Rehearsal 2, Grades 3-6

Discuss good posture:

1. Feet shoulder width apart, (demonstration of how much easier it is to push someone over if their feet are together)
2. Knees not locked,
3. Hips in line,
4. Chest high, (raise hands and lower them, keeping chest in the same place, or attach “string” to caved-in chest and pull up on it)
5. Shoulders back and down,
6. Head in line.

Your instrument is your entire body. It should be relaxed, not rigid.
Sit or stand tall while singing.

Fall Repertoire for Grades 3-6

Songs for Oct. 3 Hymn Sing, Introduced Aug. 31, 2010

1. The Gift of Music, 3 part round (2:20) Lori Hope Baumel
2. Jesus, Lover of My Soul, (S/A; soprano has melody) Church Hymnal #375 (3:40) Charles Wesley
3. Surrounded by Love (2 part as written) (1:20) Jerry Estes, sign language on chorus
4. Our God Reigns (unison on verses, S/A on chorus with echo) Songs of Faith and Praise (2:50) Leonard E. Smith, Jr.
5. Dem Bones (S/A; alto has melody) (2:10) Spiritual

Lesson Plan 2, Grades 1-2

Objectives

The students will discover higher and lower notes and place them on body on staff.
The students will discover one and two sounds on a beat and read them as “ta” or “titi.”

Materials

16 hearts on board with pointer stick
Story books set to tunes (Old MacDonald, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, 10 in the Bed, Little Teapot, 1,2 Buckle My Shoe)

Procedure

1. “Hey, Hey, Look at Me” – C copy T by tapping the beat on a part of their body (pull ears, blink eyes, tap toe, etc.)
2. Clap “the way the words go” catching every sound that comes out of your mouth. T write up marks under hearts. Hook the stems together if they share a heart. Take away hearts and read. Present “ta” and “titi.”
3. Discover higher and lower pitches in singing voice. Place on shoulders or waist. Write above or below a line written.
4. “Villainous Vernon”
   Low voice: You must pay the rent (3x) today.
   High voice: I can’t pay the rent (3x) today.
   Medium voice: I’ll pay the rent (3x) today!
5. S gather around on floor for story time. T sits in chair singing books, pointing to words.
6. Sing goodbyes, place so/mi on body. S solo echoes.

Lesson Plan 1, Grades 1-2

Objectives

The students will demonstrate the steady beat and relate it to hearts on board and follow the speed of conductor.
The students will speak musical contrasts of fast/slow, loud/soft, and high/low.
The students will distinguish between speaking and singing voice.
The students will vocalize in head voice.

Materials

20 hearts on board with pointer stick and chalk
Signs: fast/slow, loud/soft, and high/low
Bean bag
Train whistle
Pointer stick
Puppet

Procedure

1. 1.T lead S in room to form a circle, T keep a steady beat on legs, asking C to copy.
   Engine, Engine, Number Nine,
   Going down Chicago Line.
   If that train should jump the track,
   Do I get my money back?
   Yes. No. Maybe so!
2. Pass train whistle around. Ask if any C know what it is. C volunteer to blow it.
3. Put hand on heart, discuss heartbeat or pulse. Ask S if their heart ever goes fast or slow. When? (exercising or sleeping)
4. T point to hearts on board and C tap legs for every time T points to a heart. S pointers with pointer stick.
5. Show musical contrast sign Fast/Slow with S sign holders
6. Loud/Soft: “Engine #9″ getting louder and softer in poem as if train is passing.
7. High/low sign, ask if I am using my speaking voice or singing voice (demo on Engine #9).
8. Combine all three signs, three S choose side. Ask S what signs I would use if I wanted to put a baby to sleep on “Engine.”
9. S stand. Throw soft ball to S making a high animal sound. Ask C to throw the ball back, copying my sound.
10. Puppet (mouse) C name. Ask C to guess which signs the mouse will use to speak. Puppet goes around to ask each child’s name.
11. T sing to C individually, “My name is Mrs. Good,” and C respond, “My name is Ernie.”
12. Sing good-byes.

Education Through Music Workshop

Education Through Music is a language-based program in which song, movement and interactive play promote emotional, social, cognitive and musical development. Mary Helen Richards originated this program, a spin off of the Kodaly Method found primarily in the western states. Through her work the Richards Institute was formed, see website: educationthroughmusic.com.

Introductory Workshop – $65.00 with Randy McChesney
Friday, September 24, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Saturday, September 25, 9:00am – 12:30pm

Location: Second Floor Lecture Hall
The R.R. Smith Center for History and Art
20 South New Street, Downtown Staunton, VA

This is a class for educators, parents and any individual dedicated to the development of children.
Registration: www.educationthroughmusic.com
Course coordinator: Rebecca Allison, 540.294.0979 beccaletsplay@gmail.com
Registration by the first of September is recommended. Make checks payable to the Richard’s Institute to confirm a place in the class.

