Teaching Notes, K, 20150204

I was determined to recapture the first class, as last week was overly chaotic. I also want to start getting the students used to a formula for making a circle, and so I tried to keep the kids all in a circle for the entire time. I’ve found that if I sit in on the outside with the students, some students see me really well, while some do not, and so during the class I found myself moving into the middle of the circle just for visibility. It also meant that I was spinning around a lot so that I could see everyone (and everyone could see me), and I was also on my knees. I guess I’ll have to buy another pair of jeans if I keep this up, all in the name of music.

Hello World	Formally teach-echo chorus, immerse stanza
I immediately asked the students to be my echo, and I started singing the song. For the first class, I sang it in the same key as Red Grammer, but the class was trying to match pitch instead of going an octave higher. As such, I moved up my voice an octave, discovered that I wasn’t well warmed up, and the class noticed a bit. For the second class, I sang in the key of A (G probably would have worked too), with myself higher but not too high so that the kids could follow. I went through the song only once through - echo chorus, solo stanza, echo chorus. A few students said they liked the song, and so I guess we’ll have to do it again next week. :)
Keep The Kettle Boiling	Teach and Play the Game
I actually tried this song for a very short amount of time with one of the classes, and one of the students in the first class had been asking for this, so I figured it was time to cover this properly. I talked about how it was cold outside, and when it was cold, it was a great time to have soup. I asked the students about what they'd put in the soup, and we talked about the various ingredients (including chocolate!) that they would add. I then asked them how soup was prepared, and eventually we converged on the fact that one needed a pot, there needed to be water, and there needed to be a heat source. With that, I had the students pretend to turn up the heat under the pot full of water and vegetables, and I instructed the students to stir the pot. This made for a very easy segue into saying the chant, and I had the students echo me. I then told the students that their pot was a very special pot - it could hold only one person inside, and so that I could jump in, I had the students chant "in jumps Mr. Chen!". (It was also a great time to re-ask the students what my name was, as many didn't remember what my name was, even in February.) I asked the students what had to happen in order to put someone else in the pot, and they responded correctly that I had to get out. That allowed me to teach the remainder of the chant, and I had the students beckon a student to jump into the pot. This worked really well - the students echoed every step of the way for another two students' worth of chanting, and then I had the students chant with me instead of echoing. There were about 25 students per class, and so I had plenty of opportunity to change things - I had the students pretend the pot was really big (e.g. low sounds) or really small (high sounds). I then had the students pretend the boiling was really fast (staccato) or really slow (legato). Finally, when we had about 4 students left, I had the students chant faster and faster until we finished back to me. This worked out really well; the students had a good time, and they learned the activity well enough to repeat it without me.
If You've Got One (Justin Roberts)	Teach movements
I use this every year at some point, and this seemed like a good time to use it. As in past years, I took the time to teach 1-2-3-4-5 in ASL, and with that, I simply walked the students through the movements of the song. After going through the song one time, I sang the song and gave the students enough time to do each movement. There is a recording that goes with this, and my intention is to use that recording for next week.
I Am A Pizza	Teach by echo
This song is typically one that many students already knew coming in, and indeed, many did once I started singing. Once I acknowledged the handful who recognized the song, I had the students echo. We completed the first stanza, and then I asked the students to try to repeat the last line ("I am a pizza ready to go") together, which is how the recording works. We then repeated the first stanza similar to the recording - echoing all except that last line. Knowing that I didn't have a lot of time, I simply moved onto the rest of the song. for the last line, I did pause and prompt the students with what they should sing; many did not catch on, but that was ok for me. We eventually finished the song, and at the end, some students in the second class, to my surprise, gave me a round of applause.
Hey Betty Martin	Teach song
I only had time to do this with the first class - with the students already in the circle, I started singing the song. When it came to "tip toe tip toe", I started tiptoeing around the circle, which the students followed. When it came to the second half of the song, I had the students follow me, swinging away - we were still echoing - and when it was time to say goodbye, I simply turned around. We did the two halves of the song one more time until we ran out of time. Clearly, I intend on using Hey Betty Martin next week, as I think it would be a great dance for Valentine's Day. The first class students seemed to have fun with the little bit of the song, which bodes well.

Next week is indeed Valentine's Day, and I already have a few activities that should be fun. If it is a dry day, I may try to take them outside, since it is helpful to have the extra room.