Jim Along, Josie

The letter J song for the Kindergarteners this year was "Jim Along, Josie". After learning the song, we added our own actions. We jumped along, skipped along, tip-toed along, and danced along. One class got very creative and decided we should crab-walk along. I didn't join in on this one, because I had to take a picture instead. ;)

The xylophones in the middle were for reviewing the letter 'I' song/activity. We were working on Improvising on the Instruments. We talked about the proper way to hold the mallets, how to play softly and hit the bars in the correct spots. They made beautiful sounds and took their turns very seriously. Not a single student had to sit out for playing incorrectly or out of turn. In Kindergarten, that is rare!

Ice Cream Improvisations

The 1st graders have been talking about how melodies can move up, down, or stay the same. After talking about that we discussed improvising, and how we can make up our own melody as long as we form some sort of plan about how we want our music to move: up, down, or stay the same. I found a great flipchart on Promethean Planet created by Rebecca Dennis titled "One For Ice Cream".  While we were improvising we had to follow 3 rules. Rule 1: We could only use the notes CDEG. Rule 2: We all had to follow the same rhythm. We used flavors of ice cream to create an 8-beat rhythmic pattern (ex: chocolate, rocky road, chocolate, mint). Rule 3: We always ended with C (and mint).

At first a few students were a bit nervous about playing because they were afraid it wouldn't sound good. I stressed that the fun part about improvising is that you can never be wrong! It's your creation. After that, they all had a blast and enjoyed coming up with new, creative ways to improvise their melodies.

I Know An Old Lady: The Re-Mix!

The 1st graders celebrated Reading Month by reading 4 different variations of the book, "I Know An Old Lady." We read "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello", "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie", and "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout". Then, they each got to make up their own Old Lady stories. Let me tell you, we got pretty creative! We had old ladies eating dinosaurs, Star Wars creatures, ocean animals, and even other classmates! When we had all finished, I sang each story for the class. This was a great way to combine Reading Month and music improvisation.