Toys Lesson 9

Hi folks, sorry for being late again this week....very busy, away on holiday (hehe!) Actually we were away at church camp in Penang. Ah, the food and the beach....always love Penang and it was great to be there soaking up the atmosphere with friends, and getting much inspiration for lesson plan especially now that we are at the 'boat and sea' part of the curricula!

We are going to concentrate on humming this week. Humming has two specific benefits, according to Jean Westerman Gregg, speech language pathologist with a specialty in voice therapy. Humming over a period of time increases the strength of the fundamental accoustic spectrum, therefore affecting the quality of the singing voice. Also, over an extended period of time the vibration sensation of humming seems to increase the carrying power of voice resulting in more volume and less effort. (From "Song and Speech: What Humming Can do for you")

Using the familiar Twinkle twinkle little star song, we are going to do instrument exploration of metal instruments. Through instrument exploration a child can learn many musical concepts such as timbre, pitch, vibration rhythm, tonal relationships and melody.

The kids are now very familiar with the song A sailor went out to sea, sea, sea. This week we are going to use the song to play an ensemble; ie performing together as a group, taking turns at various sections of the song. The focus of this activity is to further enhance the learning of the rhythm pattern of this song, developing taking turns and deriving enjoyment from playing as a group.

We are going to do some star dancing with our bodies to Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. We are going to learn about Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker where the song is taken from. This Russian composer was best known for his ballets and symphonies. In this curricula, we gave the opportunity to hear several Tchaikovsky selections: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Waltz of the Flowers, Dance of the Reed Flutes and Chinese Dance. These pieces are all taken from the Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a, the orchestral suite drawn from the well-known ballet, The Nutcracker.

Lastly, we will use the song O Watch the Stars to learn about beats in music - what is a quarter beat and a half beat, and a whole beat.

I will see you all in class this week. Looking forward to a fun and learning time together!