Quick Pose Warm Ups

Make tangible, physical connections to new vocabulary and concepts to prepare to work as artists.
A class of first grader embody the word
 
 

What is it?

Kids make poses to express what they know about vocabulary prompts. Teachers help their class to learn from each other, and expand their understanding by noticing and describing the variety of ways that kids express the same idea.

What is needed?
  • Time
    3-5 min to set up an model
  • 2 min for each vocabulary prompt
  • Space
    room to move around & pose
 
  • Students embody both an emotion and a character during a warm-up game.

    What artistic choices are we warming up to make?

    Prepare kids to work as artists by prompting them to embody words that describe the choices they can make today. See videos below for examples.
  • Students show their understanding of advanced emotion vocabulary while creating poses during the Emotion Statue game.

    Describe the variety of expressive choices

    Kids’ understanding of vocabulary prompts is deepened when the variety of their physical expressions are noticed and described with specificity.
    Use the Describing Tool: Face & Body
 

Pose to clarify visual art vocabulary

Use a quick pose warm up to introduce choices that students can make within any visual arts media. Embodying the vocabulary to describe those choices gives kinesthetic learners a concrete experience to refer to as they work. Examples below.

Find Visual Arts Prompts
  • Describing tools
 
  • Four children on their feet embodying the word 'tilted' by tilting their spines forward, back or two the side.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/3TwGX8u9FN4

    Prompts to describe shape and composition

    Teaching Artist Sarah Provost uses prompts describing shape and composition to prepare 1st graders to collage their expressive puppet faces.
    Learn more about 5 shapes collage
  • Classroom Teacher Julissa Acosta and her students show the vocabulary word 'bumpy 'with their bodies in a variety of ways. Ms Acosta is describing the choices students are making.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/jy4JBCJfVD4

    Prompts to describe texture

    Classroom teacher Julissa Acosta uses prompts describing texture to prepare kindergarteners to make choices using a variety of collage materials
    Learn more about torn paper collage
  • Classroom teacher Michelle Martin leading the class in the Quick Pose Warm Up while students freeze in different poses
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/QOjqqLGlIgc
    Prompts to describe pencil lines

    Classroom teacher Michele Martin uses prompts from a chart of ways to describe the shape, size  and direction of lines to help her kindergarten students physically review the choices that they can make when drawing with pencil.

    Learn more about the Explore & describe Drawing with Pencil Lesson
 

Pose to support SEL

Use the Emotion Statue game warm up to help kids express, recognize and describe their own emotions, the emotions of others and of characters. Kids can use this physical experience as a reference for verbal, written and visual expression.

Find Emotion Vocabulary Prompts
 
  • Students posing to show what feeling mad looks like.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/MYwy8Q5FUE0

    Prompts to describe core emotions

    Teaching Artist Rima Fand and classroom teacher Teresa Donnelly use core emotion prompts with kinder and 1st grade students with disabilities
    Learn more about the statue game for core emotions
  • Teaching Artist Erin Orr with a 1st grade gifted and talented class expressing the feeling of hesitant
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wv6OP7fslM0

    Building on emotion statues with Emotion Mapping

    Teaching artist Erin Orr prompts 1st graders to embody the word “Hesitant” and then compare and contrast the word visually on an emotion map.
    Learn more about Emotion Mapping
  • A student placing large circles for eyes and mouth on their puppet face. As they work, they create the same large circle shape with their own mouth.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wde4deZ8vAA

    Connecting to and processing complex emotions

    Through making a “shocked” pose, a child connects to a shocking personal experience. Artist SJ Munford helps them to process, and make an expressive puppet face
    Learn more about 5 shapes many emotions
 

Pose to explore elements of story

Use a quick pose warm up to explore character traits and emotions, sensory details in story settings and reactions to story problems. Embodying story elements deepens kids’ understanding of literature and can inspire their own story making.

Find Story Element Prompts
 
  • A composite image of a young girl displaying the word angry with her body and a drawing of an angry character on a sheet of paper
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/UbCQlLlNkyA
    Prompts to explore character traits and emotions

    In this video, 1st graders explore advanced emotion vocabulary and then create statues to show a variety of story characters expressing  various surprising emotions. How would you show a shocked vampire?  Finally they draw & describe expressive characters. . Classroom teacher Jean Antoldi used this as a pre-sequence for creative writing

  • Students using their bodies to act out the characters, problems and solutions listed on a chart behind them.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/SSgRcDp5jAI

    Building understanding of story vocabulary

    2nd gr. EnL teacher Loriann Tholl and teaching artist Rima fand prompt emotion and character trait poses to build vocabulary and comprehension.
  • Teaching artists Erin Orr and Kirsten Kammermyer sitting in front of the emotion mapping tool. Erin is speaking passionately as Kirsten listens with wide eyes.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZEm4aIEmWzE

    Making story sequence meaningful

    Physicalizing character emotions helps students understand and connect to the “why” of story sequence.
 

Steps & Scripts

Open each step for videos and/ or sample scripts, tips & a downloadable steps PDF.

Download the Steps
Steps- Quick Pose Warm Up
 

Step 1: Introduce the Game

  • Teaching Artist introducing game and students creating various shapes with their bodies.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/CCpyELmMJXI
    Sample Script ( 2-3 minutes)
    1. What is a statue? (Something that doesn’t move, that’s made of metal or wood – like the Statue of Liberty.)
    2. Do statues move?  Do statues talk?  Statues stay in one spot, keep their balance and stay quiet.  Let’s all pretend to be a statue.
    3. What’s an emotion? An emotion is the same as a feeling.
    4. Today we’re going to make statues to show_________

    Steps Quick Pose Warm Up

Download the Steps
Steps- Quick Pose Warm Up
 

Step 2: Model the Game

Sample Script (1- 2 minutes)

  1. I will say  a word like bumpy.
  2. We will say & show bumpy with our bodies. Bumpy! Bumpy! Bumby! (move your body in a bumpy way)
  3. We will all freeze in a bumpy pose. (freeze in a bumpy way pose)
  4. I will describe all of the different ways that you are posing your body to show bumpy.  You might be making the same pose as someone else or you might have your own idea.
  5. Then, we’ll reset. We’ll shake that feeling off and relax our bodies so we’re ready for the next word.

Steps Quick Pose Warm Up

Download Steps & Supports
Steps- Quick Pose Warm Up
Describing Tool: Face & Body
 

Step 3: Play the Game

Sample Script (2 min per prompt)

  1. Say– The next word is __________!
  2. Say & Show– Let move our bodies to show ______.
  3. Freeze– Freeze into a pose that shows ________!
  4. Describe– Wow! I see so many different, wonderful ways to show ________!

Tips for Step 3

  • Enthusiastically describe a variety of choices using specific, detailed and non-judgmental language.
  • Use the Describing Tool Face and Body for support!

Steps Quick Pose Warm Up

Download the Steps
Steps- Quick Pose Warm Up
 

Step 4: Release/ Reset/ Refocus

  • Students playing the Emotion Statue Game and making expressive poses to show different feelings.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIQBv1K4YhI
    Reset Options (10-20 seconds)
    •  Relax your body,
    •  Take a deep breath,
    • Wipe it away,
    •  Shake it out,
    •  Wiggle it away

    Steps Quick Pose Warm Up

 
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