Stretching Your Song Literature

Happy Wednesday everyone!  This is Amy from Music a la Abbott.  I hope that you're having a WONDERFUL fall!

I'm finding myself in a little uncharted water this year.  You see, in my district we have a rotational specials schedule.  I have been fortunate for the past 13 years to have a 3 day rotation.  This means I see my students every third day.  When I opened my current school, 4 years ago, all classes were on that rotation, with the exception of 1st grade which had four rounds and was at a 4-day rotation.  While not ideal, I've been able to get most of my concepts into my 4-day rotation classes. Last year we had FIVE 2nd grade classes.  I was able to talk my teammates into spliting one of the classes into fourths so we could stay on a 4-day rotation.  This year?  Not so lucky, both my 1st and 3rd grade classes are on a 5-day rotation.  UGH!  And everyone else is now on a 4 day rotation.  Double UGH! So, essentially my kids get music once a week.  I know many of you have dealt with this or are living this too.

So, this has made me really challenge my song choices to teach different concepts.  There are certain songs that are gems that are very specific to a concept or grade level, for example "See Saw".

This is the ideal first grade song, perfect for teaching ta ti-ti and so-mi.

What I'm finding I really need to look at are songs that I can bring back in later years to teach another concept that is too hard for the current grade level that they are in.  The folks in my level 2 Kodály class at CSU last summer learned that I call this "double dipping".

Let me give a few examples:

Miss, Miss:

Looking at this song, rhythmically it's great for first grade because it's just ta ti-ti and rest.
Melodically, if we look at just the first two measures it's only so-mi, so again, GREAT for first grade. When we look at the third and fourth measures melodically there is do, re, mi & so.   For this reason, I'm going to use it in first grade to read the entire song rhythmically (no solfége) and then isolate the first two measures to practice so-mi in a new song.  Then in second grade I can bring it back again when we learn re in one of two ways: as a mystery song in the practice stage or as a preparation song.  But when I bring it back in second grade I'm elimating a step that is sometimes time consuming: teaching new song literature.  Furthermore, this is a great choice to bring back because it has a game that is always a "hit" and a favorite with my students.  The more memorable of a game the better the chance that the students will remember it.  You can find the game direction on my blog by clicking here.

Let's look at another example, "Land of the Silver Birch"

While this song doesn't have a game the kids (or at least mine) LOVE it.  It's great for low la and ti-tika, which I teach in 3rd grade.  And I love that the ending, which can also be used as a vocal ostinato (or an ostinato on an instrument) uses both low la and ti-tika.  Then I bring it back in 4th grade for syncopa.  I know some people teach syncopa earlier, in second grade.  Which, if that is the case, it would still work for multiple grade levels.  This is also great in 3rd grade to use with The Canoe Song, as a partner song.

And, for me, the Canoe song is another one that I bring back in 4th grade.  I use it in 3rd grade for low la (first two measures) and low sol (last two measures) but then it's so great for syncopa because of how that rhythmic element happens the first two beats of every measure.

Let's look at one more example: Cross Town

This I use in 4th grade when we look at anacrusis, especially ones that last longer than one beat.  Then I bring it back in 5th grade when we learn ti.  The game is super easy: concentric circles, facing a partner.  When you sing "Cross town" you cross your arms on your chest on the word "cross" then pat your legs on the word "town".  After that it's basically patty-cack with clap own hands-clap right hands with partner-clap own hands-clap left hands with partner.  Now, once your students have that you add stepping to the left everytime you sing "Cross Town". Also, make up additional verses that rhythm with numbers. ..  so the second time it would be "when Billy was two, he learned to tie his shoe," etc. until the number "ten" when you sing "cross town, when Billy was ten, he did it all again. Hey, olley, olley, hey olley, olley, half past ten, the end!"  (the end= sol,-do)

So this is a little way that I'm looking at my song literature: what can I bring back the following year to teach the next year's concept so that I save class time not teaching all new song literature. I would like to say, however, that I think it's important to have a balance of recycled/stretched song literature and new song choices.  Students love the new songs! :)

Have a great week!

