This week in music class we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King J.R.,
Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington!
A note about Martin Luther King's death
Talking about racism, tolerance, civil rights and lifetime accomplishments like the Nobel Peace prize can be difficult when you are working with children. Some of our students were well aware that Martin Luther King was assassinated, or that his life was taken. When this question was raised in class, I validated by agreeing, "Yes, that happened". Our school age children, for example, had discussed some of these details at school or with parents. They broached the topic on their own, saying things like, "Wasn't he killed?" and "Yes, he was shot" or "Bad people killed him". The way I approached these conversations was merely as a moderator and a listener. For the children who knew more of the history, I validated truthful ideas. "Yes--that is correct." But I also was clear with the children that, for this particular class, we would be discussing Martin's accomplishments and celebrating his ideas, rather than learning more about his death, which would definitely be something they would study later. I also told them that they could direct more questions to their moms and dads. This certainly wasn't to downplay the monumental importance of King's wrongful assassination. It was merely to steer our learning about Dr. King down an age appropriate train of thought. I know that all families will vary in their comfort level and opinion on what information to share with kids regarding death in situations like this and, in general, the topic of dying. I respect the knowledge that parents are best at gauging what level of information their children are prepared for and ready to receive.
What I did focus on for Dr. King was three basic elements and some background. I discussed with the children that he was a preacher, and that he won the Nobel Prize. I told them of his great importance, and that he wanted people to know about:
1) Love
2) Peace
3) Equal treatment and respect
We colored a sheet about Martin Luther King that also contains the lyrics to the song we sang today! Check out the downloadable and printable PDF here, and also download the mp3 of the four's class singing below! (Click on the picture to download!)
Listen to the song here:
The children also enjoyed watching a video of Duke Ellington performing "Take the A Train" on the piano, and we learned that he wrote OVER TWO THOUSAND songs! WOW!
The last item on the agenda was listening to Billie Holiday's "I'll be Seeing You". We looked at pictures of Billie, and I told the children that she grew up with very little money and then became famous later for singing. They will most likely remember her signature trademark, the flower she often wore in her hair. Listen to "I'll be Seeing You" below!
Infants and toddlers also enjoyed finger puppets with Old MacDonald, bouncing songs and movement this week!
One update from last week:
The school age children did a fantastic job performing the Langston Hughes poem, "Bouquet" and also singing our Martin Luther King song for the Shrove pancake luncheon on Tuesday. The
ladies very much enjoyed our presentation. Here we are in the lounge, singing! If you are a member at First Presbyterian Church you may want to look out for a blurb being published in the church tidings!
As a final and cute note, most of you know that Fellowship Hall contains large beanbags that magically and magnetically attract children! We decided to use this power for good in the two's room today and snapped a fun group picture with all the teachers and children sitting on beanbags. Have a wonderful week!
