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Arts and the Olympics/Dance and Athletics
Jimmie Ray Terry
Northeast Elementary School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 2, 4 & 5
"The camera is valuable as a tool of observation because
it has a double-edged effect-first the students observe prior
to taking the pictures, then refocus their observations when viewing
the image."
Purpose and Description of Project
Jimmie Ray Terry worked with selected groups of second-, fourth-,
and fifth-graders to help them experience, photograph, and reflect
through poetry the similarities of various elements of dance and athletics.
The project was carried out in correlation with a schoolwide year-long
focus on tying the school's art and physical education programs
to the "Year of the Olympics." (The school is one of
the state's "arts-in-education" sites.) The children
also had the advantage of working with a "dancer in residence"
for a week (from the State Arts Council of Oklahoma) and with
a photographer and two poets from the Arts and Humanities Council
of Tulsa.
A number of students actually studied and performed dances with
the dance specialist, while others photographed their movements.
The student-photographers also took slides of various athletic
events. The resulting slides were used to help both these children
and others understand the commonalities of dance and athletics
and to motivate them to write creatively.
Activities
The project was divided into three phases-dance, photography,
and creative writing.
- Dance-Working with the dancer-in-residence, a group of second-
and fifth-graders discussed in general the elements that make
for excellence in both dance and athletics. They explored various
movements and choreographed their own dance.
- Observation/photography-Several fourth- and fifth-graders
met with the photographer, learned about cameras, interviewed
and photographed the dancer, and took pictures of the children
involved in the dance class. They later took additional slides
of track and field events. In all, they took about 200 dance slides
and 75 sports slides.
- Creative writing-Two fifth- and three second-grade classes
worked with the visiting poets. Using the slides as inspiration,
the poets dictated the first line of a couplet and then the children
wrote their own second lines that expressed the same feeling.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
Human resources were the photographer, dancer, and poets who worked
closely with the children. Equipment included three 35 mm cameras
(donated), film for about 275 slides, and a slide projector.
Outcomes and Adaptability
The value of the project was in providing the children with varied
means of artistic expression, according to Terry, who says that
"students who might be inhibited by usual forms of communication
were offered new opportunities." But while stressing that
"the process, not the product" was the most important
aspect of the project, she does note that the children who were
directly involved in dance and/or photography experiences produced
higher-quality writing than those who simply viewed the slides.
Terry says that this project tying together dance, photography,
and language arts is suitable for both elementary and intermediate
students.