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| Class: | Beginner Hip Hop | ||
| Age: | 3-5 years old | ||
| Class Segment | Skill/Position | Activity Description | Teacher notes |
| Stretch/Warm-up | attendance/question | What do you want to be when you grow up? | Encourage students to listen to one another’s responses to create a welcoming learning environment |
| Cardio warmup | Jumping jacks | Choose a hype/energetic song to get energy pumping for class. | |
| Run in place | |||
| Jumping over and behind your dot with your feet together | |||
| Dance warmup | Pat knees to the beat of the song | Purpose: get in the groove of dancing mentally and physically! Starting class with rhythm-work is a great excersize to get their minds working. | |
| Once the class finds the rhythm, switch to step claps (2 eights) | |||
| hip shakes (2 eights) | |||
| Snakes (2 eights) | |||
| Bouncing (emphasis on the chest) (2 eights) | |||
| Criss-cross jumps (2 eights) | |||
| Skill breakdown | Grapevines | Start breaking down the skill with everyone altogther | |
| 4 slow/half time, then try 4 quick/double time | |||
| repeat right and left sides | |||
| Pivot turns | Start standing in the back of the room (behind the class) facing the mirror | This is the best method because it prevents kids from turning the wrong way and they can see you the whole time you’re explaining the steps | |
| Step forward and turn to the back (students should be facing you) | |||
| Finish pivot turn to the front | |||
| 3 step turns | Break down skill altogether | These can be challenging for toddlers! It can be hard to get them to turn towards the mirror, so go slow and use items in the class as references for right and left side | |
| 6-8 times slow, 6-8 times quicker | |||
| repeat right and left sides | |||
| Across the Floor | Strut walk | Lay out 1 dot at the end of the room and have students line up on other end | Encourage them to shake their hips, find the rhythm of the song, and overall deliver some style and confidence as they go across the floor |
| Students will “strut” to the dot and strike 3 poses | |||
| Strut back to the line | |||
| Can repeat with students “strutting” sideways or backwards instead | |||
| Grapevines | 4 slow/half times with hands on hips | Make sure students are crossing behind | |
| 4 fast/double time with hands on hips | |||
| repeat right and left sides. | |||
| 3 step turns | 4 times half time, 4 times double time | Tip:Tell students to turn “towards” the mirror | |
| repeat right and left sides. | |||
| Fun activity: dance telephone (toddler-friendly) | Have kids stand around you in a circle and you point to 1 kid | Its important to give kids some creative freedom and expression, and I have found this is a great way to allow them to show off, while also being structured around our class vocabulary | |
| They pick a dance move and show it to the class (hip shake, snake, grapevine etc) and the class repeats the movement | |||
| Repeat until everyone has a turn showing a move | |||
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