Candy! Candy! Rondo

 December is a month full of holidays and is a perfect month to talk about sugar! 

This is an International Candy Rondo idea focusing on first American candies and then involving the students in an exploration of international candies. Thanks to my friend Tammy for creating this idea- she created this as a Project-Based Learning activity with her students so you could easily have your students research a cultures candy and/or treats. 

Click here to make a copy of the google slides. 

Enjoy!

Dim Sum For Everyone

 My daughter and I went to New York City for our first girls week during the summer of 2019. It was an amazing week and while we did not plan to arrive on the day of the largest PRIDE parade in Manhattan, it was a fabulous week!  My daughter is Chinese, and loves everything about her birth culture. We stayed in Midtown Manhattan but she wanted to spend every waking moment in Chinatown. One of my sweet music teacher blogger friends, Elizabeth from Organized Chaos lives in Connecticut and so we met up for lunch one day at the Golden Unicorn in Chinatown (HIGHLY recommend!).

Elizabeth grew up in Japan and has only lived in the US for a few years so we decided to meet up for Dim Sum, which Caiya had never experienced. Elizabeth and I were the only white faces in the restaurant, and very little English was spoken. I LOVE experiences where I am out of my element. It forces growth and a window into another culture in a unique and interesting way. The food comes around in little bamboo steamers or plates which are rolled on carts. You point to the ones you want and they write on a card the quantity and item chosen. Then the next cart comes and point and choose again. The process continues and you end up with lots of little steamers and plates on your table. My favorite were the cute piggy dumplings (shaped like pigs) and filled with a sweet potato filling. I also love Shu Mai and Sticky Rice which has dried shrimp and veggies along with the rice and are wrapped in leaves. YUM!  

Many thanks to my friend Marcia B for her inspiration! 

Hope you enjoy Dim Sum For Everyone and if you get a chance to enjoy Dim Sum, eat up! 

For the full google slide, click on the link and make a copy Dim Sum For Everyone

Not Your Typical Dragon

My daughter loves dragons and has ever since she was a wee little thing - first it was dinosaurs, then she "graduated" to dragons and has stayed there ever since. She is a pretty amazing artist and you can probably guess her favorite subject!  These are some of her drawings, both digital and traditional. She is 12, by the way.

When I found this book I knew I was going to have to do something with it- the theme of not fitting in and being like everyone else resonated. My daughter is Chinese- born in China and adopted by us. I am a musician in a family of dairy farmers and we are both artists. My daughters love for dinosaurs and dragons also resonated with being "different" and we heard from many people how "unique" she was as these are stereotypically considered male dominated subjects. Well, I have a sweet girl who loves them and so do I! Enjoy the lesson!

New Years - 26 Hours Long?!

Do you know there are 38 different local times in use around the world?  Therefore it takes 26 hours for the New Year to actually be celebrated by all on Earth! 

Did you also know that New Year's is not always January 1?  Chinese New Year is celebrated not by calendar year but by the cycle of the new moon.  Buddhists in Thailand celebrate a three day water festival called Songkran in April.  In the Middle Ages in Europe the new year began on March 25.  The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the new year on January 14, Persian New Year on March 21, and one Hindu celebration in India occurs in April or May.  Read more here. 
The idea for this lesson came first from my Chinese New Year song called, "Xin Nian Kuai Le".  Check out this post with the song and additional activities to use for January and February to go with Chinese New Year.  My daughter was adopted from China, and so the idea of New Year not occurring on January 1 is not new to me as we celebrate Chinese New Year in our family and also at my school. I began to think of New Year celebrations our students might celebrate and wanted to have something to be inclusive of all students.  This also provides a wonderful opportunity to talk about differences while including everyone in the conversation about culture and celebrations. 

The movement idea I first imagined was something like this, only with dancers lying on sides or kneeling on floor, something simple and synchronized  with clock like movements.

I hope you enjoy, and be sure to drop me a line to let me know what you did with it!

As always, if you want the full pdf of the above, send an email to me at musicquilt@hotmail.com.

Happy New Year!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I am a gardener at heart  - love to dig in some dirt and make something grow!  I have about 200 perennial plants- at least. I really love irises- they are one of my favorites and work for my no-fuss gardening style- if I have to mess with a plant in order to make it grow, I am not supposed to have it.  This year my irises went a little crazy- I have about 15 different colors and need to divide and give some away. If you live in NC give me a holler!
I have always loved this rhyme - here's a little twist! Hope you enjoy!

Giraffe's Can't Dance - Or Can They?

I love the facebook AOSA page! I also belong to the Kodaly Teachers, and Elementary Music Teachers and several other music teacher groups.  Such a wealth of information and people sharing lessons and ideas!  Just this month I found a wonderful idea using the book,"Giraffes Can't Dance"  by Melissa Burroughs and she so very kindly gave me permission to share it with you. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as my students did!

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae available here from Amazon.

