journal 12

This project was an ok project to do. I don’t think most of us were thrilled to be doing this only because there were so many of us in a group. It was really hard to find a book, especially in the library because it is so confusing how things are categorized. Once we finally found a book the rest was somewhat easy because we just had to find things that we could apply musically to it. We all worked well together I think mainly because we just wanted to get it done and over with, so the faster we got it all done, the better. The book we found was an easier book to put music to because the words in the book went along with the song, Skip to my Lou. There were also a lot of parts of the book that could be related to musical sounds. It was easy for us to find sounds that we could use for the book as well. I think our group worked really well together because we all knew what needed to be done. We met outside of class and worked really hard to get the lesson all worked out. It all came easily because the book worked so well and we were able to use all of our ideas and combine them into the lesson. I am not sure there was an exciting part of this process because I was something we had to do and just get done. Younger kids can benefit from this lesson because it is very important for them to learn about recycling and how it helps the earth. If they can learn it at a young age, then they may be able to help the environment as much as possible, which is what our world needs right now.

binary forms

Creativity is the biggest focus in learning in classrooms. In order to keep children of a younger age focused on the lesson being presented to them, we as teachers need to make it as interesting as we possibly can for them to be able to learn. There are a lot of ways to integrate music into lessons. Not only can we incorporate songs and singing into lessons, but we can bring in different instruments to bring a story to life. Adding musical instruments to stories helps students put their own ideas into the lesson and what is being learned because they can associate different parts of the story to how they think it should sound. This allows students to explore their own creativity. By incorporating many different elements into a story, students can stay more focused on the story and learning instead of having their minds wander. We learned a new concept, binary forms of songs. Binary means two, giving us two different elements. A lot of music these days use binary forms of music and pretty much any song you listen to on the radio has two elements in their music. These can be choruses and verses, which seeing it that way, you can understand how almost all songs have binary forms. No matter the gene these days, pop, country, rock, classical, there is almost always versus and choruses.

Chilldren's Literature

This week we did a lot of singing and sounds that we incorporated into children’s books. I think this a great way to get children involved in the books we read to them, especially if they cannot read. This way they are able to engage in what is being read and interact with that. Kids are very imaginative when coming up with sounds for different activities and I think that in this way reading for them comes to life. Reading then becomes more than just words on pages that are being read, it comes alive into a story for them. I had never thought about doing something like this for a just any regular book. Boo-hoo baby was a great example of this because we took a song and changed it to fit into the book we were reading to help engage the listeners even more. This also allows us as teachers to see the creativity each child has and maybe we can get a better understanding of them through this. Student-centered learning is very prominent in lessons that involve activities such as this for many reasons. The child is able to chose the sounds they want to make, like in the listeners book, and they have the control of what they chose to do or not. Also because the students are interacting so much with the book and getting involved in what is being read makes these lessons very student centered. I think any way of getting children motivated to participate in their own way in lessons is the best tool we can have because it gets them so much more into what they are learning instead of getting bored with stories being read to them time after time. The two lessons we saw this week are good examples of what we can do in our lessons for this project.

Mid-term

This week we had our mid-term. To get ready for this test I went through and did the study guide reviewing everything that was on it. I also went through and read the artile on Kodaly and also the other document online. AFter I made myself a study guide, I looked over it several times. I think I know that the notes in both C and G scale and also the solfagee. During the test I think the hardest part was the last part because it was so confusing. I think once we figured everything out it was a lot easier. I think the test was a good overview of what we have learned so far. I think though that if something is going to be on the test it should be learned before the last class before the test. I know we went over the G scale before but I feel like we were all confused and that problem was never properly addressed. I was in music a lot when I was younger and it was even confusing to me, which makes me think for the people that have no musical background probably had no idea what was going on. So far this semester we have learned the the terms of melody, rhyhm, steady beat, harmony. We have learned the fingerings for the recorder with the notes, GABCD. We have also learned how to plan lessons incorperating singing songs. WE have learned about musical concepts and skills, as well as non-musical. Time signatures, notes in c and g scale as well as note values. Kodaly and his views were also introduced this semester and how he used solfagee and hand sings to go along with them. He also used rhyhmic duration sylablles to got along with note values.

