Multicultural Lesson Plan

By: Barry Williams II

EDU 280-1006
Lesson Objectives

• Subject: Cultural Dances (Physical Education)

• Grade Level: Seventh and Eighth Grade
• Observable Objective: Students will summarize the important details learned
about different cultural dances and use their knowledge to define cultural diversity.
• Goal: Teach students dances from multicultural perspectives to promote positive
gender, racial, cultural, class, and individual identities as well as promote the
recognition and acceptance of membership in many different groups.
Materials

• Computer
• Projector
• Projector screen
• YouTube video: how to salsa
• YouTube video: how to “Whip and Nae Nae”
• YouTube Video: how to waltz
• Images of different people performing each dance
• Step-by-step instructions
 Do First
• What are we doing here in the gym, right?

• How many of you know how to dance or like to dance in private or with friends? What
dances do you know, would you be interested in showing other students how to
dance?
• Prank: Voluntell two students to perform a dance, then tell them to pick two more
students to perform after them.
Mini-Lesson

• Today we are going to talk about dance, and how some cultures are affected
by this form of expression
• I am going to tell you a few facts about three different dances and how
culture has been influenced
• After we review the information, we will start to learn some simple steps
from each dance
 Salsa Hispanic American

• “Salsa originated in Cuba during the 1900s” (Salsa Dance: Origin, History & Steps, 2019)
• “In Havana, Cuba, salsa absorbed influences from other local Cuban music and from
American jazz and continued to evolve” (2019).
• Salsa music is a mix of different Caribbean rhythms and instruments; that diversity
provides its unique sound. Salsa dance has similarly evolved and adapted over the years
to better suit the tastes of different localities, leading to the creation of different regional
styles of salsa (Salsa Dance: Origin, History & Steps, 2019). 
• Cuban Style Columbian style
• Miami Style New York Style
• Afro-Latino

• Salsa has grown significantly and has become very popular in Latin America and Hispanic
Communities across the world.
Salsa
African American ( Whip/ Nae Nae)

• Watch Me (Whip/ Nae Nae) was released in May of 2015 by a 17-year-old boy named Silento.
Soon after its release, “Watch me” would reach No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed
there for six consecutive weeks (Jeffereson, 2019).
• “many popular modern African-American social dances find their roots in the days of slavery,
and are influenced by African and African-American traditions” (Brown, 2016).
• The dance-heavy music video for “Watch Me” has been watched over 1.6 billion times on
YouTube, making it one of the most-viewed clips in the platform’s history (Jeffereson, 2019).
• Dance is a language, and social dance is an expression that emerges from a community (Brown,
2016)
Whip/ Nae Nae
 European American (Waltz)

• “Waltz: a dance born in the suburbs of Vienna and in the alpine region of Austria. As early as
the seventeenth century, waltzes were played in the ballrooms of the Hapsburg court” (Fuller,
2020)
• “The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its closer hold and rapid
turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful”
(Fuller, 2020)
• “Reportedly, the first time the waltz was danced in the United States was in Boston in 1834.
Lorenzo Papanti, a Boston dancing master, gave an exhibition in Mrs. Otis' Beacon Hill
mansion” (Fuller, 2020)
Waltz
Guided Practice ( Salsa)

• First, we will watch the video, then, we will try it as a class

• Everyone will participate!
• Put your best dancing foot first…
Guided Practice (Whip/ Nae Nae)

• First, we will watch the video, then, we will try it as a class

• Everyone will participate!
• Put your best dancing foot first…
Guided Practice (Waltz)

• First, we will watch the video, then, we will try as a class

• Everyone will participate!
• Put your best dancing foot first…
Independent Practice

• Class will be divided into three different groups: one for each culture
• Each group will watch the video for their dance, then practice for five
minutes
• After five minutes, the groups will switch so that every student will have the
opportunity to learn each dance
• The instructors will demonstrate the dance, then students will dance
independently and help each other
Exit Slip
• After every student has practiced each dance, there will be a few students
voted to perform each dance
• All the performers will be rewarded
• After rewards are given out, the entire class will have a review of each
culture and how dance impacted each.
 Brown, A. C. (2016, June). A visual history of social dance in 25 moves [Video File].

Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/camille_a_brown_a_visual_history_of_social_dance_in_2

5_moves

References Fuller, J. (2020, October 14). Waltz History. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from

https://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/waltz.htm

Howcast. (2013, September 21). How to Do a Waltz Progressive Step -Ballroom Dance

[Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fdStVuh56sY

Jeffereson, J’na. Billboard.com. (2019, November 21). Songs That Define the Decade:

Silento’s ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)’.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/songs-that-defined-the-

decade/8544236/silento-watch-me-songs-that-defined-the-decade

Rose, A. (2018, September 21). How to Salsa Tutorial for beginners [Video File]. Retrieved

from https://youtu.be/L4DPgeXogqE

Salsa Dance: Origin, History & Steps. (2019, March 20). Retrieved from

https://study.com/academy/lesson/salsa-dance-origin-history-steps.html.

Silento Tv. (2015, May 20). Silento’s How to: Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) Official Tutorial

[Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fI8PDrrTU4M