general music Music for Body, Mind & Soul in the
Elementary Classroom Renee Hanson, WMEA State Chair, General Music
I am looking forward to our Wisconsin State Music Confer- ence this year. It is all about bringing together the body, mind and soul. So much of what we do in general mu-
sic incorporates all of these items. This past summer I taught a summer school class for kindergarten and first graders called: Boomwhackers, Drums and Bells. We spent two weeks playing all three instruments. The class brought together students from different grade levels and backgrounds and tapped into their desire to make music. They used their bodies, minds and souls. Our class time was divided into three sections: drums for 30 minutes, bells for 30 minutes and boom- whackers for 20 minutes. I hope you enjoy the lesson.
Boomwhackers, Drums and Bells
Grades: K-2
Music Standards: Singing: A.2.1, A.2.3 Playing: B.2.1, B.2.2, B.2.4 Read and Notate: E.2.1, E.2.2 Analyze: F.2.1
Lesson Objectives:
1. Students will sing and play (drums, bells and boomwhackers) a variety of songs.
2. Students will echo and create rhythm patterns to play on the drums.
3. Students will read simple notation to play the bells.
4. Students will identify rhythms and melodies that are the same or differ- ent in music.
Materials Needed:
• Binders with music (“Ackabacka Soda Cracker,” “Lucy Locket, Ze- bra Zydeco,” “Ebeneezer Sneezer,” “Naughty Kitty Cat,” “Obwisana,” “When the Saints Go Marching In”). For this grade level – all notes are written in, color-coded, laminated and all music is in the key of C.
• Drums • Bells • Boomwhackers – need four sets • iPod with play list set
• Set up room in a semi-circle with teacher at the head. I have several standing drums so I set up chairs with each drum. Students put the drums away when we are ready to move to bells. The students then help by getting their own bells and putting away at the end. I usually choose which boomwhackers go out to the students, if I don’t we end up with everyone having the BIG Red middle C.
Lesson Procedure:
1. Begin each class by having students echo simple four beat rhythm patterns on the drums.
2. When the class is comfortable, have each student take a turn playing a pat- tern and the class echoing. (Great for assessment as well, many students at this age still have a problem keeping the pattern to four beats.)
3. Students will play the rhythm of each song with the iPod play list. During “Zebra Zydeco” the students will play the clapping rhythm on the drums and may dance around their drums and/or switch places with their classmates during the verses.
4. Students will learn to play the songs on the bells. Allow time for indi- vidual practice and provide several opportunities to play each song. (This section takes time and you will have to introduce only a few songs over the course of the classes. Bells are done second because of the difficulty. Finishing with boomwhackers gives the students a sense of accomplish- ment.)
5. Students will play solos to song of choice.
6. Students will listen, watch and play boomwhackers with each recording or with teacher. (Several of the re- cordings go quite fast so most of the pieces are played in a group.)
Time Required: Eight 1 hour and 20 minute sessions.
I look forward to meeting many of you at the general music session at the Wisconsin State Music Conference.
Renee Hanson teaches K-12 music at Barneveld School District. Email:
rhanson@barneveld.k12.wi.us
32 September 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72