week 11

This week in class we review the concept of binary form. we did a dance where we pretended to be a butterfly. in the first section of the song were moved to the right and when that section changed into the second section we moved to the left. many songs that we already know are in binary form like " this old man". I really enjoyed class this week because it was full of creativity and fun.

During recorder time we learn two new notes D and C. Another big focus this week was playing musical instruments. We learned different types and how to play them. Also we read two story where we incorporate instruments into the book. One story was The Napping House with percussion instruments and Thunder Cake with home-made instruments.

It is important for us to learn these concepts because we need to be able to understand and be able to teach them in different way to children. we are opening up our creative sides to make a dull lesson became more engaging and fun.

All children at different ages get excited about playing music. playing an instrument helps the child to learn through different sense such as feel, hear, and sight. the children can learn about made-made instruments and instruments that they can make in their own classroom or home.

Week 10

This week in class we learned a musical concept called timbre. Timbre is the tone color of sounds. also we learned another concept called binary form. binary is when a piece of music has two distinctive sections such as verse and chorus. We learned this concept through the song/ dance " Hit the road jack".

Also during the week we read another story that we created sounds for. again different students were assigned to words in the story and they had to be creative to come up with a vocal sounds to represent it. my word was cry and i said Whaaaaaaaaa( staring out soft and then getting louder). we also learned how to add songs into our story. for our page turner we sang a song called what would you do with a boo-who baby to the tune of drunken sailor.

All of these concepts were important to learn because they help you to read and understand the music. they can also turn an ordinary story into a class effort and amusement.

This week we learned that music can inspire children of all ages to be creative. they are able to think of an everyday word and come up with a sound to represent that word. Another thing is children can create their own songs using the Melody to songs they already know.

week 9

This week we did not have class because of Spring Break. Our next assignment is to have our country summary and map done by next Monday. I am looking up information on Brazil for my project.

week 8

This week in class we learned different ways to teach the concept of dynamics. we also spent a lot of time going over our requirements for the multicultural project. i have decided to do the country of Brazil. during our recorder session we learned the note F#. then we learned how to incorporate sound into books.

To learn dynamic we read the story Piglet Brothers and used our voices as instruments. in cour class the teacher assigned different students to different words in the story. I had the first word ( at the bottom). the student had create a sound for the word that they were assigned.

It is important to learn multiple ways of learning because you may have students who learn in different learning styles than yourself. putting a story together with sounds helps to make the book more engaging to those who are listening.

Music helps to bring out creativity in children of any age. it can make a basic concept like dynamics more appealing to them. when you add the element of creativity to your lesson and it also helps to stimulate the children cognitive skills. since the students are directed to make decisions about what sounds to create.

Week seven

I prepared myself for the midterm by looking through all my class notes and handouts that i received. i focused studying the note values and rest values, Kodaly and rhythmic/melodic icons.
Before a test i study a week before and try to look over my notes once a day.

The difficult part about the exam was remembering all the concepts we have learned so far and the different terms. i felt that the test was so long which made me feel a little frustrated well taking it.( But i did quite well on it)

Some easy parts of the exam were questions on lesson plan format, melodic icon section and note names.

So far this semester I have rekindled a lot of my knowledge on music. I have learned about rhythmic and melodic icons. And also how to incorporate music into other academic areas. I am looking forward to what we will learn in the next semester.