Curriculum Review·Montague Township School District
/Grade 7/Dance

Montague Township School District

Dance Curriculum Guide

Grade 7

2025-2026

Melissa Neamand

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01Elements of Dance and Kinesthetic Movement
02History of the Arts and Culture

Description

This grades 6-8 dance curriculum develops students' understanding of dance as an art form through two sequential units spanning the full academic year. Unit 1 introduces the elements of dance, choreographic structures, and kinesthetic movement, establishing foundational skills in composition and performance. Unit 2 builds on these foundations by situating dance within historical and cultural contexts, examining how technological advances, social movements, and diverse cultures have shaped dance forms across time. Throughout both units, students maintain ongoing portfolios, analyze professional works, create original compositions, and participate in peer and self-assessment activities that build critical thinking about dance as cultural expression.

Big Ideas

  • Space, time, and energy are basic elements of dance that choreographers manipulate to create meaning and expression.
  • Choreographic structures and devices provide frameworks for creating both traditional and innovative dance works.
  • Dance is shaped by and reflects the social, historical, political, and cultural contexts in which it develops.
  • Technological advances have fundamentally changed how dance is created, performed, and experienced.
  • Dancers and choreographers use proper body mechanics and the mind-body connection to develop technical proficiency and artistic interpretation.

Essential Questions

  • How do the elements of dance, choreographic structures, and devices serve as both a foundation and departure point for choreographers?
  • What role does the mind-body connection play in developing the body as an instrument for artistry?
  • How are forms of dance influenced by time, place, and people?
  • What social and political impacts have artists and cultures had on dance throughout history?
  • How does one analyze, critique, and create dance with technical proficiency and originality?

Dance - Creating

Dance - Performing

Dance - Responding

ELA
Units 1, 2

Students prepare for and participate effectively in conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Students integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Health and PE
Units 1, 2

Students create, explain, and demonstrate planned movement sequences that include changes in rhythm, tempo, and musical style. Students detect, analyze, and correct errors and apply findings to refine movement skills.

Career & Life Skills
English Language Arts

Assessment in this curriculum is continuous and multifaceted, combining formative, summative, and alternative approaches. Students maintain digital or paper portfolios throughout the year that include journal reflections, research, notation, videos, photographs, and performance notes. Formative assessments include lesson task checklists, peer evaluation and observation, pair-share discussions, and self-reflection activities. Summative assessments include informal in-class performances and video evidence evaluated using student-created and teacher-developed rubrics. Students analyze primary source documents, conduct research projects on dance history and cultural origins, and create multimedia presentations comparing past and contemporary works. Alternative assessments such as journal entries, self-reflection, peer evaluation, and performance task checklists provide additional ways to demonstrate understanding and growth.

UnitFormativeSummativeBenchmarkAlternative
01Elements of Dance and Kinesthetic Movement✓✓✓✓
02History of the Arts and Culture✓✓✓✓
Coverage2/22/22/22/2
UnitIEP504MLLAt-RiskGifted
01Elements of Dance and Kinesthetic Movement✓✓✓✓✓
02History of the Arts and Culture✓✓✓✓✓
Coverage2/22/22/22/22/2