Grade Level(s):    Grade Eleven

Subject(s):     English Language Arts
                       Dance

Learner Outcomes:

1. Students will become familiar with the dances that were popular during the 1920's as depicted in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
2. Students will perform on a basic level dance(s), such as the Charleston, Black Bottom, the Lindy Hop, or the Lindy Whirl.

Duration of Lesson:    This can be flexible, from two to four fifty minute segments

Materials:  Video of The Great Gatsby, various dance tunes from the 1920s or Jazz Age,
                    dance studio or large area for movement of entire class

Technology Tools/Courseware:
               Multimedia computer, VCR and television, CD/tape player, and data projector

Teacher Notes:

• Have students wear loose, comfortable clothing and flat shoes
• Reserve the dance studio and/or gymnasium in your school
• If a dance instructor is not on your staff, contact a community dance instructor for assistance.
• Collect the music you will need (possibly get the tunes you need from the public library or from internet sites).

• Students watch the party scenes of the Robert Redford version of The Great Gatsby.  Before they begin to watch, alert students to the various dances performed in the film.
• Students discuss at least 2-3 movements for 2-3 dances.
• The dance instructor teaches 2-4 students the selected dances, such as The Charleston and The Lindy Hop.
• Reserve time in the dance studio or the gymnasium for 1-2 forty minute sessions.
• The dance students block the basic movements for a dance and demonstrate them.
• The class pairs up in partner formation to "walk" through the steps of the dance.
• After the class feels comfortable with the dance steps, they  practice with the music.
• The dance is to be broken into 2-5 segments, and the blocking steps performed until all of the dance is completed.
• For each dance the class attempts, the student instructors go over the steps used to teach the dance in the same dance.

See Individual Education Plans for any modification that may be necessary for individual students.
For physically challenged students, the steps can be attempted at a slower pace than the music calls for.  The hearing impaired students can have the directions signed to them as they practice the steps.  The visually impaired students can be guided through the steps by a student instructor.

Also if a dance instructor is not available in the school or the community, the classroom instructor can go to the internet to research social dancing in the 1920s.  The web site Social Dance through History has excellent information and videos designed to teach these dances.  Another web site is Victorian and Ragtime Era Music and Dances, which has an excellent listing of audio tapes and CDs of Jazz and Ragtime music.

Enrichment Activities:

Students from the class who have a dance background can master the steps of the dances and be used as the student dance instructors instead of ones chosen by a dance instructor.

Evaluation/Assessment:

The instructor will evaluate the classroom student's participation in the viewing of the video, the blocking of the dance steps, the practicing of the dance, and the actual performance of the dance.

WV State Instructional Goals and Objectives
English:  11.88, 11.93, 11.99, 11.4, 11.27
Dance:    Identifying and demonstrating movement elements and skills in performing dance
               Demonstrating and understanding dance in various cultures and historical periods
               Making connections between dance and other disciplines
Computer/Technology:  11.92, 11.93, 11.97, 11.99

National Standards

Job Career Cluster:  Fine Arts/Humanities

References:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.  New York:  Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995.
The Great Gastby.  Dir. Jack Clayton.  Paramount Pictures, 1974.
Web site Social Dance Through History
Web site Victorian and Ragtime Era Music and Dances
Various Recordings of Jazz and Ragtime dance tunes
 

Lesson One

Lesson Two

Lesson Three

Lesson Four

Lesson Five

Authors:   Pamela J. Fuller
                 Kathy Humphries
                 Nancy Reeves
                 Capital High School