Visual & Performing Arts · 2nd Grade

Active learning ideas

Locomotor and Non-Locomotor Movement

Active, whole-body exploration makes movement vocabulary memorable because students experience the difference between locomotor and non-locomotor movement kinesthetically. When they embody each category, the distinction becomes physical knowledge rather than abstract vocabulary to recall later.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Creating DA.Cr1.1.2

• 20–30 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Experiential Learning
• 20 min · Whole Class

Sorting in Motion: Move and Freeze

Call out a movement category and students perform any movement from that category in their personal space or through the room. When you call freeze, students stop and name the specific movement they were doing, then classify it. Introduce movements that students might misclassify, such as jumping in place versus jumping forward, to deepen their understanding of the defining distinction.

What is the difference between a movement that takes you somewhere and one that keeps you in place?

Facilitation Tip

During Sorting in Motion, use clear stop signals so students freeze completely before deciding whether their movement traveled or stayed in place.

What to look for

During a movement exploration, call out a movement (e.g., 'gallop', 'twist'). Students hold up one finger for locomotor and two fingers for non-locomotor. Observe student responses for understanding.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Experiential Learning
• 25 min · Pairs

Partner Observation: Watch and Label

Student pairs take turns. One partner performs a 10-second sequence that includes at least one locomotor and one non-locomotor movement. The watching partner identifies and names each type of movement they observed. Partners switch roles and then compare observations, discussing any movements that were hard to categorize and why.

Can you create a movement sequence that uses both traveling and staying-in-place movements?

What to look for

Provide students with a worksheet showing stick figures performing various actions. Ask them to circle the locomotor movements and put a square around the non-locomotor movements. Include a prompt: 'Write one sentence about why a dancer might use both types of movement.'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Experiential Learning
• 30 min · Pairs

Create-and-Share: My Movement Sentence

Students create a short movement sentence with exactly three movements: one locomotor, one non-locomotor, and one of their choice. They practice the sequence until it flows, then share it with a partner and explain which category each movement belongs to. Partners ask one clarifying question about the movement choices before sharing a favorite from the exchange with the class.

How can different movements show different feelings without using words?

What to look for

Ask students: 'Imagine you are a robot trying to get across the room. What movements would you use to travel? Now imagine you are a tree swaying in the wind. What movements would you use while staying in place? How are these different?'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Feelings Question

Ask students to try showing sadness or happiness using only non-locomotor movements. Students try independently, show a partner, and discuss: was the feeling clear? What specific movement choices communicated the emotion? Groups share one successful example with the class and identify which non-locomotor movement was most expressive.

What is the difference between a movement that takes you somewhere and one that keeps you in place?

What to look for

During a movement exploration, call out a movement (e.g., 'gallop', 'twist'). Students hold up one finger for locomotor and two fingers for non-locomotor. Observe student responses for understanding.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach the categories through clear movement contrasts first, then layer in compositional tasks. Avoid teaching the terms in isolation; always pair definitions with immediate movement so the language feels alive. Research shows that labeling categories while moving strengthens memory and later application in choreography.

Successful learning shows when students can instantly perform or recognize locomotor and non-locomotor movements, label them correctly in partner tasks, and use both categories intentionally in their own movement sentences. Students who transfer the vocabulary to new contexts demonstrate deep understanding.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Sorting in Motion, students may assume jumping is always locomotor because it looks like traveling.

  During Sorting in Motion, pause after jumps and ask students to travel forward or stay in place; if they leave the spot, it is locomotor, if they return to the same spot, it is non-locomotor.

• During Partner Observation, students might say a non-locomotor movement is less important because it doesn’t go anywhere.

  During Partner Observation, highlight examples from the partner’s dance where a stillness or gesture creates a powerful moment, showing how non-locomotor movement focuses attention.

• During Create-and-Share, students may believe a dance needs mostly locomotor movement to be counted as real dance.

  During Create-and-Share, ask each student to explain why they chose the proportion of locomotor to non-locomotor actions in their sentence, making the intentional choice visible to peers.

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Methods used in this brief

• Experiential Learning
• Think-Pair-Share