Next week we will be looking at drama in the classroom -- please bring in some felts to make paper bag puppets.
Have a great long weekend. Happy Canada Day!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
After Class Six
Next week we will be looking at drama in the classroom -- please bring in some felts to make paper bag puppets.
Have a great long weekend. Happy Canada Day!
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POST 6-June 28th/11
ReplyDeleteHearing everyone’s songs to end our class last night was great. It was fun to get up, move around and get a little silly. I really liked everyone’s songs, I wish that there had of been time to write them down. I especially enjoyed the penguin song and the banana song. I am hoping all the groups might post their songs? I do not have the words to my group’s song otherwise I would post it. Or we might compile them in class one week as a resource we can all use? I love to use music in the classroom however do not typically sing with my students on a daily basis aside from the days of the week song. I typically use music when students are doing their work in order to help the concentrate. I like to also use music to introduce a unit or topic. For example, when doing an owl unit, I found atmospheric music with owl sounds in the background. I find that this is a great way to involve the senses. I also find it effective to use music for the daily physical activity, we start out with energetic music, and then move to a more calm relax music. I REALLY liked the idea that someone in the class suggested in order to keep the noise level down, which was having the students be aware that the music must be heard above them. If their voices rise above the music, then the teacher turns the music down. BRILLIANT! I see the extreme value in utilizing song and singing in the classroom and I plan to use it more when I get the opportunity to be back in a classroom.
Discussing the various post modernistic theories last night was an interesting way to share new ideas and to stretch our thinking in order to evaluate our practices in the classroom. I enjoy listening to the experiences of my peers in the class as we can learn a great deal from one another. There are several points that came up last night that interest me and that I plan to look into further. The “Tribe” activities that promote community in the classroom, seems very effective and worthwhile. I did not come across this in either of my practicums, however after listening to others in the class, this program seems to really promote a sense of belonging and togetherness in the classroom. The theme of giving students choices, and centering lessons around the student came up again and again last night. In promoting these sorts of cooperative activities in the classroom, in a sense as educators we are addressing all the theories discussed the chapters, when we involve students in their own learning and facilitate culturally relevant and engaging activities we are promoting, democracy, community, co construction and decolonization in the classroom.
Music and developmental appropriateness:
ReplyDeleteAs a result of last class I was struck by what a wide range of music could be used appropriately in the early childhood classroom. Barring explicitly obscene lyrics or really spooky noises, I can’t see that much needs to be excluded. This leads me to ponder the nature of the relationship between music and developmental appropriateness; perhaps there is something in their relationship that sheds light on the nature of both, and it’s something I’ll keep in mind.
As mentioned one of the articles handed out this week, ‘musical intelligence’ is one of the first ‘intelligences’ to develop. Perhaps musical intelligence development runs far ahead of others, which in my opinion (and I think also mentioned in the other music article) makes exposing young students to a wide variety of music above and beyond typical songs ‘for kids’ is beneficial and enriching for them.
Music can exist in different forms for children, and teaching young students can provide us with an opportunity to extend out notions of what music is.
I was also pleased to read about the multiple benefits of ambient music and casual, everyday use of music and singing. I’m looking forward to creating lots of different playlists to use in the classroom; mellow kindergarten mixes and carpet-time jams.
I had so much fun sharing songs last class. The articles we read about using music in the classroom were fantastic. They reminded me of some songs I had forgotten and made me think about new ways to use the songs. I really love using music in the classroom. It is great for transitions, building literacy skills, involving shyer children to actively participate in the class, and for introducing new units and topics. Music is also a good way for children to express themselves. You could use something as simple as “If you’re happy and you know it” to gage children’s emotions. I also love using action songs as a way to get out some pent up energy. If the children are antsy, action songs are a great way to direct some of that energy into a productive learning activity. Some good artists and resources for songs for children are anything by Charlotte Diamond or Raffi, the internet has lots of good songs (pick ones that are set to a tune you already know), or if you know someone in a local Girl Guide or Scout group they usually have an amazing repertoire of campfire songs that usually translate well into the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThe Penguin Song
Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea?
Take a look at me and a penguin you will see.
Penguins attention!
Penguins salute! (Last time: Penguins dismissed!)
Right wing! (Left wing, right leg, left leg, head, turn.... (add on one movement each time))
I loved everyone’s songs that they shared last week, they were a lot of fun and really catchy (I will admit to having the penguin song stuck in my head for several days).