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NCCAS standards and Kodaly-inspired teaching

Hi everyone! It's Aileen from Mrs. Miracle's Music Room. This past summer, when the final draft of the music standards from the NCCAS (National Coalition for Core Arts Standards) came out, I was swamped with work teaching Kodaly Level I at DePaul University, and just didn't have time to delve into them. I did, however, hear a decent amount of concerns from other music teachers, so as soon as my work cleared up, I sat down and studied them.

Like others, I did have concerns. I read several blog posts about concerns (like the posts here, here, and here, although I should note that these blog posts are written about the draft, not the final standards; a newer blog post about the final draft can be read here.)

I could write about my concerns here, but honestly, since the standards are final, and I'm a half-glass-full kind of girl, I'd rather move onto the acceptance phase and talk about how we can use them in a Kodaly-inspired classroom. I am not required at this point to align my lessons with the national standards (as my school district uses Ohio's learning standards) but I decided to align my lessons with the standards as a way to really start to understand them, and I can honestly say they've made my lessons more deliberate and creative. So that's a good thing, right?!?! Here are three strategies for understanding the standards within a Kodaly context:

#1: Read and write out the standards

Okay, I know, this seems simple, but I have to tell you, it took me longer than I thought I would to find the website, and finally, the new standards. I was finally able to view the new standards here. I also customized a handbook for K-6 music here.

Even after reading the standards, though, it was hard for me to really comprehend what exactly they meant until I typed up a list for each grade level and each strand. Just like writing out folk songs for retrievals help us learn that folk song, writing or typing out the standards by grade level and strand helped me wrap my mind around each standard.

#2: Align your lessons to the standards

Although I am not required to use the standards at this point, I did think it would be good for my understanding and my teaching if I began aligning. I've done this in two ways--by simply including a check box on my lessons for creating, performing, responding, and connecting, and by including those words along with the verbs beneath those words (such as analyze and interpret.) Here is a shot of the simpler alignment; I included checkboxes (under "forms" in Word), but you could also just bold or italicize the appropriate words on your lesson plan:

And here is an example of the more detailed alignment:

By looking specifically at each of my lessons and how it is aligned to the standards, it has helped me not only understand the standards better, but make small changes to my lesson to better align (more on that in a minute!)

#3: Focus on your classroom, not the classrooms of others

One of the criticisms of the standards is that they do not use the word "sing." Of course, as Kodaly-inspired educators, this is a bit frightening, as singing is such a focus of what the students do. Someone else who is not comfortable with singing might interpret the standards to mean, "Oh, great! I don't have to sing at all with the kids!" Yes, that could happen...but don't concern yourself with others. Think about how your lessons align with the standards. Instead of using the word "sing," they used the word "perform," so all of your students' singing can fit perfectly within the framework of the standards.  If you look at the standards through the lens of what you can add to your lessons, instead of what you have to do to vastly change your lessons, or how others might be interpreting the language, the standards become much more accessible.

Here are three strategies for using the standards to improve your teaching:

#1: Make small changes

Once I sat down and looked at how my current lessons aligned with the new standards, I realized that often, there are minor adjustments I can make to my lesson to address some of the standards. For example, in first grade, it says in the create strand that students should, with limited guidance, "use iconic or standard notation and/or recording technology to document and organize personal music ideas." After students work with popsicle stick manipulatives to dictate rhythmic patterns with ta and ti-ti, why not have them create their own pattern? When working with solfa manipulatives to dictate melodic patterns, why not have them create their own pattern, then try to sing that pattern? It could take just a few extra minutes but could give students ownership with the process.
There are opportunities for alignment, making small changes, throughout all of the standards. Whether it be giving students a list of known songs to decide which they'd like to perform (and then explain why), or after listening to Haydn's "Surprise Symphony" for ta and ti-ti, having students describe how the music sounds, the standards are full of opportunities for reflective and thoughtful discussions, as well as opportunities to give students choices.

