Does Incorporating Dance into Elementary School Classrooms Increase Academic Achievement and Enjoyment?

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine if incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and enjoyment. Throughout this project, an experiment was done with second graders that supported this idea that by adding dance into classroom lessons, students achieve more. These students scored higher on an assessment after including movement into the lesson. Some of them enjoyed the lessons more with dance and others did not. Previous research found that dance helps the student learning process due to its ability to meet diverse needs, its effect on the memory, and increase on student engagement. Dance also connects to Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Students with different disabilities have also shown higher academic achievement when dance is used in their classrooms. It helps with attention and stimulating the brain. Along with this research, four mini units are attached that incorporate dance for teachers to use as examples as to how to incorporate dance into their lessons. These include English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies lesson made for second graders using Massachusetts State Standards and National Dance Standards for second graders. Through the experiment, research, and creation of lesson plans, it can be said that incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and may increase overall enjoyment.