TAPPIN' TAMBOURINES!
It was a rhythmic day in music class today as we used tambourines to create animal sounds, different dynamics (from forte to piano) and different speeds (from andante to allegro). We played games, created animal sounds, and even got some wiggles out! For 3 years and up, today's lesson also involved a refresher on quarter notes and rests, and how to effectively play them.
Our infant class really enjoyed exploring the tambourines and they are simply in love with the ukulele! Usually our classes are comprised of something new and exploratory (such as the tambourines today) along with a developmentally appropriate adjustment from our calendar. For example, instead of using resting and playing ability for the "Basket Snake" game that the older children performed (see below) I turned this activity instead to a hankerchief "peekaboo" activity. When the "basket lid" (i.e., scarf) was removed from the child's head, teachers and students "rattled" the tambourines for the snake sound. We follow through with the repitition of well known and loved lap bouncy songs, such as "Riding on my teacher pony", "Bumpin' up and down in my little red wagon" and others!
The toddler room also used the tambourines to stretch: way up high, way down low, up to the sky,
and down to their toes! :)
Sometimes I ask students to "wear" their tambourines like a hat to help them remain quiet while waiting
for instructions. It's hard to listen sometimes when you are having so much fun!
We had a blast taking turns listening for the audio cue of the triangle "ding" for the basket lid to be opened, revealing the paper snake I had laminated and hid inside (see picture above). Once the lid was removed, we shook our tambourines to create a snake rattling sound. See the poem and hear the audio below!
SNAKE IN THE BASKET
"Down in the basket
Lays a baby snake.
Basking in the sun
And he will not wake.
Until...he hears you shake!"
(Ding of the triangle / All children rattle their tambourines /
basket lid is opened to reveal snake)
I'm impressed with how well (and how long!) our students retain information about quarter notes, rests and rhythms. The students had no problem identifying quarter notes and showing me what to say, and how to clap them. ("Tah" is the terminology we use, and today we tried basic one bar patterns of both quarter notes and rests...each quarter note and quarter rest are worth one beat of either clapping or silence! There are four beats in a measure of 4/4 time signatured music).
The schoolagers took things one step further and finished this worksheet which asked them to properly identify only the quarter notes on the page through circling. We know that quarter notes are all black or "colored in" inside, have single line tails, and aren't grouped together with other notes (the way that eighth or sixteenth notes are sometimes connected with a partner through a line). Some children found it a bit confusing that quarter notes can point up or down. Take a look at your child's worksheet tonight if you have a school age student and see if you can help them to practice identifying!