Curriculum Review·Montague Township School District
/Kindergarten/Dance

Montague Township School District

Dance Curriculum Guide

Kindergarten

2025-2026

Melissa Neamand

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01The Creative Process, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses
02History of the Arts and Culture, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses

Description

This K-2 dance curriculum spans two units across the full school year, each lasting approximately 20 weeks. Unit 1 introduces students to the creative process, performance, and aesthetic responses through dance, establishing foundational movement skills and the ability to express content and emotions through improvisation and planned sequences. Unit 2 builds on these skills by exploring the history of arts and culture, examining how dance reflects and is affected by different historical periods and world cultures. Throughout the year, students engage in safe, efficient, and effective movement while developing critical thinking, making independent decisions, and building confidence in themselves and their peers. Dance is presented as a tool for learning across curriculum areas, supporting kinesthetic learners through experiential opportunities.

Big Ideas

  • Engaging in safe, efficient, and effective movement develops and maintains a healthy, active lifestyle.
  • Dance elements can be isolated or aligned to create different patterns and communicate meaning.
  • Dance from diverse cultures and historical periods reflects the values and artistic concerns of those societies.
  • Improvisation and planned choreography are both valid forms of artistic expression.
  • Constructive critique and peer feedback improve artistic quality and personal performance.

Essential Questions

  • How can the elements of dance be used to express content, emotions, and personal expression?
  • How can improvisation of movement communicate content, emotions, and personal expression?
  • How is cultural expression represented in dance?
  • How does societal value affect artistic choice?
  • How can criticism of aesthetic expression improve an individual's ability to communicate through the arts?

Dance - Connecting

Dance - Creating

Dance - Performing

Dance - Responding

ELA
Units 1, 2

Students determine central ideas and themes from texts, integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media formats including visual and quantitative presentations, ask and answer questions about key details in texts, and describe relationships between illustrations and story content.

Social Studies
Units 1, 2

Students express individuality and cultural diversity through dramatic play and movement, learn about and respect other cultures within the classroom and community, and describe how culture is expressed through and influenced by the behavior of people.

Career & Life Skills
English Language Arts

Assessment occurs throughout the year using formative and summative approaches across all activities. Students engage in self-assessment, reflecting on their own learning and performance against rubrics and checklists. Peer critique using structured protocols allows students to give and receive constructive feedback. Teachers use homework, classwork, exit materials, written or drawn work, and video recordings of performances as data sources. Benchmark assessments measure success at the end of each unit. Hand signals, rubrics, and observation of movement sequences inform teachers of student understanding of dance elements and concepts.

UnitFormativeSummativeBenchmarkAlternative
01The Creative Process, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses✓✓✓✓
02History of the Arts and Culture, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses✓✓✓✓
Coverage2/22/22/22/2
UnitIEP504MLLAt-RiskGifted
01The Creative Process, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses✓✓✓✓✓
02History of the Arts and Culture, Performance, and Aesthetic Responses✓✓✓✓✓
Coverage2/22/22/22/22/2