Recorders

    

        I have been teaching recorders for the past few months in the 5th grade. I am not huge on using instruments in the classroom, I find them inhibiting.  My philosophy of music education is "get the kids singing young, gives them lots of opportunities to perform, and encourage them to make a joyful noise!" they have middle and high school to play instruments, but if they are strong singers (or at least have the fundamentals) then they will be more likely to pick up an instrument later on....

         HOWEVER, I do enjoy teaching recorders in 5th because they get a taste of hands on "music reading" without the words aiding as a guiding crutch. They might then decide "I'd like to be in band next year because recorders rocked!" or they might say, "this is disgusting with the spit and all...I'll pick a string instrument!" or decide to join choir instead. I have students who have said all three.

Poster I created to keep up for reference (made in about 5 mins, so it's pretty crappy.)

Here is how I teach recorders:

1.      Day 1: Distribute recorders and "handbooks" I've put together (which I have available, just e-mail me if you want a copy.) I give them a speech about responsibility and discipline: “You need to take care of your instrument, bring it to class, and keep track of your booklet.”  We then learn B (1), A (2), G (3).

2.      Day 2: Read several lines of nonsense music that has B, A, & G in them.

1.      I work one-on-one with students who keep getting "the squeaky sound" (which is almost always because they are rolling their pointer finger off the hole when they play A and G.) 

2.      I show them how hard to blow into their recorders by holding up a tissue and blowing really hard "this is what you're doing, see the tissue flap all around?" Then I blow very gently and it hardly moves a bit, "This is what you should be doing, it will improve your sound if you can control your airflow!" This trick pretty much solves all my headache-sounds.

3.      Day 3: Start testing the first belt in Recorder Karate (Musick8.) From there I set up testing periods in the mornings before the bell rings, and during their weekly class period. And they pretty much teach themselves. It's a great little method, in love.

4.      Days 4-8: I keep testing karate levels and I give them several short rhythm and note ID quizzes along the way, to make sure they are learning the note names and not just the "hole numbers."

1. Buy lunch for the first black belt winner in each class and all of a sudden there is this incredible race to the finish!

Simple and to the point. I've attached some pictures of my aids I've created.

 

Just a reminder I keep up for the kids to remember the note names

 

The "Yellow Belt" music I turned into a poster so we could learn it as a class

Plank Publishing has great quizzes that teach right to the point for these kids. This worksheet clears up all the plroblems they come across in their recorder music. Check back soon for my lesson plan, it turned out really well.

The Conductor...

Strauss' "the Bat"

WATCH THIS AMAAAAZING VIDEO!!!!

"What is a conductor?"

• A guy who plays a lot of piano?
• A man who controls a train?

"Well there is such a thing as a train-conductor! That's very good! And if he controls a train, what would a conductor of music control?

• A bell.
• A train.

"Ha, no not a train, and a bell?"

• Yes, like "Choo-Choo" pulls on the bell...

"Ohhhh, I see. Actually we are off the train thing, we are talking about music now..."

We continued our conversation about the "guide" concept and this is the list we came up with in class.

This was a fun discussion and we conducted each other.

This is the Marching band Craft we made last week:

The kids glued theirs and actually spent time making them look good, this was my ten second/stapled example!

Supplies: (20 min project)

1. 1/2 sheet of red paper
2. Black strip of paper
3. White "lip" & feather
4. Yellow rectangle
5. Crayons
6. Glue sticks

Waltzing with Ms. VP

I'd like to say I'm always on a classical music kick (I am a harpist after all!) but this month I have spent more time than usual having the kids practice truly listening. I always start out my classes with the "start music" where the students have to listen and analyze a selection, but our discussions are usually limited to under ten minutes. This month I'm turning then into lessons.

The Waltz

Piece Selection:

• Johann Strauss - “Vienna Blood” Waltz (Op. 354)

1. Began class with listening to Strauss Waltz.
1. How did that make you feel?
2. What type of ensemble was that? (orchestra)
3. What Musical Family was used the most? (Strings)
4. What was the Time Signature of that piece? (3/4)
2. Time signature, this is where they get stuck: What is a time signature??
1. You know how we talked about the conductor last week, let's review-what does a conductor do again? ( keep the beat and guide the ensemble through the music) Exactly, how does the conductor know what the beat is or how many beats or in each measure? (through the time signature) So if it's in 3/4 time, how many beats are in that measure? (3..)
3. I count through the Waltz beat, emphasizing the one beat.  ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three...which is the strongest beat? ( they always, without fail, say THREE.) I dialog about the ONE beat.
4. Add some kinesthetic movement, have them step out on ONE and in place on two, three. Eventually I teach them the basic waltz. I show them the following picture:

We discuss: Movement, posture, positioning, costumes, etc.

