Teaching Notes, 20090410

One of the consistent pieces of feedback I received from both teachers was that the students could use some more movement. While I don't have quite enough material to keep them marching for the rest of the year (and how many circles do I want them to march through), I thought I'd try to do more rhythm exercises with hands.

Energy (Laurie Berkner)	Sing the first lines, and then start the song on the computer. Start marching in a circle during the 2nd iteration of the chorus.
Similar to the previous week, I said "good morning", and fortunately I got a sleepy response. When I sang the first lines without the music playing, I moved around a bit, which got the students a little excited. The students didn't sing along much, and I don't know if I'll use it again as another opener, but it did get the students moving. One student in the 2nd class had a birthday that day (he was wearing a crown), so I had the class sing happy birthday right before going into Energy.
Body Percussion/Criss Cross Applesauce	Have students follow my lead, then go into 4-beat patterns.
I first would clap or tap my knees to see if I could get the students' attention; the 2nd class didn't have much of a problem, but it took several hits to get the 1st class to focus on me entirely. I did try to wait longer than I normally did for a silent classroom this time around. When I got the students into a tapping motion, I did have to remind them periodically not to rush the beat. The patterns I used were T-T-C-C, T-T-C-H, T-C-C-H, T-CC-C-H, T-C-CC-H, X-X-CC-H, X-X-TT-B, where T=thigh, C=clap, H=head tap, X=half of a crisscross, B=body tap (around the collarbone). I tried to make sure that the majority of the class was following before moving onto the next pattern. After a few iterations of the last pattern, I then started chanting "Criss Cross Applesauce". When I did the chant, one student in the first class knew the usual version of the chant ("Spiders Crawling Up Your Back"), but I intended to do the Pepperoni Pizza version; Pepperoni Pizza involved pounding the ground for each syllable. Students were getting fatigued with all the hand/arm motion and started dropping out until Pepperoni Pizza. After enough Pizza, I then went into T-C-E-E (E=elbow), and then introduced the next activity...
Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar?	Review while continuing the beat. Have students choose each other in circle order.
The first few times, students really weren't keeping any sort of beat, so this time, I wanted to take something that the students really like to chant and force a beat onto the song. This was difficult to keep up; students lost interest in keeping the beat midway through the song, and I had to be very emphatic in my motions to maintain the beat. When students missed the beat, I'd try to recollect the students and restart the song with that person, which did help to get the students' attention a bit. I never repeated a student's attempt more than once. The first class actually by the last quarter of the circle got louder and louder, while the 2nd class started fading by the last quarter of the circle. After we finished, I admitted that I ate the cookie, but students again claimed that they had indeed stolen the cookie. I thanked them again for their honesty. Students' hands were pretty tired at this point, so I had them shake out their hands or blow air on their hands.
My Bonnie	Review song, then remove "Bonnie". Then play the 'b'-movement game with "Bonnie" silenced.
Students quickly reviewed the song, and then I asked them about the last time we removed words from the song. A few students remembered "Deep and Wide". When propositioned with removing "Bonnie", the students were extremely eager. However, it took a long long time for them to remember removing Bonnie during the 2nd half of the song, and even then we didn't get good removal coverage. That's when I decided to do the up/down game with My Bonnie, but instead of toggling crouching/standing on every b-word, I had the students toggle only when we'd normally sing "Bonnie". It seemed to help a little bit more, especially for the 2nd half of the song. Students asked if they could play the up/down game with B-words again, and I said we'd do that during another week.
Two Hands Make...	Have students mimic signs, then introduce the rhyme, then revisit the rhyme in beat.
This was pretty easy to do - I introduced each sign (rain - which they knew, umbrella, spider, mountain (not an ASL mountain), butterfly, sunshine (the big-O version), sailboat, and pillow). During the first iteration of the chant, I paused after each phrase so that students had a chance to do it. During the second iteration, I just went right on through.
If You've Got One	Repeat the same lesson that I did on January 16th
Students remembered this - I started with twiddling my thumb, and most caught on right there. The only deviation I did this time when compared to January 16th is that during "4", I indeed wiggled my knees and signed "more", rather than wiggle my whole body. I didn't exactly plan it that way - it just came out like that, but the students didn't seem to care. I quickly went into the recorded song, and some students did sing along, even though it's way lower than their voices really support, and neither class seems to want to sing an octave higher than the recording or how I sing. Originally I didn't think I'd have time for this, but I did just manage to squeeze it in.
Old King Glory On The Mountain	Review the song, and then teach the dance. Try to end the dance with the students lined up to leave.
This time, I had a little more time to keep the students in line, as rushing the song the last time may have led to more chaos. I deliberately explained every step of the dance before doing it, and I emphasized the importance of keeping the circle looking like a circle. During the first class, I forgot to put in something in the middle to symbolize the mountain, but for the second class, I did put in a stool. The dance went pretty well, and although there was some giggling, it wasn't disruptive, and students made a pretty concerted effort to reform the circle after each iteration. When we were two iterations before completion, stopped the singing and I introduced the very last line ("We all bow down to the mountain") so that they'd be prepared for it when it came. During the first class, there was one student left, who received all of the bowing and was dancing at the end with his hands clasped and his arms forming a mini-circle), and for the second class, the mountain was completely empty, which worked out well with the stool left there. I didn't quite get the students lined up by the door at the end, but it didn't matter much.