Day 1

Explore movements on index cards (whole class first), divide into 5 groups for our "Jungle Party"--each group has 4 cards to create a unique jungle dance for their animals. 

Melissa purchased these cards at Dollar Tree recently.

All groups practices together, then time for the party! 

Each group performs by themselves (consider using "Bossa Nova" from 'Rhythmically Moving 7).

With 5 groups and 8 beats between each group (play on drum or tambourine as signal to change groups), this works perfectly.

Students share what they liked about each groups special dances.

Day 2

Explore animal names with one and two sounds (first grade) and animal names that fit into rhythmic building blocks (second).

Compose 4 beat patterns (first) and 8 beat phrases (second).

Teach song add bordun.

Perform in rondo form.

Extension:

Create story where they tell about one of their animal's adventure; where did it go?  What did it do when it got there? 

Consider use of arioso - sing the story.  

Hey! Welcome to Music Song

A quick post today with a song you can use for upper grades.  Add a body percussion pattern (patsch, clap) and raise fisted hand on "Hey" and add T (teacher) clapping/students echoing body percussion patterns (in the score).  Create an additional section to create a rondo:  C Section:  T. plays 4 beat pattern on drum, students choose an adjective to describe themselves that is the same letter/sound as their name:  I used Fabulous Pfitzner for myself, I had "Interesting Isaac", "Amazing Allison", etc. Four students, one at a time, say their adjective and name over 4 beats, next student says theirs over the next four beats, etc.  My fourth graders LOVED this!

Pass Me the Turkey song with cup game composition

This one I found yesterday on the AOSA (American Orff Schulwerk Association) Music Teacher Facebook page.  MANY thanks to composers Trilby Jordan and F. Thomas Simpson for sharing and allowing me to share here!  I LOVE this song and added a cup game composition using word chains of disliked Thanksgiving foods.  Students performed them for their teachers when they came to pick up the class.  LOVED it!  Definitely going into my "keep" file for years to come!

Chinese New Year and Jewish New Year Songs from AOSA Session

These are the two songs that were missing from our presentation at the AOSA Conference this past weekend in Denver. Use at will but please give credit. THANKS! Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year in Mandarin, Chinese) Process: • Teach melody with text. • Add “dragon” head movement every four beats; hands beside head like a dragon moving side to side, add other movements as suggested by participants to prep for teaching process of orchestration. • Transfer movements to instruments; perform. • Add “B” section with unpitched percussion. • Perform as suggested or develop alternate suggestions for performance. Tapuchim u'dvash (Jewish New Year Song) Process: • Play BX part for students, asking them to pat heads when they hear the higher sound and shoulders when they hear the lower sound. Once they are comfortable keeping this ostinato, add song. • Teach Hebrew text and melody by rote. • Transfer BX part to instruments. Add AX/AM and SG/AG parts. • Lead short discussion about Jewish New Year and tradition of eating apples and honey for a sweet year. • Brainstorm as many apple varieties as you can think of. • Working in small groups, students create 8-beat speech ostinato with apple words, adding movement with apple colored fabric. • Share group ostinato with class. • Put into Rondo form with song.

Creating a Movement Rondo

1. Ask students about their favorite sports; what kind of activities are involved with each one. Make a list on the board. It might look like this: Basketball Horseback Riding Dribbling Canter Passing Jump Shooting Gallop Running Walk Hook Shot Prance Jumping Side Step 2. Reviewing theme and contrast (AB, ABA). Explain rondo form and demonstrate using sport theme. For the demonstration, have the class do each theme or section for 8-16 beats. 3. Divide class into groups, each group works together to develop their own rondo. 4. Each group performs their rondo without telling other students what their “theme” was, students try to identify the theme and evaluate their use of rondo form. To give signals for changing from one section to another within the rondo, try using three different instruments (A=temple blocks, B=drum, C= triangle) playing a steady beat for a specified number of beats (8-16).

Extension: Viennese Musical Clock from the Hary Janos Suite 1. Prepare students by marching to a drum beat. Once comfortable, ask them to change directions when they hear a change in the drum sound (use bongos or small to medium tubanos, hand drums, etc.). Experiment with different styles of marching (high, low, marching in mud, rain, sun, marching through jello or chocolate, marching when tired, happy, sad, excited, frustrated, angry, etc). 2. Listen to the music and identify the marching beat, ask students to use marching arms as they sit and identify the numbers of A (marching) sections (4). 3. Outline the form or use a diagram you have created or found. Ask: How can you tell when the sections change? What instruments are used? (This is part of a bigger piece of music (composition) written for an orchestra, but this particular movement has no strings.) Does the music sound like a mechanical clock? Why or why not? 4. Divide class into groups labeled B, C, or D. Students create movement with scarves or ribbon sticks or ??? for these sections. Everyone moves on the A section with other groups performing their movement for the B, C, and D sections. Further Extension Listen to other musical clock pieces: Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson Other mechanical instrument pieces: Add On Machine from Contrast and Continuum, Vol. I, by Eric Chappelle