Week of September 21st, 2015

Guatemalan Folklore:

Mayan Worry Dolls (and songs in Spanish!)

This week in music we learned all about Guatemala, a Spanish speaking country in Central America with a rich cultural heritage of Mayan tradition as well as Latin-American influence!

We looked at pictures of Guatemalan geography, including volcanoes and Mayan temples, as well as people in indigenous dress, and pictures of hand-made worry dolls! The small worry dolls are typically made by weaving threads into traditional Guatemalan dress. The person who is feeling worry tells all of their anxieties to the doll, and then sleeps with it underneath their pillow. The next morning, the worries are gone!

Check out this video of me explaining a little bit more below:

Diez Amigos on the Guiro

(to the tune of 10 Little Indians)

One and two and three good friends  

                                         

(scrape down with each number)

Four and five and six good friends

Seven and eight and nine good friends

 Ten good friends are we!

                                               

(scrape back and forth)

 Uno dos, tres amigos

(scrape down with each number)

Cuatro, cinco, seis amigos

Siete, ocho, nueve amigos

Diez amigos son!  

(scrape back and forth)                                                                                                    

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1. Can you say "Guatemala"? What do you know about Guatemala?

2. What language do they speak in Guatemala?

3. What is a worry doll?

Week of July 8th, 2013

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ARGENTINA!

We had a great time today learning all about Argentina! For anyone who might not know, Argentina celebrates their Independence day (or feriado) annually on July 9th! The holiday includes dancing, music, and celebratory food, like any other holiday across the world!

What we learned today in class is that one of the most popular types of fare, particularly for the feriado, is "asado", or barbecue! "Parillas", or barbecue restaurants, are very popular to visit. 

Beyond the feriado, Argentina is also very well known for the Argentine Tango! It is the birthplace of this amazing dance and music style! Today the children learned some of the instruments associated with the typical tango (accordian, flute, guitar, and violin) and also heard and saw examples of dancing. We even learned a few tango dance steps.

In addition to learning about the culture of this country, our students also colored pictures of the nation's flag (shown above).  Overall, we enjoyed this lesson in culture and dance very much! Don't forget to ask your child about the tango. Maybe they will dance for you! :)

Week of March 26th, 2013

The Guiro!

About the “guiro”…

The güiro (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡwiɾo]) is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound.
The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role in the typical rhythm section of important genres like cumbia and salsa. Playing the güiro usually requires both long and short sounds, made by scraping up and down in long or short strokes with a “scraper”, sometimes referred to as a “pua”.
The güiro, like the maracas, is often played by a singer. You can make your own guiro at home using an empty plastic water bottle with ridges and a popsicle stick or pencil!

The kids enjoyed learning about this Latin instrument and singing "La Cucaracha" and "Diez Amigos" (a fingerplay) with the guiro. We were able to experiment and try manipulating the scraper, as well as watch a video of cartoon dancing cockroaches (see below) playing the guiro to "La Cucaracha"! I also taught the children a bit about Latin America and showed them the involved countries on the map. Check out the Youtube video below of "Diez Amigos" with our combined toddler and twos classes! Children from toddler ages and up received a guiro coloring sheet. Look in your child's cubby for their coloring page and a condensed description of this rhythm instrument!