The Masks we Wear and "Waltzes"

First off, just to give you the heads up, we have no practice sheets or literacy logs for this week.  I am deep into assessment and report cards, so I want to keep things simple, and I still have not received more than 11 from last week.  Once they are all in I can paste in the next prompt and send them back.  Likely next Monday.

Today we looked at ideas related to messages in the media, and in society as a whole, and how these messages play a role in the way we interact with others.  Each student considered all of the expectations that are placed on them, and wrote down the phrases or words that they wear on their "mask" each day to show the world what they 'want' to show.  On the back of each mask students then recorded the way they really felt, and what they really try not to show others, but feel inside.  It was a powerful activity, and the discussion we did around it was very interesting.  We will be continuing to look at messaging, and its effect on the choices we make, in the days ahead.  Below is a link to the video we viewed in class.  It contains some tough language, but the power of the message is incredible, and the impact on the class was very easy to guage.  They all 'got it'.  One topic we connected was whether or not the message (which was aimed at males) applied to girls as well.  (we are looking at specific messages aimed at girls shortly).  Check it out and maybe ask some questions at home.  This is a trailer for a movie called The Mask You Live In, but the narrative of the trailer is very compelling.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1614541c258b53c7?projector=1

We continued to look at the elements of dance.  Ask your child about the elements of a Waltz.  We watched the following waltz video, and used these terms to help aid our discussion.  They are getting good at this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5AdFb4Beo

Body	body awareness, use of body parts, body shapes, locomotor and non-locomotor movements, body bases, symmetry versus asymmetry, geometric versus organic shape, curved versus angular shape
Space	pathways, directions, positive versus negative space, proximity of dancers to one another, various group formations, use of available area when moving, awareness of surroundings
Time	tempo, rhythm, pause, stillness, with music, without music, duration (e.g., short, long), acceleration/deceleration, in ‘sync’ with others,
Energy	Speed (fast/medium/slow), power, agility, effort, force, quality (e.g., flick, fold, stab, poke, flow freely, sharp, ‘flowful’)
Relationship	The way dancers interact with others, or to props/objects (e.g., in front of, inside, over, around), or with audiencs meet/part, follow/lead, emotional connections between dancers, groupings