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.
No comments:
Post a Comment