Doesn’t matter what the calendar say, somewhere deep inside I know the year begins when school starts. Everything is new again –at least for some of us. New teacher? New teaching assignment? New students? New classroom? And, of course, there’s the much anticipated, perhaps dreaded, reshuffling of students and teachers that will make new, new again!
But not everything needs to be new –especially in music. Songs are not meant to be sung only once. There’s nothing that says a “new year” can’t begin with maybe one new song, and the comfort of old familiar ones. Its easier to review music basics like rhythm patterns and conducting cues when singing songs that are already known. Check with last year’s teachers, or ask the students for their favourite “last year” songs. And there are always the classics: The Alphabet Song, Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald(or Old MacDonald’s Zoo or Meg MacDonald’s Farm) etcetera.
Head ‘n Shoulders The More We Get Together
“A lifelong enjoyment of music” is the underlying and sometimes stated hope of every music curriculum. Begin a new year enjoying new and old songs, building community through shared singing and setting simple parameters for music time.
Week One: Meg MacDonald’s Farm Mama Don’t Allow No Singing When I First Came to Canada