Assignment 7 Article Review

1) Is it true that just listening to music makes you smart? What does research studies cited in this article indicate? What does the author suggest? What do you think? No, just listening to music is not proven to make you smart. However, the research studies cited indicate that "Music has the ability to facilitate language acquisition, reading readiness, and general intellectual development"; "to foster positive attitudes, and lower truancy in the middle and high school, and to enhance creativity, and to promote social development, personality adjustment, and self worth" (Hanshumaker, 1980). I think music for sure has the ability to promote social development. In basically every music piece, everyone has to worth together to compose a piece. Even a singer singing a solo piece needs to work with the band to compose music. Working together to form music and dance is very important in music. Social skills will absolutely develop.

2) The author suggests four types of findings to support the belief that music has strong biological roots? What are they?

1) If music had a strong biological component, then animals would have fundamental abilities in music--and this seems to be the case. Monkeys can think in terms of musical abstraction.

2) Biological behaviors are universal. Parents communicate to their babies through lullabies.

3) Biological behaviors are often reveled early in life, before cultural factors can influence and change behavior. Toddlers exhibit musical behaviors.

4) We might expect the human brain to be organized to process musical activity- and this is the case.

3) According to neuroscientists, synapses (the junction across which a nerve impulse passes to a neuron or other cell) grow stronger through use and become weakened. How does playing music help synapses grow stronger?

Playing music helps synapses grow stronger by use and weakened by disuse. Learning and performance articulate the brain--not merely by developing specific music skills, but also by strengthening the synapses between brain cells.

4) Does music help improve reading comprehension? What does the author say about it? What is your opiniOn. According to this article, yes music can help improve reading comprehension. Music is complex, so the children really have to understand what they are reading to grasp the musical concept. Therefore, the students are analyzing and improving their reading comprehension. In the article they did an experiment with first graders and after receiving instructions in musical listening, they have shown to have higher reading scores. I was curious when reading this article because I did not understand how listening to music would help reading comprehension.

5) The thing that I found interesting is the fact that brain scans taken during musical performances show that virtually the entire cerebral cortex is active while musicians are plays. That fact is just fascinating to me.

Journal Two

During this unit, we learned how to write a lesson. We learned that the National Standards were always the place to start. You must have the National Standards at the top of the lesson, followed by concepts, skills, and objectives. We learned that it is important to write our lessons so that if we ever have a substitute teacher, that teacher would be able to teach the lesson. We learned more about rhythm and music form. We learned about tonic solfa and the hand signs to Do Re Mi Fa So La To Do. We learned about Kodaly and his teaching practices. Also, I learned how to play the notes D and C on the recorder. I learned that in the C major scale, you have to start with C and end with C. I learned how to write out the C major scale in order. As for classroom management, we learned how to control a classroom by teaching our lessons to our class group. It was interesting how some of the students our own age would not pay attention and yawn while you were teaching. It was my job to keep my students entertained and on task.

I liked this unit because we actually got to write our own lessons. Writing our own lesson let us feel like the teachers we will be someday soon. We were able to teach what we wanted and our own experience made us learn way more than a textbook could ever teach us. I also did learn through reading about Kodaly and researching his teaching methods. We had our first test; therefore, reading was necessary to understand the material that was going to be on our test. I read the different functions of music and understood when they were used. Discussion is a huge learning process in our class. We have discussions about the music notation on the bored daily, which is a huge part of our class and for sure how I learn most of the material.

It is important for me to learn how to write a lesson plan because one day soon I will be a teacher. I chose to write a lesson plan for Kindergarten because I want to teach Kindergarten and early elementary. It was important for me to realize what the national standards are and what I should set my objectives to be for my Kindergarteners. It is important for me to learn tonic solfa, because when I teach pitch to my students, it will be a useful and fun way for them to learn.

It is important for children to learn how to use tonic solfa and hand signals because the pitch of music is very important for the students to understand. Starting our teaching the students with a song such as Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do can be fun and very educational for the students.

