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Week 2: Grade 22/23/2020 For a grade 2, the Ontario Arts Curriculum states that in terms of pitch, the students should be focusing on melodic patterns and using notes from pentatonic scales as well as engaging and learning the interval of an octave through high DO. Similar to last week, the lesson will begin with a simple entrance or hello song. These activities are used to get students immediately engaged with the class. Similar to sports, warm ups are important to any activity. Hello songs are great ways to get the students moving as well, getting the kinesthetic brain ready for learning. Here is a great video demonstrating some hello songs: For this lesson, the song "Frère Jacques" will be the focal point of the lesson. It must be noted that the English translation "Are You Sleeping?" can also be used but I believe the exposure to the French language is a great way to introduce students to a different cultural perspective. The reason for the song selection is that when focused on the pitch, it utilizes many familiar pitches that the students are accustomed to while perhaps challenging them rhythmically. Here is the Solfege for the song: Note: The final two bars with the bells ringing is a fantastic opportunity to try out different intervals and perhaps work up to the octave. The low SOL can also be put up the octave. The last two bars are also fantastic ways to introduce the textural and harmonic concept of a bordun, which is an element found in the grade 2 section of the Ontario Arts Curriculum. Here is a good video explaining borduns: Another element found in the Curriculum for grade 2 is the half or whole note. The last two bars of each phrase have half notes, with the first phrase being preceded by many quarter notes making it an effective transition. The Curriculm uses the "tah-ah" sound but "two-oo" could also be used. The dynamic expressions and articulation concepts of legato and staccato are also key in at the grade 2 level. Again, the last two bars are great opportunities to have the students articulate the onomatopoeias softly or loudly. Legato can be introduced by telling the kids to have long bells while the opposite staccato, can used "short" bells. Here is my best attempt at a lesson featuring the song and the concepts found above:
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Week 1: Grade 12/13/2020 The emphasis of this lesson will be placed on the "pitch" portion in the grade 1 section of the Ontario Arts Curriculum. Pitches we will be learning / practicing: SOL, MI, LA For this lesson there is also an assumption of the most basic concepts of pitch and singing. To start off, an intro song will be played as the students walk into class. This song will engage students immediately with the pitches being taught (SOL, MI, LA) while forcing them to listen in a way. This song is done through call and response, with questions being asked to students. The exact song does not matter, as long as their are questions, and some theme of 'hello' is being echoed. Here is a good example of an intro song using rudimentary pitches (Skip to 2:38) Now that an intro has been accomplished and the kids are focused. The pitches SOL and MI will be sung with various words and actions to go along with it. After that, a short song will be sung using these pitches specifically. In this particular case, I will use "Apple Tree" because of its simplicity. Some other good options for songs with a minor third as the focus are "Rain, Rain, Go Away / It's Raining, It's Pouring" (especially if its raining that day) and "This Old Man" (this one requires a few more pitches like FA, RE and DO) Note: The Final note was changed from DO to MI to fit the grade 1 level. Here is a link to a website describing the song with a circle activity to go along with it. https://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/apple-tree-apple-tree-circle-game/ This activity would perhaps be better suited to an older age group because of the dropping of the hands (younger children may not have high self-control) I feel as though this is a good song to sing in the classroom, because although the suggestion of violence at the cadence may be problematic, it can be humorous if delivered correctly. In addition, the song focuses on the natural environment, which is also found in the Ontario Arts Curriculum. It would not be difficult to discuss nature and its beauty with children during the lesson. Here is an example of how I would teach this skill (Please forgive the minor hiccups) |