Teaching Notes, 20110126

Because my classes had field trips last week, I had no class; there were two weeks since the last class. During that time, I managed to acquire a roughly 3'x4' laminated map that I attached to a magnetic portable whiteboard in the back of the room. Over the course of the year I want to populate the map with stickers noting where each song or activity came from, or refererred to (like Austrian Yodeler, which clearly isn't a song from Austria).

We Shall Not Be Moved (Sweet Honey in the Rock)	Lead class with the song in the background
Before we entered the class, I told the students that if they recognized the words or song, they could sing along. They also could clap along, but they shouldn't be jumping or running around to the music. I then started the music and we walked in. A few students were certainly moving to the music, even after I lined them up on the two lines on the floor, but no one seemed to recognize it. I then asked the students to listen to the words carefully, and I replayed the song from the start. This time, the students realized it was We Shall Not Be Moved, but different. (One student thought it sounded like "Oprah" music, and I gave a 20 second blurb about gospel.)
Seasons (winter version)	Teach California version, alter lyrics and sing in parts
Before we dove into the song, I asked the students if they remembered what I promised would happen between the previous class and today's class. It took a while in either class before someone blurted out "Rain!" Indeed, I had promised that it would rain sometime during the past 14 days, and it did. (Yay for 10-day forecasts.) And so, we dove into the Seasons song. I had the original lyrics written on the board, which referenced snow, but of course, we lived in the Bay Area where snow gives way to rain. And so, after pointing this little meteorological fact, I replaced "snow" on the board with "rain". We then walked through the song, and then I pointed out that the 3rd line felt like it had too much going on. Here, I had the word "blustery", which provided an extra syllable and an awkward rhythm. I then deleted the 'e', leaving "blust'ry", which also consequently deleted a syllable, thus helping the rhythm. I spoke for a bit about the artistic license that some songwriters take to the English language, all in the name of good meter and rhymes. (I also tested the students if they knew what an apostrophe typically meant in a generic English word.) With the lyrics now altered appropriately, we sang through the song once. I then split the song into separate parts: first line, first half of second line, second half of second line, third line, and fourth line. Similar to past exercises, both first and last lines were sung by all, and then I had the middle parts sung by half the back line, the other half of the back line, and the whole front line, respectively. At first, it was difficult to get the students to come in with their lines in a way that preserved the beat. Without trying to hammer the beat into them (I can easily do that another day), I encouraged groups of students to come in right away after hearing the part before them end. That seemed to work, even if a student or two came in excitedly early.
Austrian Yodeler	Teach song/activity
Before I got into the Austrian Yodeler, I introduced the students to the map I had hanging near the back of the room. I talked a bit about how music comes from all over the world, including some songs that we had sung over the year already (How Do You Dootee, Sarasponda, We Shall Not Be Moved, etc.) I then put pointers to songs that we had covered and stuck them on the map. Over the course of the year, we'd continue to fill out the map with more and more songs. I then segued into the next song by asking them where students thought it was snowing now, and then pointed out that a tiny country named Austria ("not Australia") had a lot of mountains and snow. Still, before talking about a potential song, I talked about how people in Austria might yodel to the mountains, and so I had the students yodel with me via echo. I then asked the students that, if they were around mountains covered with snow, and someone yodeled really loudly, what would happen. The answer was provided quickly: an avalanche! I asked the students what it sounded like, and so we practiced the swooshing sound of an avalanche, complete with a full body swooshing while seated. I then proceeded to sing the song. When I got to the chorus, I had the students echo my yodel twice and then I had them do the avalanche sound/motion. I discovered in both classes that it was better to have the students echo the yodeling throughout the song, even as I added to the chorus after each iteration; that way, the students could focus more on getting the chorus sequence correct. The song worked well, and we had time to incorporate ideas from the students into the chorus (skier, snake, snowmobile, etc.).
Union Team (Ella Jenkins)	Teach chant, add room number
Because the 2nd class was late to the room today, I only did this with the first class, and it was a real hit. I knew that the students had moved classrooms due to construction, so I simply asked what their new room number was, and I proposed that the class have their own cheer. This particular cheer is super easy, and I intend on using it as a quick refocusing tool. During the 3rd line ("Well, who's everybody?"), I had the students respond with their room number (e.g. "Room 34!") which is unapologetically panderingly successful at getting the whole class to respond. I realize later that this is also a great exercise to introduce staccato and legato responses, as the students responses seem to alternate styles. I'll point this out the next time I try the chant.
The World is Big/The World Is Small(Ella Jenkins)	Teach song via echo
With the map still sort of fresh in the children's minds, I decided it would be appropriate to have the students sing about the world. This was a nice, calm way to end the day and while doing so, I actually pulled out my mandolin to play. I made a bit of a mistake not leaving time to talk about the mandolin, but I did point out that it was sort of a guitar, but with 4 pairs of strings, making a bit of a sharp, twangy sound. I also didn't write out the lyrics, and it was quite obvious that I had to read off of a sheet of paper, but that didn't seem to distract the students much fortunately. I felt that the students seemed to enjoy a quiet end to the day, even if it meant more listening (to me) instead of singing emphatically.

Overall, I'd say this was one of the more successful days where both classes did very well participating and keeping in control. I don't know whether or not the fact that we had two weeks between lessons had anything to do with it, but the next time I see them, it'll be again another two week gap, since I'm out of town during the next regular class day.