Assignment 1

The key elements of music are a holistic approach towards child development. It develops the whole spectrum of student’s intellect, which involves knowledge, skills, attitude, feeling and sense. When a student listens to music, it develops skills in concentration, identifies patterns, and hears detail and reflects upon what is heard. I believe all these disciplines are necessary to be a good learner. Listening and singing helps to develop long and short-term memory. I have experienced this with a kindergarten student who was struggling to count to 20. As soon as the student was introduced with a counting song, she was very quick at learning the numbers because she sung numbers to tune. I think music also helps to develop visual skills and to think in abstract form as well.

Singing also extends literacy skills such as pronunciation of words or articulation of phrases. However, when singing, teacher need to consider the literacy level of the class, that is how well students can sing the words. When students have difficulty with words while singing they are the ones having the trouble with tune and pitch of a song. Therefore it is very important to learn the songs. I think teaching singing is like teaching any other curriculum area. Teaching and learning to sing may sound or look simple but making students to understand and know the pitch, pattern and rhythm can be challenging. Therefore it needs to be explicitly taught, step-by-step, if one has to be successful in teaching and learning of music. I also believe the choice of the song plays a vital role in motivating children to learn to sing. For example, when my daughter was in Year 5 she left her singing group because the songs were not appropriate to her age level. They were singing songs they had already learned in Kindergarten such as Old Mac Donald.

Playing instruments helps to build confidence in students. All these skills developed in music helps the students to explore other curriculum skills with confidence. When playing instruments students need to be aware how to handle the instruments and look after them. There should be some rules and expectations set up. That is that the instruments need gentle hands, what to do when it is not in use.
Students’ creativity and uniqueness are developed when composing and these provide avenues for self-expression. These creativity skills can be utilised in other curriculum areas such as writing.

Listening skills are needed in every curriculum where students needed to concentrate and focus. Therefore listening to music is a great tool, which assists students in developing these skills. Listening also helps students to discriminate between different sounds and patterns.

Musical Activities –Stage 1 Activity 1-Maths Counting
Ten in a bed
Students are learning to count back from 10 by taking away 1. They will learn the song ‘Ten in a bed’ by watching the video (see Appendix 1 ). Once the song is learned, students will get in groups of ten. They will sing and do the actions, which involve listening and concentrating. The first child taps and all the others roll over and one falls out and there will be nine left. The action of the song continues till there is one left.

Activity 2 –Recurring beat (see lesson plan)
Students will be learning a song Old MacDonald had a farm for a COG unit. The song will be accompanied with body percussion and a triangle.
Students will clap for every word in the song and use instruments for animal sounds.
Old MacDonald had a farm
(tap) (tap)x2 (tap) (tap) (tap) silent

and on his farm
(tap) (tap) (tap) (tap) he had some
(tap) (tap) (tap)

chicks (triangle - 1 beat) here(tap) chick(triangle) there(tap) chick (triangle) everywhere(tap) chick x3(triangle x3) a cow (bell) long a horse (vocal) a dog (drum) a duck (soft clap)

Musical Activity –Stage 2

Activity 1
Students in maths are making number patterns by counting in two’s, threes and fives up to 20. Students will use these patterns to create music by building rhythms with four instruments e.g. use triangle, tambourine, woodblock and cymbals
As a class they choose a different starting point for each pattern, which will be shown on each number line by a counting rule.

For example

Students will show patterns on the number line. The pattern would start from 2 and count on 2 till it reaches 20. Students will circle each number to show a number pattern, which will represent the rhythm of each instrument. The threes pattern will start from 3 and add on 3.the fours pattern will start from 2 and add on 4. There will be three groups. They will set up a sound pattern using the number pattern on the number line. Students will make the sound with the instrument at a time. Then they will all play together to create music.

Activity 2 (see Lesson plan)
This activity provides a sequence of learning based on the chant ‘When I Get Mad I Beat My Drum’ (see Appendix 2). It will use repertoire as a means for exploring the rhythmic nature of words through speech and develop students’ feeling for beat through their ability to chant and play rhythmically. It will also provide opportunities for innovation on text. Students will use body percussion (tap on desk) to experiment making drumming sounds. Selected students will drum a pattern and rest of the class will copy. Students will chant ‘When I Get Mad I Beat My Drum’. Students in groups will echo each phrase while patching the beat with both hands. Students will repeat the chant and have them join in ‘dum da dum…’
(Board of Studies NSW, 1998)