Writing and reading music notation was something that I found difficult in this class. I have never taken any kind of music before; therefore I was completely clueless when it came to writing my own music down on my own staff paper. Everyone around me seemed to be doing very well and have musical backgrounds. I was not discouraged. I am getting better. Slowly but surely! I also had trouble writing symbolic pictures to Mary Had a Little Lamb. In the end, I figured it out. It just took me a while to grasp some of the musical concepts.

Final Lesson Plan

Amanda Kelley

Music 373

Final Lesson Plan

Activity: Children’s song “Peanut Butter and Jelly”

Grade Level: Kindergarten

National Standards

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

Concepts

Music: Rhythm-steady beat

Non-music: Language Arts- New vocabulary word: Sandwich

Skills

Music: Keeping the steady beat

Non-music: Fine and gross motor skills

Objectives

The students will be able to:

Keep the steady beat throughout the song

Demonstrate fine motor skills by making different hand gestures to go along with the song such as clapping, spreading, and eating

Demonstrate gross motor skills by stomping their feet

Understand the new vocabulary word: Sandwich

Materials

Open Space

Procedure

Greet the class with a warm welcome “good morning my kindergarten class”

Make sure everyone is sitting in a semi-circle around me

Tell the class, “Today we are going to sing a song called Peanut Butter and Jelly!”

Tell the class, “I am going to sing the song first but I need your help to remind me what movements to do”

Tell the students that when you sing this phrase“And you crunch’em” you go like this (make hand gesture of clapping both hands together)

Ask the class to “crunch’em” for you

Tell the students that when you sing “And you squish em’” that they should stomp their feet

Ask the class to “squish em’” for you

Tell the students that when you sing “And you spread it” that they should make the hand gesture of moving one hand to the left

Ask the students to “spread it” for you

Tell the class that when you sing “And then you eat it” that they should put two of their hands to their mouth

Ask the class to show that they can “eat it” for you

Once that everyone knows the hand movements, you should ask the class if they can help you remember the hand movements as you sing by doing the motions while you sing

You (the teacher) first sings the Peanut Butter and Jelly song while doing the hand gestures and the children do the hand gestures as well

Tell the class “that was fun! Lets all try to sing it together”

Sing the whole song together with the hand gestures

Tel the class that “The Peanut Butter and Jelly song has a steady beat”

The teacher demonstrates clapping my hands to the steady beat for one verse

(X X X X)

Ask the class “Can everyone clap the steady beat with me? (Teacher will sing)

Teacher says “Today, by singing the Peanut Butter and Jelly song we learned a new word: Sandwich”

Teacher says “Peanut Butter and Jelly is a type of sandwich”

Teacher explains: “A sandwich has 3 parts”

The top: one slice of bread

The middle: all of the yummy stuff you want in your sandwich

The bottom: another slice of bread

Teacher explains “Our Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich had 3 parts: One slice of bread on the top, peanut butter and jelly in the middle, and one piece of bread on the bottom holding it all together

Closure

Teacher says “I don’t want my sandwich to fall apart on me! Can someone show me how to make a sandwich in 3 parts?”

Teacher asks a student “Which movements did we learn today?” (Crunch, squish, spread, and eat)

Teacher asks “Can someone tell me what parts of the song have the same steady beat?”

Teacher asks “Can someone clap the steady beat for me?”

Assessment

Were the students able to clap the steady beat?

Were the students able to use hand gestures to show their fine motor skills?

Were the students able to stomp their feet to show their gross motor skills?

Did the students understand that the sandwich had 3 parts?

Were the students able to sing to the steady beat?

