Joseph Winkelspecht
5 Little Ducks
1.
Title of activity: 5 Little Ducks
2.
Reasoning: I selected this activity because I learned it throughout my childhood. When I think
of this dance/activity I am taken back to my days of sitting around a campfire and singing/dancing
along to this song and dance. I think this activity is a great little activity for younger kids to move
around and learn a little bit more about numbers and movement.
3.
Grade Level: The grade level I thought would be appropriate was kindergarten to second grade.
This dance is appropriate for this grade level because it involves some slight but easy movement to
follow and reinforces lessons that they have been learning.
4.
Equipment: The equipment I need for my lesson is a Gym, some easel paper, markers, tape,
and my iPhone with speakers. The song I chose is called 5 Little Ducks and the artist of the song is The
Learning Station.
5.
Psycho-motor and Cognitive Outcome: As a byproduct of this activity the students will be
able to knowingly count backwards from 5. Also as a result of this activity the students will be able to
associate a dance move to a specific word or number.
6.
History: The history of this activity/song was a little hard to find. The most I found was that it
was a nursery rhyme that was song to children. The artist of the song, The Learning Station, is a group
of people who write and sing nursery rhymes, children's songs, and holiday songs mostly geared
toward younger kids. This song has some history to me as I said before I grew up listening and dancing
to this song along with my father and fellow campers. Although it is more of a children's song it still
got us all happy and in a good mood. The popularity of this song is pretty high although the audience
is mostly children so it is a little hard to judge. I could not find when the nursery rhyme originated.
Joseph Winkelspecht
5 Little Ducks
7.
Teaching Style: The style of teaching I will be using is the modeling or demonstrating. I will
first show all of the moves and explain when they will be used. Then I will have the class practice them
while I watch. I feel like this is the most appropriate strategy to use because the moves are easy to pick
up once they have been demonstrated. Also this method is a little easier to follow and visualize for the
age group the lesson is directed towards.
8.
Formation: The participants will be in a circle formation the teacher by the speakers. This type
of dance is a crowd dance so it is appropriate to have the audience facing each other as sort of a
welcoming dance and a dance done to lighten the mood. I chose this formation also because as I stated
before I used to perform this around a campfire so I believe the circle formation is closest to that. The
formation does not change during the dance. This formation allows for the students to be able to view
others and how they perform the moves but it also is more welcoming. As a teacher I am able to see all
of the students in this formation which will help me when it is time to give feedback and assess.
9.
Sequence: This dance is done in coordination to music. The music starts off at the number five.
When the students hear the number five they show the number five using their fingers and knee
bouncing. This is held for 8 counts and done at a medium tempo. When the song says “over the hill and
far away” the students will make a movement that resembles going over a hill with their hands and also
marching in place, this will be done for 8 counts at a medium tempo. Next when the songs goes “quack
quack quack quack” the students will make a quacking motion with their hands and this will be done
for four counts at a slower tempo. Next the song will say “ but only four little ducks came back” the
students will perform a waving motion with the number four in their fingers. This will be done for eight
counts at a faster tempo. Next their will be a repeat of the quack step and the waving step. After that the
same sequence is done starting at number four instead of five. This dance is done until none of the
ducks come back.
Joseph Winkelspecht
5 Little Ducks
10.
Visual: The type of visual I will be using is a set of posters. This posters will show each of the
main movements for the students to refer back to. I believe this is the most appropriate for my lesson
because of the age level of the students. At their age the students will most likely need something
visualize and refer back to in order to perform the dance correctly.