#2: Think in terms of student-friendly language

I think one of the biggest downfalls of the standards is its use of somewhat scholarly language. For example, in first grade, it says that students, with limited guidance, should "demonstrate and discuss personal reasons for selecting musical ideas that represent expressive intent."
Um...what?
I had to read that a few times over to understand what it meant, and I'm in my sixteenth year of teaching music. I really wish the committee had included simpler language for those music teachers just starting out. I wish they had thought about "student-friendly language," a term that I have often heard in my district.
The essential questions are also very wordy and at times, confusing. I found that going through them one by one and thinking about how I would word the questions to students was a very helpful process (I created this Essential Questions set with student-friendly language for others AND for me!)
Lastly, the cornerstone assessment they've included on the website has many good ideas about how to transfer the standards into reality...but they are also, in my opinion, complicated and overwhelming. I've always been taught to keep assessments focused and simple, and the assessments they included seem like they are trying to do way too many things. However, since I am a half-glass-full kind of girl, I'm going to look at the ideas and songs presented and make them my own. I love the idea of giving students a list of known songs and having them choose to perform one, then explain why they chose it. I love the fact that the assessment calls for students to sing on pitch with proper performance etiquette. There are a lot of great things that can be pulled from the information they've presented.
Think about how what you've read can be simplified and adapted. I'm not encouraging anyone to make the standards easier--instead, simply to reword the standards and assessments as needed to make them accessible to both you and your students.

#3: Keep track of which standards you've covered.

I made a checklist for myself to help keep track, by grade level and strand, which standards have been taught throughout the year. Halfway through the year, I plan on looking at what has been checked and what hasn't been checked, so I can brainstorm ways to address those standards I haven't really touched. You could do this by typing up a checklist, or simply printing out the PDF of standards and highlighting as you go.

I know the standards can be quite overwhelming, but I hope this has helped you figure out how you can integrate them into your own teaching. I feel like the work I've done so far with them really has made me more intentional with students, to integrate more creativity and reflective questioning into my Kodaly-inspired lessons. I plan on blogging about more specific lesson ideas as they relate to the standards in a future blog post. I have also heard that information about specific musical skills, and where they fall within the standards, will soon be coming from NCCAS.

How have you used the new standards in your Kodaly-inspired classroom?

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Rockin' Lesson Segments

Hi folks!  Christopher here.

One of the things that I love about a good Kodály-inspired lesson is the way that each 30-minute class period addresses many different objectives, from rhythmic and melodic development to composition and improvisation to  beautiful singing and fun.  In my classroom, that means that most lessons from Grades 1-5 have between six and eight activities in a lesson, each with a different objective. (For me, Kindergarten is a whole ‘nother ball of wax – those kids can’t focus for beans, so we will often do as many as ten activities in a class.)  Reasons for so many activities in a given lesson?

-                    Musicians have so many skills that we have to develop, and creating lessons in which they are able to work on a variety of skills within a lesson is essential for ensuring that those skills don’t atrophy from under-use. 

-                    Plus, a lesson with six different activities will often allow for differentiation: Students who are successful at decoding melodic patterns may have a difficult time learning a folk dance; and students who have a hard time matching pitch might be a wiz at reading rhythm cards.  If we were to spend a whole class period writing a composition in Western staff notation (or any of my common objectives), some students might feel like failures in music.  Providing different experiences in each class alleviates that.

However, in order to make all this fit, each individual lesson segment has to be fairly short, generally lasting between four and six minutes.  This post will focus specifically on writing those short segments with music literacy segments in mind.

Rita Klinger created an approach to writing music literacy segments that uses a three-pronged process, which she labeled Review, Point, and Reinforcement.  She writes about it in this book Lesson Planning in a Kodály Setting, one that was just re-published by OAKE: 

In many ways, the Review/Point/Reinforcement approach is like the classic Prepare/Present/Practice concept that is practiced throughout the Kodály world in the United States – just applied to a five-minute lesson segment.   The steps work in this way:

            Review: A brief summation of what has already been learned

            Point: The learning objective for the segment;

            Reinforcement: The immediate practice of the point

That’s general, so let’s look at how this plays out. 

EXAMPLE 1

I’m going to use the concept of ticka-ticka, which I’ll be teaching to my second graders this year in the spring.  After they learn repertoire containing ticka-ticka along with the other rhythmic concepts they learned in first grade and the beginning of second (ta, ti-ti, rest, and half note), I want to make sure that they can clap the rhythm accurately.  Sometimes, getting all the claps in there for a ticka-ticka can be a challenge for those little hands.  For this step in the sequence, I will use the song “Old Aunt Dinah,” a great little song I found a couple of years ago. 

