On the Note of Music in the Classroom: 2015

Musical Tongues

Focus: Language

The aim is to use a familiar children's song (The Hokey Pokey) along with some physical movement to explore vocabulary of different languages!

See the lesson here: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp303-04.shtml

For example, after singing the song in English, the next time around might go...

You put your mano in,
You put your mano out,
You put your mano in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the hokey pokey,
and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!

You put your cabeza (head) in
You put your pie (foot) in
You put your codo (elbow) in
You put your hombro (shoulder) in
You put your rodilla (knee) in
You put your cadera (hip) in
You put your trasero (derriere) in
You put your cuerpo ([whole] body) in

Benefits: Active, familiar song for most children, engages entire group*, can span various languages (teacher can choose language and use a translation tool), can tie into a lesson in the culture that uses that particular language

*Modifications can be made for students with disabilities (i.e. everyone can do the movements from a seated position, students can label little people cutouts and then make the paper person to "dance" as the student sings)

Poetry and Music

Focus: Writing
Genre : Poetry

Many educators emphasize the musical quality and the lyrical potential of poetry. The Smithsonian Institution has compiled a comprehensive set of lessons and associated music to foster engaging poetry workshops.

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/publications/siycwinter_06.pdf

The lessons address Common Core State Standards (see below). Likewise, the lessons incorporate music (both sound and terminology) to not only teach writing skills in the genre of poetry but also to increase understanding of history, culture, and music, as well.

History Through Song: Follow the Drinking Gourd

Focus: History - Slavery, Underground Railroad

Resources:

Lyric video of the song Follow the Drinking Gourd

Youtube narration of Follow the Drinking Gourd

Picture Book of Follow the Drinking Gourd
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=CrzCAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT5&dq=Follow+the+drinking+gourd&ots=g9q-tm87Wb&sig=zc39_07z8sJRwB4ln-2vbRpSaBg#v=onepage&q=Follow%20the%20drinking%20gourd&f=false

Writing Workshop Lesson for Grades 3-6:

http://writingfix.com/WAC/HistoryFix/Drinking_Gourd1.htm

Activity worksheet for group work:

http://writingfix.com/WAC/HistoryFix/Lesson_PDFs/Drinking_Gourd_GO1.pdf

And All That Jazz...

Focus: Writing, History through Jazz
Genre: Biographical sketches

PBS - Jazz Kids: Lesson Page
http://www.pbs.org/jazz//kids/lesson/chops_and_axes.html

A Jazz Lesson

Grades: 4-8

Subject areas: Music, History, Language Arts, and Theatre

Summary:
Students will explore the lives of various jazz musicians. They will become familiar with the social and historical events that were present during the lives of these individuals. They will listen to the music of the artists and become knowledgeable about their styles. This activity will culminate in the production of a news/talk show created and performed by the students highlighting the lives of these musical figures.

Objectives:

Students will listen to, analyze, and describe music.
Students will gain an understanding of music in relation to history and culture.
Students will gain experience in theatre arts skills.
Students will gain experience in the general skills and strategies of writing.
Students will gain experience in the general skills and strategies of reading.
Students will use the Internet to do research.

A Fun Activity to Follow Up: Guide students to perform a "Jazz Talk Show" through which they can either present the information they gathered or even dress up and act as their researched musician!

Benefits: Encourages students to be well-prepared, make eye contact with other students, practice speaking skills, and even act out a part as a talk show host!

Music + Science = Fun

Focus: Science - experimentation

In this lesson plan, created by PBS, students have the opportunity to act as scientists as they conduct conduct their own experiments to observe people's responses to music!

Grades 5-8: Science
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/education/lesson-1-experimental-music/lesson-overview/81/

This PDF of the lesson includes links to songs and resources for students to use in their experiments.

http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/wp-content/blogs.dir/20/files/2009/06/experimental-music-plan.pdf

Overall, the lesson uses something familiar, music, to teach something foreign, science. Students learn the valuable lesson of conducting research and following scientific procedure.

Standards met in Music and Science are as follows: