Singing Your Way to Recorder Success!

Hi, everyone! This is Kate from Kate's Kodaly Classroom. As I have become more and more inspired by the Kodaly methodology, I have found it harder and harder to include recorder in my teaching.  Often, I feel that when it comes time to teach recorder, I put everything I have been teaching "on hold" to teach a unit. The singing we have been working so hard on stops and in it's place I find myself trying to tame the squeaks and shrieks of the recorder.  And yet, I feel like it is a crime to rob my 3rd graders of the excitement that they have for learning the recorder and earning that coveted black belt in Recorder Karate. Plus, it is a great way to teach note names and treble clef reading.

So this year, rather than allowing myself to dread the recorder, I decided to work on trying to integrate the recorder into my Kodaly instruction. Now, obviously, we had to lay the foundation and spend a couple days learning the basics. However, I can say that for the first time since I started teaching Kodaly, I am actually enjoying teaching the recorder! Here are some of the ways I have been trying to incorporate recorder into my prepare and practice activities...

Rhythm Flashcards on Recorder:

I use the following sequence for rhythm flashcards with recorders
1. Speak the rhythm
2. Speak the rhythm on "too" or "doo"
3. Play the rhythm on recorder (specify the note for them or have a student select a note to play)

Using recorders to play rhythm flashcards is a quick and fast way to continue practicing wherever you are in your rhythm sequence and teach students tonguing!

Rhythmic Dictation from Recorder
Last year, I had one of those "duh" moments when I was at a presentation and someone suggested using the piano for rhythmic dictation. I sometimes struggle with melding melody and rhythm together, so this was a perfect way to get my kids to understand the two in harmony with each other. I used this same strategy with my recorder to help my students practice syncopa, tika-ti and ti-tika. I simply play a melody and ask the students to speak the rhythm back to me or write it down for me to assess.

Recorder to Solfege
I often have my students decode patterns I sing on "loo" in solfege. During my recorder unit, I have been using the recorder to play patterns and then have students sing them back to me on solfege. I will tell them the starting solfege of my pattern. This way, we can still practice low la, low sol, high do, and some of the other tones we are working on before we get to those notes on the recorder.

Play What I Sing
When we are working with three notes (BAG) and four notes (D'BAG) I will sing mi-re-do and sol-mi-re-do patterns and have them play them on the recorder. I will also sometimes have students divide into partner pairs and have one student sing a melodic flashcard while the other plays. This is, again, a great way to continue the singing during your recorder unit.

Lastly, I have been trying to draw all my recorder repertoire from my folk song collection. With the exception of a couple tunes (Jingle Bells, Ode To Joy), I have been using only the songs that my students have sung. For example...

mi-re-do (BAG)
Hot Cross Buns
Closet Key
Frog in the Millpond

so-mi-re-do (D'BAG)
Let Us Chase the Squirrel
Old Aunt Dinah
Dinah

mi-re-do-la, (BAGE,)
Old House (have the recorders only play the response part)
Skin and Bones (again, recorders play the "oo")

mi-re-do-la,-sol,
Cotton Eyed Joe
Chickalileeolo

As I started with this new approach, what really shocked me the most was the quality of my student's playing. Rather than trying to teach them new songs, notation, fingerings, and playing technique all at once, they were able to focus on the new (the instrument) and use their ears to help them figure it out when they were making a mistake. Plus, they started to try to figure out EVERY song they had learned to sing on the recorder. It was fun to see them connect their singing and their playing! I rewrote all my karate belts to be based in folk song repertoire, and have tried to design my lessons in a way that incorporates singing before playing always. I have even managed to keep my Kodaly sequence going by teaching low E and low D before high D and high C to use my low la and low sol songs.

In order to make sure that our recorder playing doesn't stop the singing in my classroom, I have developed a "practice spinner" that I use on my smartboard with my students. It looks like this...

Once we have learned a song, I let students come up and spin the wheel. Then we do whatever it lands on. The kids are all eager to spin the wheel, so it gives me a chance to include repetition and practicing without the lesson becoming boring. You can make these using an interactive white board software, or paint over an old board game spinner to make one for your classroom!

There are many great resources for teaching recorder and note reading on TpT that you can check out, too! Here are a couple examples...

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frog-in-the-Meadow-Orff-Recorder-Form-Melody-and-Instruments-1182230

and

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Treble-Clef-is-Awesome-A-MEGA-Set-of-Building-Activities-for-the-Treble-Clef-1149139

Finally, I have been drawing a lot of my listening lessons from The Complete Recorder Resource Kit. I like this resource for several reasons...
- Many of the songs are folk songs or excerpts from songs by classical composers
- It includes a brief history of the composers included (Schubert, Beethoven, Grieg...)
- It includes copies of the music with and without note names to allow you to differentiate when needed

You can check it out here...

http://www.westmusic.com/p/complete-recorder-resource-kit-with-powerpoint-834331

I know that most of these ideas are not "ground-breaking," but for me they made a world of difference! When I stopped thinking about recorder as a "unit" and started looking it as a tool for teaching my Kodaly sequence, I found that I could have fun while teaching the recorder and help my students become stronger readers, players and SINGERS while working on the recorder.

