Name of Activity:. Leader of the band

Category:. Let's Dance

Props: A stethoscope and march tape and tape player.

Your Role: "Leader of the band" also sidecoach and model.

Directions: Ask your child to listen (with the stethoscope) to his/her heart and to move his/her finger in time to the heartbeat. You may also focus on your own heartbeat and beat your finger in time as well. Focus your child on his/her beat and tell him to notice how even that beat is. You may need to elaborate on the notion of an even regular beat. Explain that you would like your child to make their head, then their arms, then their feet move with an even beat. Then ask your child to march--marching is moving their feet with an even beat--through the room. Encourage your child to feel how each foot stays the same length of time on the floor. If your child is reticicent, demonstrate marching. Then put on the march music. Ask your child to move first his/her head, then his/her arm, then his/her foot. Then ask your child to march. You march too. Then stop the music and explain to your child that you want him/her to march to the music half as fast. Put on the music and try it. Then ask your child to march doubletime (twice as fast). Put on the music and try it. You may want to encourage your child to march in place for the twice as fast part. Then, ask your child to listen to the music and do not march. Explain that you will turn off the music and have the child try to remember the beat. As the child is marching to silence, put on the music and see if he/she is close to the beat. Now conclude the activity by having your child listen to his/her heartbeat again so he/she can focus on a regular--albeit faster--beat.

Goals for You: Your job is to encourage the child to physicalize and to focus on and retrieve various beats (the basis for kinesthetic memory).

Goals for Children: Your child will listen and try to duplicate with various parts of his/her body some very even beats.

Possible Strategy:

What to say "Listen to the evenness of your heartbeat. Try to move various parts of your body just as evenly."

What to do Listen and move too!

Possible Shaping:

What to say"Listen to the beat. March with your head, your arms, your elbows, your hips, your back. Really move your body parts in time with the music. Now try it twice as slowly; now twice as fast."

What to do: Listen and march too! Pretend you are Robert Preston!

Possible Ending:

What to say: "That was incredible. I bet next time you hear a march, you'll be ready to march along with the tape or the band."

What to do: Put the tape player away.

Material on this site created by Helane S. Rosenberg, Ph.D. and Yakov M. Epstein, Ph.D. in conjunction with their forthcoming book titled Play for Success. All material on this site is copyrighted and may not be reproduced or cited without written permission of Helane S. Rosenberg, Ph.D.. Dr. Rosenberg is Associate Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education of Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Epstein is Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Science of Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, NJ. He is also Director of the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education of Rutgers University.

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