Introduction

This unit, called Scottish Ceilidh dancing, is divided in two parts: the teacher's guide and the didactic unit. Its main aim is to learn how to dance six Scottish Ceilidh dances: Gay Gordons, Canadian Barn Dance, Dashing White Sergeant, Cumberland Square Eight, Strip the Willow or Drops of Brandy and Virginia Reel.

To help the teaching and learning process a teacher's guide is presented. It includes a justification of the topic, a short explanation of the elements involved when we dance and of what a ceilidh and a ceilidh dance are . In the “dance terms” there is a definition and an explanation of some concepts that we need to know to be able to understand the next section “dance steps”. These concepts are about the dance formation (where the pupils have to stand when they dance), about dance position (how pupils have to hold their partners), about moves (what pupils have to do) and about dance steps (how pupils have to move their feet). In “dance steps” there is an explanation of the steps, from the beginning to the end, for the six dances I would like to teach. In these explanations the concepts described in the “dance terms”appear. This guide also includes the materials and resources useful for the development of the lessons as well as the English vocabulary we want pupils to learn.

As the teachers guide is written in English, it allows us to have a good idea of the vocabulary that the teacher will use in the developing of these lessons. However, I have been translating into Catalan the explanations of the dance steps so that teachers who cannot speak English can teach these dances (if they are interested in doing so). For the same reason, the lessons are also written in Catalan.

The didactic unit includes ten lessons of 60 minutes each with the corresponding activities. The aims, the contents and the plannification are mentioned and the assessment is developed. All the lessons are divided in three parts: warm-up, main part and calm down and although these lessons have been constructed in a particular way, it is not the only way they can be taught. There is flexibility for teachers to teach them in any order depending on the characteristics of the class.

In both parts, teacher's guide and didactic unit, there are some links that allow us to access some flash cards or photos, in order to clarify some dances, e.g. space allocation and the way the couples hold each other.

Lesson 1:

Gay Gordons

Lesson 2:

Canadian Barn Dance

Lesson 3:

Gay Gordons and Canadian Barn Dance

Lesson 4:

Dashing White Sergeant

Lesson 5:

Cumberland Square Eight

Lesson 6:

Dashing White Sergeant and Cumberland Square Eight

Lesson 7:

Strip the Willow or Drops of Brandy

Lesson 8:

Virginia Reel

Lesson 9:

Strip the Willow or Drops of Brandy and Virginia Reel

Lesson 10:

The six dances