October brings spooky music to our classes. This is one of my favorite times of the year, and it's a great month for music because it's all about EXPRESSION. Expressive elements are what makes music spooky, or sad, or happy or exciting. Louds and softs, highs and lows, fast and slows are the contrasts that everyone loves in music. That's what music is all about....expressing emotion. Music is a feeling-ful medium that enables people to share experiences across cultures and languages. Whew. Deep thoughts for first and second grade, but that's really what music is all about. So, here's what we are doing...
Kindergarten friends are using their voices in all sorts of funny ways. A simple rhyme is spoken by the children and reinforces good reading skills, and highlights rhyming words. Great. Then, the students use their 'witch' voices (of course, I demonstrated my witch voice first - a little scary??) and compare that to using their 'giant' voices. Right there the children have made a musical decision that one is high and one is low. Terrific. We are ready to move on. "Everybody Rake the Leaves" is a short song that allows for creative expression to music, especially as we pretend to rake. Many children need practice - get them outside! Then, we explore other things we can do with those leaves and act those out, too. Music allows many opportunities for creativity, and changing it to fit each class, each child. Each class begins with 'ghostie conversations' where children speak to each other in 'ghostie' the language of Booos. One children asks a ghost question, and another answers. The key here is that we are laying the groundwork for improvisation in first and second grade. We are highlighting the structure that an answer is different from an echo. Big stuff, but completely accessible when wearing a ghost puppet and speaking in Booo! "America" or "My Country 'tis of Thee" is being introduced, the school song is being reinforced and movement activities are always part of each lesson. The children will explore a few more Halloween songs before the big day. Ask your child to share - and always ask them for their singing voice. It's beautiful. "Pumpkin Pumpkin" is a little rhyme that children are learning as it emphasizes high and low. The children have been moving paper pumpkins on two line staffs to start to explore the idea of how musicians write high and low. And, of course, "This is Halloween" is a fabulous counting song, and we wrap up with "Mouse's First Halloween" a little story about a mouse who is frightened of things in the dark, but it's all 'not so scary after all' in the light. The children use their bodies to act out the story - and they are very clever!
First graders are deep into expressive elements as they explore Halloween music. "Skin and Bones" an old traditional folk song from Kentucky, is the perfect choice to highlight glissando - sliding from high to low, or low to high - and loud and soft. The first time they hear the song, when I get to the "Boo" at the end, quite a few jump! Now, they know what to expect and have used glockenspiels to play those glissandi prior to this experience in the rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds." Everyone loves to play glissandi! Another very basic rhyme, "Legs and All" becomes much more interesting when we add crescendo and decrescendo. This activity allows the children to read the poem while changing their voices from very soft to very loud - of course there's a big drum involved, too! Once they understand the concept of crescendo, we use the same rhyme to focus on texture. Half the class uses triangles to play a steady beat, and the other half plays the rhythm of the text on sticks. It's challenging to hear one part yet stay on your own, but first graders can do this. Lots of spider-themed activities follow, including the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle. Probably the favorite of our spooky pieces, though, is Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" The children love how the entire piece is one giant CRESCENDO and they have to wait for it to build and build. Play it at home for them....they love it!
Kindergarten friends are using their voices in all sorts of funny ways. A simple rhyme is spoken by the children and reinforces good reading skills, and highlights rhyming words. Great. Then, the students use their 'witch' voices (of course, I demonstrated my witch voice first - a little scary??) and compare that to using their 'giant' voices. Right there the children have made a musical decision that one is high and one is low. Terrific. We are ready to move on. "Everybody Rake the Leaves" is a short song that allows for creative expression to music, especially as we pretend to rake. Many children need practice - get them outside! Then, we explore other things we can do with those leaves and act those out, too. Music allows many opportunities for creativity, and changing it to fit each class, each child. Each class begins with 'ghostie conversations' where children speak to each other in 'ghostie' the language of Booos. One children asks a ghost question, and another answers. The key here is that we are laying the groundwork for improvisation in first and second grade. We are highlighting the structure that an answer is different from an echo. Big stuff, but completely accessible when wearing a ghost puppet and speaking in Booo! "America" or "My Country 'tis of Thee" is being introduced, the school song is being reinforced and movement activities are always part of each lesson. The children will explore a few more Halloween songs before the big day. Ask your child to share - and always ask them for their singing voice. It's beautiful. "Pumpkin Pumpkin" is a little rhyme that children are learning as it emphasizes high and low. The children have been moving paper pumpkins on two line staffs to start to explore the idea of how musicians write high and low. And, of course, "This is Halloween" is a fabulous counting song, and we wrap up with "Mouse's First Halloween" a little story about a mouse who is frightened of things in the dark, but it's all 'not so scary after all' in the light. The children use their bodies to act out the story - and they are very clever!
First graders are deep into expressive elements as they explore Halloween music. "Skin and Bones" an old traditional folk song from Kentucky, is the perfect choice to highlight glissando - sliding from high to low, or low to high - and loud and soft. The first time they hear the song, when I get to the "Boo" at the end, quite a few jump! Now, they know what to expect and have used glockenspiels to play those glissandi prior to this experience in the rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds." Everyone loves to play glissandi! Another very basic rhyme, "Legs and All" becomes much more interesting when we add crescendo and decrescendo. This activity allows the children to read the poem while changing their voices from very soft to very loud - of course there's a big drum involved, too! Once they understand the concept of crescendo, we use the same rhyme to focus on texture. Half the class uses triangles to play a steady beat, and the other half plays the rhythm of the text on sticks. It's challenging to hear one part yet stay on your own, but first graders can do this. Lots of spider-themed activities follow, including the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle. Probably the favorite of our spooky pieces, though, is Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" The children love how the entire piece is one giant CRESCENDO and they have to wait for it to build and build. Play it at home for them....they love it!