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny when you see little kids who have glommed on to a song; they are so invested in it and seem to shape their day around the incorporation of the song. I had the opportunity to volunteer with a woman (in a grade one class) who had music on in her class almost constantly; she would actually work some of her lessons around specific songs, or dances. One of pieces that she used often was the children’s operatic style music, “The Magic Flute”. She had the children create story boards based on the characters, locations, concepts of ‘good and evil’ and several other concepts; as well she had the children continue the story for each of the characters, a sort of ‘what happens next’ for each of them. The children really loved to listen to music (she too employed the ‘you can’t be louder then the music in the class’ technique), and it was used as a general class reward; if everyone had been working hard or completed something well and sooner then expected, she was more than happy to put on music and let the children sing along and dance as long as they were heading in a specific direction for a specific reason (like sharpening a pencil or turning in an assignment). I found that in this class, the students really looked foreword to the musical reward during the day.
Another woman that I volunteered with (grade two) played music at the end of every day as a wind-down transition before home time. The songs were all sing-along songs that reflected the interest of the class (we had many, many hockey songs and Canadian patriotism songs as Canada day drew nearer). She told me that on of the reasons she did this was to show that she was aware of the interests of her students, a nice way to wind up the day and give her and her students a chance to relax and just be, without too many expectations.
One sure quality that distinguishes Primary from other grades is classroom singing. Learning songs together with their actions is a lovely way to tie a classroom together and give it particular flavour. I plan to use greeting and parting songs at the beginning and end of the day. I also hope to find or make up songs that serve as memory aids, such as the "days of the week" and "months of the year" songs. These are an easy way to teach what might be important facts yet remain uninteresting to a young mind. Song engages a different part of the human mind; often in old age when other memories fade, songs learned early on come to the foreground again. Singing can unite a class and provide a familiar anchor at different points in the daily education.
ReplyDeleteWhile I see the enjoyment and benefit many experience when we add actions to our songs, I personally have never enjoyed this intrusive addition (sorry!)
I think I suffer from extreme myopic single-task orientation... It's near impossible for me to do two things at once. :)
As a child I was always self-conscious of my inability to sing a song and match the actions to it. What clearly comes naturally for others is embarrassingly laborious for me. Since working in elementary, I have therefore kept my eye out during singing for children who might similarly struggle. I've found that a surprisingly large number of boys seem to struggle with this as well, but they tend to be ignored by the teacher. It doesn't take long before these boys learn to act cynical or silly to deflect attention from the fact that they actually are struggling with the task. I'm not entirely sure what I'll do about this in my own classroom. Probably I'll do what I intend to do with any subject, and teach to those who need the most time and attention. I think it's worth it to draw everyone into these songs, since the flip side of their ability to unite is their power to exclude; it doesn't feel good to be one of the few students who cant get the song and the actions right. This is something to be especially attentive to if we have students with autism in our classroom, as rhythm and coordination can be a point of weakness and frustration.
I wonder if it's worth developing two 'sets' of actions? One set would be extremely basic (say clapping hands at 2 or 3 key points in the song), the other set would be more elaborate and sophisticated. The teacher could give students permission to do either set; this permission-giving might be enogh to take the pressure off of those students who struggle with rhythm or multi-tasking (especially boys- watch for it yourself), while still allowing those more skilful students the pleasure of accomplishing more challenging actions.
It's something I'd like to try out.
-Mark
I also readily enjoyed the music activities from last class. One thing that I created that has been useful to me is a song to introduce myself (and my expectations) to young primary classrooms when I TOC. It's got some actions, and follows a clapping beat where the children repeat after you. I used it in a grade 1 class (I have only started TOCing recently as I just completely my practicum in April) and it worked like a charm! The students really listened to the rules I shared in the song, it got their attention, and it set a fun tone for our day together. If they needed a reminder throughout the day, I was able to sing/rap a line or two, they'd repeat it, and we were back on track!
ReplyDeleteI'll be including this song I wrote in my portfolio so will likely be able to at least share a piece of it with you when we present our stuff. I encourage you all to try to write your own little tune!
I was a bit sleepy during last class; I had a long day prior to class, and I lacked enthusiasm. However, when we started singing and dancing, I found I was instantly energized and engaged. This sounds cliché as I write it, but I think that music is a powerful motivator and can easily manipulate emotions, energy level, and enthusiasm. I know that when I am doing homework, and I am bored, ready to quit or want throw myself off a bridge, listening to music brings my focus back, and enables me to continue. In the kindergarten and grade 1 class I did my practicum in, I like to play music for independent activities. Especially, in the morning, when we were completing printing, art, or math activities was music most effective; I mostly put on Raffi songs. I loved the atmosphere that this created, and all the children would happily work away while the music was on. The music rarely broke their concentration, but created a calm atmosphere. The students often came to school sleepy or late, and this became a nice way for them to transition to the school day. The only song that was distracting was Down by the Bay; all the kids would wait for the part that changed after each verse (a whale with a polka-dot tail), and giggle hysterically. Although I had to turn the music off a couple of times, because the class was over-stimulated, the class was always in a better mood after the music. This helped me enormously, because many children in that class had identified behavioral difficulties; it seemed that the music calmed many of these children down, or at least put them in a good mood.