self-evaluation

I do not think I did all that well singing. I did try to use my head voice, but I am not a professional singing so i was not as in pitch as I should have been. I did keep the correct beat with the music and the rhythm. As far as the leadership category I felt that I had very good body language to the students, I could have lost my notes to keep all the focus on them. But I do feel like I did keep the students engaged. Even though I was a little bit sick I stayed as positive and upbeat as I could. I had a good volume and tone throughout. I could have know the music a better because I should have youtubed the song to understand how to sing it better. Again I should not have used my lesson plan, it only hindered my focus on the students. I know I could have done the lesson without it. I tried to be as ready as I could have been. I would in the future be more prepared with the music and really practicing the lesson with others. I think I had good delivery of my lesson. I was slightly inhibited because I was sick but I did try my best to teach the lesson and get the students motivated. I think I did do well with the procedure of my lesson with the way it flowed. I think I did well with the verbal instructions of my lesson. I did the best with my questions because I did not leave any open ended questiosn they were all directed questions. I think my lesson could have been a little bit longer but doing the song Hey Betty MArtin, after two other students went, there wasn't much else I could do with the song. I could have given more speicific feedback to the students instead of just good jobs and things such as that. I did well with the closure, reviewing with the students the concepts we had just learned during the lesson.

A) I found the singing the most difficult part of this presentation. Not being a very good singer, it was a little nerve racking getting up in front of the class and singing a song on my own. It's hard to be in pitch when you are not a good singer and to sing in head voice which is so much higher pitch than anything I am used to.

B)The main thing that did not go well with this presentation was the singing because I did not sing the song very well alone and in pitch. I also don't think it was a good idea to use my lesson plan while I was teaching, because that took me away from the attention of the students.

C)I think the actual lesson it self went very well because the lesson it self was very well planned and the students understood it all. This shows me that I did convey the lesson well because they understood it. I also didn't ask any yes or no questions which is a big no, no with kids this age. I also did well with my closure with reviewing what we learned, rhyhmic pattern and tip-toeing.
D) If I were to do this lesson again I would do a few things differently. I would have researched my song more so that I would be able to sing it better for the class. Also so that I would have been more in tune and on pitch with how the song should be. I would also not use my lesson plan while teaching so I can devote my focus on the students and their learning. Another thing that I would have changed would have been that in the end I would have had the kids sing the song with the motions a few more times so that they would fully get it and know the song better.

Journal 5

This week we did a lot with lesson plans because we are presenting our lessons this coming week. We prepared a first draft of our lessons and got them back with some critques. Then we also had peer critques. We got into groups of three and went over our lesson plans with each other. I am not extremely happy to be doing these lessons this week because they are singing lessons. I am not a big fan of singing in front of people so I am a little nervous about doing this. It does help that we are in smaller groups so we are not having to do this in front of everyone. I am just hoping that everyone else is as nervous as I am.
These lesson plans will help us in the future with planning lessons for our classrooms. This may not be the exact formats for lesson plans in other classes but it does help us with some idea of what we are supposed to be doing in the future. Also by doing thesse lessons we are being prepared for teaching in the future although I don't think I will be singing to my students.

This week we did a lot with singing. We learned about singing in pitch and how to sing along with the rhythm. I get kind of embarrassed having to sing in front of everyone aloud so I am not looking forward to having to teach or singing lessons. WE also learned about different rest notes and what they look like and their values. We also learned how to do different activities to go along with the songs we are singing like with Tideo. We have also improved on our rhythmic pattern abilities with coming up with new ways to keep the rhythm. Today we learned the note C for the recorder and we learned numerous new songs to play.
Learning more about notes and where they are in regards to pitch are important to learn because in order to do any type of singing we need to know notes and their value as well as where they are in regards to pitch. Learning to sing in pitch can help your overall singing abilities and make you a better singer. Kids need to learn these things to help with any musical situations either with singing or playing an instrument. Also kids need to become better at keeping rhythm so that they can adapt to other situation that involve it. If they can keep a beat and rhythm while singing it will be easier for them to do so while playing an instrument.