This was probably one of my most active classes, as I was trying to keep the class moving as quickly as possible, with little intro talk between activities. Looking back, it was 7 items, which was pretty cool in my book. Backpocket items included comparing bumblebee recordings (strings vs. Bobby McFerrin), Polly Wolly Doodle, Bushel and a Peck, Wake Up You Lazybones, and Pass The Shoe.

Teaching Notes, 20090403

This day, I thought I had a pretty good, full, loud lesson planned, but there was one curveball - the monthly meetings in the GLC were that day, and I knew that what we had planned would be too loud. So, I had to change things around, particularly for the first class, as the assemblies were completed midway through the second class.

Wake Up You Lazybones	A opener, immerse the students, and then have them follow me in the circle as I marched and stopped.
Students are always kind of quiet at the start of class, so I wanted to do an opener that addressed their sluggishness. Originally, I was going to play "Energy" by Laurie Berkner, and have them do what the song tells them while marching in a circle, but with the GLC assemblies going on, I felt it was better to do something sung. By habit for both classes, I actually tried to teach them the first half by rote first rather than immersing them. I also didn't march until starting the second time through the song. The students followed me pretty well, even though many didn't sing until maybe the 3rd or 4th time through. I think I did the song only 4 times I believe. One thing to note - the words of the song talk about hunting cattle and cows; later that night, I came to the conclusion that it would be more enjoyable to sing about feeding cows than hunting them, and the song still works.
My Bonnie	Review song, then do the b-movement game.
Students knew the song, but they didn't quite recall that we sang it in class. (Some noted that they knew it from preschool, or that they could play it on the piano.) The students however were able to sing the song easily in a quick review. Then, I had the students do the b-movement game (standing, toggle crouching and standing whenever a word starting with "b" was sung), which they did pretty well, especially the 2nd time through. While this had been in my backpocket for a while, this song was entirely planned; however, I intended originally to do it after the rhythm instruments, but I moved it earlier because of the assemblies.
Rhythm Instruments	Split students in groups of 4, and have them beat a certain # of times based on a part drawn on the board.
I completely scrapped this for the first class thanks to the assemblies, but by the time we got to this stage of the lesson, the assemblies had stopped for the 2nd class, so I took the opportunity to bring the second class up to date with the rhythm instrument lesson that I did for the first class back on March 13th. I split the class into groups of 4, sprinkled instruments around the room (djembe, tambourines, drums on a stick (I don't really know the name for them), and triangles/guiro/finger cymbals), and had them try to play something on their beat. I used the same measures that I used with the 1st class back on March 13th: 1-1-1-1, 1-2-1-1, 1-2-1-2, 1-2-3-2. Then, I tried to have the 4th group play for the entire beat by changing their value to a scribble on the board (1-2-3-S), and fortunately it's easy to play a continuous note with the triangles, guiros, and cymbals. The students were oohed and ahhed by the continuous sound. Originally I had planned on doing 4 beats on 4 beats rest (and then adding solos during the rest); I'll do that in a later lesson. As I was passing out the instruments, I sang "It's a Very Good Day", and I sang about the wind. I sort of fumbled the 2nd verse ("I can feel the wind rushing over me..."), but the students didn't care. When putting the drums away, I sang the same song, but talking about the sun.... I think.
Bate Bate Chocolate	Have students chant with alternating beats, and then alternating eighths.
Students seemed ok trying to tackle the alternating beats. Similar to before, the 2nd group (red for me) always chanted more tentatively than the first group; it's certainly easier to come in on the downbeat. They were amused when we tried to sing the alternating beats quickly. When presented the alternating eighths (I had it prewritten on a board underneath the original board), the students groaned a little bit. We tried it once through with each class, and both struggled, although the second class had a little more success. The one thing that was successful was that I was able to illustrate how the "uno, dos, tres" line didn't have notes on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th upbeats - I added green dots to illustrate the rest. In fact, this might have been the first time that I spoke more than anecdotally about rests. Anyhow, trying to alternating eighths was pretty ambitious, and I won't try that again with 1st graders.
Old King Glory On The Mountain	Teach song quickly by rote, but more or less immerse them if there isn't enough time. Have the students walk CCW while I walked CW on the outside. Pull people to the door by the end of the song.
I tried this with the first class, but the students got a little rowdy, which I thought was understandable (the shrinking circle was something completely new to them), but the teacher (mis?)interpreted the giggling as deliberate disruption, and she ended the class right there. That surprised me a little bit, but perhaps it was also a way to emphasize the importance of attention conveniently, since they were on the verge of being late to their assembly in the GLC anyway. I didn't really have time to go through the whole dance with the 2nd class, so I had them sing to the song while they picked up their mats and redeposited their mats into the mat cart.

The shutdown of the 1st class was still a bit bothersome, and the next class, I might send a signal to tell the teacher it's ok for that particular song. Backpocket items including comparing bumblebee recordings (strings vs. Bobby McFerrin), Polly Wolly Doodle, Bushel and a Peck, and by virtue of its replacement as an opener, "Energy" by Laurie Berkner.

Teaching Notes, 20090327

Today, I wanted to spend a little more time than usual on songs involving languages other than English.