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Arts Festival

A Different Approach to A School Program

Happy Easter and Happy Spring everyone! This is Karla from CMajorLearning.  I hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year - flowers are blooming, grass needs mowing, allergies are back and kids are full of all kinds of wonderful energy! Ok - so maybe somethings about spring are not that great but it is a time of change, especially here in Ohio where everything is coming back to life after a long winters nap. 

And as spring comes around, the music teacher in me is drawn towards thoughts music performances, end of year assemblies and graduation celebrations of all sorts.  I work at Indian Trail Elementary in Canal Winchester, OH, a K-2nd grade building of around 800 students.   In years past, before state funding reductions and levy failures, there were 2 music teachers in the building (and both of us Kodaly trained).  We worked together on everything from lesson planning to cross curricular work to music programs - boy do I miss those days and my fellow music teacher Liz Young.  When the reductions hit, it mean that Indian Trail went from having 2 art, music and PE teachers to 1 in each department.  Some significant changes had to be made in order for us to take on the large student/class load now placed upon us.

While it was not an easy time by any means, the related arts program has settled into something that I can live with where I teach what I love to the age of students I love - really I can't ask for much more.

One of the major shifts in thought and practice has been how we approach our music programs. It was nearly impossible for me to put together a successful performance for each grade level of 12 homeroom classes by myself - even the administration got that! So, when presented with this new challenge, the related arts department put our thinking caps on and came up with something new for our school with the focus on families and community building.  We put together the Indian Trail Arts Festival - Super Hero's at Work!  

During this event, we invite families to come to the school for 1 hour on a Saturday morning where they can go around to different stations and do an activity that represents our related arts classes: art, music, PE and social skills.  Each of us has taken a slightly different approach to this hour community building - and that is partly what I think makes it so much fun for students, families and teachers!

For the music portion of the arts fest, students learn a game or dance during music class in the lessons leading up to the event and then we teach our families the 'moves' during one of three appointed 10 minute sessions during their hour at school.  

This year, my 1st grade students will be teaching their families "Sasha". I learned this from the New England Dancing Masters and you can get everything you need for FREE at their website. Click on the picture below to be taken directly to their website and download.  

If you are not familiar with this dance or even if you are, check out this youtube video.  It is of adults (lets call them mature adults) - what I love is that they enjoy this just as much as my kids do!!!

I love this game for so many reasons, it is a great mixer, can be done by anyone from age 5-95 and is a real crowd pleaser!  It also allows me to teach my students about music from other parts of the world.

My 2nd graders will be taking their families to Australia to play "Highway Number 1" by the Shenanigans.  Click the image below to find the recording at amazon.com.

In my classroom, the students act out the words of the song by driving on Highway #1 (it is a real highway in Australia - goes around the entire continent and is approximately 15000 miles long).  When the music says "I stopped to meet someone", the students stop, listen to the action that is said and then do it.  The music picks up again and we begin our driving.  

Along with learning the song, the students have been learning all about Australia.  We have read a book on BookFlix titled Australia.  (Does your school have this wonderful resource published by Scholastic?  It is a service that provides books to be read on the computer - I just put it on the smartboard and off we go!).

We learned about animals native to Australia, read the book "Do You Do a Didgeridoo" by Nick Page.  Click the picture below to be taken to amazon.com for info on purchasing the book.  

We also listened to Didgeridoo music and we are going to learn the dance to "Sesere Eeye", a new song/dance in my teaching repertoire - can't wait to try it out!.

"Sesere Eeye" and many other Australian repertoire can be found in Aileen Miracles "Australia ABC's: Musical Program" from TeachersPayTeachers, click the picture below to be taken to TpT. 

The students have enjoyed our preparation activities so far and are really excited to be the experts when we teach everything to our families at the arts fest.  I have found that preparing for this event is fun for me and the students, a great out reach to our community and a wonderful learning opportunity relating music to other parts of the world.  Last years event was a huge success and we are hoping for another great turn out - I'll have to let you all know how it goes in my next Kodály Corner post.

What types of performances are you expected to do from your district, anything happening that is outside the normal performance format?  If you are affected by reductions and cuts in funding, can you take a difficult situation and turn it into a positive event for your school?  I would love to hear what others are doing to support their school and community in regards to student performances, especially with the younger students.