ReplyDeleteIn the week’s readings I enjoyed the chapter on creating a community. I feel this is the most important thing for teachers to establish in the beginning of the year, because a successful classroom is dependent on this. I think that the first step is for the teacher to assert him or herself as a caring figure in the child’s life. You want to be a good listener, sensitive to the child’s needs, engage in at least one conversation a day with each child, and be happy to see them in the morning. If the child feels that the teacher accepts him or her and is happy that they are there, the child will feel like a welcome member of the class. As for creating this bond between students, I like to use a class art project to bring everyone together. In my final practicum, the first art project was a class tree, where every student dipped their hands in paint and created the leaves on the tree. I used this as a metaphor/analogy for the class; that one leaf was special on its own, but when you put them all together it is becomes different, but is still special in its own way. The class was proud of their art project, and I think the teamwork and analysis helped the class become more of a community.
I really enjoyed hearing all the different songs everyone shared last class! They were all so fun and exciting! I particularly liked the banana song because I feel it is a really quick and fun way to get rid of children’s extra energy before shifting their focus on a particular task or activity. Singing in the classroom is something that I have always loved. I remember when I was in elementary school, singing songs, especially the ones that incorporated actions, would be the highlight of my day because of how much fun I had while singing them. In the class I volunteered in this year, the teacher would play music for the children every morning after circle time in order for them to get out their energy and have some fun which I felt was great. Each day the songs would vary but some of the songs that were played were number songs, songs with actions including head and shoulders, and some were just dance songs that the children could dance freestyle to. I felt that incorporating these songs and dances into the daily routine each day was fantastic because singing and dancing are activities that all children can get involved in regardless of their ability or skills. I could tell easily that all the children were having fun and learning new things. One of my favourite moments that I experienced last year while I was volunteering was getting to watch Charlotte Diamond perform. The whole school gathered in the gym to watch Charlotte perform a bunch of her well-known songs including “I am a Pizza” and “Four Hugs a Day” and I was fortunate enough to have been able to watch it. The whole experience was fantastic! Charlotte’s enthusiasm, actions, and props really captivated not only the children’s attention but the staff’s as well. She sang in three different languages (English, French, and Spanish) as well which made the experience much more exciting as this school was French Immersion. All of these experiences with music really made me realize the power that music has in teaching children a variety of different abilities and skills in cool, fun, and exciting ways!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found the singing activity in class to be quite fun. And it also connected some pieces for me. At the elementary school I volunteer at, every second week, there is a 40 minute Sing-a-long in the gym that has all the classes come to participate in. I see many benefits, exposing children to rhythm, enhancing vocabularies, etc. But the thing that I noticed most was the sense of working together to sing as a group and the element of community that arose from these Sing-a-longs. Younger children were more likely to use hand signals and gestures as they tried to remember the lyrics to the songs (which are posted with a projector on a big screen at the front of the gym). The older children stayed more to the rhythm of the song, were less likely to use hand gestures, but were also there to help the younger children. Whether it came naturally or was taught to them, for the difficult parts or new songs, the older children got louder, when the younger children became lost or confused. Then as the younger children found their places, the older children lowered their voices just enough for everyone’s voice to be heard.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the discussion questions that the different groups brought to light. I found this to be a very interesting way to learn about the topics by thinking about some thought provoking questions. I also found it beneficial to hear about other people’s experiences and how they related to these questions.
The songs and dances at the end of last class were awesome. I left in such a good mood :) The active parts of these classes are by far my favourite.
ReplyDeleteHere are the words to the banana song:
Bananas of the world unite!
Pick bananas, pick pick bananas (x2)
peel bananas, peel peel bananas (x2)
slice bananas, slice slice bananas (x2)
mash bananas, mash mash bananas (x2)
eat bananas, eat eat bananas (x2)
GO BANANAS! GO GO BANANAS! (x2)
Further remarks on song in the classroom - when I did my long practicum, my SA often sang when she wished for either the groups attention, or an individuals. This allowed her voice to carry over the noise in the class (it was a full day K), without having to shout or chase students around. It also, for some reason, also caused all the students to quiet for a minute while they listened to what was being sang. beyond this, it ensured no 'yelling' type behaviour could be perceived in the classroom, and held a gentle note so students were never concerned that they were in trouble. I've used it in my daycare setting now, and it works just as well. People look at you a little funny, but whatever works :)
I love to use songs with kids though. They make for quick 'work your wiggles out' opportunities, where the group can act as one, have some fun, sing and move. they take minutes to do, and can really help to settle down a group and refocus their attention. Songs can be related to material, or not. It all works.
