Imagine That - SWIS Lesson Plan 8

Hello, hello, hello! We had a smallish class last week. I guess many are away on holidays. Well, you missed the surprise I had for the kids in class!

This week, I will be starting and ending the class with some training in audiation. Audiation is hearing and comprehending in one's mind the sound of music that is not physically present. For example, we will be singing the hello song...but at the 'hello' word, we won't sing but tap the drums instead. The kids have to 'sing and listen' to the hello in their minds and not with their mouth. We will also do it again with the goodbye song so the parents can see what I mean.

We will be doing the 'Mister Sun' song, a song which is quite familiar to fans of Barney the Purple Dinosaur! We will be adding movements to the song and at the same time getting them to think creatively how to make circle movements with different parts of their bodies! We will aso be doing some music listening of whistling to the tune of Mister Sun. The kids probably can't whistle yet but they may try to! I might be pleasantly surpise to find one or two kids that can whistle. Kids who are unable to whistle can imitate whistling with a high pitched vocal sound. This is a wonderful way to help them practice the use of their head voice. Whistling uses the same muscles that are required for clear articulation of language.

We will also be doing 'Walking on the Bridge' together, in alternating motions. And enhancing it with different speed....walking, running, jumping etc using the rhythm sticks.

Another movement activity...'Row, row, row your boat'. We will be moving to different types of boat : rowboat, sailboat and motorboat... and how different boats move in different ways. We will use props to enhance learning, sticks for paddles, scarves for sails, and paper plates for steering wheel.

'Feed the birds' - an activity that requires the kids to listen to different rhythm patterns in speech and to copy them. Copying is a process that involves the ability to discriminate sound patterns, activate auditory memory and imitate a sound pattern. It will be interesting to see how the kids perform in this activity. Will let you know!

We will be using the slide whistle this week for parent sharing time. We will 'test' the kids to see how well they can blow.

I look forward to seeing all of you this week. Adios!