New
New
Year 4

Irish Dancing: Ireland

I can choreograph using the style of a traditional Irish Jig.

New
New
Year 4

Irish Dancing: Ireland

I can choreograph using the style of a traditional Irish Jig.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: listening and responding to music using different time signatures requires control and accuracy.
  2. Move: pupils can perform the Jig steps using the correct posture with control, balance and accurate timings.
  3. Think: learning new actions involves deciding what, where, when and how to move our body.
  4. Feel: consistently applying the posture used in Irish dancing requires resilience.
  5. Connect: cooperating with others when giving feedback is important when suggesting ideas for improvement.

Keywords

  • Jig - a type of traditional dance that involves jumping

  • Posture - the position the body is held in

  • Hop - to jump on one foot

Common misconception

In dance, you count all music in 8's.

In dance, counting corresponds to the musical time signature which varies enormously. Many are 4/4 timing and can be counted in patterns of 4's or 8's, others may be in contrasting patterns such as 3/4 or 6/8, so would need to be counted accordingly.


To help you plan your year 4 physical education lesson on: Irish Dancing: Ireland, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage the pupils to 'feel' the music by swaying, tapping, travelling or nodding along to it.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Suggested music.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What is meant by ‘traditional’?

modern
futuristic
Correct answer: long-standing

Q2.
What describes how a group of dancers are arranged?

jump
balance
Correct answer: formation

Q3.
What skill does joint decision making require?

Correct answer: cooperation
creativity
time keeping

Q4.
What word do we use in dance to describe moving from one location to another?

tension
Correct answer: travel
turn

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What action would be seen in a Jig?

turning
travelling
Correct answer: jumping

Q2.
In Irish dance, which musical time signatures might be used?

just 12/8
just 8’s
Correct answer: 6/8, 9/8 or 12/8

Q3.
What is needed to sustain posture?

Correct answer: resilience
elegance
energy

Q4.
What does cooperate mean?

move freely
Correct answer: work together
direct others

Additional material

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