I left last class in a great mood with a smile on my face. When the activity was first explained I wanted to run out the door. I am not a musical person, I mean yes I sing along with the radio when I’m along but to sing in front of my peers was terrifying. After many different suggestions my group decided upon two short songs to sing, we practised a few times and it was show time. Once we were up there and starting singing it became fun. I really enjoyed the song that we all took part in at the end. After class I felt silly that I had been so worried. I actually came home after the class so excited to share my new songs, that I sang them actions and all for my fiancée. He had a great chuckle out of the Banana’s song. I think this lesson provided me an opportunity to push myself outside my comfort zone and I am very grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteI also found the activity where each group discussed a chapter and then presented it to the class very informative and interesting. I really liked the strategy of having us teach each other. This is something that I will use in my future teaching. Each group knew the remainder of the class was relying on them to share their knowledge and we were held accountable. I found the discussion questions especially interesting. I liked how the questions focused us on what that group felt was important and wanted us to think about further.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI trust everyone enjoyed Canada Day long weekend! This week's activities were so informational and fun! I enjoyed getting into small groups and presenting our given chapter to the larger group to discuss the key ideas on the readings. Group work is always a good way to discuss and learn new concepts.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, performing songs with movement made in small groups in front of the larger group was a great way to put music in practice in the classroom. In a primary or in any early learning setting music incorporated with dance and body movement can be used to take a break, so the kids can let out their energy in a positive way. My group did the banana song, which went like this:
Bananas of the world unite! (everyone takes their right hand makes a star in the circle)
Pick bananas, Pick, Pick Bananas (x2) (using both hands make picking out motions in front of body)
Peel Bananas, Peel, Peel Bananas (x2) (using both hands make swirling motions starting up high to as low as you can go)
Slice Bananas, Slice, Slice Bananas (x2) (open up hands and cut air in vertical motions)
Mash Bananas, Mash, Mash Bananas (x2) (put both hands together as if squeezing and mushing something together)
Eat Bananas, Eat, Eat Bananas (x2) (volume goes down for this part, and put hands to mouth and quietly (or whisper) say the line)
GO BANANAS! GO GO BANANAS! (x2) (volume and energy goes highest for this part, and kids are encouraged to go bonkers by jumping up and down!)
Other songs that I think would work great for primary aged kids are Hokey Pokey and If You're Happy And You Know It. I think these songs would be effective, since they require whole body movement and are really up-beat songs! These songs can be used to get the kids energized OR to let them out excessive energy through dance and song form before getting back to work.
As everyone else seems to have noticed, I also found the music portion of our class entertaining and energizing. Music and dance are something I often use with my own students to get them focused and awake. It’s also a great way to work in other skills, such as rhythm, fine motor skills, and coordination. As with the “Penguin Song” we all experienced, an awareness of the body as well as knowledge of “left” and “right” is necessary to follow along with the song. It could be a great teaching tool, but still a fun activity as children learn and become familiar with it. Music is a powerful thing and we can integrate it in so many ways. I’m sure we’ve all heard the songs that can go along with Calendar time; “What’s the Weather” for example, and we were also introduced to some days of the week and months of the year songs. There are clean-up songs, getting ready (for recess/end of the day) songs, and welcome/good morning songs. My SA also uses music as a means of whole language learning—where the students have the song lyrics printed in front of them and read along while they sing along. There are also songs that help students memorize different math facts. I’m sure you’ve all heard it but there’s an addition song:
ReplyDelete“One plus one. Two.
Two plus two. Four.
Three plus three. That’s six for me.
Four plus four. Eight.
Five plus five. Ten—little fingers on my hands.”
I’m sure we could easily find a song to integrate into any subject.
I was talking about this activity with my co-workers (at a restaurant) and it was amazing to see how many of them could still remember songs from their elementary school days. In recalling all the different songs, no one did so with displeasure, but everyone was singing these childish songs and seemed to enjoy them just as much as they did as children.
As music programs continue to dwindle, I think it’s important that we reinforce it in the classroom.
As everyone else seems to have noticed, I also found the music portion of our class entertaining and energizing. Music and dance are something I often use with my own students to get them focused and awake. It’s also a great way to work in other skills, such as rhythm, fine motor skills, and coordination. As with the “Penguin Song” we all experienced, an awareness of the body as well as knowledge of “left” and “right” is necessary to follow along with the song. It could be a great teaching tool, but still a fun activity as children learn and become familiar with it. Music is a powerful thing and we can integrate it in so many ways. I’m sure we’ve all heard the songs that can go along with Calendar time; “What’s the Weather” for example, and we were also introduced to some days of the week and months of the year songs. There are clean-up songs, getting ready (for recess/end of the day) songs, and welcome/good morning songs. My SA also uses music as a means of whole language learning—where the students have the song lyrics printed in front of them and read along while they sing along. There are also songs that help students memorize different math facts. I’m sure you’ve all heard it but there’s an addition song:
ReplyDelete“One plus one. Two.
