Jessica Jensen Teaches Dance Lessons on Stress and Coping Strategies

By Heather Francis, BYU ARTS Partnership Research & Design Coordinator

Dancing at the BTS Arts Campus Connection Day

In November, we met with approximately 180 BTS Arts Educators for Campus Connection Day at the BYU Conference Center. Elementary educators in dance, drama, music, and visual arts gathered to create, share, and collaborate on best practices for their art classrooms.

I attended the final session of the day with the dance educators. Each educator took 10 minutes to share a lesson plan, idea, activity, or thought with the rest of the group. The resources were pertinent and inspiring to me. I left with a warm dancing heart; my cup was filled.

Dance Lesson Plan on Stress and Coping Strategies

One resource shared in this session was a sixth-grade lesson plan created by Jessica Jensen, a dance educator at Columbia Elementary in Jordan School District. The lesson plan is called “King of the Sky” and was inspired by the children’s book with the same title written by Nicola Davies.

The lesson introduces students to stress and stressors, the difference between distress and eustress, and coping strategies that can help students deal with the stress in their lives. Jessica has generously offered to share her lesson plan. You can access this resource here.

See the BTS Dance Educators participating in an activity from Jessica’s lesson on Instagram by clicking here.