Lesson by Rhian Bruce
Learning Intentions:
- To learn about different Mexican fiestas.
- Listen and identify tempo, beat and rhythm.
- To learn more about Mexico.
Step 1: Activity overview for parent, carers and pupils
In this activity there are four short video clips of traditional Mexican dances. (Approximately eight minutes in total)
Activities can be completed on or offline.
Step 2: Introduction to the activity and additional information
Join a fiesta trail and learn about three Mexican festivals and how they sit in the human landscape. Get moving to some traditional Mexican music dancing to the rhythm and beat.While watching the videos below look at the costumes, colours and dances carefully.
Focus on the steps the dancers are using as you might want to try to include some of these in your own dance.
Listen to the rhythms and tempo of the music.
What instruments can you hear?
Watch the traditional dances below:
Mariachi Music, sometimes referred to as Mexican hat dancing:
Traditional Mexican folk dancing:
Guelagueztza festival in Oaxaca:
Mixtec dance, also from Oaxaca:
Step 3: Tasks to carry out for this activity
Activity 1
- Try to learn some of the steps from the Mixtec dance.
- Choose to be the man or the lady and watch the moves carefully.
- Find a space to rehearse the dance.
- When you are ready, record the dance and upload to j2e (Optional)
Activity 2
- Do some of your own research to find out more about Mexico.
- Write a short factual piece about the information you have found.
Once you have completed the task you can email anything you create (photos, documents, screenshots etc.) directly to your teacher or directly upload it to any of the available places in Step 6.
Step 4: Look over the success criteria for this activity:
Success criteria #1: I know about Mexican fiestas.
Success criteria #2: I can listen to and identify beat and rhythm.
Success criteria #3: I know more about Mexico.
Look at the learning intentions ‘how well do you think you have done?’
Step 5: Extension and follow on activities/challenges (optional)
Activity 3
If you want to find out more about Oaxaca, why not go and explore it in 360 Virtual Reality by following this link
Step 6: Upload your work
Click on the relevant link below if you have any work to upload to your online areas J2e Google Drive OneDrive Seesaw