Guten Morgen	Opener, first say the phrases, then sing, then move while singing.
This song is pretty easy to introduce so long as it's the first thing that you do. I first said "good morning" and then said good morning (or "good day") in the other languages. Children also offered other ways to say "good morning" in other languages. I then sang the various good mornings in sol-mi, similar to what Charlotte Diamond does. By this time, the students were echoing me consistently, and they continued to echo my pitch when I stated singing the Guten Morgen phrases in the pitch of the song. Adding the motions came naturally, although I had to keep reminding the children to stay on their feet. The one trick with Guten Morgen is that if you have the students echoing pitch, then you have to have the students adjust for the last phrase, which is not pitch-echoed - the students have to continue descending the pitch. That took a little while, and it was actually easier to simply repeat "Buon Giorno" with the higher pitch descent followed by the lower pitch descent, thus giving the song 5 phrases. As a warmup/opener, this was fine, and it provides something to work on later.
Sarasponda	Have students listen to the Sarasponda two-part recording from last week. (No singing.)
I had the students listen to their creation from last week. (Note: the iSight-recorded recordings came out much better than the iPod-recorded recordings, as the latter sounded muffled and overwhelmed by my voice.) The boondas were a little hard to hear when the Saraspondas came in, and so I reminded the students who crucial it was to make the beat (boondas) continuously heard.
Each of Us Is A Flower	Record the students sing in the usual A-B-A format, and then have them sing it in A-B-B while replaying the previously recorded A-B-A.
Students knew the song very well of course, and when I had them review the song, it went quickly. I took the time to also teach them the ASL sign for "flower", since having students sign "grow" for so many bars gets boring. (I also reminded them that the sign has fingers under your nose, not in it!) The students paid attention pretty well during the recording, and they understood (seemingly) well that the second recording would have them sing A-B-B; students followed me anyway, so it was up to me to make sure I was singing the right thing. I still found myself slipping up a few times, and in a recording, that pretty much messes up the rhythm. I realized later that it probably would have been best to be tapping the beat in the first recording with sticks or something high pitched, because it was pretty hard to listen to the recording and try to sing the 3rd section ("B"), especially when the first recording wasn't perfectly regular in beat. (I had to keep the first recording's playback reasonably soft so that the 2nd recording voices wouldn't get drowned out by the first recording's playback.) That said, the dual recordings were perfect for the first two thirds of the song, and for basically the first half of the latter third. By the last two lines of the song, you could tell there was a distinct separation between the two recordings. I did notice that by the end of the recording, the students were bored; I guess that's what happens when you sing it 3 times through (and the "Each of Us Is A Flower" line 12 times). It would take more deliberate advance planning in order to do the first recording and then do the second recording the next week, but perhaps that would keep things moving briskly.