Two plus two. Four.
Three plus three. That’s six for me.
Four plus four. Eight.
Five plus five. Ten—little fingers on my hands.”
I’m sure we could easily find a song to integrate into any subject.
I was talking about this activity with my co-workers (at a restaurant) and it was amazing to see how many of them could still remember songs from their elementary school days. In recalling all the different songs, no one did so with displeasure, but everyone was singing these childish songs and seemed to enjoy them just as much as they did as children.
As music programs continue to dwindle, I think it’s important that we reinforce it in the classroom.
The readings for the past week were very interesting. I especially enjoyed reading the chapter on documenting. I find that documenting is a great way to keep a record of a students’ work as well as use it as a type of assessment in the early childhood education classroom. Students’ work or drawings are usually photographed with a digital camera and are displayed on bulletin boards or are displayed in their portfolios. A portfolio is a great way to showcase what the students have learned. Picture displays on bulletin boards are also another way to showcase what the students have learned. I remember a kindergarten classroom that I visited; the teacher photographed the students while they were playing at their centers. The teacher asked them what they were doing and wrote it down on a piece of paper. Afterwards, the teacher posted on the bulletin board, the photographs, and typed out paragraphs of what the students were doing during play time. The teacher titled the bulletin board “Learning Stories”. I thought that was a very interesting way to show what the children learned during play time. The teacher told me that when parents came in the classroom during the student led conference, they also found the bulletin board very interesting and informative because it showed what their child was doing in kindergarten. Another thing that I really enjoyed about documenting in the kindergarten classroom is the use of the “Kindergarten Memory Book”. The teacher would collect different school work, art work or photographed what the children did throughout the year and put it in the memory book. The students can then take these books home as a keepsake at the end of the year and also remember what they learned for that year in kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the musical activities last class. The class was really energetic and had a lot of fun. I brought in a lot of instruments because I knew we were going to demonstrate a musical activity. Some groups in our class did not use musical instruments and demonstrated actions to their songs or rhymes. Also, instead of making up their own songs or rhymes, they used popular ECE songs and rhymes. The songs or rhymes that I enjoyed the most were the Penguin song and the Banana song. They were very silly and fun. My group’s musical activity had very little action, but we used many different musical instruments that I brought. We also made up our own song. The process of coming up with the song was very interesting. We first discussed what type of song we were going to sing: for morning routine, for clean up or a good-bye song for the end of the day. We decided that we would sing a song for the morning exercise. Then, we thought of a popular children’s tune, the Farmer in the Dell and made up lyrics for that song. This was a fun activity. It gave me ideas on how I can come up with different songs if I ever teach a kindergarten class. The children would be very engaged and would love to express themselves this way. I enjoy using music in the classroom. Children are really engaged when they can participate and interact in a fun way using songs and games. I like to use music for calendar, for transitions and also when I start teaching a unit. I remember that for my short practicum, I taught a unit in Science for kindergarten and grade ones. For each lesson, I sang a song with actions for the students to sing along as well as imitate the actions. I also wrote the lyrics on chart paper and drew some pictures above the words so that the students who could not read would be able to understand the lyrics. The students really enjoyed singing along. I found that students were really engaged when I started the unit with the song. By the end of the unit, the students had learned all the lyrics to the song that they were really into singing the song and had a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed last class when we got to make and perform songs for the class. I am not a great singer, but I enjoy singing with children and I love having actions to go along with the songs. From my experience with early intervention playgroups, many young children – particularly those with an expressive language delay – can participate with the actions before they are able to sing the words (often early intervention uses ASL or modified baby sign). In my practicum we had a boy with autism in our class who was pretty much non-verbal. He loved the Wiggles and would really connect with the other students when we sang and danced together.
ReplyDeleteFrom the readings I was interested in the paragraph in the Documenting chapter that discussed Documentation as Colonization where it discusses the recent widespread popularity and acceptance of Reggio Emilia and how it is leading to teachers setting out to “Reggio their program” (p 24). I saw this when I was choosing a preschool. Most that were play-based were quick to tell me they are “Reggio inspired” – even ones that had practices that seemed very un-Reggio to me. I often felt like this was more of a buzz-word sales pitch than a true reflection of the center’s philosophy and approach to ECE. In using something like documentation, we must ensure that we aren’t doing it simply because it is part of being Reggio, but because it is “contextually relevant”.
