Sunday, May 23, 2021

Korean Children's Book and Ocean Songs

One of the wonderful things about social media is finding wonderfully inclusive children's literature. JoJos Book Club is one of my favorite pages on instagram. I appreciate the honest and straightforward reviews and have found some really beautiful inclusive books there.  A couple days ago I found The Ocean Calls which is very new- just published in August 2020. Written by Asian American Tino Cho and illustrated by Asian Canadian Jess Snow this is a beautifully told and illustrated story of a South Korean island community of haenyeo - deep-sea divers. Grandma and her fellow divers, all older women, dive without oxygen deep into the ocean to gather abalone, sea urchins, and other treasures. Granddaughter Dayeon wants to be a haenyeo like her "treasure hunting Grandma" but she’s scared. Grandma shows patience as she listens then says, “Can’t you hear what the waves are saying? They’re calling to us to come home.”
The book can be used as a jumping off point to connect culture in so many ways.

Friday, May 21, 2021

Campfire Time!

Campfire Songs! 

A recent social media post asked if camp songs are still culturally relevant. The post challenged me to consider how and why I use "camp" songs and I realized I do use some "camp" songs but the emphasis is on singing around a campfire a wide variety of diverse and inclusive songs and they aren't all considered to be "songs learned at camp."  It is all about the kinds of songs used, not the experience of camping. The post also asked how others use camp songs in their classrooms and this was my response.  

Your post challenged me to think about why I use campfire songs with my students. First, the emphasis is on singing around a campfire (community singing) not about going to summer camp. It simply isn't  discussed and is not the focus. Appropriate, diverse, and inclusive campfire songs are repetitive, easy to learn, playful, memorable, and meaningful.  That does not mean that they are culturally exclusive if done with a lens of using culturally relevant song material (not exclusively American "camp song literature") that acts as a mirror, window, or door. For the last month of school students sing campfire songs that  feature call and response, canons and rounds, expressive singing, instrument play, movement, and ensemble singing. Playful songs from cultures not my own are included that are diverse and inclusive.  Each class on their last day comes in to experience a campfire and we sing around the (pretend) fire.  Some of my students talk about sitting in the backyard with fires, or of building fires while going camping with family and friends, and using fire to celebrate Diwali, Hanukkah, the Persian fire festival (related to Nowruz), and many other holidays and festivities. Many students share how they have sung these memorable songs to siblings and family members and they quickly become multi-generational songs for all to sing.

It is worth noting that campfire songs are made up of folk songs, spirituals, work songs, sea shanties, cumulative songs, call and response songs, fingerplays, movement activities, and often include folk dances and storytelling elements.  

 

Our ancestors, wherever they were in the world, sang while cleaning animal skins, paddling canoes, pounding grain, hoisting sails, or gathering food.  One person tapped a beat, another sang a melody, and others would join in or add harmony. Often, at the end of the workday, they might have joined around a fire to sing songs about love, family, travel, and hope.  

Singing songs around a campfire leads to ensemble singing, reinforces concepts and skills, and can be celebratory, inclusive, and meaningful.  They can lead to collaborative, enjoyable, memorable, and playful musical moments. It’s not about camping, at least not for me. It is about making memorable and enjoyable music with my students while celebrating the end of a school year.  

 

My students love this time of playful music making and ending our year in this way keeps the music and laughter flowing. 

A couple years ago I posted on a facebook live for how my campfire is made- here it is- How I Make My Campfire Video

This year it will be about TWICE AS BIG!!! 

Here are pics of how my campfire is made- all materials from Dollar Tree except the wire stands (which are my glockenspiel stands), and the brown construction paper (from school). 





Enjoy!





Tuesday, May 11, 2021

All Things Butterflies!

 After searching for a while for butterfly songs, books, etc. I realized I needed to put it all in one place on a google slide. You can get it all here: http://bit.ly/butterfly_ACP

This google slide collection has books, songs, fingerplays, movement ideas and even the EASIEST butterfly finger puppet you could ever want to make!  Here are some of the slides:


















Enjoy!