Shape Portraits

K-6 Visual Art and Math (30-40 minutes)

Overview

The children will construct self-portraits out of shapes cut from construction paper.

Materials

Glue sticks, scissors, and construction paper

Standards

Art (fine motor movement, personal expression)

Science (observe, manipulate, measure, describe)

Math (reason about shapes)

Speaking and Listening (presenting ideas)

Process

For older students use specific shape classifications such as polygons. Make sure students understand that their portrait does not have to look exactly like they do.

•       Compare and contrast pre-cubist and cubist self-portraits by Picasso (http://robinurton.com/history/cubism.htm)
•       Discuss and draw polygons
•       Identify polygons in cubist paintings
•       Discuss how aims of cubist art differ from more realistic forms of art (expresses feelings or ideas rather than simply looking like something)
•       Identify and discuss polygons in faces (large photographs or mirrors could also be used)
•       Cut polygons out of construction paper (review scissor safety)
•       Construct a portrait by gluing polygons onto a large sheet of construction paper. Fill the space.
•       Show the portrait to the class (or to a small group) and tell about the processes and choices that went into its production. What does it express?

References

A similar idea is included in the wonderful book, Object Lessons: Teaching Math Through the Visual Arts, K-5 by Caren Holtzman and Lynn Susholtz, 2011.

When I Was a Baby

K-6, Music and Science (20-30 minutes)

Materials

“When I Was a Baby” from Jump Jim Joe: Great Singing Games for Children, New England Dancing Masters Productions (includes CD), life cycle handouts/visuals; my university class also recorded this traditional singing game on youtube (see below); some space for movement

Standards
Science (life cycles)
Music (traditional chant, creating new lyrics)
Dance (creating actions and non-locomotor movement sequences)
Language Arts (group collaboration, composing text)
Social Studies (the role of music in various cultures)

Process

• Learn “When I Was a Baby” and sing it as a class on multiple occasions
• Discuss the purposes/functions of this singing game
• Discuss the human life cycle relative to the game
• Explore additional ways to keep the beat throughout the game
• As a class, adapt the parts of the singing game to include additional or different parts of the life cycle.
• As a class or in groups (depending on additional help available in class) review the life cycles of various animals or insects and adapt them to the singing game (It might be helpful to use this sentence and fill in the blanks: “When I was a (stage in life cycle) . . . this is what I did. I went (action) this-a-way . . .”)
• Discuss elements of a quality performance; practice and refine performances

Assessment
Video record the final performances, view, and discuss as a class

Singin' About the Food Chain

I developed this lesson for and with my son's class when he was in second grade. I played my guitar to accompany the singing. They loved the activity! And, the students remembered the song years after we sang it and wrote the original verses together in class.

Objectives: All students will adapt facts about the food chain as verses for the song, Skip to My Lou (see attachment) and create a rhythmic accompaniment to their verse using body percussion.

Standards: Music—Improvise simple rhythmic accompaniments; Science—Food Chains

Preparation: Food Chain handout or projected image (information about food chains and webs for students to read)

Anticipatory Set: Echo rhythms

                       

Teaching (input, model, check for understanding, individual and group practice, etc.)

• Give the students the food chain handout and read the first section together
• Sing the food chain chorus for the students (to the tune of Skip to My Lou)

Food chain, food chain, food chain

Food chain, food chain, food chain

Food chain, food chain, food chain

Singin’ about the food chain.

• Invite the students to sing along
• Demonstrate and have the students imitate the actions for the song (roll arms until the last word of the line and then touch side of face with right hand and left hand to right elbow end of each line, clap the rhythm on the last line)
• As a class, make up a verse that has a sentence from the food chain handout (such as “Carnivores eat only meat”) repeated three times and followed by “Singin’ about the food chain.”
• As a class, add a repeated body percussion pattern along with the verse.
• Divide the class into groups and have them each come up with a verse and a rhythm accompaniment for it. Maybe give each group a different part of the food chain to define.

Closure: Perform the food chain. Have each group perform their verse. At the beginning have all the students sing the chorus and then repeat the chorus after each verse.

Extension: Write down all of the verses and the chorus and repeat the song during subsequent class periods.

Found Sounds

This lesson is an easy (and free!) combination of music and science learning objectives. Students in fifth, sixth, or seventh grades will likely be able to accomplish the objectives of this lesson without lengthy preparation. It could also be adapted for younger students. The initial lesson can easily extend into additional projects. 

Objectives: Students will explore the properties of sound on improvised percussion instruments.

Standards: Science

• Describe how sound energy is transferred by wave-like disturbances that spread away from the source through a medium, describe how changes in energy cause changes in loudness and pitch or a sound, predict how the properties of the medium (e.g. air, water, empty space, rock) affect the speed of different types of mechanical waves (i.e. earthquake, sound)

Standards: Music

• Echo rhythmic and melodic patterns of increasing complexity on classroom instruments
• Improvise short rhythmic and melodic patterns
• Create and notate a rhythmic and/or melodic ostinato accompaniment within the teacher’s specified guidelines

Materials
Classroom space for discovering sounds

Anticipatory Set
 Find out what students know about how sound travels

Teaching Proces

• Walk around the room and hit or scrape different things to make sound
• Discuss why some things sound different from others (what they are made of, how thick they are, etc.)
• Experiment as a class with ways to alter the sounds (use something different to strike an object, for example)
• Have class members find their own sound somewhere in the room
• Have the class echo four-count patterns initiate by the teacher or a student leader
•  Have the class make up their own patterns to answer the leader’s patterns
•  Have the class members each make up a complementary pattern to be played at the same time as the leader’s repeated pattern to make a class “groove.” In other words, start the repeating pattern and invite others to join in gradually, “grooving” with the initial pattern but not overpowering it
• Divide the class into groups to develop their own grooves
• Have the groups invent notation to represent their grooves

Closure:  Let each group play their groove for the class

Extensions: Use the grooves to accompany raps, poems, songs, or times-tables.

