Week of April 29th, 2013

FIVE LITTLE DUCKS WENT OUT TO PLAY!!!

You may notice a small plastic bag with yellow paper squares in your child's cubby today. Take a closer peek and you will see that the squares are actually little ducks!

We sang "Five Little Ducks" today in music classes and used the paper pieces and plastic bags as math/music manipulatives! Try singing the song with the pieces--pause during the song to consider math equations! 

"5 subtract (or take away) 1 is....what?"  Our younger students only used three ducks today (twos and below).

Don't know the tune? Check out the video below, though the version that we sang in class today is slightly different. 

We also enjoyed seeing and hearing the recorder (instrument) and playing a fun "round the circle" game called "All Around The Village". Ask your child how they went "in and out the window" today! (Three years of age and up).

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Week of April 22nd, 2013

WASH TUB BASS

Today the kids got quite a thrill out of playing our home-made "wash tub bass"!

The bass was very simple in its construction: we simply took some twine, a mop handle, and a plastic tub with a hole drilled in the top. By tying a washer to one end of the string and drawing it through the tub, and connecting the other hand to the mop handle, we instantly had our "wash tub bass"! The sound was created through the vibration of the string, and the empty space of the overturned tub acted as a speaker box, amplifying the vibrations! I explained this entire process to the children, and also held a string tightly in my hands with the help of another teacher, so that they could hear how the string's vibration was slightly amplified by my hand acting as the "speaker". (See the above photo).

Check out these videos from class today!

Week of April 16th, 2013

FESTIVAL OF BIHU in Assam, India

Students very much enjoyed learning about this three day festival in India, which actually began on April 14th with a ritual of "cow washing"! I showed our friends pictures and videos of this animal, very sacred to Indian culture, being washed in the river and coated with Turmeric spice. The cows also receive new rope at this time of year! I also showed the children a picture of a baby rhinoceros living in Assam, and we talked a little bit about local wildlife!

We also put on some Indian music and tried out some of the dance moves we saw (pics below)! One theme that emerged often was hiding both hands behind your back, and also using your hands as though they were graceful bird necks and beaks (opening and closing hands as though they were a bird's mouth, which I described to the children as "Swan Moves".)

We then watched a few videos of traditional Bihu dance, which interpretively speaking is very themed around "courtship" style dances between men and women.  Many of the dance moves are focused on moving the torso and upper arms and bending at the waist. Check out the Youtube videos and see for yourself!

PEEK-A-BOO SONG FUN!

(Hear tune in video below)

(Child's name) is gone! Where is (he/she)?

Peek-a-boo! Now I see!

Gone again! Where'd (he/she) go? 

Peek-a-boo! I found your nose!

Try this fun peekaboo song with your young child. All you need is a handkercheif, blankie, or even a tissue!

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!