Journal One

Journal One

During the first part of this class, we learned many concepts of music such as pitch, rhythm, rests, rest counts, meters, and melody. We learned that songs have rhythm. We learned how to keep the steady beat of the rhythm by tapping our legs or hands to the beat. We sang songs with a high pitch. One example could be “Bee Bee Bumble Bee”. That song had a very high pitch. We learned how to take turns singing in pitch. When we were called on, we would sing “my name is Amanda” and then the next person would sing their name in tune also. Non-musical skills that we learned would be to follow directions, socialize with the class, and we learned everyone’s name. Music can help students learn educational topics such as math, history, science, art, language arts, ect. Music can basically teach any subject though songs and melodies. An example of how history can be taught through music is learning the president’s names in a song. We learned how to write a lesson plan in the correct sequence. One classroom management skill that we learned was how to take attendance. If the class is misbehaving and you want to calm them down, music usually works. Sing an attendance song, so that way everyone has to participate and enjoys listening to the music as well. Music sooths the mind and can send out a relaxing vibe. Songs such as Tideo, could get the children all involved at once. We also learned the rhythmic beat to Tideo, which helped us understand how many measures were in a beat. Hands on experience are the best way to teach music. Students will get bored if they are taught through lecture everyday. Getting the students as musically involved as possible is the best way to help them grasp the concepts of music. All of your students should be up and moving around and singing. Rhythmic sticks are also a great way to keep the class interested and also teach the steady beat. It also helped me understand the rhythmic notation and how fast and slow the notes were. If it had a 16^th note, that meant that we would move our rhythmic sticks faster. If we had a 8^th note, that meant that we would move them slower than the 16^th note. I am a very hands on learner, so that activity was helpful for me. I also learned about the musical notation and how to write a lesson plan by reading my text book. But I learned the most by hands on experience in the class. It is important for me to learn music concepts and skills because I am going to be a teacher soon. I am going to use music to teach my lessons. I am going to be an elementary school teacher, so no matter what subject I am teaching, I can use music to help teach. It is important for elementary school children to learn music concepts and skills because music is such an important part of our everyday lives. Music is everywhere. Songs develop social skills. Even as early as the “Patty Cake” song. Children learn through music such as the “A,B,Cs”, counting songs and many other educational songs. Music energizes children and realistically, children need to not be lectured 24-7 and have fun learning for once. The only problem I have had in this class is that I have had no experience with music notation what so ever. I did not know the FACE or Every Good Boy Does Fine. I have to memorize those things and then I think I will be good. I enjoy this class because it is not like my other classes. I enjoy singing, moving around, and actively participating.

WorkSheet for Chapter 4

Worksheet for Chapter 4

1) What are the differences in vocal characteristics and abilities of children? Give examples that are age specific.

(1a) Preschool/Kindergarten (Ages 4 and 5)

(1b) Their vocal characteristics and abilities:

§ Voices are small are light

§ Children are generally unable to sing in tune

§ Singing range is D-A for most, D-D for some

§ Children can sing short melodies in major, minor or pentatonic scales

§ Children can sing melodies with one note to a syllable

§ Children can sing with an awareness of a steady beat

§ Children can sing repeated rhythmic patterns accurately

§ Children can sing softly and loudly

§ Children can sing melodies with or without a simple accompaniment

(1c) Their song interests:

§ Like songs that tell a story

§ Songs that give them an opportunity for natural expression

§ Love make believe

§ Songs that deal with familiar experiences (bed-time, animals, the seasons)

(2a) Early Primary: First and Second Grades (Age 6 and 7)

(2b) Their vocal characteristics and abilities:

§ Most voices are light and high; a few may be low

§ Many children are still unable to sing in tune at age six

§ By age seven most children will be able to sing at least short phrases in tune and will begin to sing alone

§ Children can understand high and low pitches

§ Children can sustain a single pitch

§ Range expands from five to six consecutive pitches (D-B) to a full octave (D-D)

§ Children understand the difference between a playground-shouting voice and a singing voice

§ Children begin to understand the importance of breath in singing

§ Children can sing melodies in major, minor, and pentatonic scales

§ Children can sing call-and-response songs, as well as songs in two-or-three part form

§ Children sing with attention to dynamics and change in tempo

§ Children can sing rhythmical accenting strong beats and performing simple syncopation

§ Children can sing from simple music notation

§ Children can sing melodies with simple harmonic or rhythmic accompaniment

2(c) Song interests:

§ Children enjoy songs about animals, community, friends, action (with movement or creative motions), pretending, folk games from around the world, and special occasions

3(a) Intermediate: Third and Fourth Grades (Age 8 and 9)

3(b) Their vocal characteristics and abilities

§ Most children can sing in tune

§ Girls’ voices begin to develop the rich resonance of the mature boy soprano-alto voice

§ Some children can sing rounds, partner songs, canons, and descants. There is little use if alto or lower parts

§ Some children have much more control over expressive qualities of singing, for example, legato, dynamics, and sustained phrases

§ Some children are capable of singing melodies or parts from music notation

§ Some children can harmonize parts or chords by ear, such as thirds and sixths

§ Some children can sing songs with more complex rhythms

3(c) Song interests:

§ Children enjoy songs about America (Native Americans, Pilgrims), transportation, geography, the circus, planets, and people and songs that express emotion.

