One day, Maggie Jepsen, the music teacher at MHES, was teaching a lesson on country music to her students when she saw a video tutorial for line dancing. She became excited about the possibility of implementing this lesson in her class, however, she quickly realized the size of the music room would probably not allow for this to happen. Jepsen’s challenge sparked an idea: a week-long focus on dance hosted in the school gym, combining Music and Physical Education. This idea reminded Jepsen of her time as a student-teacher in Nampa, Idaho, where her student-teaching mentor had partnered with a Physical Education teacher for a similar project. Knowing it could work, she set out to make it happen.
She recruited Morgan Hernandez, the school’s P.E. teacher, to help. The two discussed the possibility, and realized they could work together to meet the same goals when it came to standards of dance and rhythm. Some student goals include learning how to keep a beat, learning how to dance to different rhythms, learning about performance quality, and participating in activities from different cultures.
When they pitched their idea to the school administration, Principal Nicole Coyle and Vice Principal Tim Young were fully on-board, giving their full support. Although some students might have been hesitant about this new activity, Jepsen and Hernandez’s teamwork made the first dance unit at McNary Heights a success.
Together, the teachers developed dance routines with different levels of difficulty to match student ability, keeping the heart of each dance the same. For example, the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance was originally designed for 4th and 5th graders, but they adapted it with simpler steps and more time for practice for the younger students. Another song that was featured this week was a mariachi song called Los Machetes, which originates from the state of Jalisco in Mexico.
Students were clearly engaged in this week’s lesson. It was inspiring to see them dancing freely and comfortably with one another. The classroom environment felt like a safe and welcoming community. Everyone in the room was encouraged to have fun and try new things. At the end of each day, students had the opportunity to earn “Dancer of the Day” for both Music and P.E. class.
One unique thing about this unit is that teachers learned just as much as their pupils this week. Hernandez explains how useful it can be to include props, or instruments into a dance routine, helping students focus more on the rhythm of the music and less on the movements of their bodies. This detail led Jepsen and Hernandez to introduce scarves on the last day to support students even further. The scarves were a big hit, along with other props like drumsticks, rhythm sticks, and light-up foam sticks.
The light up foam sticks were especially popular, inspired by student interest in the Virtual Reality game Beat Saber. In the game, players move their bodies to the beat of music while following on-screen projections. It’s like the game Rock Band, but players use their whole body to play the notes instead of using prop instruments.
When asked about the impacts of music and movement on learning, Hernandez shared “Dance and music engage both sides of the brain. Music can impact your mood and dance can release endorphins, which also impacts your mood. There are endless possibilities on the positive impacts on learning with dance and music!”
Jepsen’s favorite part of this collaboration was working closely with another educator. “It’s nice to have a teammate,”
“We complement each other well,” said Hernandez in agreement. Her favorite part of the process was that she and Jepsen were able to leverage their expertise and do something they hadn’t done before.
Families can support their students at home by encouraging them to try new things, have fun, and be open to new experiences. Dance and music are not only important, but they are very fun as well!
