Date of Award

Spring 4-28-2023

Document Type

Education 530 Project

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Education

Department Chair or Program Director

Kelly, Peter

First Advisor

Melissa Wells

Major or Concentration

Elementary Education

Abstract

As learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell a story (p < .05) and analysis of student interviews suggested that students were highly engaged in the unit.

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