Week of July 6th, 2015

Tappin' Tambourines!

We had a lot of fun playing quarter note rhythms in music class this week! Using our multi-colored tambourines, we explored the instrument by checking out the sounds it makes when being tapped, rattled and shaken!

We practiced playing single quarter notes (tah-tah-tah-tah) and also single beat or quarter rests! The children loved being challenged by the changing rhythms that I played on a dry erase board for them. They did an AWESOME job with this!

Our older school age students used the tambourines to continue practicing quarter note and eighth note rhythms (a continuation of last week's "chicken nuggets and french fries" lesson).

Also see the video below for the fun little butterfly tune I've been singing in my two's and under classes for the last few weeks. It is quickly becoming a favorite and it's a great song for calming, as well as learning objects, body parts or colors!  As always, your extender questions are at the bottom of this post. Please note that due to some scheduling changes, toddlers and three-year-old students will be having class tomorrow (Wednesday). Enjoy and have a great weekend!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:

1) What were some of the colors of the tambourines from music class? Pink, purple, blue, green

2) What do you do when there is a "rest" in the rhythm you are playing on tambourine? You are silent!

3) Did you count the small cymbals on your tambourine? How many were there? Most of our tambourines had 5 sets of 2,  for 10 cymbals total!

Week of June 29th, 2015

Floating Bells!

Floating bells might sound fancy, but here’s a secret: you can make them in the kitchen!

This week in music class we had a blast playing with metal mixing bowls as they floated in the water of our sensory table. I added a little blue food coloring to make it extra fun! The kids enjoyed tapping the edges of the bowls with metal spoons and listening to the unique pitches of three different size metal mixing bowls as they floated in water, which amplified the sound that they made in a unique way. We also discovered that small amounts of liquid inside the bowls would change the pitch and quality of the sound! After the children took a turn with a spoon, they used crayons and paper to draw a reflection of what they saw and experienced.

Our school age crew used the bells to play some of the rhythms they have been learning in music class on the staff, including a new value—a pair of eights notes! 

Eighth notes in pairs are often called “ti-ti” or “tucka” and they look like this:

We used food phrases such as “Chi-cken nug-gets” to remember how to play them:

Check out the cute pictures below and don’t forget to ask your child about music class this week using the extender questions below!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:

1) How many bowls were inside the water table? Three

2) What did you use to tap the bowls with? A spoon

3) What color was the water in music class? Blue!