Week #11 Journal

This week we mostly learned more about integrating musical activities into children's literature and the many different and creative ways it can be done. We learned how you can integrate different subject areas as well as music and non-music concepts into a children's book so you can teach the children something while they are having fun with the story. A teacher has to think of creative ways that music can be integrated into a children's story. For instance, on Wednesday we each played a different instrument together during the Chicken Little story, and each instrument represented a character in the story. Then on Friday we brought recyclable items to class and used them to create sounds of rain and thunder during the story Thunder Cake. It also allowed us, the students, to be creative in coming up with our own sounds that represented thunder. Creativity is important to young children, and teachers must do all they can do to enhance the creativity in children and not stifle it. ALso, by doing these fun things while telling a story, the children are more likely to pay attention to the story and learn something from it rather than let their minds drift off.
On Friday this week we also learned two new notes on the recorder, E and F. I thought these new notes were harder than ones we learned before because we had to use almost all of our fingers and my fingers got tired quickly.
This week we also learned what binary form is. Binary form is when a song is broken up into two different parts. One part, the A part, is the chorus of the song and the other part, the B part, is the bridge of the song. For example, when we did the hand jive in class to the Ray Charles song Hit the Road Jack, the song had a binary form. During part A, we did the hand jive and during part B we danced around with our partner.

Journal Week 10

This week in class, we learned how to tell a story to children through music and sounds. By doing this, it can get the children engaged in listening to a story by taking part in its telling rather than just sitting there listening to it. This also ensures that the students are paying attention because they have a role to play in the storytelling. This also allows them to have fun through music and storytelling. By using student-centered learning, it allows them to be creative while still sticking to learning and having fun. It lets the children become active in the learning. In reading the sounds story and everyone participating in making different sounds that go along in the story, each student was actively engaged in the story and it allows the students to think creatively to come up with their own sound. It also teaches the students more aware of the sounds around them in their everyday lives. Also with the Boo Hoo baby story and song it also allowed the students to become involved and learn a variety of animal sounds with their peers.
On Friday this week we learned how to play a new note, the E on the recorder. This note was fun but more challenging than it has been to remember all the subsequent notes we learned. But its still fun to be able to play more recognizable songs on the recorder as the weeks progress.

Journal Week 8

I believe that creativity is one of the most important things for children to have. One reason is because it allows them to use their mind, think for themselves and to come up with their own ways to solve problems. Creativity shows individuality in a person, and it is important to teach this to children at a young age so we can encourage them to be creative and use their own creativity in everything that they do. Creativity encourages children to think out of the box and come up with their own individual ideas on a topic.
Music is an area that helps children use their creativity. By teaching children at an early age about all the different instruments and notes and sounds that is involved in music allows them to be skilled in the area and when they get older, experiment with the notes and music to come up with something that is their own. Also, by listening to a song, a child can be creative in coming up with a story that goes along with the song or by feeling the different individual emotions that music brings.
For my multicultural project I am choosing Ireland as my country. I am over half Irish on both sides of my family so I think this culture represents me the best and it is something I will be interested to learn more about.

Journal Week 7

This week in class we spend reviewing or going over our lesson plans next week and studying for our test. I don't think that the test itself was that hard because I spent a lot of time studying. I made flash cards for all the topics discussed on the study guide and I reviewed them many times before the test. The most difficult thing I felt to remember was the solfege and remembering what sounds went with the different music notes. Another thing I thought was difficult was the different musical characteristics and abilities for children at different age and grade levels, because most of them were so similar between ages. The rest of the test I felt was pretty easy and I felt I did well. (I hope!)The easiest things I felt we learned this semester was what steady beat, rhythm, melody, articulation and dynamics were. I also enjoyed learning the different notes on the recorder, A, B, C, G, and D. Other things I felt were easy were the scales (C major and G major) and whole and half steps, and the notes and the according rest signs.