Musical Activity –Stage 3 Repeating pattern
Activity 1
Students will learn 6 times table with music (6 times table song). They will tap, clap and click to create pattern of six.
For example teacher will show the card 1x6, first child will tap twice, clap twice and click twice. Every time the pattern will start from child A and the rhythm keeps going as the teacher shows the card. 2x6 Child A – tap(x2) clap(x2) click (x2) then
Child B – tap(x2) clap(x2) click (x2)
Child C- tap(x2) clap(x2) click (x2)

Activity 2 (see lesson plan)
This activity is linked to song ‘Sun Arise’ (see Appendix 3). The students will get the opportunity to explore instrumental sound sources through listening and experimentation. The students already had some experience singing simple song and experimenting with sound and organising ideas into musical structures.
Students will learn ‘sun rise through imitation and will invent the actions to represent sun rising and the sun setting. They will use sticks and claves to perform the beat. (Board of Studies NSW, 1998)

Lesson Plan 1 Stage 1 Activity 2 Lesson plan –Old MacDonald had a farm Level: Year 1 | Goals: Students will perform a number of rhythmic and interactive patterns using body percussion and instruments focusing on rhythmic accuracy. | Teaching Material: 1. Triangle 2. Bell 3. Drum 4. Body percussion –clap, tap, click | Learning Outcomes: | Musical Activity Performing | OS | L | Musical Concepts | | S | PI | M | | | D | P | DY | TC | S | | X | X | | X | | X | | | | X | Procedure: 1. Students will listen, learn and sing the song ‘Old MacDonald’. 2. Divide the class in four group, each group representing an animal on the farm 3. Practise taping with both hands on the table. 4. When this is going well, students start singing and tapping on each word and click each time the word ‘farm’ is sung. 5. When the name of the animal is sung, students use body percussion and instrument. 6. A cow group will use bell (long), a duck group will do soft clap, a dog group will use drum, a sheep group will use vocal. If students are having trouble in a particular group they move to the choice of their group. 7. Teacher can rotate the instruments to different groups to explore different beats. 8. Students can suggests alternative actions for the word ‘farm’. 9. Get a student to lead a tapping pattern, e.g. two claps and, one tap | Assessment: Observe that students keep a study beat and follow changes in the rhythmic patterns and dynamics. | Links to other subjects COGS UNIT –FARM | Stage 2: Activity 2 (Adapted from Board of Studies NSW, 1998) Lesson plan –When I Get Mad I Beat My Drum

Level: YEAR 3 | Goals: Perform a variety of music through singing, playing and moving and organise sound through imitation and experimentation, and represent this using symbols | Teaching Material: 1. Sticks (paper roll 2. Small drum 3. Tambourine | Learning Outcomes: | Musical Activity Performing | OS | L | Musical Concepts | | S | P | M | | | D | P | DY | TC | S | | X | X | | X | | X | | | X | X | Procedure: 1. Students will experiment with making drumming sound using body percussion and paper sticks roll. 2. Individual students drum a pattern and rest of the class imitates 3. Then students chant ‘When I Get Mad I Beat My Drum’. Students in groups echo each phrase while patching the beat with both hands. 4. Repeat the chants and students join in the ‘dum da dum…’ line each time occurs. They play rhythm on their thighs when they are chanting. 5. They sit in the circle and chant the rhythm. Students pass a small drum around the circle while chanting the rhythm who ever has the drum when ‘dum da dum…’part occurs play the rhythm on the instrument. 6. Then introduce paper sticks roll and repeat the same steps as above. 7. Students can vary the rhythm by varying the pattern when they have the instrument. 8. Students in small groups experiment different ways of presenting the chant e.g. softly, loudly, whisper. Have a student in their groups lead the chant and body percussion accompaniment. Each group perform their variation to the rest of the class. | Assessment: Observe that students keep a study beat and follow changes in the rhythmic patterns and dynamics. | Links to other subjects HSIE –Identifying Us –Unit Of Work |

