his is a ridiculously effective listening lesson for low to mid-range students. 3rd grade upper level middle school tends to buck against it though some of them enjoy it. May be too easy for them. The two youtube clips are below.
Clear the desks. All of them. Make sure the whole room is nothing but a big dance floor.
Start by writing all the significant terms on the board. To the Left, To the right, to the back, hop, stomp, left/right foot, hands on your knees, turn, reverse, Charlie Brown, slide left/right, criss-cross, cha-cha, go down low, bring it to the top. Before you even show them the first clip review all the terms a couple times asking the students if they know what the term means and if they can demonstrate it. There’s usually at least one or two kids who will demonstrate in some fashion and the others will get the idea.
Once you feel like they’ve been introduced to all the terms effectively show them the music video clip so they have a good idea of what it looks like and sounds like. The second clip is the song with all the lyrics. Get all the kids in the best order you can. Make sure they give each other space.
Round one: Do the dance WITH them the first time with the clip containing the lyrics, emphsizing and calling out important terms as you do the actions. (like if we are moving back i call out “back”) Tell them to read and listen.
Round two: No help from teacher. read and listen only.
Round three: Listen only. the music video clip is slightly remixed and a bit more challenging. It’s your discretion which clip you want to use and if you want to do a fourth round of listening only.
By this time i have between 15 and 20 minutes left in class so for fun I teach them an easy line dance like the Electric Slide, Cotton Eyed Joe, the Chicken Dance, or maybe the Cupid Shuffle just the break the monotony of doing the same dance again and again. This doesn’t really require explanation as they can copy your motions.
In the final five minutes of class I do the dance (listening only) with the students one more time. Or you can watch again so it’s pure listening. Most of my kids have a lot of fun with this and its REALLY good to teach some direction, listening, prepositions etc… It’s also easy to modify because you can take this at the pace your students are at. low level students whoa re just learning these terms may do best with reading and listening the whole time. Reviewing the terms again is ok.
Links
The Cha Cha Slide (Listening and Reading for Low to mid MIddle school),
