Teaching Notes, 20160323

Today was the last class before a two week spring break, and since it was also the start of spring I decided to try a few songs relevant to spring.  The class also recently have done well with the dances, so I couldn't deny them another dance for today.

1. Intro: Everybody Oughta Know.  I debated about doing something else, but since I wasn't going to see the students for another three weeks, I used this yet again.  What worked really well, however, was that the students were slow to move from their desks to the carpet, so I used this as a rallying song, which worked well.  The students also responded pretty well in unison for the 3rd line, although I still gestured to them to sing together.
2. I'm A Tall Tall Tree.  Since it was spring, this was a great time to do this song, as it also allowed me to review the four seasons in order with the students.  We eventually did the song via echo for every line.  This took a little longer than I expected so I didn't try to do this song another time.  We'll come back to it after the break.
3. Razzama Tazzama.  This is always a big winner with the students, and this year was no exception.  However, I remembered from past years where students would really flop around on the ground on the "wally-woo-hoo", and so this time I kept the rhythm pattern through the entire chorus the first few times.  We made it through 5 different variations, and the kids were able to follow the pattern well after the 2nd time through.
4. Plant A Little Seed.  This was my chance to go back to springtime, and we spent a little time reviewing the song before jumping in, first by echo, and then all together.  I did include the cascade at the end, and one student noted quickly that it resembled the cascade from the Snowman song.
5. Seven Jumps (Shenanigans).  I first had the students start marching to the right (aka counter clockwise), which still isn't the easiest thing to do with kindergarteners, and when they could figure out which way to go and how to maintain a reasonable circle around the carpet, I then had them practice taking 8 steps, followed by the three-clap pattern (and twirl) that came at the end of each chorus.  I told the students that I'd at times walk into the middle, and they'd have to mimic me, but in place.  At first, the students didn't know what to make of the first "movement", but then as the song went on, they really seemed to have a lot of fun with the dance, and they were eager to see what was to come in the next iteration.
6. One Seed (Laurie Berkner).  This is an absolutely great song for spring for kinders, and since it was just the first time that they had sung (or heard) the song, I just taught them the chorus.  I told them that they'd get to sing that a few times in the song, and so I simply started the song and prompted them when it was time to sing the chorus.  The students did great here, and they didn't have to sing via echo (even though the original recording does that).  There were a few hand signs that I had the students do which may have helped.
7. Exit: Make New Friends.  The students sang it, but they simply went back to a circle on the carpet as the teacher wanted to continue class from there.

I had planned exactly these activities, and behold - I covered them all!  The dance always takes a little more time than the typical song, and so I only had really five items today, but it fit perfectly in the allotted time.  I also noticed that I had fewer distractions from the children this time (especially with One Seed), and it was great way to end the winter term.

Teaching Notes, 20160316

It was, for a brief few days, finally dry outside!  That meant of course I had to get the students outside.  I've been in fact meaning to have the kids try some line-oriented dancing, and with the previous class' success with dancing, I wanted to spend a good chunk of time trying out the dancing.

1. Intro: Everybody Oughta Know.  This time I motioned to have the students sing with me during the 3rd line - and it worked!
2. Plant A Little Seed.  I talked about how it was nearly springtime, and we then spent a few minutes (probably 1-2 too many) talking about gardens, and what it took to grow their favorite plants.  I walked the students through the motions of the song, and eventually, I had the students echo in song each line of the song while doing a small motion that fit with the line.  I did this twice through, although both times I didn't do the scale down at the end.  I'll do that next time.  :)
3. It's a Very Good Day.  I had the students stand and try marching in a circle, and we marched to this song.  I had them practice as if it was rainy, and that gave me one more iteration of the song.  I then had the students keep marching (back to the original line of the song), while breaking the line and having some of the students follow me.  I intended the student circle to unroll into a single file line, but that broke down pretty quickly.  And so, we went outside.
4. Syncopated Cyril (Shenanigans).  I had pre-positioned two rows of cones outside, and I had the students (who had followed me outside to "My Bonnie"), line up behind either row of cones.  The cone rows were meant to symbolize the edge of the sidewalks on either side of the street, and that helped keep the students to either side.  (It did not, however, prevent kids from nudging the cones closer to the opposite side of the street.)  I had the students first practice crossing the street (directly across - not diagonal!), and then I had the tops of each row travel down the middle of the street, with one student copying the other.
   I found that the students mostly didn't know how to do something that would grab a lot of attention when walking down the middle, and so I had to applaud dramatically when someone did try some sort of motion that was out of their comfort zone.  After one iteration with the recording, most of the students went down the middle, so I repeated the exercise, while prioritizing those students who didn't go down the middle to do so during the second iteration.  The students by the second attempt really started to understand the dance, even though they were slowly deforming the sidewalk cone lines, and sometimes cross the street without taking the shortest path.
5. Exit: Goodbye My Friends, Goodbye.  It was easier to have the students return back to their classroom with the simpler, well-known goodbye song.

