Dance a Book

I loved Marilyn’s idea of having the students “dance” a book. I chose a book that was about a Lion who is trying to put his baby to sleep and the other animals in the jungle were being too noisy. I put the kids into small groups and assigned each of them a page. I was amazed at how those second graders interpreted the movement of each of those animals. I was especially impressed with a small group of girls. The only word on their page was “QUIET!” and I was a little nervous about what might happen when it was their turn to perform for the other kids. I was amazed when they had each taken on the role of a different animal, and interpreted how each animal might respond to a large lion yelling at them. Their bodies shook and it was clear that they were trying to portray animals who were frightened. The kids loved the activity and have asked me several times if they can do something like that again.