Travel sometimes presents some unexpected benefits. A little gem that emerged from Spain was learning to Salsa dance. You may wonde how salsa dancing translates to the classroom?
Well, on a large scale our school is preparing for a Spain Day, to celebrate everything students have learned about Spain. Students from my classroom are learning to salsa dance each morning from their very salsa dance skilled (not!) teacher. Each morning for the last two weeks, we have begun our day learning new steps and practicing a routine I put together from my lesson we took in Spain.
It has been a great way to start our day, up moving and getting students excited. With just two and a half weeks of practice, my class will get up on stage in front of the whole school, parents and friends, to show off their salsa dancing skills.
Learning salsa has benefited students in more ways than just getting up to move. They are practicing following directions, working as a team to follow the same movements, stay in personal space, move to the beat of the music and most importantly, try something new! Throughout the day when students are getting antsy it has also been great to announce, “Salsa break!” Students are eager to jump up and take a 1 minute movement break to get the wiggles out and activate brains in a different way.
Their big dancing debut is March 23rd for Spain Day at school, and they are totally going to rock it! It will be an experience they will look back on long after they leave 3rd grade. I also plan to keep salsa alive and well in the classroom after Spain Day comes and goes. It will be a great way to keep the spirt of travel alive and well.
TravelTeachLove,
Katy