Have a great week everyone - remember that no matter what type of performances you are doing with your students, you are making a difference in their lives each and every day!

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Wolf games, cross-culturally: Grrrr.....

 Hi, everyone! This is Christopher Roberts. All over the world, children make music when adults are not around – in their neighborhoods, on the playground, waiting for the bus, whenever they have time to spare.  These take a variety of forms, from hand-clapping games and chase games to counting-out rhymes and song parodies.  Kodály emphasized the importance of these “children’s musical cultures,” since they stand close to the core of children’s musical selves.  Today, Kodály-inspired educators use much of this musical material in the classroom, both to create lessons that connect to children’s real-life experiences and also to help ensure that these traditions continue.

As a music educator fascinated by the diversity of our country and our world, I am interested in children’s singing games from around the world.  In the past couple of years, I have come across a number of chase games in which wolves are the bad guys.  Interesting!  Who would have thought that a wolf is seen as not only scary for kids in the United States, but in other countries as well?  There must be something about wolves that gets into the minds of kids and settles there -- I think that the idea that you could be devoured at any time leads to suspense and excitement.  Consider the wolf:

Really, if you look at the wolf's eyes, I guess they are pretty scary!

For my students, I now teach four wolf games, starting in first grade.  I think that teaching children songs from different cultures that have similar games and subject matter allows them to understand that children are both similar and different around the world.  Plus, the games are just fun, and we should never underestimate the importance of fun in a music classroom.  

Here is the sequence of wolf games I teach:

1.  We are Dancing in the Forest

Source: An American Methodology (Robertson/Eisen); Music in Preschool (Forrai/Sinor)

Game: A clump of children gathers on one side of the room, while another child (the wolf) stands on the other.  As the song is sung, the children dance, while the wolf acts menacing.  At the end of the song, the children say, “Wolf, are you there?”  The wolf can answer in one of two ways.  He can say, “No,” and then detail something else he is doing (going shopping, washing his hair, practicing his toboggan skills, whatever).  If the wolf answers this way, the song is sung again, while the children sing and the wolf acts out his activity.  Or, he can answer “Yes!  And I’m coming to get you!”  Then, the children try to race past him (“home”), while the wolf tries to tag as many children as possible for his dinner.

I’m not sure whether this is a traditional folk song (it sounds kind of teacher-created to me), but it certainly has been a major hit with my students in lower elementary over the years.  In addition to being a fun way for kids to move around in the middle of a lesson, I can also use it to work on music literacy skills, including combinations of quarter notes and eighth notes, and the solfege note la.

2.  Lyke, Lyke: Greece

Source: Oral, learned from Erasmia Voukelatos, March, 2013.  Used with permission.

Perpato, perpato ees to dasos,  (I walk and I walk through the forest)

Otan o lykos den eene do.    (When the wolf is not here)

Perpato, perpato ees to dasos,

Otan o lykos den eene do.

Lyke, lyke, eese do?  (Wolf, wolf, are you here?)

Vazo ta papoutsia mou (to kapelo mou, ti zaketa mou)  (I'm putting on my shoes (my hat, my jacket))

End:

Lyke, lyke, eese do?  (Wolf, wolf, are you here?)

Perno to bastounee mou kye sas keeneegao!   (I'm grabbing my cane and I'm chasing you!)

Game: The same as We are Dancing in the Forest. 

Pronunciation tips from Erasmia: "Lykos" is pronounced "leekos".  Like Spanish and Italian, there are basically no dipthongs in vowels.  Pure "ah" "ee" "eh" "oh" "oo".  Also, t's are dental (NO soft t's), and d's are more like a very hard and forward "th", but I usually just write d, to avoid the possibility that people may say the "th" of thing.

I just learned this one last year.  At the 2013 OAKE Conference in Hartford, I was talking about wolf games, and an attendee came up to me to share this game that she had learned as a child.  She could not remember whether she had learned it in Greece or from other Greek-American children in the northeastern United States, where she grew up. 

This game is almost exactly like We are Dancing in the Forest.  The only difference is that the end, the wolf says, “I’m grabbing my cane and chasing you!”  You would think the cane would slow down the wolf, but evidently he’s still got enough dexterity to be able to nab some tasty-looking children.

Singing songs in foreign languages can sometimes be challenging, due to the text that is difficult for children to learn.  In this case, the words are repetitive, making it easier to sing.  I taught this for the first time this year, to my first graders.  They’ve become taken with it, particularly with the part in which they say, “Lyke, lyke, eese do?”  The kids love the sounds of those words -- if they pass me in the hall, sometimes they will say them to me, and then giggle.  When my first graders play the game in class, the children sing the song in Greek, but the spoken parts all occur in English.

Note: There’s a YouTube video of this game, as well, with slick synthesized sounds, a faster tempo than my students are able to perform, and some seriously fake sets.  Sometimes, everybody loves a little bit of cheesiness!

