Irish Dance Lesson Plans and Resources

Meet standards for art, social studies, and physical education all at the same time with a study of Irish dance.

Irish step dancing has been practiced widely in Irish-American communities throughout the U.S. for many years, but it only came to the notice of the general public when Riverdance became a national phenomenon.

Bring it to your classroom with a lesson plan combining fun and serious study:

• Use some of the resources listed below to introduce Irish dance to the class.
• Try out some of the basic steps.
• Once students feel comfortable with the idea of Irish dance, work as a class to brainstorm some advantages of Irish dance: the fact that it’s healthful exercise, perhaps, or that it helps to maintain the traditions of Irish culture.
• Have students work in small groups to create brochures about the benefits of Irish dance. Use an online tool like MyBrochureMaker (free for educational use), software like Serif PagePlus X4, or paper and art supplies. Encourage students to proofread their copy carefully.
• Create a bulletin board display of the brochures.

Resources

• You’re Invited to a Ceili , a lesson plan from Artsedge
• Irish Step Dancing, a book about a young dancer
• The Ghillie Girls: Irish Dance Pals, a story filled with facts
• A Smithsonian lesson on Irish music and dance
• Text lessons on basic Irish dance steps

• An Irish dance PE lesson teaches some basic steps.
• A discussion of the clothing worn for Irish step dance

https://youtu.be/t_k1piXa0wc