5.   Directly following this discussion I have them listen to the Strauss BIO (Another Classics for Kids radio excerpt) and ask the following Questions:

1. Johann Strauss was Born in ________ in ________? (1825, Vienna.) Follow-up Q: Does that make him an American Composer? (No) What Continent is Vienna located on? (Europe) <-- Geography cross-connection
2. What did his Dad do for a living? (Composer/Musician) What did he play? (Violin)
3. His Dad wanted him to become a _______ when he grew up? (Banker)
4. He secretly became a musician and composer with support from who? (his mother)
5. He ended up completing with who? (his father) Who was better? (Strauss Jr)
6. He wrote a song with words that was a complete flop, what was that song about? (Electric lights.)
7. He composed pieces for every _______ that he visited (city)
8. The Emperor's Waltz celebrated Vienna's Emperor's what? (birthday_
9. He composed how many Operettas? (16)
10. What is the name of the operetta that is performed every year on New Years Eve in Vienna? (The Bat)
11. Johann Strauss is known as the...? (Waltz King)

I Showed them, the following picture:

And that wrapped up our discussion.

Time: 35 mins.
Reviewed our vocal pieces.

Month of March: Teach a March

I had to make a "March Bullitan Board" So I decided to teach about a march, in turn, Philip Sousa "The March King!"

I taught this 1-5th grade, just slightly altered my verbage for each grade, respectively.

First Played the "Thunderer" in class and had the students listen without any direction from the teacher. At the completion of the song I asked, "What did that song sound like to you?" 
Answers:

• "The circus"
• "Football Game"
• "Scary"
• "Very Loud"
• "Important"
• "Like a...a...parade thing."

We decided it was "Marching Band Music." Where do you see a a marching band?

• "on TV"
• "At the...football field?"
• "THE CIRCUS!"
• "Fourth of July"
• "Parades..."

"What instruments did you hear?"

Answers:

• "The big one...you know the big one." (translation, TUBA)
• " The recorder thing..." (Translation, FLUTE)
• "Piano?" 
• "The baton." (no translation.)

I wrote all their answers on the board and put different symbols next to the instruments that corresponded with their music family grouping. 

Then a student shouted out, "They're a patter-in!" I laughed, "Yes there is a pattern, what is the pattern?" (this is a great cross-curricular activity by the way, finding patterns, having students discover patterns on their own? Good stuff.) The students eventually figured out that they represented the musical families. I then added that key to the bottom of the board. 

Example of my board: 

((obviously this is NOT my actual board, I painted this on my computer. But, it looked very similar to this...))

I then asked, "Which family is missing?" 

• "The SELLLOs" (Translations, Cellos)
• "Vio...vio-los...no...violins!"

"Well...The strings, but good guesses! Now what musical ensemble has all four?" This started a short discussion on the differences between a Marching band, Concert Band, and Orchestra. Directly following that I began a dialog about the Thunderer itself, adding a few details about Sousa and what made him famous. 

Finally, I had the students listen to the following bio on Sousa from Classics for Kids. They LOVE these short bio clips because they play excerpts by the composer throughout. Sousa BIO. 

After they listened I asked the following Questions:

1. Sousa's parents were what? (Immigrants) follow-up Q: What does that mean?
2. What instrument did Sousa master? (Trombone)
3. Sousa tried to run away with the_______? (Circus)
4. But he was caught by his father and forced to join the ________? (Marine Band)
5. How long did he play with this band? (7 yrs)
6. He started working for a theater and met someone special, who? (his wife, she was a singer)
7. He wrote how many operettas? (15) Follow-up Q: What is an operetta?
8. He returned to Marine Band, not as a Trombone player, but as a what? (Conductor)
9. His favorite type of music to write was...? (Marches)
10. He started his own band, what did he name it? (Sousa Band)
11. This was not a marching band it was a...? (Concert Band)
12. The Sousa Band did a really cool thing in 1911, what was that? (went on a world tour)
13. Sousa's most famous piece? (Stars and Stripes forever.)
14. During WWI Sousa joined the ______ band to conduct. (Navy)
15. John Philip Sousa titled the....? (March King)

After this we discussed what the role of the conductor was: to keep the beat and guide the ensemble through the music. 

Discussion Questions:

1. What is a guide? 
2. Why would an ensemble need something like that?
3. What do you think the conductor's movements would look like if he was directing a march?

Finally I taught the students how to conduct in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures. 

This lesson took about 35 mins and we spent the last 10 minutes reviewing our concert songs.

