Mountains in Motion

Overview

Students listen to The Battle of the Mountains by Peter Gossage and explore how dance can show character, setting, action and emotion. They develop interpretative movement in response to the story, then work collaboratively to create and perform a short movement retelling with a clear beginning, middle and end.

Learning intentions

• We are learning to use body, space, time and energy to communicate ideas.
• We are learning to interpret a story through movement rather than words.
• We are learning to create and sequence movements with others.
• We are learning to perform respectfully and respond to dance.

Success criteria

• I can use different movements to show a mountain, character, feeling or action.
• I can change my movement using space, levels, direction, speed and energy.
• I can help my group create a clear retelling of the story.
• I can perform safely, stay focused and explain one movement choice.

Curriculum links

• Dance — Developing Practical Knowledge: explore and use the elements of dance, including body, space, time, energy and relationships.
• Dance — Developing Ideas: respond to a stimulus and develop movement ideas into a structured dance.
• Dance — Communicating and Interpreting: perform and share dance, and describe how movement communicates meaning.
• The New Zealand Curriculum key competencies: managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing, and thinking.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and safety. Gather students in a clear space, establish boundaries, safe spacing and the signal to freeze; students walk quietly around the room, stopping safely on the signal and checking they have personal space.

2. 5–15 min · Story listening and visualisation. Read The Battle of the Mountains aloud, pausing at key moments to ask, “What might this look like in a dance?” and “What could show the feeling here?” Students listen, identify important characters, places, actions and changes, and make small seated or standing gestures in response. Open with the story and movement prompt slides to show simple visual prompts for setting, characters, action and emotion without revealing a fixed interpretation.

3. 15–25 min · Movement exploration. Model one idea, such as a tall, slow mountain movement, then vary its level, direction, speed and energy. Students explore individually and then with a partner: create movements for a mountain, wind, conflict, strength, surprise and calm. Invite a few students to share; the class names the movement choices that helped communicate meaning. Return to the story and movement prompt slides for the element prompts.

4. 25–32 min · Group task and planning. Place students in five groups of five and give each group a story section or sequence of connected events. Distribute the group role cards so students can share responsibilities such as creating, remembering, organising and performing. Groups decide their key events, choose movements for each event, and arrange them into a beginning, middle and ending. They may use still images, travelling movements, repeated motifs, canon or contrasting levels; remind them that movement, not spoken narration, should do most of the storytelling.

5. 32–47 min · Create and rehearse. Circulate, asking, “What does this movement tell the audience?” and “How will the audience know the story has changed?” Students rehearse a 60–90 second retelling, ensuring everyone contributes and transitions are clear. Encourage groups to refine one movement by changing its energy, speed, level or pathway. Use the story and movement prompt slides to display the task, success criteria and rehearsal countdown.

6. 47–56 min · Perform and respond. Groups perform in story order while the audience watches silently and identifies the events, feelings or characters communicated through movement. After each performance, invite one specific response beginning, “I noticed…” and one explanation beginning, “I understood… because…”. Students acknowledge performers with respectful applause and move safely on and off the performance area.

7. 56–60 min · Reflect and close. Students form a circle and complete a quick oral exit reflection: “One movement I used to communicate an idea was…” and “Our group worked well when…”. Teacher revisits the learning intention and notes students who can explain how an element of dance changed meaning.

Resources

• Copy of The Battle of the Mountains by Peter Gossage
• Clear, safe dance space
• the story and movement prompt slides
• the group role cards
• Device or display for the slide deck
• Optional percussion or calm instrumental music
• Whiteboard and marker
• Water available for students

Assessment

• Observe whether students vary body, space, time and energy to communicate a character, setting, action or emotion.
• During group work, check that students contribute ideas, negotiate respectfully and sequence movements to represent key story events.
• Use performances and reflections to assess whether students can explain how a movement choice communicated meaning.

Differentiation

• Provide movement choices through demonstration, gesture pictures and sentence stems such as “We could show ___ by…” and “This movement feels ___ because…”.
• Allow students to participate as a still image, repeated gesture, sound-maker, travelling mover or transition leader; provide a clearly marked personal space for students who need reduced physical contact.
• Support EAL learners by pairing spoken prompts with gestures and visuals, and by placing them with encouraging peers.
• Extend confident dancers by asking them to use a repeated motif, contrasting movements, canon, levels or a deliberate transition to show a change in the story.
• Pause rehearsals for groups to watch one another briefly and offer kind, specific feedback focused on communication rather than performance skill.