I very much enjoyed having to opportunity to share songs that could be used in a classroom environment. Not only was it entertaining but I was also able to gain some song ideas that I could use for future work as a TOC. I have already had the chance to sub the last few months and found it sometimes challenging to get all the students sitting crisscross on the carpet ready to listen. I made up a little rap to get their attention at the carpet.
ReplyDeleteI begin the rap saying: "I want to see you sitting..."
students join in: "crisscross applesauce,
hands in your lap,
looking at....
students say louder: Mr/Ms.______________________!"
All classes I worked in loved this rap and were quite as soon as it was done, worked like magic!
Its amazing how well students can react to songs versus just saying, "Its time to clean up". Songs give you the advantage of getting students attention with catchy lyrics they join in on to grab their attention of give them warning about transition. During centre time in my practicum classroom, my SA and I used a clean up song to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". It was more effective at getting students to clean up by yelling on top of their discussion and playing. As soon as the first student heard me sing the song they joined in and began cleaning up, the song spread throughout the room with out me raising my voice.
"Tic-toc goes the clock,
time to stop our play,
clean up, clean up,
put everything away."
Last class was difficult for me to participate because I had my entire mouth frozen after having a dental procedure done, so I could not really talk to others and interact much. I enjoyed doing the questions in groups and answering the other groups' questions as well.I realize now how important it is to build a community in your clasasroom, where all the children feel accepted. If children do not feel comfortable with their teachers and peers they will not be likely to participate in the activities. Open dialogue is really important to ensure everyone is welcome to share their ideas. I also have been reflecting on the importance of teaching children how to accept cultural differences among their peers. In the high school I work at there is a high Aboriginal population, and I wish the other students could learn and understand their traditions and habits. Instead, most of these children participate in a "First Nation Program" and they are not part of the regular classes.
ReplyDeleteAs for the songs, I am sad I did not get to participate in that activity. I love singing with children, and singing has been very important in my work with special needs children. It is amazing how children, at a very young age, can learn the songs lyrics and develop their language skills through singing. My daughter, who is a toddler, can not speak many words yet. However, she can "fill in the blanks" of the most popular songs, such as "The wheels on the bus", "ABC", etc. For young children who are learning how to count I recommend the 5 little ducks song:
"Five little ducks went out one day, over the hills and far away. Mama duck says quack quack quack quack, but only 4 little ducks came back.
Four little ducks...
Three...
Two...
One...
Sad mother duck (kids love it when you make a crying face)>> all the ducks come back after she quacks.... I love this song!!!
“I’m not gonna lie… I did not get the reading done for this class. So having each group discuss one of the chapters was really helpful. I’ll do the reading in the next couple of weeks so that I have a true sense of what exactly people were talking about. It helped me catch up on what we were supposed to have read that week and also generated a lot of interesting discussions in many different areas. I especially enjoyed the ideas that were brought up and discussed in the democratising section. The one that really made me think is… “is the majority fair?”, I know that this is something that I will be cognisant of when I’m a teacher because I remember more than one teacher that I had while growing up that used this method to decide what we were doing frequently.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite part of the class this week was by far the music portion. I think that music is an important part of education, and life, and should be integrated into daily classroom activities. Even if it is just a small amount, words or no words, I think that the children appreciate it. Many of us have probably had experience with music in the classroom when we were younger but it is always useful to play around with it as adults as well because we get a renewed sense of what the children are experiencing- which is always useful. I’d really like to learn more action songs, or other songs, to use in the classroom. I’ve been in a couple classrooms now that have used music in the calendar time, singing about the days of the week, the months of the year and even the weather; one of the classes also played classical music during silent reading time. I like this last idea especially because it provides a little background noise but doesn’t distract the readers with catchy words to sing along with.”
I greatly enjoyed the songs today. One of the ones that I hope to include in my future lessons is the penguin song. What a great way to dismiss students at the end of the day! Getting the students up and moving after a long day of school work seems like a nice way to signal the transition to home time. Songs are so useful in the classroom setting, and are very versatile. They can be used to teach, or pre-teach, vocabulary, they can introduce students to the concept of rhyme, they can teach reading skills, and they are a fun way to regain student attention after a period of time.
ReplyDeleteIn the preschool class that I occasionally work in, we sing a song at the beginning of the day, often a good morning type song or a fun song to get the students attention on us, and then we sing a song at the end. The ending song is quite cute and it involves the teacher starting the song about what a happy day s/he had and each student in turn gets to say what kind of day they had; the students are also able to say whether their day was good or bad in either English or French. It is very fun to see the students try to use the new languages that they are learning and to hear about how they saw their day.