 Source: Erdei, I., Knowles, F., & Bacon, D. (Eds.) (2002).  My singing bird: 150 folk songs from the Anglo-American, African-American, English, Scottish, and Irish traditions.  Columbus, OH: Kodály Center of America. 

Their source was: Brown, F. (1962).  Collection of North American folklore, vol. 1.  Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

When creating the lesson segment, I start with the point, which is essentially just my objective: 

Review

Point

                        Ss (students) sing song and clap the rhythm, without teacher help

Reinforcement

At this point, I ask myself, what do they need to do to get to the point?  What do they need to know and demonstrate?  Well, for this part of the process, they really don’t need to know much – just know the song!  If they can’t sing the song, then they can’t hear the rhythm well enough to be able to clap it.  So, adding in my only review step makes the segment look like this:

Review

                        Ss sing known song “Old Aunt Dinah”

Point

                        Ss (students) sing song and clap the rhythm, without teacher help

Reinforcement

The reinforcement is the way that the students are able to immediately practice the new learning.  This usually consists of repeating the point, with a slight twist.  There are two major ways to reinforce:

-                    Have the students repeat the point, but in smaller groups

-                    Have the students repeat the point as a whole group, with different student leaders

In this case, I’ll have the students perform in smaller groups, using the text of the song to provide a way group my students into smaller chunks.  After the reinforcement, the activity looks like this:

Review

                        Ss sing known song “Old Aunt Dinah”

Point

                        Ss (students) sing song and clap the rhythm, without teacher help

Reinforcement

                        Half the class sings the song and claps the rhythm

                        The other half of the class sings the song and claps the rhythm

                        Ss with more than two aunts sing the song and claps the rhythm

                        Ss with more than three aunts sing the song and claps the rhythm

                        Ss with more than four aunts sing the song and claps the rhythm

                        Whole class sings and claps the rhythm

The reinforcement is the part of this process that is most easily forgotten.  Why do it? 

-                    Allows the students a chance to practice

-                    Allows the teacher a chance to assess

-                    Allows the teacher to decide when to move on

This last one is key: As we all know, some of these skills take time for students to develop!  Many of the objectives in your preparation steps need to be repeated on more than one day, with different songs, in order to ensure that the majority of the children can perform the given task or understand the idea.  When I’m doing my reinforcement in small groups, I am usually paying particularly close attention to some of the kids who are “medium-low” performers.  Once my medium-low kids have it, I’m ready to move on to the next step in my sequence.

EXAMPLE 2

I’m going to fast-forward three or four weeks to use a different objective for one more example of this review/point/reinforcement process.  At this point, the students have done the following:

-                    learned repertoire that contains ticka-ticka and previously learned notes

-                    clapped the rhythm while performing this repertoire

-                    identified that there are some songs that have a new rhythm, and that it this new rhythm consists of a lot of sounds on a beat

-                    identified exactly where this new rhythm occurs in specific songs (i.e. which beats it falls on)

All of this learning has taken about a month, probably, with some of the steps above repeated on different days.

Now I am at the point where I want the students to figure out that there are four sounds on a beat.  I could simply tell them that this is the case, but in this discovery learning approach, the children figure it out for themselves. 

For this step, I’ll use the song "Paw Paw Patch.” This song works particularly well because the new rhythm occurs four times, and at different places in the song:

 Source: Erdei, P., & Komlos, K. (Eds.) (1974).  150 American folk songs to sing, read, and play.  New York City: 

Boosey & Hawkes.

I start with the point:

Review

                       

Point

                        Ss identify that the new rhythm contains four sounds over one beat

Reinforcement

What do they need to do to get there?  Well, they definitely need to sing the song, and make sure that they can clap the rhythm, so I start there:

Review

                        Ss sing song and clap rhythm

Point

                        Ss identify that the new rhythm contains four sounds over one beat

Reinforcement

In previous classes, they have discovered that this new song has a new rhythm that has a whole lot of sounds on a beat, and determined exactly where in the song those new rhythms have happened.  So I’ll add that to my review:

Review

                        Ss sing song and clap rhythm, while the T writes beat icons on the board

                        Ss sing song, and id that they new rhythm occurs in this song

                        Ss id that the new rhythm occurs on the third beat of lines 1, 2, and 3

                                    And the first beat of line 4

Point

                        Ss identify that the new rhythm contains four sounds over one beat

Reinforcement

Now that the students have reviewed what’s pertinent, I’ll add some detail to my point, to show how I expect them to identify that the first beat has four sounds on it.