Believe it or not, that was it!  The dance took upwards of 15 minutes, and maybe more, but the kids seemed like they really enjoyed the dance, and so I didn't feel bad eating up so much class time with that single dance.  I may try to do another outdoor exercise next week, as next week is the last week before Spring break.

Teaching Notes, 20160309

It was rainy again today, and so while I wanted to do more dancing and movement which I didn't quite get to do last week, I had to stay indoors.  This time, however, I did remember to bring my equipment, although I discovered later that I didn't need all of it.

1. Intro: Everybody Oughta Know.  This time, I started singing as the students were gathering on the carpet.  The students still don't know to sing in unison on the third line.  I helped them through the second incantation of the song, and moved on.
2. Simi Yadech.  I quickly arranged the students into a standing circle, and I reviewed some of the steps that we took the last time we did this dance.  However, instead of stepping into and out of the circle, I had the students shuffle to their right.  It's amusing to see the students on the far end of the circle try to mirror instead of shuffle in a circle, and I had to periodically remind them to go clockwise instead of mirroring me; I also made it a point to note that I was going around a corner when it happened.  Anyhow, this was a quick review, and we did the dance.  Halfway through the song, I broke away from the circle, and positioned myself inside the circle - that meant that when it was time to do the 2nd half of the dance sequence (stomp four times in place + tap/clap), I ended up high-fiving one of the students.  Some students noticed this, which was what I wanted to happen...
3. Simi Yadech II.  I had the students do an alternating "1" and "2" count-off, which for kinders is more difficult than I expected.  I then had the 1's move off the carpet while I had the 2's move to an edge square on the carpet.  The goal was to have the students paired up in partners with one inner "circle" and one outer "circle" - and this actually seemed to work pretty well.  I instructed the 2s to always be on their designated square, and while some students invariably wandered off a bit, I did get some help from the teacher's aide in the room.  I then had the students practice the 2nd part of the dance, and the students realized that they also got to do the high-fiving that I did earlier.  I also had the students practice shuffling, but only the 1's got to move - I had to remind the 2's to stay with their square, and that at least provided a stable reference point for the students.
   I then had the students dance to the music.  One thing I realized is that there are actually two opportunities to shuffle, meaning that the students potentially would skip a student each iteration, and so I had the students shuffle only once - that was actually a bit non-intuitive and caused some confusion.  However, the students got the hang of moving and finding a new partner, and they loved it!  I did have one shy student not want to participate, and that was fine, but some other students for a brief period said that they also wanted to sit out - but eventually they changed their minds.
4. Milky Way.  I started singing the chorus without the ukulele, and the kids were able to follow it mostly.  I then reviewed many of the ASL signs, including galaxy, star, planet, land, sea, and I also introduced sun, and home.  I found myself simply singing each line and then stopping to allow the students to try each sign during the stanzas.  During each chorus, we sang them all together reasonably well.  What was good here was that without the ukulele (even though I had brought it), I was able to focus the children on the ASL signs, which seemed to be more useful in teaching the song.
5. This Land Is Your Land.  I again reviewed the motions for the first stanza, and we jumped right in.  I then slowly taught the motions for the second stanza, and we did those first in echo and then together.  We ended with the first stanza.  This seems like a song the students are really remembering well.
6. I Can Sing A Rainbow.  With the children keying on ASL signs and motions well, I decided to review the first half of this song, including all of the signs.  The students took a bit of time to remember all of the colors, but they eventually picked them up well.  They didn't quite remember the tune all that well, however, and so I only covered this in echo the first time, followed by a slow iteration together.
7. Exit: Goodbye My Friends Goodbye.  Normal stuff here - we simply sang this to get the students back to their seats.

Today I did get multiple requests for past activities, including Highway Number One and The Longer The Faster.  It seems like the students are really having fun with the activities with a recorded song in the background.  If the skies permit, I'll try to do more larger-scale dances.  I really was surprised how well the students did with the double circle today, even though one circle was pretty much static - I'll continue with some more partner dancers again soon.

Teaching Notes, 20160302

So what happens when you forget your laptop, your iPod, and your ukulele?  You end up playing games!  That's exactly what happened today.

