Teaching Notes, 20090130

I wanted to introduce some Valentine-appropriate songs for this session, and from a musical objective, well, I didn't really have much, other than to continue to emphasize the difference between beat and rhythm.

The lesson plan had an interesting twist - the first class' teacher forgot about music class. (I ended up emailing the teacher in the middle of what would have been the class, and she later sent two students to tell me that she just plain forgot.) There was an assembly during the in-between time of the two classes, and in the assembly were both of my class' students. I had the first class' teacher check in with the other teacher to see if the latter would be amenable to a combined music class. With 5 minutes to go, I was told that they would be up for trying it out, sending me into a scramble to line up 19 stools in the back of the room, followed by two rows of about 21 mats. I was hoping that one whole class would fit on the row of stools (and I was banking on some absences), and they *just* fit.

Everybody Oughta Know	Opener - substitute with "what music is" and "what a valentine is"
I debated back and forth whether to use this as an opener or instead using "Down By the Sea" by Red Grammer and having the students walk in while listening to the song. However, with 40 children, there were enough logistical challenges just to get everyone in the same room, so "Everybody Oughta Know" worked just fine. I did end with "what a valentine is" and asked them what they knew about Valentine's Day. What a cheap transition.
L-O-V-E (Nat King Cole)	Sing the 1st half of the song. Sign L-O-V-E to each line, then teach via rote, line by line. Then, add the 2nd half of the song. Then, have them shape their body into L-O-V-E and sign again.
I started out saying that "if you sing this to your parents, they'll love it." I have to occasionally remind myself that why a certain song is neat isn't all that important - they'll pretty much follow anything that I do and sing whatever I sing. Having them sing and sign L-O-V-E was pretty easy, and then it left me with the realization that I had nothing for them to do when singing the 2nd half of the song. Oops! I did start doing simple signs ("two", "for you", shaking when singing "please don't break it"), but the signs weren't as quickly picked up by the class as L-O-V-E were. Having them stand up was also a bit of a breath of fresh air, since they were sitting for a while. I did remind them to not bump each other; I said "try not to bump", and a teacher quickly emphasized "you *will not* bump".
Echo Clapping/Percussion	Have students follow me doing various tapping, hand/arm movements, clapping, etc., all to a beat. Later, introduce tap/clapping in 3.
I wanted to spend more time keeping everyone on the same beat (and also see if I could retain their focus), so I started out with a basic thigh tap-clap (a bit harder to do when you're standing), followed by other patterns like tap-tap-clap-clap, tap-clap-clap-clap, etc. I tried to keep the beat as simple as possible. Next, I practiced with them the 5-tap clap from "2 Hands 4 Hands", as I was going to end the day with the song; during this time, I had them also only clap while I did the 5-tap so that they could at least see where the clap fit in (rather than hear a messy roll then a clap). I also hoped that it would help them find their way in case they were lost doing the 5-tap. Then, I went into 3 (tap-clap-clap), and asked if the students noticed anything different; they did, but few could express what it meant to have a beat of 3. I had them do 3-beat measures for a while; then I had them just do the two claps (eliminating the downbeat), which they got the hang of eventually. Going back to a tap-clap-clap, I then started to sing...
My Bonnie	Sing the song as students clapped in 3. Have students then learn the song by rote, and then sing altogether.
This went pretty well; a few students knew the song, and started to sing along. I pointed out how this song was "in 3", and that didn't quite click in with everyone. I did then try an experiment with half of the students clapping to the beat while others swayed during the song; I wanted to illustrate how songs in 3 often leads to more body swaying. I also mentioned what My Bonnie was all about. That went right over the heads of everyone.
The Longer The Faster	Have the students line up, one line on one side (by the stools) and another line on the other side of the room. Have them do the game that goes along with the song, with one student crossing the room every 8 beats.
I wasn't planning on doing this at all, but as I was thinking about ideas that would work with a group of 40 children, I thought that this would be worthwhile pulling out again. I couldn't risk trying to run this as a circle - hence the 2 lines, and it worked out quite nicely, with the students on the mats forming the far line, and the students on stools on the other. This was quite fun. I reviewed with them again the rules of the game, reminding students to tap lightly on a shoulder and only on 8. (Note: the Shenanigans CD sleeve actually recommends the student to go behind the next student rather than tapping them on the shoulder. To each his own.) The students were pretty good about keeping to 8, until the song got faster (by the time the triangle showed up again in the song. I did notice that students tended to select their friends, and there was a greater than even chance that boys tapped boys and girls tapped girls, and so in the middle of the song, I and the 2 teachers started encouraging students to select someone who hadn't gone yet. It worked mildly; in the future, I'll probably make that a criteria; otherwise, you go into the middle (cookie jar?) or something. After the song had ended, the classes were no longer separated (stool/mat), but the students and teachers didn't seem to mind.
Mail Myself To You (Woody Guthrie)	While seated, immerse them right into the song. Add hand/arm motions right after the first iteration. Get them singing the first verse before moving onto the second verse, and when they're comfortable, go back to the first verse.
A few students I think knew this, but this is overall a very easy song to teach them, especially with the hand/arm motions. It's a ton of fun, too, and when all 40 were singing, it makes for a wonderful scene. This, as you can imagine, was a setup for an extension next week, as there are 4 verses in all.
2 Hands 4 Hands	Review the song quickly, and have the class follow along to the song standing in place. Try to keep the beat when not singing (thigh tap-clap).
I couldn't line up 40 students by the door, so they had to stay where they were seated for this one. This second iteration of the song worked a little better than last week, but while students weren't singing, I still felt they were not getting a whole lot. The song does energize them though, just in time for lunch.

