Teaching Notes, 20160608

A business trip eliminated my originally scheduled 6/1 class, and so today happened to be the final class for the year.  As such, I tried to make it a fantastic review of nearly everything that we did, with not too much new material.  It was sort of like the very first class where I switched quickly from song to song, except this time I was arguably switching even faster since the material was somewhat familiar.  Also, though, since this was the last class, I wanted to end the year with a story.

1. Intro: Choo'n Gum.  While I never really made this a focused song, the kids were indeed able to learn this during the course of the year, and knew how to respond.
2. Rhythms: I wrote out four vertical lines representing four beats, and I had the kids clap it.  I then introduced the rest, and a pair of eighth notes, and we proceeded to try out different rhythms made of a combination of quarter, eighths and rests.  Next, I added a second measure (I never covered "measure" - it was just another 4 beats to the class), and we then tried clapping patterns that were twice as long.   I then wrote out patterns representing different songs, and I asked students to first clap them and guess what songs they were; we tried Bee Bee Bumble Bee,  Oats Peas Beans, Bow Wow Wow, 2-4-6-8, Hey Betty Martin.  Each time a song was revealed, we sang it.
3. I Can Sing A Rainbow.  This was all review, particularly around the ASL of colors.  I didn't want to spend a huge amount of time here, so we ended up going through the song pretty quickly.
4. Jenny Jenkins.  Since I had the students already singing about colors, I switched over to singing this song one more time, and while the students still understandably struggled with the chorus, the still had a good time with it.  We covered 6 different colors before moving on.
5. Story Time: Abiyoyo.  As in past years, I have used a Bill Harley-esque version of this story, and the children always have a fun time with it.
6. The World Is Big and the World Is Small.  With the last few moments I had with the class, I wanted to cover this song one more time, since it's a simple song and hopefully one that the students can remember easily.
7. Exit: Goodbye My Friends.  The students walked back to their desks, singing this for the final time.

It is always bittersweet for me to finish a year.  The students however, never seem to be weighed down on it being the last day, and it's rather refreshing to see the students go back to their normal routine, even if I won't be their music teacher any longer.  With that however, I do complete my sixth year at the school, and every so often, some of the older kids still remember that I taught them, and on the rare occasion, they'll let me know what song they remembered from that year.  That's a wonderful feeling that I will always cherish.

Teaching Notes, 20160525

Are you looking for 5/18?  Well, that turned out to be the dress rehearsal for the spring sing - for kinders as well as grades 1-4, which I and my fellow other kindergarten teacher led.  We ended up splitting the upper grades during the spring sing, which worked out fantastically, even though each upper class only sang one song apiece.

And so, today was the first class after the Spring Sing - and since the kids spent many weeks prior preparing for the Spring Sing, I decided to keep today's class simple, and mostly outside

1. Intro: Down By The Bay.  Yep, I decided to use this once again as a starter.  Kids still love the song, and it was quick way to warm the class up.
2. Sasha (inside).  Today was going to be the day when I tried to get the whole class to dance to Sasha.  To prepare them, though, I had them try the partner sequence, but without a partner - that included the claps, as well as the "spin" - for which I just had the students turn in place.  We did this pattern a few times, and then it was time to go outside (to "Paw Paw Patch").
3. Sasha (outside).  After the whole class was outside, I had the students practice the partner sequence without a pattern again, and they seemed to have a reasonable sense of the pattern.  Next, I had the students pair up and try the partner.  I always stress the important of thanking your partner.  Finally - I had nearly forgotten to introduce the song title, and so I took a minute or two to talk about "Sasha" and how it could apply to everyone.
   The dance went quite well - the kids took one or two iterations to get a feel for the pattern, but then they were able to follow it effectively.  It definitely became chaotic near the end of the song when it speeds up considerably, but that was ok.
4. Boanopstekker.  We had a few more minutes outside, so we ran through this dance one more time.

Believe it or not, that was pretty much the entire lesson.  Sasha practiced both inside and outside consumed a huge amount of time.  However, I would certainly think it was worth it, as the kids were really enjoying the pair dancing aspect of the activity.

I may not have the opportunity to do more dancing later, so I'm glad I was able to cover this.

