Wednesday 25 September 2013

Music!!!

Music has always been another area of fear for me in terms of teaching.  My voice is terrible, and musical instruments, as much as I would love to play one, they scare me!  However, I am now learning how to play the ukulele, and I think I'm rockin' it! I'm hoping that this will help me then learn how to play the guitar!  This year, I have found a love and passion for teaching music, regardless of my lack of technique.

The 2/3 class and I had a long chat about how everyone can create music, and that I'm learning with them about Music.  They are very patient with me when I try to play a song on the ukulele for them to sing along to and I make a few mistakes.  They are encouraging and still show that they are very excited to have a teacher who "plays an instrument".

A couple of weeks ago, I brought in, with the help of many, many parents and staff members, a whole bunch of recyclables (boxes, jars, buckets, toilet paper rolls, cans, etc.).




I also brought in balloons, string, duct tape, tissu paper, scrapbook paper and a few other supplies, on top of what we have available in class.  Before I said the highly anticipated word "GO", the class researched instruments to see what kind of musical instruments the students could then create, using the supplies available to them.  We look at everything from drums, to shakers, to guitars, to flutes, etc.  Then, I said it.  I said the word "GO" and I just let them go and create their own instruments...  As many as they wanted.  No specific guidelines or instructions, except for "they must make music", which is what the students agreed on.

Here they are hard at work!


















The students really seemed to enjoy the freedom of creating their own instruments and then playing them their own way!  We as a class set specific expectations in terms of their behaviour during this activity, since they did have so much freedom.  They were incredibly well behaved and so passionate about this projects, which is ongoing.  We are currently composing music and the students are creating their own ways of writing/drawing their music!  Stay tuned for more on our music adventure!  

P.S.  Once I can figure out why my computer won't let me upload videos, you'll get to see and hear some of the students' creations!  Stay tuned!










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