Roam the landscape as Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Become hunted yourselves by terrifying predators. Then develop civilization by making discoveries such as the wheel and the usefulness of fire.
Your ‘The Stone Age!’ Teaching Pack for Key Stage 2 Dance
Everything you need to get started:
- 6-week lesson plan
- integrated music tracks
- pupil assessment charts
- curriculum objectives
- learning outcomes
- comprehensive teaching notes
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Outline
Roam the landscape as Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Become hunted yourselves by terrifying predators. Then develop civilization by making discoveries such as the wheel and the usefulness of fire.
Curriculum Objectives:
- Apply & develop a broad range of movement skills
- Learn how to use these in different ways
- Link them to make actions & sequences of movement
- Enjoy communicating and collaborating with each other
- Develop an understanding of how to improve
- Learn how to evaluate and recognise own success
Learning Outcomes:
- Use a variety of movements in isolation and combination
- Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance
- Perform dances using a range of movement patterns
- Compare and evaluate performances against previous ones
- Demonstrate improvement to achieve personal targets
Unit Contents:
Week 2: The Hunter Becomes The Hunted
Week 3: Wheels Keep On Turning
Week 4: Cave Painting & Farming
Week 5: Rehearsal & Improvement
Week 6: Rehearse, Evaluate & Perform
Week 1: Hunters & Gatherers
Starter
We are going to be learning about the three eras of the Stone Age through dance and music. These are:
- the old (Paleolithic),
- the middle (Mesolithic) and
- the new (Neolithic).
What were the 3 main priorities of early man? Food, shelter and clothing.
What did they eat? Wild berries, roots, fruit, raw fish.
Where did they live? In caves & jungles, resting under trees, bushes & near rocks.
What did they wear? Bark, leaves of trees, eventually animal skin. (it was very cold)
Early man fought hard for survival and needed protection from the sun, rain, wind, cold and from wild animals: of what ferocious animals did they have to beware? Cave lions, bears, hyenas, boars, bison, woolly rhinos and woolly mammoths.
Before early man thought to make tools they would throw boulders, rocks and stones to ward off predators. As man progressed they began to make stone tools, also using wood and bones.
Warm up
Discuss the 5 basic dance actions. Do you know what they are?
Jump – Turn – Travel – Stillness – Gesture
Pick some children to give examples of each.
Do you know the game ‘Simple Simon Says’? We’ll call our version ‘Woolly Mammoth Says’ or you can choose another animal. So, when the teachers says ‘Woolly Mammoth says turn’, all turn (encourage children to choose different turns each time you say ‘Woolly Mammoth says turn’).
When the teacher just says ‘everyone turn’ or ‘now turn’ you must remain still. If you turn when Woolly Mammoth hasn’t said then you must sit down where you are . You can help catch others out to keep involved.
After a time, restart with all children back in the space. You could pick one child to take your position in shouting out the different actions
Main
Wasteland
- Early men were called hunter-gatherers. What do you think this means? (Explain in more detail if the children aren’t sure). Discuss how the hunters would move:
- moving stealthily through the jungle
- creeping movements, then quick abrupt pounces
- when gathering plants and roots they could use different levels
Encourage changes of direction, interesting shapes and patterns as they travel in space.
Think about the 5 basic dance actions . How can we use them?
- Working independently, create a short dance sequence using 3 or 4 of the 5 basic dance actions (jump, turn, travel, stillness, gesture).
You need to be constantly travelling around the space: early man was nomadic and had to travel with the herds.
Spend some time exploring your 3 or 4 movements portraying the hunter-gatherer. These could include: stopping and starting; changing dynamics, with quick bursts of energy followed by slow sustained movement.
- Join in pairs or 3s share your ideas.
In your pair or 3, each teach your moves to the other(s). You can then combine these into a longer sequence in any order.
- Perform in 2 groups.
Give all children a chance to evaluate one another’s work.
Cool Down
Everything’s Rosy
Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. Reach with your arms up high and stretch forward, aiming to keep your back straight. Relax down, bending your knees. Hang there and then stretch the knees. Relax again and then stretch again. Roll up through your spine.
Stretch over to the side. Come back to centre and stretch to the other side.
Sit on the floor, with the soles of your feet together. Relax your upper body forward, softening your neck and shoulders. Roll up through the spine and bring your legs straight in front of you (parallel position), slowly opening your legs (into second position). Relax forward and hold this developmental stretch. The aim is to rest your elbows on the floor in front of you.
Slowly transfer your upper body over your right leg, then back through centre and to the other side. Ensure your knees are facing the ceiling, so not twisting (turned out is okay too). Come back to centre. Roll up and repeat the stretch with your legs in parallel. Come over onto your knees and tuck your toes under, coming slowly up to standing. Inhale, bringing your arms up from the side toward the ceiling. Exhale, bringing your arms down slowly.
Key Vocabulary:
gesture, jump, turn, stillness, travel, flexibility, improvisation, inhale, exhale
Week 2: The Hunters Become The Hunted
To continue using this plan…