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Beginning Again
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
Lessons
Each lesson builds on the one before so that concepts grow in complexity through the year. Practice and review are planned into lessons. Canadian curriculum expectations are detailed at the beginning of every lesson (and in the overview). This is a complete music curriculum including music literacy, performance, instrument playing and active listening. Songs are suggested, but may easily be switched with your own favourites. As long as the planned teaching points are covered, all curriculum expectations will be met.
Grade 1 - Music Dance & Drama
Begin with the basics for students and teachers. Music, dance and drama combine to cover curriculum expectations in two fine arts lessons a week.
Grade 2 - Music & Dance
Review Grade 1 music concepts then move into growing those concepts through new and familiar music. Focus on solidifying the basics --beat, rhythm and reading rhythm.
Grade 3 - Music
Review music concepts from Grades 1-2 while adding a few new ones. Lots of time in the lessons for using concepts in performance and composition. Music pre-literacy is the focus of the second half of the year in preparation for learning to read the musical staff in Grade 4.
About Can Do
Create your own music lessons using some of the resources on the site, or, if you’re new to teaching music, try following a few of the lessons given here. Whatever you use –my hope is that “Can Do Music” helps to make music in your classroom and life. To learn more about the site and its creations, explore the links below.