Teaching Notes, 20160511

Although we could have done more dancing, I decided to keep the kids inside this time so that they didn't get too tired of dancing.  I also wanted to try yet another new introductory song while again reviewing at least one song for the spring sing.

1. Intro: Down By The Bay.  I first sang through this one time (using a random one liner), and then I had the students echo the song in parts.  A few students knew the song already, and it didn't take long to get the whole class comfortable with the song.  (It's not too complicated!)  We went through the song about six times before moving on
2. Right Hand Boogie.  Mostly review, but we went from the right hand to the left hand, followed by both hands, followed by the right leg boogie.  The MFM demo reel featured also the "belly boogie", but I didn't try that.
3. Body Solfege review.  I had the students quickly review the scale, both up and down, so that we could then do....
4. Little Tommy Tinker.  I sang this while doing the body solfege.  However, few students made the connection about the solfege notes and this particular song, even with the body solfege, and so I walked them through the song sung with solfege instead of the regular words (while still employing the body movements).  I did also make it a point to note that most songs that they knew ended in "Do" - I don't think that concept stuck very well.
5. Milky Way.  This was all review, and it seems like the students didn't have a lot of comfort with the last few stanzas of the song, so I doubled the last three lines just to give them a little more practice.
6. Jenny Jenkins.  I didn't have a lot of time left, so I simply took my ukulele out, and we sang Jenny Jenkins featuring various students' names.  The kids required one or two iterations to remind them of how the song, particularly the foldy-roldy part, went.
7. Exit: Goodbye My Friends.  As usual, the students went back to their seats while singing.

This was arguably a pretty simple lesson plan, one that I fully admit took very little time to put together.  I had actually prepared Sasha (the dance), as well as Old King Glory, but there really wasn't a whole lot of time.  Next week's class is going to be shortened, and dedicated to having all of the kinders rehearse their two spring sing songs.

Teaching Notes, 20160504

The spring sing looms near, but today was a perfect day to go outside - it was overcast, but not raining (yet).  Going outside always seems to shorten the lesson a bit with the walk outside (and back in), but the benefit of the extra space is worth it.

1. Intro: Teaching Peace.  This time I really did want to have the students learn the song, as most of the student body knows the song from the weekly assemblies from past years.  The students are getting the chorus down pretty well, but they do need help with the verse.  I only went through this once since I found myself strangely unable to hit the higher notes.  Bummer!
2. First Tulip.  This is a pretty easy song, and I used it now because we were well into spring, and it made a nice segue into...
3. Body Solfege.  I reviewed the scale, and then had the students sing/motion the last line of First Tulip, which was basically the lower five notes of the scale.  I then had them echo me in various combinations, such as sol-mi, etc.
4. Paw Paw Patch.  I was able to teach the tune (it's pretty darn simple!) quickly, and during the second iteration of the second line ("let's go find her..."), I then led the students outside, where I had previously set up two lines of cones.  After some obligatory playing with cones, I then had the students line up, each set to the inside of the cone lines - this makes for two very close lines of students; the next time I must remember to keep the lines further apart.
   Today, I was fortunate to have a parent helper, who I assigned as the leader of one of the lines - that really made it easy to explain what each line was doing.  While Paw Paw typically has a single leader crossing over, I decided to have the helper run the second line, and simply have the second line mirror the first during the second stanza.  During the banana peel, this became very easy with a parent helper.  Yay!  I did feel like the students really had fun with this, even though we only did it three times - two one direction and one the other; during each time, we reset the leaders so that we had the lines in the same order each time.
5. Tony Chestnut.  This was an obligatory practice for the spring sing.  The students are slowly getting the 2nd half of the song, and we did that part twice.
6. Bonanopstekker.  Since we were outside, and I had the speaker set up, I wanted to have the kids dancing to some recording.  I covered this one back in the fall, and while I know I rushed the review, some students still remembered what was going on.
7. Back Inside.  I returned the students while singing Paw Paw Patch, and then released the students back to their seats.

Indeed, each dance takes a lot of time, but I feel that the students are generally doing a much better job following during activities that take a long time.

Teaching Notes, 20160427

It was actually a cold, cloudy day, so I decided to keep the students inside.  Here's what happened!