Teaching 40 children at the same time was quite a blast. Originally I was going to try teaching My Bonnie while having students pass a toy boat on the start of each measure, but since we weren't in a circle, that idea went quickly out the window.

Backpocket items again included Sarasponda (as usual), and Tuwe Tuwe.

Teaching Notes, 20090123

This was supposed to be the Chinese New Year lesson, but as I'm chronically the last-minute planner, I didn't really have much in terms of useable Chinese New Year material. I discovered after the fact that the Montclaire school had a dragon head (albeit, one in disrepair), but it would have been a nice to incorporate that into the music. Anyhow, I ended up doing a lesson without any Chinese New Year materials.

I wanted to spend a little time focusing on rhythm (wow - I'm actually getting closer to a real lesson plan), particularly with finding the rhythm and distinguishing it from the beat. Reinforcing the ubiquity of the beat was also something I wanted to convey this day.

Everybody Oughta Know	Opener - substitute with "what music is" and "what rhythm is"
The children in both classes remembered the song from the previous class perfectly. They're still getting used to a part-echo, part-unison song (specifically the 3rd phrase), and so I find myself gesturing more dramatically when I want everyone to sing along. The children also remembered that the real song end with "what freedom is", and even though I sang "what rhythm is", they still sang "freedom".
Minute Waltz	Have children listen to the song, eyes closed, but encourage them to move to the music.
I wanted to see if children could see/feel the changes in tempo to the song, and I had to find a recording that had a signififcant change in the middle of the song; you'd be surprised at how difficult it was to find such a specimen online. I was cheap and didn't want to buy a version of the song, so I managed to find a streaming location: http://www.imeem.com/teoani/music/jqQbY7hJ/chopin_minute_waltz/. Of course, this meant that I had to connect to the internet via my usb modem - something that I would guess most docents don't have. In both classes, students clearly moved around faster during the beginning and ends when compared to the times when they listened to the middle of the song, although when asked, they couldn't really recall. A few students swayed during the middle. During the first class, there was also a lot of giggling during the faster parts of the song; I don't know if that was a side effect of not having enough groundrules or because they had a substitute teacher that day. Nonetheless, for the second class, I made it very clear that students had to stay on the mats and they weren't supposed to touch their neighbors, and they largely followed those guidelines.
Rhythm Sticks	Pass out sticks to "It's a Very Good Day". Have the keep a steady beat while watching/listening. Practice some different beats and rests, introduce writte Kodaly ("ta").
Again, I don't feel so comfortable when students are playing with rhythm sticks in a circle (they can't all see me well, and I certainly can't see everyone at the same time), so I had half of the class flip and form a second semicircle in front of the other remaining semicircle that was facing me. The pass-out song was ok ("jumping in the rain" finally worked, as it was wet outside for the first time in a long time), but it was too short, and I repeated myself several times. I have to also find a good technique for passing out the sticks; having the students pick out the sticks while I held the bucket was too slow; later, I ended up grabbing quickly two sticks and handed them to each student. The students are pretty good about keeping a beat with me tapping, but I wonder if they get too bored. I did have them stick out the rhythms to several known songs, starting with Tony Chestnut (all ta, until you encounter a rest!), and 