Teaching Kinders thru Rhythms and Echoes

When I started out the school year, I was surrounded by priceless little five year old runts that could barely match ONE pitch. My strategy?

1. Start with three solfege syllables: Do, Re, Mi. I spent ten minutes a day having them following my hand syllables adding varying combos of the three pitches. I then added differing rhythms to the patterns so they were combining two techniques in one exercise. 
2. Add one new syllable a month: by Christmas the kids were singing five note patterns, complete with hand signs.
3. Silent patterns: I give the students a pattern with my hand (i.e. do, mi, mi, re) without singing any tones and have them sing it back to me. The kids like it because it's like solving a puzzle and as a teacher it's a great activity because it forces kids to pay attention, (and they WANT to pay attention.)
4. Meanwhile I'm teaching them three and four note songs. We always sing through our songs on syllables first- solidify the melody- then speak thru the words- then put the two together. 
5. Lyrics: They can be very "cross curricular;" speaking through the words, work on articulation and speech, define vocabulary, write on board and read aloud together, make a social studies connection and BAM! These are all strategies that common core SMILES on.
6. Solfeggio is the language for the music classroom. So all the reading and comprehension sections on that pesky district observation sheet? Completely covered with practicing a little solfege- literally every category is touched, with good reason! (It is music class not spelling  reading, writing, or math class- It's our job to maintain that integrity.)
7. Now I'm teaching songs in the pentatonic scale. It's been fun. The kids came in this year scared to express anything, terrified to open their mouths, and unable to sing a note. Now they are...well you can watch the video.

Then this little video cracked me up (he's four):

Literacy in the Music Classroom. Music Vs. Common Core

"Literacy in the classroom..." the buzz phrase of the 21st century school. When I'm teaching I don't always make a conscious effort to insert a "literacy portion" because it so often naturally integrates itself. And yet I find that I constantly have to defend the music cause- it's music class not guided reading. I fully understand the necessity for cross-curricular teaching and learning, but at what cost? I have been struggling with this battle since I started teaching two and a half years ago, there has to be a way to teach music- truly teach music and completely satisfy the state requirements for public education. I am a avid believer in the public school system. I think public school is a beautiful, wonderful, and amazing thing. I admire the work teachers do, the time, the energy, and it truly is an under-appreciated job. It's tiring, it's trying, it's frustrating, but it's also incredibly satisfying to see tangible growth and it keeps my heart warm to be around learning children all day. So here in lies the problem, I want to support the classroom teachers, but more importantly I want my students to leave music class feeling more accomplished in music (the subject in which I teach.)

I've been wrestling with this common core curriculum not because I don't think it's a phenomenal idea to have all schools on the same page, but because it's pushing me out. You see, the struggle is simple: Does public education want the arts to be taught anymore or not? If the answer is yes, then please, allow us to do so.. If the answer is no, then prepare yourselves for another Dark Ages. Music, art, dance, expression, movement, it's in our human make-up. We are created to express something. I promise you, Common Core People, that you're curriculum will be more successful if you allow us to teach.

After one rants, one should always follow up with, here is what I'm going to do about it. I have been pouring through the curriculum in the hopes of putting together performances that revolve around cultural and literacy connections. This blog is going to take a bit of a turn. My posts will consist of lesson ideas and ways maintain the integrity of the music classroom while also following the state expectations; Knowing when to fight and when to accept, what works and what doesn't. I would love your ideas, especially teachers who are going through the same struggle, I would love to hear some things your doing that are in line with the common core :) I have the privilege of working in a school that is very supportive of the arts and students that have an aching and a yearning for music and dance. I consider it a gift and do not say that lightly.

The other new focus for this blog is teaching harmony. My kids (K-5) have never sung in anything more than unison. I am determined to get my fifth graders at a 3 part level by the end of the year and K-4 singing two part harmony. I am going to track my progression on the blog as a resource for any of you teachers out there that might be on the same path. Again, tips that have worked for you, I'd love to hear!

Ugg-a-Wugg

Watching the Ugg-a-Wugg sequence from the Cathy Rigby version of Peter Pan in Kindergarten. Why? Because we performed the Mary Martin version in their fall concert (K-2) last night. The scene comes up today in class and they all gasp, "huh!! we KNOW this song!!" they shout. Then one little girl, Allison, yells out- "They sing it different then us..." To which I replied, "I know it's because they do a whole dance in the middle." She watches for a second then turns back around, "Yeah, plus they are Indians...If we were Indians we would dance like that." I said, "yeah, maybe!"

The students all started tapping rhythms on the ground along with the movie. It was pretty magical. In unison twenty Kinders creating these really intricate rhythms, I was impressed. I love times when improvisation occurs organically. I'm always looking for these moments...