Before the children went into the Atelier to meet with Stuart, our sound and music teacher, the group sat on the couch and chose books to read. Gus chose Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. As we read, Gus would point to the highlighted words and ask. “What is that word?” He then would listen to the line and finish the sentence with the rhyming word.
We met with Stuart and discussed our knowledge of music.
Palmer: My brother is taking music lessons. Flute and electric guitar.
Gus: Can we sing?
Teacher Stuart: Yes, our voices can be like an instrument.
Archer: I went to a violin lesson. It was so shiny.
Harel: I had piano lessons but my mom stopped me so I have to start again.
Teacher Stuart: It’s okay to practice and make mistakes.
Archer: ‘Cause falling on your skateboard is part of skateboarding.
Gus: There is a fly on your hat. (As he noticed a fly on Stuart’s hat.)
Teacher Jen: That sounds like a lyric.
Teacher Stuart explained that lyrics are words to a song. “Would you like to make a song?”
Gus: There is a fly on your hat.
Rio: There is a fly on your bat.
Harel: There is a fly on your cat.
Teacher Stuart: There is a fly on the sink.
Gus: There is a fly that is pink.
Rio: There is a fly in the pink ink.
Palmer: There is a fly in the pink ink in the sink!
All: YAY!!!!!!!!
Stuart noticed Harel swaying back and forth and stomping her feet and then took the pace and motion to find the rhythm of the strumming. Based on the word, they would sing it low, high, or normal. For instance, a cat is soft so they played that lyric low and sang with softer voices. Creating songs through collaborating on sensation, rhyming, rhythmic movement, and silly lyrics was a joy for all of us. -Teacher Jennifer