There is a growing body of research regarding the use and creation of popular music in school settings; in general this literature is targeted for the secondary level. Many teachers feel that children cannot and should not engage in popular music making, but children are perfectly capable and the music that is so meaningful to them should be a part of their elementary experience. Continue reading “Popular music, informal learning processes in the elementary classroom….is this really possible?”
Tag: children
Composing and improvisation in the lives of children
Today I was re-reading Eve Harwood and Kathy Marsh’s brilliant chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Music Education. This paragraph gave me pause once again as I considered how to best enable children to compose and improvise in the ways that are natural for them and also help to guide without killing these natural impulses. I put the entire paragraph here because I think it is very powerful and one that pre-service teachers need to be aware of as well. You will find this quote on p. 329 of volume 1. Continue reading “Composing and improvisation in the lives of children”
La Mariposa, A Bolivian folksong
This was part of a series of lessons dealing with the concept of melody. Students were introduced to several songs from South America, Japan, Europe and America. In these examples you will find lessons that are designed to enable students to work in cooperative groups in problem solving situations where they could draw upon their collective knowledge and act upon their decisions! Some of the lessons use puzzle cards that are simply iconic representation of the melodic shape and duration. While the concept of melody was the focus, the students noticed many more musical dimensions which led to creative projects dealing with musical form, expression, and timbre.
I was introduced to the puzzle card idea by Dr. Jackie Wiggins at Oakland University. See her book, Teaching for Musical Understanding for more information.
Title–La Mariposa
Artist—Colibri (Bolivia)
Album—World Music Playground
Album—World Music Playground
Get the complete lesson plan here: La Mariposa
YouTube Videos for Classroom Instruction:
La Mariposa has a few different versions and lot of great YouTube videos that can be used for lesson planning for the elementary and secondary general music classroom. Here are a few of my favorites:
O Pião Entrou, A Brazilian game song
Title–O Pião Entrou
Artist—Rainbow Children’s Chorus (Brazil)
Album—Silver Burdett Making Music Grade 2 Book
Album—Silver Burdett Making Music Grade 2 Book
Get the complete lesson plan here.
Sharon G. Davis 