1. Intro: Teaching Peace.  Knowing that few students knew this the first time, I spent time having the students echo each line of the chorus.  We did this twice, but since it was supposed to be a warmup song, I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it.
2. Body Solfege.  I deliberately wanted the students to practice this, and so we started with the first three notes, followed by myself randomly choosing one of the three.  I continued to expand this to include the first five notes, and then the whole scale.  I pointed out that the "scale" starts and ends with "Do" (although I don't think I used the term "scale").  I then tried to have them practice signing and singing Sol-Mi.  Few students recognized "Bee Bee Bumblebee" when I sang the solfege version, but eventually I got them to do Bee Bee while doing the body solfege.
3. Right Hand Boogie.  This was simply pure fun.  We tried the "other" hand boogie, followed by the right leg boogie.
4. Milky Way.  Time to review, and finally complete the song, which I hadn't done yet.  I did include "my house" and "that's me" into the song, which kept the last two (and new) lines fresh.  I think the students really know the chorus of the song like the back of their hand.
5. Popcorn Tree: I told the students that even though it was cold, trees were blooming.  I didn't expect the students to really learn the song after I sang it through for them, but I did tell them to listen and try to count the number of times "pop" showed up in the song (either as a solitary word or part of "popcorn").  The students were a little all over the map after the first singing, and I tried to help them with hand signs every time I said "pop" in any form.  It took three times through the song before a majority of children converged on the right answer (7).
6. Pony Macaroni.  The kids wanted to revisit one of the past dances, and so while I was connecting the iPod, I taught the students this song, having them simply gallop around in a circle until I said "stop" - it was more an exercise to have the students try to listen to commands, and it was a nice way to continue to have the kids do something new until the iPod was ready.
7. Seven Jumps.  The class really wanted to do this, and so I went ahead and let them try.  Now, this time we were inside, and it turns out that the students routinely tried to creep into the middle every time, which made the "dance" very crowded and cluttered.  After the dance was over, I chatted briefly with the students about how the dance went very differently compared to the previous attempts.  Although the kids had fun, I'll have to try a different dance next time.
8. Exit: Goodbye My Friends.  The children returned to their seats as we sang.

I didn't actually get around to using instruments again, and I know that the students are overdue.  With the dances that they seem to be consistently interested in, and with the concentration of time on the spring sing songs, I realize I may not have a lot of time for the instruments for a while.   I hope to be able to sneak them in however before May ends.

Teaching Notes, 20160420

Today was a beautiful day - blue skies, perhaps a little on the warm side - perfect for going outside and doing a dance.  I also wanted to cover at least one old favorite with the kids as well as review at least one of the songs for the Spring Sing.

1. Intro: Teaching Peace.  I started singing this song with my ukulele, expecting the kids to follow along.  However, few did, and I was told by the teacher that this song was no longer featured as a Wednesday assembly song.  And so, I then had the students echo the chorus with me, line by line.  They did that, but I didn't try to sing without echoing this time around.  This was meant to be an intro; I'll try to teach them formally later.
2. Bow Wow Wow: I first taught the kids what amounted to a chant with the kids inside, and unpaired.  We practiced this a few times, and with that, I decided to take the kids outside while singing "My Bonnie".
3. Bow Wow Wow (outside): With the students in a large circle, I had them practice once, and then I demonstrated with one student what the dance/chant looked like with a partner.  I quickly then paired up the students, and then had them try it out.  Arguably, I didn't spend a lot of time, and I realized that with the children spaced out widely, explanations would have been more challenging than I had liked.  Instead, I wanted the students to try it, and they did the first time, with mixed results.  I quickly re-paired the students, tried it again, and it was a lot more effective, with most of the students understanding - and more importantly, the students were helping each other with the dance.  We then did the activity three more times until I asked them if they remembered where in the circle they started.
4. Seven Jumps.  I had the students, already in a circle, point to the right, and we decided to step to the right for 8 steps (with counting).  We also practiced the three claps and turnaround (twice).  I then turned on the music, and we were off.  The students remembered this dance from several weeks ago, and they loved it just the same.  I thought that being outside was going to be problematic when they kneeled on the floor, but the students were fine.
5. The Longer The Faster.  I had been playing the music through a bluetooth speaker connected wirelessly to my iPod, and with the iPod in hand, I decided to do The Longer The Faster on the fly.  I discovered that with the circle so large, it was actually very challenging for the students to make it to the other side of the circle in 8 counts, especially during the latter stages of the song.  Many students near the end had to take 16 counts in order to find someone on the circle. When we were done, we went back into the classroom to "It's a Very Good Day"
6. Tony Chestnut.  This was review, but I did the middle of the song twice since that was the least familiar part of the song.  The students are slowly getting it, but they still need more repetitions.
7. Jenny Jenkins.  This was one of the songs from last year's Spring Sing, and it's always a fun one to sing.  I used my same story of a kid who didn't know what to wear, and I easily introduced the song to them.  I used two colors (white and blue, which happens to be the school uniform) as examples, and then I had the students pretend they were the kid - I had the students respond with "no I won't wear..."  I then picked out two colors - red, green, and two students who happened to have a little bit of those colors in their clothing.  We then sang as if they were the kids, using their names, which they seemed to enjoy.
8. Exit: Goodbye My Friends.  The students returned to their seats.