Education Through Music Workshop

Education Through Music is a language-based program in which song, movement and interactive play promote emotional, social, cognitive and musical development. Mary Helen Richards originated this program, a spin off of the Kodaly Method found primarily in the western states. Through her work the Richards Institute was formed, see website: educationthroughmusic.com.

Introductory Workshop – $65.00 with Randy McChesney
Friday, September 24, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Saturday, September 25, 9:00am – 12:30pm

Location: Second Floor Lecture Hall
The R.R. Smith Center for History and Art
20 South New Street, Downtown Staunton, VA

This is a class for educators, parents and any individual dedicated to the development of children.
Registration: www.educationthroughmusic.com
Course coordinator: Rebecca Allison, 540.294.0979 beccaletsplay@gmail.com
Registration by the first of September is recommended. Make checks payable to the Richard’s Institute to confirm a place in the class.

Advice from Larry Nickel

This year at music camp, we had the opportunity to hear from an expert music teacher. I asked Larry what advice he would give me as to where I should go from here to become better equipped musically to serve my community. He gave these suggestions:
“Step one: – form a good chamber choir – audition carefully, do quality repertoire and begin performing outside the confines of the Mennonite community (get out of the churches and into the big city, take them to serious choral festivals like ACDA conventions). Collaborate with choral superstars in your area.”
We want our children to learn by doing, so it makes sense that “experience” is how we teachers will also develop our skills. Also from the Marie Stultz book which came in the mail today: “first, develop your own vocal skills.” I discovered she has a resource “Choral Excellence for Treble Voices” which gives repertoire recommendations, another tip Larry Nickel emphasized for success in choral groups.

Confidence and Humility

A concept I’ve been thinking about recently is “growing equally in confidence and humility.” We need humility because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Truly, He is the Source for our giftings, abilities, and opportunities to develop them. When we recognize our need of Him, we can have boldness and confidence before God as we sing for His glory. We are secure in the way He made us and it gives us joy to use our talents for Him. It is this tension between, “Without me you can do nothing” vs. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” that singers need in order to point others to God in worship. This growth is what I want to build in my singers.

Bel Canto: “Beautiful Singing”

I have been reflecting on how to teach children to sing beautifully…but first, what is the desired end product? Besides the basic posture, breathing and openness principles, there seems to me three different sounds that children’s voices can have:
1. Vienna Choir Boys and Korean Children’s Choir, who sound opera-ish to me.
2. The African Children’s Choir and in general, the contemporary Christian children’s style, also used on the CD “Teaching Kids to Sing” which sound yell-ish to me.
3. The pure, free tone of Libera, where I would also categorize Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir and Pacific Mennonite Children’s Choir, which is my unquestioned vote.
Maybe the initial step in developing a choir is listening to these good examples and establishing positive models for how we want our children to sound. Do any of you disagree with my vote, or know of other children’s choirs we should check out?

Educational Goals

In small schools, grades are often combined to form music classes. In this multi-grade setting, I begin each year with the basics to provide a framework for the younger ones. I have rhythmic and melodic goals that I want the oldest grade to have mastered by the time they leave in May. This approach has worked well for me and I offer it to those who have a similar “revolving door” situation. Here are the learning goals I have for my students:

GRADE 1-3 CLASS

Rhythmic objectives: Duple and triple meter (identifying accents as falling on beat one with patterns of 2 or 3), Simple and compound meter (beats subdivided into 2 or 3), Read and write (from dictation) “ta” (quarter note), “titi” (eighth notes written linked together or separated), “rest” (quarter rest), “tie” and “two” (half note), “three-ee-ee” (dotted half note), “toe-oe-oe-oe” (whole note). Many hymns are solely comprised of these rhythms and children will be excited to discover they can read the rhythms of these hymns.

Melodic objectives: Read and write (from dictation) the pentatonic scale (do, re, mi, so, la, do’) and place on the body. “Jesus Loves Me” and “What Can Wash Away My Sin” are examples of songs that are limited to these pitches, as well as numerous folk songs.

Form and Expression: Identify parts of a song as same or different, Dynamics p and f, Inner hearing: sing with stop/go sign.

GRADE 4-7 CLASS

Rhythmic objectives: Understand the meaning of any time signature that appears in a hymnal and conduct the appropriate pattern, Read and write (from dictation) “tika-tika” (sixteenth notes), “tam” (dotted quarter note), “syn-co-pa” (eighth, quarter, eighth), “ti-tika” (eighth, sixteenths), “tika-ti” (sixteenths, eighth), “tim-ka” (dotted sixteenth, sixteenth), “tik-um” (sixteenth, dotted sixteenth), “tri-pe-let” (triplets), “hold” (fermata).

Melodic objectives: Read and write all pitches in the major scale with handsigns (low la, low so, then adding fa and ti). Discover “la” as tonal center for minor keys, identify key signatures so that given any hymn, the student can name the key and beginning solfege note. This also requires the ability to read line and space notes on the treble clef.

Composition: This year my 7th graders each wrote a Scripture song. I wrote a harmony line and they sang their songs for a Sunday evening program. This gave them a sense of accomplishment and joy!