Stage 3 –Lesson Plan (Adapted from Board of Studies NSW, 1998) Level: Year 5 | Goals: Students will perform a variety of music through singing, playing and moving, demonstrating an understanding of music and explore sounds. | Teaching Material: 1. Claves 2. Sticks 3. Clamp 4. Wooden block 5. Triangle 6. Tambourine 7. Photographs, images representing morning and night 8. Ribbons on sticks light scarves 9. Copy of a ‘Sun Arise’ song 10. Speech rhyme –‘Night And Day’ | Learning Outcomes: | Musical Activity Performing | OS | L | Musical Concepts | | S | P | M | | | D | P | DY | TC | S | | X | X | X | | X | X | | | X | X | Procedure: 1. Students to invent actions to represent the sun rise and sun set. 2. Students learn the rhyme ‘Night And Day’ (see Appendix) through imitation. 3. Students will experiment with rhyme by changing the dynamics, varying tempo and saying the voice using different vocal qualities. 4. Students learn the ‘sun arise’ through imitation. 5. Then divide the class in two groups- one group perform the beat on the ground with the sticks /clave and second group perform the rhythmic pattern e.g. bring back the warmth to the ground. 6. Students in groups will explore the instrumental sounds sources in the class and observe how different sounds can be produced. 7. Show students a range of visual images of morning and night. Students explore sounds they can produce from the given instruments to represent these images. Then they decide on morning and night sound. 8. Then students order these images into a night and day composition. They select the sounds to represent sunrise and sunset. 9. Students will move freely to a recording of another piece of music that represents sunrise using light scarf or lengths of ribbons attached to sticks. | Assessment: Observe that students keep a study beat and follow changes in the rhythmic patterns and dynamics. | Links to other subjects- Science – Earth and its Surrounding |
Reference List
Board of Studies NSW. (1998). K-6 Creative Arts Syllabus. Retrieved 2013, from http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/93d98303-fc3d-483e-af5f- 630a41a2d8b9/K6_creatart_uw_music.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Participation in forum

Teaching Singing Forum
I am not a good singer at all but I believe singing in the classroom is another way of extending literacy and numeracy skills. For example it helps students in early stage to articulate words and phrases and for ESOL students to build new vocabulary. Singing helps students to develop their memory- if they can learn songs quickly, then they can learn to count numbers, recognise letters and their sounds. I think the rhythm in the music enables them to recall as it develops pattern in their head to remember.

Experiences with musical instruments.
When thinking about sounds so many things come to my mind that creates sounds. Sounds created by an object that does not please our ears we say it is a noise. However if the same object is used to create different rhythms, pitch or beat and soothes our ears we tend to say it is a great music. It gives us so much pleasure listening to different sounds. In the classroom students should be given opportunities to explore different sounds using different objects or instruments, which will allow them to understand the different types of sound can be created using one instrument. This is one of the way to engage children in music by giving them choice. Some times students in class would create rhythmic pattern with rulers and pencils and it is amazing to see they always come up with interesting sound patterns.

Repertoire for Listening
Some ideas for sound activities
ES1 – dropping marbles in the jar and students count just by listening to the sound with their eyes closed.
S1 – playing animal or different recorded sounds and children identify what sound was it. E.g. Opening of the door, water drop, horse neighs etc.
S2 - Playing music and students follow the actions. E.g. jump to the left, jump to the right
S3 – play music from different countries and students identify what music is it. Another activity would be that children to close their eyes and listen to the first sound-making source. The sound is played twice and the children are encouraged to illustrate it in whatever way they wish in the first box on their paper. The teacher assures to the children that there are no right or wrong ways to do this. Arranging three sounds in a sequence and varying the dynamic level of some of the sounds.
Appendix 1

There were ten in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were nine in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over
And one fell out

There were eight in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were seven in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were six in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were five in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were four in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were three in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were two in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

There was one in the bed
And the little one said,
"Alone at last!" Appendix 2
Chant — ‘When I Get Mad I Beat My Drum’
When I get mad I beat my drum
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum I beat by drum ‘til my arm gets numb
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum I beat my drum right through the day
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum Until that BAD MAD goes away
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum When I get mad I beat my drum
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum When I get mad I beat my drum
Dum da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum da da dum.

Appendix 3

Speech rhyme — ‘Night and Day’
The sun does rise in the morning
At noon it’s high overhead
The sun goes down in the evening
And then we’re off to bed!

Sun Arise

Sun arise, she bring in the morning
Sun arise, bring in the morning

Fluttering her skirts all around



Sun arise, she come with the dawning

Sun arise, she come every day
Sun arise, bring in the morning



Sun arise, every, every, every, every day

She drive away the darkness, every day
Drive away the darkness

Bringing back the warmth to the ground



Sun arise, oh, oh
Sun arise, oh, oh

Spreading all the light all around



Sun arise, bring in the morning

Sun arise, bring in the morning
Spreading all the light all around