Body Language and Movement · Term 3

Dancing Our Feelings

Using facial expressions and body tension to communicate internal emotions to an audience.

About This Topic

Dancing Our Feelings focuses on the 'why' of movement. In Grade 1, the Ontario curriculum encourages students to use their bodies as instruments of expression. They explore how body tension (tight vs. loose), facial expressions, and the quality of movement (heavy vs. light) can communicate emotions like joy, sadness, anger, or surprise. This topic helps students develop empathy and emotional intelligence as they learn to 'read' the feelings of others through their movements.

By experimenting with expressive movement, students discover that dance is a powerful way to tell stories and share experiences without words. They might explore the pride in a traditional Indigenous dance or the celebration in a multicultural folk dance. This understanding is key to becoming a thoughtful performer and an appreciative audience member. This topic comes alive when students can observe each other's movements and discuss the emotions they see.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate how varying levels of body tension can communicate different emotions, such as tension for anger and looseness for relaxation.
• Identify specific facial expressions that correspond to emotions like joy, sadness, and surprise during movement sequences.
• Compare and contrast the movement qualities of 'heavy' and 'light' to express distinct emotional states.
• Create a short movement phrase that tells a simple story about an emotion using body tension and facial expression.

Before You Start

Exploring Personal Space and Pathways

Why: Students need to understand how to move their bodies safely within their own space before adding expressive qualities.

Basic Body Awareness

Why: Students should be able to identify and move different body parts before they can use them to express emotions.

Key Vocabulary

Body Tension	How tight or loose your muscles are when you move. Tight muscles can show anger or fear, while loose muscles can show relaxation or sadness.
Facial Expression	The look on your face that shows how you are feeling. Smiling shows happiness, while frowning can show sadness or anger.
Movement Quality	The way you move your body. For example, a 'heavy' movement feels strong and grounded, while a 'light' movement feels floaty and gentle.
Emotion	A strong feeling that you experience, like happiness, sadness, anger, or surprise.

Active Learning Ideas

Role Play: Emotion Statues

The teacher calls out an emotion (e.g., 'excited'). Students have three seconds to freeze in a shape that shows that feeling. They then look around and describe one 'clue' they see in a classmate's pose.

⏱ 20 min·Whole Class

Generate mission

Think-Pair-Share: Heavy or Light?

Play a piece of music and ask students to move like a 'heavy giant' and then a 'light fairy.' They share with a partner which one felt more 'tired' and which felt more 'happy.'

⏱ 15 min·Pairs

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Inquiry Circle: Feeling Phrases

In small groups, students are given an 'emotion card.' They must create a short dance phrase (three movements) that shows that feeling, which the rest of the class then tries to guess.

⏱ 35 min·Small Groups

Generate mission

Real-World Connections

Actors in movies and on stage use body tension and facial expressions to show characters' feelings without always needing words. Think about how a superhero might stand tall and tense to show bravery, or how a character might slump and move slowly to show sadness.

Mime artists are performers who tell stories and show emotions using only body language and facial expressions. They train to control their muscles and faces to communicate clearly to an audience, similar to how you are learning to communicate feelings through dance.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Only the face shows emotion.

What to Teach Instead

Students often focus only on making 'sad faces.' Use hands-on modeling to show how a slumped back or dragging feet can communicate sadness even if the face is hidden.

Common Misconception

Angry movements must be fast.

What to Teach Instead

Children often equate anger with speed. Peer discussion about 'slow, tense' movements can show how a different kind of anger (like a simmering volcano) can be expressed through dance.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

Ask students to stand and show 'happy' using their whole body and face. Then, ask them to show 'sad' with their body and face. Observe if students are using tension, posture, and facial cues to communicate the intended emotion.

Discussion Prompt

After a short movement exploration, ask: 'What did you see in your partner's movements that made you think they were feeling [joy/sadness/anger]?' Encourage students to point to specific body parts or facial expressions they observed.

Exit Ticket

Give each student a card with an emotion written on it (e.g., 'Surprise'). Ask them to draw a simple picture of a face showing that emotion and write one word describing a movement that goes with it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I help shy students express feelings through dance?

Start with whole-group 'mirroring' activities where everyone does the same movement. This lowers the stakes and allows shy students to 'hide' in the group while still practicing the expressive qualities of the movement.

What is 'body tension' in Grade 1 dance?

It is the amount of muscle engagement. 'Tight' tension feels like a wooden toy or a frozen statue, while 'loose' tension feels like cooked spaghetti or a ragdoll. These simple comparisons help kids control their energy.

How can active learning help students understand dancing our feelings?

Active learning encourages students to be both creators and critics. By participating in 'Guess the Feeling' games, they practice interpreting non-verbal cues. This two-way communication, sending a message through movement and receiving it as an observer, deepens their understanding of how body language functions as a universal form of human expression.

How can I use music to prompt emotional dance?

Select music with clear emotional tones (e.g., a bright fiddle tune vs. a somber cello). Ask students to let the music 'tell their muscles' how to move, which helps them connect auditory and physical sensations.