Soy Una Pizza	Teach the first verse by rote. Explain the translations.
As I did with the first class a few weeks ago with "Je suis une pizza", I started with the first verse in English quickly, and then reminded students that you can sing in any language; music knows no language bounds. Similar to what has happened in the past, students wanted to sing "I Am A Pizza" in many different languages, and so it took a little bit to refocus them on Spanish. But, this wasn't too hard. "Ceballos y hongos" was probably the hardest line, and so I spent some extra time getting the students to say that line; during the full singing of the song, I would slow down at that line. After ending the first verse in Spanish, I finished the rest of the song in English, which was an easy sing, but students didn't seem that interested. I doubt I'll use this song again this year.
I Knew An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly	Sing/immerse them into the song.
I went right into this song after talking about things we shouldn't eat, always a fun topic. Many students knew the story, but not everyone knew the song. If I remembered to do so, I'd ask the students what was next, or questions like "what can catch a cat?" I did try to use some signs to keep the song moving, but I stopped at cat; dog isn't easy to do while seated, and goat is a two-part sign. I ended the song with horse, but it felt like the students were expecting more. Note - the melody that I use (particularly around the lines about the fly) are slightly different than what's in the MFM songbook; I figured it didn't matter.
Bate Bate Chocolate	Have students chant. Have students chant using alternating voices (high/low, soft/loud); then, split the class into two groups and have them answer each other.
Students had a lot of fun with this one. I had prewritten the chant on the board with two different colors; for the first half, "uno dos tres" was in black while the final word was in red, and for the latter half, beats 1 and 2 were in black while beats 3 and 4 were in red. The students really got into the loud/soft, oftentimes really belting it out when they were permitted to be loud. There appear to be many different variants of the song/chant. (One student noted that Dora the Explorer sang a version.) I used the MFM version, which has the "con arroz y con tomate" line - something that the first class teacher understood, sending her wondering who would eat chocolate with rice and tomatoes. I did notice that in the latter half of the chant, I always had to slow down, and the red words were always more softly-spoken than their black counterparts.
Old King Glory On The Mountain	Teach song quickly by rote, but more or less immerse them if there isn't enough time. Have the students walk CCW while I walked CW on the outside. Pull people to the door by the end of the song.
I never got to this for the first class, and for the second class, there wasn't enough time so I simply sang a song (I forget what I chose) while they picked up their mats.

There was a silent auction (not so silent during "Bate") going on in the GLC, so students entered and exited through the door leading to the playground, which made the decision to forget drop Old King Glory easier. Backpocket items included Polly Wolly Doodle, Bonnie (with "b" movement), Energy (Laurie Berkner), 4 Hugs A Day (Charlotte Diamond), and Bushel and a Peck.