  Review

                        Ss sing song and clap rhythm, while the T writes beat icons on the board

                        Ss sing song, and id that they new rhythm occurs in this song

                        Ss id that the new rhythm occurs on the third beat of lines 1, 2, and 3

                                    And the first beat of line 4

Point

                        Ss id that the words that are sung on the first line 1, beat 3 (i.e. “pretty little”)

                        Ss id that the words “pretty little” contain four syllables

                        T places four marks on the board over the beat icon

Reinforcement

Reinforcing this step can be a challenge – because once they know that there are four sounds on this new rhythm, they can’t really forget it.  However, what they can  do is to check whether the other places in the song with a new rhythm also contain four sounds on each beat.  So that’s the first part of my reinforcement:

Review

                        Ss sing song and clap rhythm, while the T writes beat icons on the board

                        Ss sing song, and id that they new rhythm occurs in this song

                        Ss id that the new rhythm occurs on the third beat of lines 1, 2, and 3

                                    And the first beat of line 4

Point

                        Ss id that the words that are sung on the first line 1, beat 3 (i.e. “pretty little”)

                        Ss id that the words “pretty little” contain four syllables

                        T places four marks on the board over the beat icon

Reinforcement

                        Ss check if line 2, beat 3 contains four sounds

                        Ss check if line 3, beat 4 contains four sounds

                        Ss check if line 4, beat 1 contains four sounds

Another way to reinforce this step is to have the children sing the words “1,2,3,4” in place of the text of the song on each of those beats.  If time remains, then, I’ll add that piece:

  Review

                        Ss sing song and clap rhythm, while the T writes beat icons on the board

                        Ss sing song, and id that they new rhythm occurs in this song

                        Ss id that the new rhythm occurs on the third beat of lines 1, 2, and 3

                                    And the first beat of line 4

Point 

            Ss id that the words that are sung on the first line 1, beat 3 (i.e. “pretty little”)

                        Ss id that the words “pretty little” contain four syllables

                        T places four marks on the board over the beat icon

Reinforcement

                        Ss check if line 2, beat 3 contains four sounds

                        Ss check if line 3, beat 4 contains four sounds

                        Ss check if line 4, beat 1 contains four sounds

                        Ss sing song, replacing “pretty little” and “way down yonder” with “1,2,3,4”

                        Ss sing song with correct words of the song

At this point in my lesson, then, they're moving onto the next activity, which will usually will include some sort of movement -- a singing game or play party, folk dance, or instrumental practice activity.

Happy lesson planning!

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Top 8 Back to School Preparations

Hi, this is Karla from CMajorLearning.  I, like most teachers this time of year, am deep in the trenches of back to school work. I have been busy setting up my classroom, putting up bulletin boards, creating song lists, working on concept plans and writing lesson plans. While I've been doing all of this work, I have had this blog post in the back of my mind....what was I going to write about.....So I started thinking about what are the most important things I do before school starts to get my year off to a great start.  Here is my list - in no particular order:

Collaborate with Colleagues and Meet New Staff

While the few days before the students arrive is very busy, I always make sure to find time to talk with fellow teachers in my building.  I don't mean just asking about their summers, but talking about what we can do together to support the learning of our students.  I usually just get a few seeds of ideas but it is enough to start me thinking about ways that I can support them and vice versa.  I also make time to introduce myself to any new teachers in my building.  This is just a great time to say "hello",  let them know who I are and give them a few pointers as to how I would like them to wait outside my room at their music time.  These conversations only take a few minutes but they make a world of difference as we start the school year.   

Think About Big Events or Field Trips

While I am not making any decisions about programs or events in my building, I am thinking about what I want to have happen and when.  At Indian Trail Elementary, I get the privilege of taking all the 2nd graders (around 250 students) to see The Nutcracker Ballet at the amazing Ohio Theater in downtown Columbus, OH.  This is a HUGE undertaking but worth every single minute.   I've already gotten permission from my principal, filled out the field trip paperwork and let my teachers know the date of the field trip.  Having this information out there now, lets folks know that things are in the works and that more information will be coming.   Years ago, I didn't really communicate anything about doing something like this until it was 4-6 weeks into the school year, but several years ago I changed and started getting the word out earlier and to be honest, it has made a big difference - I'm not exactly sure why but things seem to go smoother since I started putting the information out their earlier.

