Sunday, October 21, 2012

JUMP JIM JOE

Second Grades had fun playing the circle game "Jump Jim Joe." This game is known as a snowball dance.  But it has nothing to do with snow!  So why is it called a snowball dance?  (Hint:  First there was one... Then 1+1... 2+2... 4+4..)


The music is Peter and Mary Alice Amidon performing "Jump Jim Joe" from their album by the same name.  We were very fortunate to have had them both at Porters Point School for a 5-day residency back in March of 2010.  We learned so much from them.  They are fantastic musicians and educators!!

SKIP TO MY LOU

First Grade classes enjoyed a circle game of "Skip To My Lou."  There are many different versions of this song.  We used the Peter and Mary Alice Amidon version, which includes two verses:

1.  Lost my partner, what'll I do?  
Lost my partner, what'll I do?
Lost my partner, what'll I do?
Skip to my Lou, my darling.

2.  I'll find another one better than you!
I'll find another one better than you!
I'll find another one better than you?
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

CHORUS:  
Skip!  Skip!  Skip to my Lou!
Skip!  Skip!  Skip to my Lou!
Skip!  Skip!  Skip to my Lou!
Skip to my Lou, my darling!




[Please note:  Animoto did not support using the music "Skip To My Lou."
The music used for this video is called "A Little Skip" by Brian Wayy]

HOWDY!



"Howdy" was written by Teresa and Paul Jennings, Music K-8 Vol. 14, No. 1.  
All Porters Point School students learn this song and are told to store it in their closet (their brain!) 
We will sing it at a school-wide meeting some time in the future.  
Ask your child what the name is of the instrument that plays 
"Buh, duh, duh" at the end of the song!

Inner Hearing

Students are learning about rests in music -- Silence is as important as sound!  Thanks to a blog post by Thom Borden, kindergarten students have learned the song, "Apple Tree, Apple Tree."  This song is great for so many musical concepts, but for this lesson, the concept of rests was introduced.  We started with eight black plates, each with a red (rubber) apple.  


The black plates represent the heartbeat (pulse) in the song.  By taking away an apple, we take away the sound from that beat.  This is a wonderful way to teach the idea of inner hearing!  Students then sang the song, but were silent on the beats that had an empty plate.  The students enjoyed taking away different apples and experiencing what the song was like with missing apples.  Ms. Mutz was very impressed with how attentive students were with this lesson.  They grasped the idea very quickly!  Of course, they eventually wanted to take ALL the apples away, and voila:  Inner hearing!!