October is a great month to explore What Makes Music Spooky??? Our first graders have been experiencing spookiness and are loving this last week of October because it's soo much fun. They learned a short rhyme called "Legs and All", which is not terribly thrilling or exciting. But.....when I performed it with a huge CRESCENDO using a drum, it became very exciting. Thus, the Italian word, CRESCENDO (meaning to gradually get louder) is now part of their first grade vocabulary. The accompanying symbol, as well as DECRESCENDO, is also in their vocabulary. When we put those two together, and say the rhyme getting louder, then getting softer, it is quite effective. "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The Very Busy Spider" were also part of our repertoire, as well as "SKin and Bones" - a traditional folk song. The students worked on up and down, or high and low - in terms of GLISSANDO - sliding up and sliding down. These fun sounds on the glockenspiels added flavor to our spider rhymes. At the same time, the children were reviewing the concept of ti-ti (two eighth notes) and ta (quarter note) in the song "Apple Tree." The children completed many different activities to demonstrate their knowledge of 2 sounds versus one, including worksheets, creating rhythms using popsicle sticks, and clapping from standard rhythmic notation. They have made great progress in October, and look forward to learning a wide variety of Thanksgiving repertoire in addition to more xylophone playing in November.
2nd Graders worked to aurally identify the difference in wood and metal xylophone sounds at the beginning of the month, and also explored the idea that ti-ti (two eighth notes) can look different. They can be beamed together, or they can have flags. This was demonstrated using children as rhythm notes, using 'magic sticks' and even through spiders and bats. A variety of manipulatives were used to help the children identify different rhythm patterns - for instance spider bat = ti-ti- ta and MEEEOW = one half note. The children work to identify these patterns aurally and visually and to be able to play them on instruments, too. "Skin and Bones" was a great spooky review, but the 2nd graders learned to play it on a variety of instruments with 4 different parts at the same time, and singers. Boo! The month closes with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. Such a great piece, full of suspense and drama, and Mickey Mouse! The children really have to wait and be patient and watch and hear it unfold. Happy Halloween!
Kindergarten friends look at the friendly side of Halloween! "Pumpkin Pumpkin" is a clever little rhyme that the children can sing, and now, by the end of October the children can use pumpkin manipulatives to demonstrate the high/low pattern of the song visually. This really helps illustrate to the children what they are hearing. They have been adding sound effects to spooky rhymes, and explored a little book, "Mouses's First Halloween." This story has a mouse who is scared by all sorts of things until he sees them in the light. The children act out the different parts of the story and we enjoy this creativity. They have suggested different Halloween characters for other creative movement activities and do a fine job portraying witches and ghosts. "Old Mrs. Witch" and "This is Halloween" finish up our kindy-spooky songs!
2nd Graders worked to aurally identify the difference in wood and metal xylophone sounds at the beginning of the month, and also explored the idea that ti-ti (two eighth notes) can look different. They can be beamed together, or they can have flags. This was demonstrated using children as rhythm notes, using 'magic sticks' and even through spiders and bats. A variety of manipulatives were used to help the children identify different rhythm patterns - for instance spider bat = ti-ti- ta and MEEEOW = one half note. The children work to identify these patterns aurally and visually and to be able to play them on instruments, too. "Skin and Bones" was a great spooky review, but the 2nd graders learned to play it on a variety of instruments with 4 different parts at the same time, and singers. Boo! The month closes with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. Such a great piece, full of suspense and drama, and Mickey Mouse! The children really have to wait and be patient and watch and hear it unfold. Happy Halloween!
Kindergarten friends look at the friendly side of Halloween! "Pumpkin Pumpkin" is a clever little rhyme that the children can sing, and now, by the end of October the children can use pumpkin manipulatives to demonstrate the high/low pattern of the song visually. This really helps illustrate to the children what they are hearing. They have been adding sound effects to spooky rhymes, and explored a little book, "Mouses's First Halloween." This story has a mouse who is scared by all sorts of things until he sees them in the light. The children act out the different parts of the story and we enjoy this creativity. They have suggested different Halloween characters for other creative movement activities and do a fine job portraying witches and ghosts. "Old Mrs. Witch" and "This is Halloween" finish up our kindy-spooky songs!