I really enjoyed singing the songs in class. My practicum was in an intermediate classroom, therefore, I have had limited exposure to singing in the classroom. I would love to one day teach in a primary classroom and I absolutely will include singing. I will make note of all the songs that were demonstrating in the classroom for future use. I recently spent a day in a kindergarten classroom and the teacher used song for every transition during the day. There was a song that alerted the children that it was time to come and sit at the carpet. There was a clean-up song. There was even a song that set out the expectations for walking in the hallway before the students went outside.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the assigned paper I decided to make note of the all the songs mentioned for future use, here they are:
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider
• ABC song
• Old Macdonald had a Farm
• The More We get Together
• Over the River and Through the Woods
• Day’s of the Week song
• Five Little Ducks went Swimming one Day
• This Old Man
• Skip to my Lou
• Mary Wore Her Red Dress
• Mama Don’t Allow
• Old Dan Tucker
• At the Zoo
• The Hokey Pokey
• Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
• There’s a Hole in the Bucket
• There’s a Spider in my Backpack
• Baby Buluga
• Frog Went a Courtin
• The Wheels on the Bus
• My Favourite Things
• Whistle a Happy Tune
• High Hopes
• If you’re Happy and you Know it
• There was an Old Lady
• Take me out to the Ball Game
• Octopus’s Garden
• I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing
• Down by the Bay
The authors link singing in the classroom with: learning language, emergent literacy, expanding vocabulary, critical thinking, problem solving, and creative expression and language play. The authors discuss how singing is enjoyable for children and they are learning without even realizing it. They can participate in singing long before they are actually able to read. Songs can also introduce new words that children may not have heard before. Learning the new word in the context of a song will make sense to a child and allow them to internalize the meaning. Another interesting experience for children is to alter a song like, “The Wheels on the Bus”. Some suggestions made by the authors were: “The Children on the Playground” or “The Animals on the Farm”. The students could make up their own lyrics to this old time favourite tune. Singing in the classroom provides an opportunity to merge music and literacy development in a fun and engaging way.
Sorry for the late post, but I was away prior to June 30th so I could not post before leaving.
ReplyDeleteBuilding Community
I really enjoyed the conversation about chapter 20, which was on community building. My passion in teaching a classroom revolves around building a classroom community so that each student feels they can succeed within the learning environment. If students are safe and secure within the environment they will feel comfortable and are more likely to try new things. To help establish a classroom community there is a program that can be used called TRIBES. My school associate and I used TRIBES to establish a classroom community and used the activities on a weekly basis, which not only helped children succeed but also decreased behaviour difficulties. Some activities that we used were things such as temperature checks. This was done each morning or afternoon and the students rate their feelings with temperature from zero to ten. Ten represented a great day and they would state why they felt this way. Another activity we often did was talked about “beefs” or problems that children would like to talk about and the class would brainstorm possible ways to resolve the problem. This was a great way for students to learn how to talk about their problems and learn problem-solving strategies. I think that creating a classroom community should be a priority for teachers starting from the first class of the year.
Music in the classroom
I thought that sharing songs was a activity. I did my practicum in an intermediate class and there were not many musical activities that were included in my lessons. I found that I learned some new great songs that could be used with younger, as well as older children. One person in my collaborative group also completed their practicum in an intermediate class, but had written an introductory song that she could sing to primary students to introduce rules of the classroom. This made me realize that a teacher can really use music to teacher anything. To ensure that music reaches all learners, for example those who have English as a Second Language or who have auditory challenges, a teacher can incorporate visuals and hand movements so that everyone has a chance of participating. I really enjoyed the songs that included actions and allowed the children to move around and use their bodies. What surprised me during the readings is that music fosters cognitive learning (Schellenberg et al., 2007, as cited in Tompkins et al., 2011). This is something that I had not yet considered.
I found it very helpful to go through the chapters in class together. It is great to mix things up sometimes and do something different. I find it useful to read through a chapter with a group and listen to everyone’s separate opinions about what they think the author is focusing on. It is amazing the information you skim over or do not think about until someone else points it out to you. I also found it enjoyable to listen to what the other groups had to say about each chapter. It is great to hear stories that my classmates share about their experiences in their own classrooms or during their PDP practicum. I have not yet done PDP so it is great to hear the different experiences from everybody, and it makes me excited to start PDP soon.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I was unable to stay for the song part of class because I had to go into work to finish up important paper work. However, as a swimming instructor I am constantly singing songs with my students. During classes with babies and their parents we sing “The Wheels on the Bus” to get the babies in the water and warmed up. I love to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” when the parents are getting their children to do back floats. When I teach children aged 3-7 we sing “The Hokey-Pokey” to get warmed up. The kids love this song and are always keen to join in and splash around. I find that songs are a great way to get children involved and motivated to work.
