Using iconic or rhythmic notation, various voices, elemental forms, movement, non-pitched percussion, barred percussion, movement, and improvisation, this is a "kitchen sink" lesson using everything in the classroom you CHOOSE to use. You can use this with your first graders to upper elementary, varying the complexity included in the lesson. You can get the full slide set with all of the visuals on my Patreon community.  Add your favorite book about winter and voila! A lesson with no prep!

Enjoy!

Five Eggs

Spring is one of my favorite times of year - each morning on my walk I hear birds singing and see rabbits hopping on fresh sprigs of green grass.  And the flowers! Well, if you know me at all, you know how much I love flowers and especially irises.  I have so many flowers planted around my house and particularly love the 20-something varieties of iris I currently have!  

This is a perfect rhyme and fingerplay for spring.  

Fingerplays are so underrated! Teach them to younger students as a fingerplay but bring them back to teach or reinforce rhythmic elements in first grade and as a canon experience for second grade, or add a So Mi or So La Mi melody, eventually adding in an ostinato or two.  Transfer the rhyme and ostinati to non-pitched percussion, add timbre changes for each line and allow the students to decide how to perform it.  For older students, use these as a basis for melodic improvisation or to walk the beat while clapping the rhythm or add a B Section with the names of egg layers - birds, fish, insects, turtles, platypus, echidna, reptiles, and lizards.  Or have small groups of students create a movement story of one type of animal and perform for other groups to guess the animal.  So many possibilities!

For a better image, click here. 

Enjoy! 

2-22-2022!

 An auspicious day to be sure - February 22nd, 2022, 2-22-2022 is also happening on a TUEsday!  

      

One of the most wonderful things that has come from the pandemic are some amazing friendships forged online. Kathy was teaching in Japan when we met and we have chatted many times about collaborating as we both love playful music making.  Kathy wrote this fun song to celebrate the occasion.  Many thanks to her for sharing it! Here are Kathy and I zooming Saturday!

Kathy's bio:

Kathleen Kampa specializes in working with young learners. As a PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher, she uses an inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop global skills. Kathleen strives to help all students feel supported, balanced, and successful in the classroom. She supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and movement activities targeted to young learners' overall needs.
 
Kathleen and her husband Charles Vilina are co-authors of Beehive, Magic Time, Everybody Up, and the ELTon award-winning course Oxford Discover, published by Oxford University Press.  Kathleen's two CDs for young learners, Kathy Kampa's Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone, build English language skills through music and movement while nurturing creativity and imagination.

This song would be perfect to have 2-3 small groups create 4 or 8-beat body percussion ostinato patterns to accompany the song!  You might want to wear your tutu or have a dance party with your class at 2:22 PM! 

Here is the song with a bordun pattern and percussive ostinato that could be adapted for body percussion or instruments.

Fast Version: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/5797427130400768
Slow Version: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/6562225413685248

Hope you enjoy it! 

Maori Song PERFECT for Earth Day or unit on nature or trees

I have a "thing" for New Zealand.. well, truth be told, I have a thing for other cultures.  While researching music for an upcoming book (hopefully publishing late this year!) on international clapping songs, I came across a lovely fellow music teacher and fan of Orff (Orff-fan.. get it?) and she introduced me to a couple new Maori songs from New Zealand.  The Maori people are fascinating and their waiata (songs), while lovely, are often not appropriate to use outside of their culture; prayers, war songs, songs specific to Maori life.  There are several, though, that are powerful and breathtaking and I'm not talking about the haka (war chants where tattoed men slap their chests, raise their eyebrows, open their eyes big, stick out their tongues and clap/stamp).  One of these is Koromiko... truly lovely!
This is a collection of the waiata (folk songs) of Maori:  http://www.folksong.org.nz/waiata.html
Consider also playing some titi torea, Māori stick games.

This is one of the late Hirini Melbourne's nature songs. More info on Hirini Melbourne here: 

http://folksong.org.nz/tihore/index.html#Hir

Koromiko
Perfect piece to add ostinato; listen for the stick on the backing track.

   Lovely melody, combine with the names of the trees where you live!

About halfway down you will find the song, under resources:
http://artsonline2.tki.org.nz/resources/units/music_units/into_music_1/singing/koromiko.php

 

 

Koromiko, Karaka, Ti Kouka             Lowland Hebe, Karaka, Cabbage Tree
Nga rakau o te ngahere                       The trees of the forest
Nga rakau o te ngahere           The trees of the forest

Tarata, Ngaio, Totara                          Lemonwood, Mousehole tree, Totara
Nga rakau o te ngahere                       The trees of the forest
Nga rakau o te ngahere           The trees of the forest

Titiro ki nga puawai                Look at the flowers
Titiro ki nga rau                       Look at the leaves
He rereke tenei i tena              There’s a difference between this one and that one
He rereke, he rereke                            They are different, all different
He rereke, he rereke                            All unusual, all unique

 

 

 

MadPad App Review

I have
used this app with a few classes in rotations and it's pretty amazing. The video above is older (2011) but is a great intro. to MadPad.

 I am looking at using it as a composition project for next fall, probably with fourth grade.  I like that you can adjust the pitch of each sound set, and you can loop and record a rhythm. There are so many sound sets you can download.. try the toys one and find the guy with the mouth.. awesome!  It's just his mouth making various sounds!   There are also great ones with kids making sounds with various objects from around the house. This is  a great way to incorporate tech with music and can be used in the classroom to reinforce the concept of ostinato.  How would you use it?