The Kids Make Hip Hop pilot project incorporated skill-building exercises, hip hop dance combinations and improvisation, historical investigations, interdisciplinary art projects, and student-created routines and performances.

Day One - Basic Skills

• Form collaborative groups of three or four
• Begin and end dance in a still freeze
• Choose three to four basic skills performed in a combination
• Practice, video tape, reflect, revise
• Perform

Day Two - Basic Skills, Progressions and Combinations

• Form collaborative groups of three or four
• Begin and end dance in a still freeze
• Use movement from day one or create new combinations of movement, reflecting improved skills gained from technique class
• Practice, video tape, reflect, revise
• Perform

Day Three - Historical Perspective

• Form collaborative groups of two or more
• Create a new combination of movement, focusing on accuracy of execution, hitting the moves on the beat and adding new moves identified with the 1970’s, 1980’s or 1990’s
• Practice, video tape, reflect, revise
• Perform

Day Four - Poetry Slam Improvisations

• Create, write and rap original poem using a.k.a. (also known as) name
• Read poem aloud while another child improvises to the words, using skills and combinations from the previous three days
• Choose to either read own poem, dance to own poem, or have other children read and dance to them while you document the performance
• Perform

Day Five - Final Performance Using Commando Movement (Transitions)

• Form groups of two or more
• Create new combinations of movement, reflecting increased knowledge and execution of skills
• Practice, video tape, reflect, revise
• Create a traveling movement in unison to be used as an exit movement by your group and teach it to the entering group. This transition movement is called a Commando movement. The Commandos are used to connect all group dances together into one final performance
• Practice with Commandos, video tape, reflect, revise
• Perform

Standards: New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning Dance

Kids Make Hip Hop, and other Kids Make Dance projects, uses the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance K-12 (PDF file).

For the Kids Make Hip Hop pilot project the emphasis was on the Grade 5 blueprint indicators for both dance and technology. You can visit the “Standards” page on this Kids Make Hiphop website to learn about these standards.