I really enjoyed the songs that everyone performed that day in the class. My favorite was the penguin song! I loved the actions that went along with it. I find that using songs in the classroom especially with young children works on a variety of levels. It can help get kids attention, calm and soothe them, get them excited, it’s a great ice breaker etc, its an overall awesome teaching tool! “Music is a component of cultural identity, and singing is the most basic musical expression” (Smith 2006, p.28; Naughton & Williams 2004). Classrooms today are so diverse, and the songs that we include in our classrooms should reflect that diversity. I think it would be a nice activity for the class to learn songs that were representative of the different cultures that are in the class. Students can teach songs that they may sing at home to the other students of the class. This can turn into a fun activity that creates a greater sense of community within the classroom. An activity like this can be easily fit into a unit covering the countries of the world, multiculturalism etc. Through an activity like this one, children have the opportunity to learn about “similarities and differences within and between different cultural groups and build more positive attitudes towards people from other cultures (Halfeck 2007; Naughton& Williams 2004 p. 197). Children will also feel valued as contributors to the classroom activity, this is a great way to help promote self-esteem to students.
ReplyDeleteI really loved hearing everyone’s songs last night. The Banana and Penguin songs were two songs that I had never heard before but I can see how students would really enjoy singing it as they are fun and catchy. The songs have also made me realize how uncoordinated I am especially during the Penguin song. I think that when I introduce this song to the students, they should see how I may struggle with some of the actions. I don’t think this is something to hide or be ashamed of as I think it’s important especially for those of them that are not very coordinated themselves. I want the students to see that nobody is perfect and that even their teacher is bad at some things. I think it would be beneficial for the students to see me struggling so that they learn that even if they ever face any difficulties, they should not give up and instead keep on trying.
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea of using music in the classroom. I think the only time I use music in the classroom is during calendar time and it is usually only in the kindergarten or grade one classes. A classmate suggested using music as a means of controlling the noise level during their work time which I thought was a great idea. She suggested having a variety of cds, such as Raffi or any other kid’s songs, African drumming, classical, or even a cd on the songs of nature as the music can ultimately set the mood for the classroom. Because I am a person that needs silence when I am working or studying, I had never considered the fact that lots of people are the opposite and actually need some kind of noise in the background in order for them to be productive.
Music is a wonderful way to reach children (and adults).. Burnaby school district is one of the few districts in the province that has music specialists in the schools. I am lucky enough to have a very good music teacher at my school who provides my students with a good quality music program. When I previously taught special ed at the high school level, I recruited practicum students from the Cap. College music therapist training program to come a do a music therapy program with my students. Each student participated two or three times per week and their progress was amazing. Students began making more eye contact, some began to copy sequences on instruments, and a few even began to sing. Music has been shown to lower the heart rate and relieve stress, and there there is even data to show that classical music helps to form neural pathways in the brains of infants. Most of all, music is enjoyable. I think this is evident not only from the enthusiastic participation in the music portion of our class, but also from the feedback on the blog and our desire to share all our musical ideas.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of building musical instruments as a class. Our music teacher had always wanted a marimba, and recruited parents to help her build one. This huge and beautiful instrument is proudly displayed in her music room and is used throughout the year. Students can easily make drums, shakers, rain-sticks, or many other instruments with relatively inexpensive materials. Then a class concert can ensue.
Children love music; they get easily engaged and attracted to rhythm and noise. Singing and dancing is also a fun way to get the students moving and working on their motor skills. A teacher had told me before that she did a multicultural week where each student in the classroom brought in someone from their family to share with the class either a song or a dance that was significant of their culture. Even though the students did not understand many of the languages being presented, they had a blast just listening to the music and watching the dances. Specifically, a grandmother from Japan went in and presented a Japanese song and after she was done, all the students were chanting “Again! Again!” because they enjoyed it so much. This is a great way to parent involvement and getting the community closer together. It also makes each student feel important seeing their own culture being represented.
ReplyDeleteBuilding musical instruments is a great idea for an arts and crafts project. Each student can build a different instrument and then they can exchange with each other and try out the instrument. Allowing the students to explore on their own and create their own song will be appealing to them.
Music is a lovely addition to a learning environment. It is another way to relate to the children's interest. Listening to music can teach children about rhythm, beats, different vocals, the different music instruments, cultures and genres. Music can also motivate children to move. For example it is a great "energizer" if you notice your class to be bored, sleepy or out of focus. It is also another great way to bring everybody together and have some fun.
ReplyDeleteIf the resources are available, the children can also explore with different music instruments to create their own songs with vocals or without. Overall music is a great addition to a classroom and a great to get the children active and learning.