§ Songs from other lands are appealing because of their contrasting styles

4(a) Upper Elementary: Fifth and Sixth Grades (Age 10 and 11)

4(b) Vocal characteristics and abilities

§ Unchanged voices remain clear and light; boys’ voices become more resonant

§ Some children show greater ability to sing in two and three parts

§ Some children have a heightened rhythmic sense and respond to music with strong rhythms

§ Many children tend to imitate the quality and style of pop singers

§ Some voices begin to change—that is boys’ voices become lower, and girls’ voices become very breathy

§ Some children can read simple music notation

4(c) Song interests:

§ Children enjoy songs related to adventure, work, transportation, history, and feelings

§ Songs from other cultures and countries

§ Enjoy folk songs from American, songs about places or events and contemporary popular songs

§ They like to harmonize and accompany songs with classroom instruments

§ They are enthusiastic about dramatics and producing musical plays

2. List and explain the Techniques for teaching children to sing:

1) Creating an Environment for Singing Experiences

§ Song sung by a parent, teacher, or friend provide an effective model for them to follow

§ Play playing a book on tape of a children’s voice, children can learn to reproduce tonal sounds by imitation

§ Hearing sounds repeatedly will help them relate to pitch, melody, and rhythm

2) Improvising Posture

§ Children must stand with shoulders erect, head up, and spine straight

§ Create games and analogies to improve posture

o Ask the children to reach for an imaginary bar above their heads and pull their bodies upward toward it. They should relax and put their arms down to their sides

3) Teaching Good Breathing Habits to Support the Tone

§ As they learn to “feel” the pitches, they will be better able to “match” the pitches.

o Sip air as if through a soda straw and release it with a hissing sounds. Be sure to keep to sound steady and not like a radiator that has sprung a leak

4) Finding the Head voice

§ Children who cannot sing in tune are unable to manipulate their voices so that they can match the musicals sounds they hear. Before a child can sing comfortably, he must learn how it feels and sound to use the head voice

§ One game:

§ Different “voices” can be used when saying selected chants; For example: the chant “1,2,3,4,5” can be spoken this way:

§ Regular voice: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once I caught a fish alive

6, 7, 8,9, 10, then I let him go again

§ Low voice: Why did you let it go?

§ High voice: Because it bit my finger so.

§ Low voice: which finger did it bite?

§ High voice: the little finger on the right!

5) Developing the Ability to Match Tones

§ It is directly related to breathing techniques, ear training, a relaxed jar, and singing with energy.

o Most children have sung childhood chants, such as

“Come over to my house”

6) Developing Concepts of High and Low

§ A basic skill in tone matching is to develop the concepts of high and low

o Ie: Show pictures that illustrate the concepts of high and low, such as a plane and a car

7) Discovering Patterns

§ All pieces of music have patterns that repeat. These patterns may be melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic. Have children:

o Examine repeated patterns on fabric or wrapping paper

o Show pictures with patterns that occur more than once

Assignment 4

Amanda Kelley

Music 373

Lesson Plan #1

Activity: Children’s song “Peanut Butter and Jelly”

Grade Level: Kindergarten

National Standards

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

Concepts

Music: Rhythm-steady beat

Non-music: Language Arts- New vocabulary word: Sandwich

Skills

Music: Keeping the steady beat

Non-music: Fine and gross motor skills

Objectives

The students will be able to:

*Keep the steady beat throughout the song

*Demonstrate fine motor skills by making different hand gestures to go along with the song such as clamping, spreading, and eating

*Demonstrate gross motor skills by stomping their feet

*Understand the new vocabulary word: Sandwich

Materials

*Open Space