One of the reasons why I am still teaching is that I am having still having fun. Teaching is a lot of work, don’t get me wrong, but if it was all work and no fun I probably would not still be a teacher. My goal is to make learning fun so it does not feel like work for me or my students. A lot of playing has gone on in the music room this past month.
The Halloween month of October allows for so many great playful music ideas. All my classes preschool through grade 2 were introduced to the classical piece of music ,In The Hall of the Mountain King. We did a steady beat hand jive as we moved and listened to the music and had a challenge as it got faster and faster. I love asking my students the question what did you hear? I am still learning how much they already know about musical instruments and got a kick out of hearing how they thought they heard music in a Minecraft game or from a movie. Introducing classical music in this playful way helps my students see how this style of music is not just of the past but still a part of our lives. Telling the story of Pier Gynt which is the back story of In the Hall of the Mountain King is also one of my favorite stories to share ,no screens necessary just their ears and their imaginations. Maybe your child can remember the story of Pier Gynt who was chased by the witch and her evil trolls and tell you all about it.
Pumpkins , ghosts, and spiders oh my!
Rhythm that is explored via speaking and movement is one that is truly learned. The preschool and kindergarten kids played with the rhythms to the words pumpkins, jack-o-lantern, ghosts and spiders. Some times they created patterns to move to , sometimes they played the pattern on the drum and sometimes they turned into a jack-o-lantern!
Grade one and two explored the concepts of repeated rhythmic beats and patterns to accompany a poem called Black and Gold which was set to a melody. Grade one continued to work on steady beat accompanying on the metallophones and xylophones while grade two practiced playing a rhythmic pattern with the song. Both classes had experienced how a song or poem can change if instruments are played, (which included a very popular and large gong) to certain words to enhance the over all musical experience. The students helped decide other musical ideas as a class, such as how should it end and how loud should the accompaniment be. The instrument families were further explored and added to the melody with an old Kentucky folk song called Skin and Bones . Many un-pitched percussion instruments were introduced and explored with this song, as well as some acting!
The idea of learning through play is at the heart of the Orff process and how I aspire to teach.Through all this play your wonderful children are : singing as a group, moving to the steady beat and rhythmic patterns, starting to associate words with rhythms, beginning to identify rhythm symbols, identifying instrument families, taking first steps in orchestration, developing instrument playing skills, all the while working cooperatively. I have begun a word music wall of what we are learning ,it will be so great to see how it grows!