1-2-tie-my-shoe. While I wrote out vertical bars for the 'ta's, I didn't actually use the word "ta" - instead, I wanted to just illustrate how one could draw out on-beat simple rhythm, particularly with the two songs. I did do the draw a "titi" for the eighth notes in 1-2-tie-my-shoe. Finally, I had the students try following me, and I eventually led them to tap a pattern similar to the fast 5-pat and clap in "2 Hands 4 Hands", which I was going to teach later. The students weren't given a lot of time to get comfortable with the pattern, but I hoped to give them a feel for it. In general, I thought the rhythm stick exercise was a little less organized than the first rhythm stick exercise last month, but I don't know if the students minded at all - they always seem eager to play any sort of instrument. I did have to take the sticks away from one student in each class for really not following, and they kind of just sulked for a while. Before the exercise was over, I did return the sticks to the student in each case - right before the 5-pat exercise.
Deep And Wide	Review the song again, and eliminate "Deep". Students are back in a circle, seated now.
The students really pick up songs from past classes very quickly. Deep And Wide only required a little review, as we removed "wide" and "river". Then, we tried removing "deep" (as the only removed word), and students had a good time with it, even if they didn't get it at the first time. We talked a little bit about why "deep" was harder than, say, "wide" to remove. Students of course wanted to throw out most of the words, but we didn't go down that path.
My Bonnie	Sing the song, have students learn it, and then in a circle, have the students pass a plastic boat on the beat
Well, there wasn't any time to do this. While I was prepping for this, I was still debating whether or not I'd jump into the circle to assist the boat passing on the beat, but I never got the chance to really do it.
2 Hands 4 Hands	Split group into 4, each assigned with an even number from 2 to 8. Get them used to raising hands on command, and then just immerse them into the song.
Throughout the day (after the entry song, before Deep and Wide), I would sing "say whooaaaaaaa" and the class(es) would repeat gladly. Consider it a way to prep the class for what would be a very very fast song for them to learn. Since the class time was almost over,I had the group line up starting by the front door as if they were leaving the class, which provided some wiggle room and an easy way to have everyone watch me. I went over what happens at 2,4,6, and 8 (mixing up the order just to see if they were watching), and then I simply played the song. During the song I was basically a cheerleader, walking up and down the line like William Wallace of Braveheart trying to rile up the masses. They didn't really echo "you gotta work" so well, but I think they knew that it was something that they should have echoed. After "2 hands 4 hands 6 hands 8", the following spoke portion of the song left the students little to do, so I had them follow me and do a pat-clap alternating pattern until the second "2 hands 4 hands 6 hands 8". Then came the fast 5-pat clap pattern. During the first class, I had failed to go over the pattern one more time while everyone was lined up, but in the second class, I did do a quick review - and that review helped immensely, as the first class sounded a bit like mud. Both classes required a little extra effort to get the students refocused during the 2nd and 3rd verses. All in all, I think the students had a good time, and it really got them energized, even though it was the end of class.

I think the class went ok, although it did feel a little more disjointed, even though I actually had beat/rhythm topics to cover. During a later class, I do intend on naming the kodaly markers for quarter and eighth notes.

Backpocket items included Sarasponda (as usual), and Tuwe Tuwe.