In this lesson students will experience the cultures of Mexico and the US through music and dance while showing the ability to respect others and their boundaries.

Students will learn and perform the Mexican Hat Dance. This lesson was developed by Sarah Owen-Palethore as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

Patterns are everywhere. Students who are incouraged to look for patterns and to express them mathematically begin to understand how mathmatics applies to the world in which they live. identifying and beginning to work with a wide variety of patterns helps students to develop the ability to classify and organize information. This activity will be presented when patterns are discussed in math. The students will observe that patterns exist in the areas of music and dance. Students will be able to follow the repeating patterns of the line dance.

In this lesson students learn how a dancer acts out the story with movement instead of words, through watching a video of the ballet Swan Lake. Students are amazed at how the dancer is able to convey her feeling with her body. Explain that dance can tell a story and that, like Odette, they can tell a story with their bodies as well. They have the opportunity to tell a short story of their own through pantomime and movement.