Weathers Lesson 9

Hi all, as I am sitting here writing, the weather outside is NOT sunny! It is raining cats and dogs, it's 5pm in the evening on a working day and I am sure there will be many people sitting in their cars stuck in traffic! Actually the weather lately has been just like what we are talking and singing about in class - so the kids have no problem envisioning rain and thunder and storm eh?

Wasn't the parent sharing time a blast last week? Thank you for being so sporting!

This week, we are going to review all the sign language that we have been learning for the past few weeks. In fact we will 'sign' our hello song! Will try to get the kids to sing in their heads while we sign using ASL for rain, wind, rainbow etc.

What instrument can we use to make the musical wind sound? We have been using the slide whistle for the past two weeks, this week we will examine the use of glockespiel and talk about the musical concept of glissando ( a musical effect obtained by playing a rapid series of ascending or descending pitches in a continuous sliding movement)

We are going to do some music listening ( Funiculi, Funicula) and explore how to analyse music - what it means? who is singing? The focus here is to discriminate between hearing and listening.

Hearing is a process involving nerves and muscles that reach adult efficiency by age four or five. Listening is a learned behaviour, a mental process that is concerned with hearing, attending, discriminating, understanding and remembering. It can be improved with practice.

( Early Childhood Experiences in Language by Jeanne M. Machado)

Last week we explored the dynamics of an excerpt from Beethoven symphony no. 6 using the puppet Ernie and this week we will see how the dynamics look like ( remember relationship between sound and symbol). If time permits, we will get each kid to draw what they hear. This music explores a large range of dynamics, from very quiet to very loud. Just as an artist may use contrasting colours to prove expression, many composers of classical music use dynamics to provide contrast.

Will be introducing a new song All the Day long and using this song to introduce different rhythm pattern. We will be using hand movements and instruments to bring awareness of the different rhythm pattern in different parts of the song. If time permits, we will also try doing the song in an ensemble .

Parent sharing time: will give you a hint. We will do a synchronized dance and analyse the musical form of a song through this dance.

Hope to see you all in class....