Play is Okay!

Play is okay! Children learn and have learned for ages and ages through play—engaging, joyful, creative action. For some reason, however, teachers sometimes get it in their heads that learning requires work and that work is not play—is not fun. I suggest two points relative to this misunderstanding:

First, play is NOT the opposite of work. Think of someone who has a passion for hiking—researching to discover the best gear (shoes, backpack, sleeping bag, food) and places to hike—a set of crystal clear mountain lakes, for example. The actually hiking trip takes considerable effort; the path is steep and full of rocks. Somehow, though, the hiker enjoys the entire trip, both the challenge of the hike and the view of the lakes. This is play, recreation, fun. It is also a lot of work. Similarly, singing games are fun AND require considerable cognitive, kinesthetic, and social engagement. In fact, they likely would not be as fun if they didn’t require significant effort.

Second, many people enjoy their work.  Sometimes people say, “I can’t believe I get paid for this!” Some vocations allow significant levels of autonomy, creativity, and social interaction. Some people even have a knack for making the most mundane tasks, such as yard work or household chores, interesting and fun (this is called autotelic personality, by the way).  Work doesn’t have to be unpleasant or boring. In fact, if the work of learning is unpleasant or boring it will likely be less effective than if it involves ample opportunity for physical, social, and creative engagement.

The reason that children’s singing games have endured over time is that they naturally engage students in meaningful musicing and musical learning. In the process students learn far more about music and develop musical skills at levels far surpassing anything that could be accomplished through a music worksheet, for instance. Of course, a music worksheet might have a place once in a while, but if learning is the aim (and, of course, we all know it is), we will allow the joyful and creative play/work or work/play of traditional singing games.

Lesson Plans

It's important to plan instruction. However, you simply cannot plan everything that kids will learn; some might "get it" and some might not and kids will potentially learn much that wasn't even outlined in the lesson plan. Also, concepts such as dynamics and tempo terminology can be taught quickly if the children have already experienced the concepts musically (i.e. have sung songs in various tempos with variations in dynamics). Then, it's just a matter of naming what they already know first-hand. This reasoning can also apply to reading bubble (staff or "standard") notation in that students need to experience and name pitch patterns (solfege) prior to reading them or discussing things like rhythm trees and fractions. So, basically, identifying (naming) concepts is an important process, but can constitute maybe 5 percent of the lesson . . . if that much. The bulk of the lesson should be skill development--skills in singing on pitch and in rhythm, playing instruments, and moving/dancing ("rhythming"). Kids learn these complex skills over extended periods of time by singing/playing/moving to complex/engaging/memorable songs and singing games. This portion of the lesson (learning, exploring, and transforming songs) should take up to 80-90 percent of the time! The remaining 5-10 percent is some type of warm-up--something that focuses the children and drills skills. For example, echo rhythms, echo rhythm solfege, echo melodic patterns, echo melodic solfege, create rhythm patterns, guess songs from the rhythm or hand signs, imitate movements, or even engage kids in traditional choral and physical warm-ups. So, a typical 30-minute lesson plan for second graders might look like this:

Warm-up (5-10 minutes)

• Echo teacher-led rhythm patterns (common time)
• Answer teacher-led rhythm patterns (do something different from the teacher, still in common time)
• Echo student-led rhythm patterns (common time); students initiate three rhythms and then choose another student to take a turn

Learn a new singing game or dance.

Explore the rhythm in a familiar song using classroom instruments. Discuss specific rhythm concepts (tempo, isolate specific rhythmic patterns, etc.).

Play a familiar singing game if there is time remaining.

It is not difficult to connect the musical actions in this sequence to skills and concepts in any given elementary music curriculum guide. The key, of course, is to find interesting, authentic, engaging singing games and to be creative in exploring songs (see 100 Ways to Repeat a Song).

Guess the Song!

The other morning I tapped a song on the breakfast table and asked the kids if they could guess what it was. They guessed it! I tried a couple more. Then, they each wanted to play a rhythm on the table for the rest of us to guess the song. It's difficult to do. From the perspective of an elementary music teacher, what a wonderful activity for developing inner hearing and rhythmic awareness/proficiency! I used to do this in the classroom regularly. A couple of pointers that I learned from Susan Kenney may be helpful here: Have the students avoid shouting out their guesses. Rather, they can raise their hands if they know. Then, at the end of the song, ask someone for their guess. Don't say they are right or not, but tap the rhythm again so that everyone can test whether that song fits the rhythm--practicing inner hearing. Then ask, "Did it fit?" This allows the students to make the call. Extensions on this type of activity include having the students tap the rhythm together as a group and playing the rhythm on percussion instruments.