Week of February 12th, 2018

ELLA FITZGERALD AND SCAT!

Brrrrriiiinnng-diggy-diggy-doop-bop-bwee-bop!

Those are some of the fun sounds our mouth can make while jazz scatting! We learned from the best this morning in music class as we watched this wonderful clip of Ella Fitzgerald doing her impromptu thing on One Note Samba--an incredible performance showing her agility, range and creativity when it comes to using her voice like a jazz instrument!

The kids absolutely loved listening and watching her. We also read "Skit Skat Raggety Cat" and looked at the book's pictures describing Ella Fitzgerald's ascension into her title as the "Queen of Jazz" and the "First Lady of Song!"

We practiced a little scat ourselves with fun nonsense words, and also tried using our voices like different instruments--trumpet, guitar, drums, etc.

We also practiced our Langston Hughes poem (My People) and reviewed the movements.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:

1) Can you copy my scat? (Make up your own fun scat sound and see if your child can repeat it!)

2) Do you remember that Ella Fitzgerald sang? (Watch the above video with your child to bring back their memory of watching it in class!)

Week of February 5th, 2018

LANGSTON HUGHES

My People

The night is beautiful,

So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,

So the eyes of my people,

Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

Langston Hughes

Happy Black History Month! You will notice this month that we are focusing on Black history and modern culture, through the arts and humanities! Looking for neat ways to celebrate and learn with your family? Here's a great starter list of 5 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month with your family!

Today in music class, we learned about the poetry of Langston Hughes. Our 3s and 4s class also learned that Langston Hughes often wrote about the unfair treatment of people with brown skin during the time that he lived, and we noted that people with brown skin are still treated unfairly at many times to this day. A simple but important concept for students to grasp using succinct language. Although we did movements to the poem to indicate the night, faces, stars, eyes, and so forth, I explained to children that when Langston Hughes pointed out the body in "his people" that he was referring to people, like him, who had brown skin. If you would like to read a very interesting and in-depth analysis of My People, please check out this link! 

We also had some fun with movement songs like "Elevator, Escalator," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Bubblegum Song."

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) Do you remember who wrote the poem, "My People" from music class? Langston Hughes!

Week of February 15th, 2016

JAZZ!

We listened to some awesome JAZZ this week!

Edward Ellington--better known as "Duke"--took us to town on the "A Train". Check out the video below! We also looked at photos of jazz greats like the Duke himself, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald.

We explored what types of instruments are used in jazz, talked about swing counting ("A-one and a-two and a-three and a-four!") and colored some jazz worksheets with different instruments. Ask your child about what they saw on the coloring page (see the questions below for a hint!)

We are also continuing to practice our Langston Hughes poem and also loving Itsy Bitsy Spider with our Anansi puppet (the spider with long streamer legs from last week).

QUESTIONS

1) What instrument did Duke Ellington play? The piano

2) What did Billie Holiday always wear in her hair? A flower

3) What instruments did you hear in the jazz music? The piano, trumpet, trombone, drums, and more!

Week pf February 8th, 2016

This week:

More African Storytelling!

We really enjoyed re-visiting Africa this week for a fun and interactive class on storytelling and its importance in African culture! The kids learned what a "myth" or "legend" is, and we had fun talking about the trickster "Anansi", the popular spider from many African myths. 

We also thought about some of the "tricksters" that we know in American myths; the kids were very clever and compared the spider to one of our known mythical tricksters...the wolf!

The interesting tale I used about Anansi was a myth about how the spider got 8 long, thin legs. In the story, Anansi is a hungry and greedy spider, and wanders around the forest smelling his friends' food. He doesn't want to stay until each dish is done cooking, because he is afraid they may ask them to work while he waits. So instead, he spins a long silken thread and ties it to his leg, asking the friends to pull the thread when the food is done. He does this 8 times, for 8 different meals with 8 different friends, until all of his legs have threads tied on them. Then, WHOOPS! All of the meals are done at once, and the spider's legs are pulled long and thin (and he never does get a meal!).

I used 8 long ribbons tied to a spider on a black handkerchief as a prop for the story, and the children played the parts of Anansi's animal friends. They really enjoyed the story!

I also used the spider puppet as a prop for our younger children while I sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and additionally, we tried out a new movement song in infant class (posted below).

A Bouncing We Will Go 

(To the tune of "Farmer in the Dell")

A-Bouncing we will go

A-Bouncing we will go

Tick-a-tack, a-brick-a-brack

A-Bouncing we will go!

We substituted different movements for bouncing each time--from stomping, to clapping! =) Caregivers held babies in their laps and helped them move to the music.

Additionally, all classes practiced our Langston Hughes poem, "Bouquet!"

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What trickster animal was in the African myth? The spider, Anansi

2) What did the spider want to do? Eat his friend's foods

3) What were some of the foods that Anansi was trying to eat?  Greens, beans, cooking meat, plantains or bananas, mangoes, carrots, etc...