I didn't practice The Milky Way this time, and so I'll want to do that for the next class.  It has also been a while since I had instruments in the class, so I'll have to reintroduce them.

Teaching Notes, 20160413

We're back from spring break, and the children seemed very excited to resume music again.  I was thrilled that students were also asking for activities that we covered several weeks ago (such as the Seven Jumps dance).  Alas, I did want to spend a lot of time on the two songs for the Spring Sing, and that consumed a lot of my time.

1. Intro: Choo'in Gum.  With the students mostly seated, I just decided to break into this song, and the students followed quite well with the response (chorus).  I didn't sing the bridge, and got through only two verses before moving on.
2. Tony Chestnut.  This is one of the two songs for the Spring Sing, and while students knew the first half, I had only covered the second half once in the past.  And so, I spent a decent amount of time doing the second half, and having the students understand each motion.  I personally am not the biggest fan of the second half of the song (and it feels like it slows down compared to the first half), but the students seemed to have a a good time with it.  We covered the second half twice, before finishing with the first half.
3. 2-4-6-8 Meet Me At The Garden Gate.  Before teaching the chant, I had the students practice a simple beat pattern: tap on the ground, tap on knees, clap, and waving hands in the air.  I then quickly taught the chant, and talked about any interesting commonality between the numbers.  We chanted while doing the beat pattern one more time.  Then, I took a egg toy from the classroom (I had forgotten to bring something that would be less distracting!), and I tried to have the students pass the object but only on beat #1 (the tap on the ground).  Students didn't really do this consistently, but at least we were, for the most part, able to get the object passed at some point in each measure.  After having the object go around the room (and strangely end up back with me), I then asked the class to guess where the object would land if we passed while chanting once through the poem.  Most students guessed right, and we did 2 more iterations of this before it was clear I had to move on due to the chatter in the room.
4. Milky Way.  This is the other song for the Spring Sing.  I had observed one of the other kinder classes singing this song, and I wanted to make sure my signs were consistent with the other group.  I did a very quick review of the first few signs, and then I just started singing and signing to the song.  This turns out to be quite a long song, but again the students were getting the hang of it.
5. Head, Shoulders, Baby: I simply started signing this, seeing if the kids would follow.  I then just sang away with the motions, and the kids started to giggle as they mimicked me.  After singing and moving together once, I then asked the students to guess what I was doing - I changed the motions to one where I was picking an apple.  The students failed to guess correctly, but we then sang it anyway.  I changed the motion one more time, but as of this writing I couldn't forget what the new motion was; I do remember that the kids were able to guess that one.
6. Close: Make New Friends.

For the previous quarters, I noticed that I focused on roughly one consistent intro song - and this time I'm going to try vary it a little more, considering that I have only ~10 classes left!

It's clear that the students, for whatever reason, seem a wee bit more mature now than before the break.  Kids at this age do change very quickly, and so perhaps by being a bit older they don't have as many attention challenges as I had earlier in the year.