3.  Promenons-Nous: French Canada

Source: From Children’s Game Songs of French Canada (sound recording, FW 7214). 

Transcribed C. Roberts, 2/2011.

Translation: Let us walk in the wood

                  While the wolf is not here

                  If the wolf comes

                  He will eat us…

                  Wolf, is that you, with a large pointy nose? 

Game: “All the singers, except the boy who personifies the wolf, are dancing in three or diagonal lines towards the Wolf, and stop when asking: “Le loup y es-tu?”  Grand nez pointu?”  After every answer of the other verses, they go on, dancing again.  When the Wolf speaks his last line, “Yes, here is my big knife…” they all run away….frightened and crying loudly….”  [from the liner notes]

So,  in the Greek song, the wolf chases the children with a cane, but in this one, he brings his big knife – the ante is definitely upped!  I have taught this one in second grade.  The text is more difficult than the Greek song, but if I ask them to sing a little bit of the song each day, they learn the whole song over the course of four or five classes.  Once they know all the words, they feel a sense of satisfaction and pride. 

This is from a 1950s recording from Montreal.  In the recording, the kids have super-sweet voices, and they squeal with obvious delight when the wolf states that he’s coming to get him with his knife.  You can hear the recording here.  I have played the recording for my students, and they have absolutely loved it!

4.  El Lobo: Mexico

Source: Edet, E. (Collector).  Children’s Songs and Games from Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico (SFW 7854) [CD].  Washington DC: Smithsonian Folkways.  Transcribed C. Roberts, 2/2011.

Per the liner notes: “The wolf hides while the children sing.  When he finally appears, the players scatter in all directions.  The one he catches becomes the wolf“ (liner notes p. 5).

All: Jugaremos en el bosque                                We will play in the forest

Mientras el lobo no está                                       While the wolf is away

Porque si el lobo aparece                                     Because if the wolf appears

A todos nos comerá.                                               He will eat us all.

(Spoken) ¿Donde estas allí?                                Are you there?

Lobo: Apenas me estoy levantando                   I’m getting up (waking up)

All: Jugaremos en el bosque….                          

Lobo: Me estoy poniendo los calcetines          I am putting on my socks

All: Jugaremos en el bosque…         

Lobo: Me estoy poniendo los zapatos              I am putting on my shoes

All: Jugaremos….

Lobo: Me estoy poniendo la camisa                 I am putting on my shirt

All: Jugaremos….                                   

Lobo: Estoy buscando los lentes                        I am putting on my glasses

All: Jugaremos…

Lobo: Me estoy poniendo el sombrero              I am putting on my hat

All: Jugaremos….

Lobo: Estoy buscando la llave,                           I am looking for the key

estoy abriendo                                        I’m opening (implied: the door)

All: Jugarmeos…                                                      

Lobo: Estoy cerrando la puerta                         I’m closing the door

All: Jugaremos…                  

Lobo: Voy por el camino                                     I’m on my way/I’m on the path

All: Jugaremos….                                   

Lobo: Ya llegué!                                                    I have arrived!

In this game, the actions of the wolf are pre-set and sequential.  In all the other games, the wolf makes up different activities, but in this one, the wolf gradually gets everything ready for his hunting expedition.  On the recording (which can be heard here), you can hear the children growing more and more excited as the impending doom grows closer and closer.

I have now taught this song to two different groups, and the language is much more difficult than the others.  Practically, I found that putting the words on the SmartBoard helped the students with the text.  But I also decided ultimately to ask them to sing the first four measures, while I sung the last four measures (which has more challenging, faster-paced lyrics).  Some third grade students took on the second half of the song as a challenge, and tried to learn the text, but they still needed my vocal support.

Other wolf-based songs and games:

A couple of other wolf-based activities that you can choose to incorporate into a wolf unit:

(1)  "Come Back Home, My Little Chicks" can be found on Jill Trinka's resource, Bought Me a Cat.  It is a similar chase game that comes from Hungary, one that incorporates lots of the s-m interval.  Trinka provides a great English transliteration.

(2) "What Time is it, Mr. Wolf?" comes from Susan Brumfield's resource Over the Garden Wall: Children's Songs and Games from England. On this resource, you can hear two recordings, one historical and one contemporary, and see the text of the chant along with games directions.

(3)  On a 1968 Folkways album Music of the Plains Apache, you can hear "Wolf Song."  This song does not have a game, but is intended for adults to sing to children.  It's a haunting melody, sung by Irene Chalepah Poolaw.  Listen to it here.

If you know any other wolf chase games, share them here!  I would love to learn more of these.

Stay safe, everyone, and watch out for those pesky wolves that might be prowling your neighborhood!
Christopher

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