Kindergarten Grade Music Class
The Kindergarten students receive music instruction once a week for 50 minutes. While in class, students are introduced to musical concepts on an experiential level. There is a lot of movement, singing, playing, and creating that happens on a weekly basis. The main concepts being taught throughout the year are: Steady Beat, Upwards and Downwards, Loud and Soft, Fast and Slow, Environmental Sounds, Long and Short Sounds,and Call and Response.
What's Happening in Kindergarten Music?
Check out our singing and playing of the song "Autumn Leaves!"
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Listed below are the concepts covered and a brief description of
our lessons in music class over the course of the school year. This section will be updated as we cover new topics! September Unit 1: Welcome to Music During the first few weeks of school, the students were introduced to the procedures and expectations in the music room. We also learned several new songs to help develop our voices and learn how to add movement to our singing. The music we used is as follows:"Hello Song", "Walk To School", "Gallop All Around", and "What Is Your Name?", We also listened to two stories: "Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes" and The Wheels on the School Bus. Unit 2: Steady Beat Introduction Steady Beat is described as the heartbeat or pulse of the music. In this introductory unit, the students are exposed to the concept of steady beat and what it feels like through singing, movement, and instrument playing. We used several new songs to help discover steady beat including: "Beat Is Steady", "Happy Song", and "Rockin' Around the Mulberry Bush". October-December Unit 3: Upwards and Downwards In this unit, the students are learning to identify melodies that go upwards and downwards. We used several different techniques to experience melodies that go up in down including singing, movement, listening, and playing the instruments. The songs we used to cover this concept include: "The Playground at the Park", "The Spider's Web", and "Autumn Leaves", We also used the book "Mortimer" to further enhance our understanding of upwards and downwards by playing on the step bells each time a character in the story goes up and down the stairs. The students were also introduced to the music room's "This Old Man" puppet and story. After learning the song, the students were able to take turns putting an object back in "Old Man's" pocket and play the upwards melody to the phrase "Give a dog a bone" on the step bells while singing the song. We also discussed the rhyming words that were used in the piece and number sequencing up to ten. Duing the month of December, we also spent some time singing through some music to celebrate the various holidays that happen during December. One of our favorites was the "The Dreidel Song" where we learned about Hanukkah. We also enjoyed listening to the story "Pete the Cat Saves Christmas" and doing a few written activities that go along with the book. We also had a really great time singing "Jingle Bells" and playing the instruments! January Unit 4: Environmental Sounds Environmental sounds are the noise heard all around us. The kindergarten students started their unit by learning what an environmental sound was and identified several sounds they hear on an every day basis. We then learned the song “Stop and Listen” and recognized the different sounds being sung about and how to create those sounds using our bodies. Once the students were comfortable singing the song and doing the movements, we added percussion instruments to represent the different environmental sounds heard. Our next song was called “A Big Ol’ Storm a Comin’.” This song tells the story of a storm that is coming soon! In the song, there are three environmental songs we focused on. Those sounds were: wind, rain, and thunder. We practiced creating those sounds with our voices and created a classroom thunderstorm! We also read the book “Thunder Cake” which is the true story of a girl from Michigan and how her Grandma helped her overcome her fear of the sound of thunder. To end our unit, we listened to a song called “Little Red Caboose.” The students then discussed the environmental sounds a train would make and we practiced making those sounds with our voices and classroom percussion instruments . We also created a train and moved around the room using our different environmental sounds. Lastly, we read the book “Train Song.” This book does a great job exploring environmental sounds that a train would make! February-March Unit 5: Fast and Slow The definition of tempo is the speed at which music is played. In this unit, the students are introduced to the concept of tempo through the key words fast and slow. We use several different songs to explore these concepts and use movement and instrument playing to further our understanding. Some of the songs used in this unit are: "Little Red Wagon", "Let's Go Walking", "Old Gray Cat" and "The Pony Song." We also studied the story "The Tortoise and the Hare" and used movement to practice our fast and slow tempo walks like the characters. One of the favorite activities we did in class was listening to the story "The Wheels on the Race Car." The fast tempo of this song makes it a great addition to our discussions on fast and slow. |