In 1996, Circle of Dance Repertory Company was one of twenty-one partnership in New York State that received the Empire State Partnership Project Grant (ESP). This project was an initiative between the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED). This initiative was to support cultural institutions that form partnerships with schools to create interdisciplinary programs to incorporate the arts into classroom curriculum in support of the new New York State Learning Standards for the arts, social studies, English language arts, physical education, and mathematics. Our partnership has continued to receive support from NYSCA for the past ten years.
Through our Empire State Partnership Project (ESP), "Experiencing Full Body Literacy... Read it, Move it, Own it!" students built a strong connection between movement and specific literary skills, including using language for response to literature and language for social interaction. Students displayed a greater ownership of information and there was a noticeable increase in participation in classroom discussions regarding books and other topics after a movement experience. Students used increasingly precise language with oral and written expression. In addition, a positive social dynamic was generated in each session as students interacted with one another through movement and language.
With the richer communication in the classroom, it has been easier to identify strengths and weaknesses of the student. This interactive movement and dance workshop has proven to be a positive reinforcement of early literacy skills. Dance helps teachers integrate research regarding multiple intelligence, movement, and brain-based learning into classroom activities.
The school has recognized that students who are learning to read and write through movement develop a better understanding of the materials (read it, move it, own it) .
Circle of Dance Repertory Company and PS154
Schoolwide Implementation - Grades Pre-K to 6
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