Central city students find their groove in dance program |
 |
 |
|
Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
|
|
Friday, 06 February 2009 01:00 |
TOLEDO—At Central City Ministry of Toledo (CCMT) Catholic School, dance class is as much about language arts, math and history as it is about movement, coordination and good posture.
It is also about helping children learn to enjoy life and feel good about themselves, according to Jeanie Hayward, an instructor from The Toledo Ballet School who has shared her passion for dance with hundreds of children in the Catholic schools of central Toledo since 2001.
 |
Iveron Williams, second-graders at Toledo Queen of Apostles School,
warm up in a dance lesson with instructor Jeanie Hayward. (Chronicle
photo by Laurie Stevens) |
Learning in Motion, a 10-week program she designed to integrate dance and movement into the academic curriculum, is currently offered weekly on both campuses of CCMT Catholic School through a grant from the John F. Savage Memorial Fund.
This semester Mrs. Hayward is teaching first-graders at the Rosary Cathedral campus and second-graders at the Queen of Apostles campus, but she says children in kindergarten through the fourth grade have participated over the years.
During their first lesson with Mrs. Hayward in January, a class of 11 second-graders at Queen of Apostles warmed up to musical selections that ranged from a classical Mendelssohn piece to "Chicken Fat," a silly children’s song composed under the John F. Kennedy administration to promote fitness in schools.
"I’m always searching for music for them," says Mrs. Hayward, who incorporates classical music, children’s songs and even some rap into her lessons.
She also seeks ways to connect dance and music with core academic subjects like math and language arts.
Counting and sequencing often come into play, and "we also form letters and numbers with our bodies, which they love to do," says Mrs. Hayward. Sometimes they read a story together and dance it to music — one of her favorite books to use for that is "Color Dance" by Ann Jonas, which gives the children an opportunity to dance with scarves.
When she introduces a piece of classical music, Mrs. Hayward shares fun facts about the life of the composer, or as the students learn a folk dance, she’ll discuss the country from which it originated.
"What she teaches them, they tend to retain and remember," observes Christi Clark, second-grade teacher at Queen of Apostles. She says she also sees her students connecting what they learn in dance to other lessons in history and geography.
In some instances, Mrs. Hayward says the method of learning through movement has been more effective for children with special needs, such as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"They were able to dance and learn something because they’re not sitting still," she explains.
She describes the style of dance she teaches at CCMT as a combination of jazz and ballet. Children learn choreography for about six different dances over the course of 10 weeks and their hard work culminates in a performance at school for students and family members.
"Jeanie does a wonderful job with the kids," says Cheryl Huebner, curriculum director for CCMT. "By building that type of experience into their day, they really are getting a lot of stimulation, both physically and mentally."
Cross-lateral movements that the children practice in dance also help build strong connections between the two sides of the brain, she adds.
"It’s kind of like building highways inside our brains," explains Ms. Huebner — the better the highways, the faster the information can travel.
During their first lesson, second-graders at Queen of Apostles explored the difference between personal and general space as they stretched, twisted, marched, skipped and hopped around the gymnasium to classical and children’s music. They also practiced clapping out patterns demonstrated by Mrs. Hayward.
At the end of class, she taught the boys to bow and the girls to curtsy and then reminded them to hold their heads high. "You did a good job so you need to be proud all day," she told them.
As the weeks go by, the instructor usually sees progress in all the children in such areas as coordination and retention, but she says she also hopes the dance lessons improve their self-esteem.
"A lot of these children come from very troubled homes, and if they can feel really good while they’re in that school and [during] the 45 minutes with me, that’s an accomplishment," says Mrs. Hayward.
Mrs. Hayward, a member of Toledo Corpus Christi who taught for many years in traditional classrooms before she designed Learning in Motion, says the most rewarding part of it is seeing the smiles on the faces of the children, many of whom would not otherwise have the opportunity to take dance lessons.
"When they come in and they’re excited about what they’re doing, I just feel that I’m making a difference in their lives, and I couldn’t ask for more," she says.
Iveron Williams, second-graders at Toledo Queen of Apostles School, warm up in a dance lesson with instructor Jeanie Hayward. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens)
|
|
Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 March 2009 15:14 |
|
|