Class Lists

These lists are so important for many reasons.  It is important to get your hands on the lists as soon as you can.  Looking them over gives you the opportunity to spot potential problems before the students walk into your classroom.  I also like to fontasticate (yes I made this word up - it means to use a cool font and not just TimesNewRoman) my lists as well as build my star student files.  You can see more about how I do star students by reading this blog post.  Also, once the students have been to class, do take the time to note who is there, who is not and if anyone has nicknames they like to be called.  It is a great deal of information to manage (I have 32 homerooms grade K-2) but I believe that it makes the students feel like you care more about them by making sure that you have the correct name etc.

Planning

This is probably my favorite thing to do at the start of the school year but the thing I get to last.  Why?  Well for me I have to get my room physically ready (read more below) before I can sit down and write out long and short term plans, song lists, concept plans, and finally daily lesson plans.  I will admit that I do not write the traditional year plans as I was taught in my levels classes, but I do have a system that works for me, it just looks different than most peoples year plans!  Once I have this worked out, I plug in as many known things (field trips, programs, assemblies, school projects etc) that I can.  I then consult my song list and concept plans (that I do not rewrite every year, but rather add to, take out or clean up each year).  Then, finally I get to write out the plans for the first music class of the year.  Again, I do not write out a month worth of plans - my brain just doesn't work that way.  I really need to see the classes at least once before I can get a true sense of how I can move through the curriculum this year.

Lesson Plans for the 1st class of the Year

I'm sure that many of you have your tried and true plan for the first day of class....I do too, but this year I'm going to try some different things on the first day.  Why?  Well, to be honest, I was kind of bored with what I had been doing (not because it was bad but because I have been doing it for a long time) and decided that if I wasn't excited about the activities then the students wouldn't be either.  I'm going to start off with a name game for each grade level and then go to a movement activity, teach a new song and end with a favorite from last year.  All throughout the lesson I will be inserting my classroom rules, procedures, expectations and consequences.  I hated nothing more than when I was a student to sit through a long lecture on what I was expected to do so I do not introduce this to my students in that format.  Also, one of the joys of seeing the students every year is that my 1st and 2nd graders know me and pretty much know what is expected.  It is a great opportunity to teach the new students by the examples of former students.  

Classroom Layout and Bulletin Boards

My classroom can only be set up in a couple of different ways and fortunately for me, I think I've got the layout set up the best way possible.  Having that done, I can move on to my bulletin boards and decorations.  I have spent countless hours working on these bulletin boards because I typically do not put up new ones throughout the year.  I want the decorations to be colorful, inviting and purposeful.  This year I went with a mustache theme and you can see pictures of my classroom at CMajorLearning later this week when I link up with Aileen Miracle at MrsMiraclesMusicRoom for her "My Music Room Set Up" linky party.

Class Expectations

My classroom expectations and consequences are pretty simple. 

1.  Enter the room quietly and make a circle (I do not use assigned seats or spots)

2.  Make good choices

3.  Raise your hand to speak

4.  Treat the classroom and instruments respectfully

5.  Have fun!

We have a school wide discipline system in place through a program called "Project Achieve".  One part of the program is the use of common language by the teachers with a matrix of rewards and consequences.  With this in place and used by everyone, I spend very little time discussing it because the students already know what will happen!  This has been a HUGE change in the school climate and culture because everyone (students, teachers, administration, custodians, secretaries and parents) knows the routine!

Purchase New Books

I LOVE this part of back to school!  I have a very small budget so I have to really pick and choose what I want/need.  This year, I am super excited to use several new to me picture books.  I purchased "Rissaldy Rassaldy", "There's A Hole in the Bucket" and "The Derby Ram".  I have sevearl of the others so my collection is almost complete!!! I can't wait to use these with my students and I think it is fantastic that there is a download of the song for FREE.  Click the picture to check out all the titles at West Music.   

I hope that all of you have a great start to the school year and would love to hear what you find to be the most important part of your preparations!!

 

Balloon graphics created by Zip-a-Dee Doo-Day Designs

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