1. Intro: Everybody Oughta Know.  The students are still echoing the 3rd line, and so I had to have them follow me through that third line a few times again.  We sang this three times, with the third line referencing the Ocean
2. My Bonnie.  Before starting, I had the students mirror me with a tap-clap-clap pattern, and after getting the students to follow me, I started singing while continuing the rhythm.  Students typically turn "Bonnie" into "Body", and so after singing through once, I had the students practice saying "Bonnie" with an "N".  We then talked about how Bonnie was on a boat in the water, so rather than have the students wear out their hands clapping and tapping, I had them mimic rowing a boat - after each line, we switched rowing from one side to the other.
3. Who Stole The Cookie From the Cookie Jar?  I morphed the three-beat pattern to a four-beat pattern (tap, clap, shoulder, shoulder), and the students followed pretty easily.  When I asked the students "who stole the cookie form the cookie jar," a bunch of the students said that they knew this, but I discovered quickly that they didn't know the responses.  Writing the responses in two different colors really helps here, and I was quickly off having students recite the poem while choosing the next student.  We probably got through about 2/3rds of the class before exhausting the supply of willing students, and we ended with choosing the teacher.  (It's always good to choose the teacher to end this.)
4. Tony Chestnut.  This might still be a spring sing song, and so we hadn't visited this in a while - it was time to try it again.  We only did the first half (twice), but it was still a lot of fun.
5. This Land Is Your Land.  With the students following me, I had them follow my signs, and during that time a lot of the students thought I was going to break into The Milky Way.  But instead, I re-taught the students This Land.  I didn't really take the same amount of time I normally do to explain the signs, and so I have to remember to do that in the future.  I did get through the second stanza, although that mostly involved the kids following my signs.
6. Deep And Wide.  I introduced this song many weeks ago, but the students mostly did not remember this.  Fortunately, it's a very simple song to re-teach, and the students were able to sing and sign to the song quickly.  I then proceeded to remove first "wide" and then "river" before I ran out of time.
7. Exit: Make New Friends.  The kids expected Goodbye My Friends Goodbye, but I had them sing Make New Friends one more time.

It's neat to see the students start to anticipate songs and form their own favorite songs or activities.  The next week appears to be another rainy one, and so I anticipate that we'll end up doing more indoor activities and games.

Teaching Notes, 20160224

I had been out of town during the week of the 10th, and during the following week (after the holiday), I fell ill, so I had not taught class for three weeks until now.  That was an unexpectedly long layoff, and so I wanted to try to get the students playing with instruments - specifically, rhythm sticks - again.  However, I found myself scrapping a lot of my original plan and improvising a bit, which didn't quite go quite as well, especially when my recovering voice decided to give out very early into the lesson.

1. Intro: Everybody Gather 'Round.  I started the song with my ukulele, and the kids responded quickly.  However, I noticed quickly that I couldn't maintain high notes very well, and rather than move into the first bridge and second stanza, I kept this one short.
2. Austrian Yodeler.  The last time I tried this, the students tried to shoot themselves across the carpet when making the "avalanche" sound.  I tried this again, and again the students did the same thing.  I was hoping to get through a lot of different animals - I introduced the grizzly bear again - but the activity became way too disruptive - and so I cut this one short as well.
3. Rhythm Animals.  I used the bear reference to talk more about the rhythm bears and bunnies from past classes.  I could not locate the printouts of bears and bunnies, so I had to improvise, simply writing lines on the board to represent the number of syllables for the animal names.  I then connected the two lines for "bunny" noting that they were really part of the same animal.  We tried a few combinations of bears and bunny lines before breaking out the sticks.
4. Rhythm sticks.  The goal here was to have the class stick to various preprinted rhythms.  However, it was challenging to keep the students focused; I suppose the long layoff from having instruments made the sticks remarkably distracting.  I was able to get through a few slides, and I introduced the concept of the (quarter) rest, but I don't think I was able to get the class to focus evenly through this exercise.  Normally I have the students stick to a song, but because of the chaos, I collected the sticks early.
5. Milky Way.  Breaking out the ukulele again, I tried singing this, but again found that my voice wasn't doing me any favors.  I was able to get through a few lines, up to the sea and the land, but it seemed like only half of the class could follow me.  I simply didn't have enough of a voice to keep their attention.  I think in the future also the ukulele seems to also not necessarily be helping much especially since I do want the students to try to use ASL signs in the song, so I'll likely revisit this without the instrument.
6. This Land Is Your Land.  I started signing without words, hoping that the students would follow, and they did - far more effectively than the other exercises.  Then, I started singing - the voice still wasn't cooperating, but the students at least knew most of the words, so they also were able to sing along with me.  We were able to cover the first stanza twice.
7. Exit: Make New Friends.  I had the students sing this once with me, and then we repeated with the students returning to their seats.

My original plan actually didn't involve rhythm sticks at all, but when my voice couldn't keep up with the lesson, I tried changing things around.  Unfortunately, I think a solid voice from the teacher is critical to the lesson, and the lack of a healthy voicebox really put me at a significant disadvantage.  The good thing is that I still have the majority of my originally planned lesson that I can use for next week.