PE at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 3)

Following are core tasks the children could be asked to carry out.

Create and perform a dance, either on your own, with a partner or in a small group, on the idea of 'machines'. Make sure you use changes in speed, strength, level, direction and space in your dance. Include the following three sections in your dance:

• section 1 - cogs and pistons. Circling, jerky, pulling, pushing, shaking, large, small, whole body actions, individual body parts, quick and sudden, slow and controlled, speeding up, slowing down, on the spot, travelling, on your own, with a partner
• section 2 - working together. Copying and following each other, moving in opposite directions, side by side, facing each other, moving in unison, in canon, meeting and parting, going over, under and round a partner
• section 3 - breakdown. Out of control, spinning, jumping, racing, slowing and stopping

To make the task easier:

• use ideas the children are familiar with
• make the dance phrases shorter and keep actions simple
• use simple accompaniment
• ask the children to work on their own
• use small spaces and similar heights and directions

To make the task harder:

• use more abstract stimuli
• make the dance phrases longer and actions more complicated
• use more complex rhythms, including changes of speed
• work in small groups
• use larger spaces and different heights and directions

Other stimuli or dance ideas could include Pat-a-cake Polka; meeting and greeting; Creation stories, eg Pan Gu, Hope on a Rope; volcanoes; and folk dances using partner and group formations.

Make sure the children have experience of working on their own, with a partner and in a small group.