Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School

Dancing With Class

Grant Amount: 10,000

The proposed partnership includes a 10-week dance residency with Dancing with Class (DwC) that will involve all 3rd, 6th and select 7th & 8th grade classrooms. In addition, 4th and 5th graders will receive a 10 week unit facilitated by their Drama Teacher, who will implement material gained from Professional Development time with DwC to expose students to the concepts of dance. The staff at Cardenas (merged with Castellanos) seeks to build upon its arts integrated social studies unit with the four 6th grade classes, and a selective enrollment All-Star hour for 7th and 8th graders. Several members of this all-star team will also assist each of the 6th and 3rd grade classes and serve as role models. Since CPS recently merged Castellanos (4th-8th grades) with Cardenas (PreK-3rd grades), this year we would like to include the 3rd graders in a junior social dance program where they will increase their arts minutes and have a platform to interact and connect with the middle school students who are now part of their school. A DwC teaching artist will introduce students to a variety of dances and guide them through a process of dance-making and reflection in which they consider the cultural context of each dance. A culminating dance performance will bring together the 3rd through 8th graders to display what they have learned.