish the idea of pathways and encourage the children to be spatially aware.

• Select pairs of dancers to demonstrate a good marching style and a brisk changeover of leader.
  
  

Independent activity

Choreograph a paired march:

• Alternate playing 8 beats on a drum and then 8 on a woodblock, making sure that the children can recognise the difference in the two sounds (the timbre of each).

• Ask the children to march freely round the space when the drum is played, but to march on the spot when the woodblock is played. Keep to a pattern of 8 beats on each instrument to maintain phrases of equal length. Practise this activity until the children are able to make the switch.

• Can any of the children identify the number of beats (steps) in each phrase?

• Now ask the children to work in pairs again, to choreograph a march which includes travelling and ‘on the spot’ steps.

• Explain that they can choose different floor pathways and patterns for travelling eg. side by side, one behind the other (like the follow-my-leader game), moving forwards towards each other, moving backwards, away from each other, in a circle, randomly around the room etc.
  
  

Differentiation

Support

• Organise dance pairs of mixed ability so that more able children can support their partners.

• Use extra adults to mingle with the children, to ‘model’ dance steps or support those who need help in recognising the ‘changing’ signals.

Extension

• Suggest that a child plays the drum and woodblock parts to lead the activity; or ask for suggestions for alternative pairs of contrasting percussion to signal new dance steps eg. skipping and leaping.
  
  

Plenary

• Ask pairs to perform their marches and invite positive feedback from their peers.

• Video performances so that children can observe and critique their own work.

• To warm down, make each of the following actions slowly:

• Anchor each foot firmly on the floor, placing them slightly apart, and turn the upper body gently round to face the other way. Repeat on the other side.

• Stretch each arm up in turn and let it fall back to the side.

• Roll shoulders forward and backwards, together and one after the other.

• Shake out legs and arms gently in turn, making each one as loose and floppy as a rag doll!
  
  

Assessment for Learning

Can the children:

• Produce actions in response to stimuli?

• Explore ideas, moods and feelings by improvising and experimenting with actions, dynamics, directions, levels and a growing range of possible movements?

• Choose and link actions to make short dance phrases, and reflect rhythmic qualities?
  
  

Next steps

• Play the march from The Love for Three Oranges Suite by Prokofiev. The piece is very short, lasting less than two minutes, with five distinct sections, each containing 32 beats.

• Talk about the music and how it changes in dynamic (volume). Listen to the march together and indicate where each new section starts.

• Show film footage, or better still, invite instrumentalists from Key Stage 2 to play their flutes, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, drums, cymbals etc. to familiarise children with ‘band’ instruments and their sounds.

• Ask the children to experiment with miming actions for playing imaginary brass, woodwind and percussion eg. push/pull gestures for trombones, dancing fingers for piccolos, or rhythmic arms for drum sticks.

• Structure a simple dance for a grand performance march: stand in a circle and listen to the opening fanfare:

• Section 1: March (with fairly gentle feet) into the circle for 8 and backwards for 8: repeat these actions (32 beats).

• Section 2: March on the spot and/or mime ‘playing’ band instruments: drums, cymbals, trombones, flutes, or be the conductor!

• Section 3: March (this time with heavy feet) into the circle for 8 and backwards for 8: repeat these actions.

• Section 4: March on the spot, mime ‘playing’ band instruments or be the conductor.

• Section 5: March (this time with really heavy feet!) into the circle for 8 and backwards for 8: repeat these actions as before but use the final 8 beats to build up a strong sculptured shape for part of a castle: a turret, a drawbridge, a tower or a doorway etc. to create a dramatic ending!