The Twelve Days Before The Winter Break

On the twelfth day before the winter break
My classes all played the dreydl game
On the eleventh day before the winter break
My classes still played the Dreydl game.
On the tenth day before the winter break
One of my little buggers stole my 15 year old chocolate gelt
On the ninth day before the winter break
I took a mental health holiday.
On the eighth day before the break
(See the ninth day)
On the seventh day before the break
My classes started watching the Nutcracker Ballet
On the sixth day before the winter break
My classes noticed McCauley Culkin was in the Nutcracker Ballet
(and that he can't dance)
On the fifth day before the break
My classes wanted to play the dreydl game again.
On the fourth day before the winter break
My classes wanted to go outside an play
(Thank you global warming for the 72 degree weather)
On the third day before the winter break
My classes figured out that ballet has no words
On the second day before the winter break
My crazy third grader decided to redecorate my room

He used Conan the Barbarian for decorating inspiration

On the day before the winter break

My classes watched The Wiz with the other music class

Calgon..........................Take me away

Another great lesson to pass on.

I did this lesson with grades 3-5.  It's based on a lesson from the third grade GAMEPLAN  that focuses on improvisation. Every class enjoyed it, and one of the classes who had previously been fed a heavy diet of Quaver said, "This is so much better than Quaver because we get to make music."

A little context for that comment. After the ten day count, I was switched to other schools.  The creative scheduling genie decided that it would be a great idea to give me the classes that the on site teacher had been teaching.  That same creative genie gave me six classes and the onsite teacher 4 because my job is to give her a lot of planning periods.  The onsite teacher uses Quaver a LOT and swears that the kids love it.  My personal feelings about Quaver notwithstanding, is that general music in elementary school should focus on making music.  The about part is not as important.  As John Feierabend wisely says, "Our job is make the students tuneful, beatful and artful."  I don't think Quaver does that at all and it leads to passive teaching.  I've walked by classes using Quaver and I see many of the students off task and disengaged from the lesson.  It's not as successful as the  teachers think it is.

Anyway, the fifth grade class that I had inherited from the onsite teacher wanted to know if I used Quaver. I said I didn't and about half the class looked like I had just eaten their first born.  Also, I don't use chairs for several reasons, but this year it's because I have small rooms and I need the space. The following week was like teaching the figures at Stonehenge.  The next week they rolled their terrible eyes and gnashed their terrible teeth, but then at the end of class a few kids came up and said they didn't hate music all that much anymore.  The week I did the Virginia Reel everyone participated and I couldn't detect any visible eye rolling.  Last week after this lesson, the entire class decided that this activity was much more fun that Quaver and.....they apologized for the way they had treated me.  

By the by, before I pass on a lesson idea, I have tried it out for a week and fine tuned it.  I also add the little problems that come up so you will be prepared.  I always want to apologize to my Monday classes because that's where I am fine tuning and dealing with unanticipated issues and questions. By mid week the lesson is humming along nicely.

Process:

1. I start each class with the game poison.  It's a game that the students love and it's the only way I can get the older ones to sing.  I have the students echo all the patterns I sing, except the poison one of the day.  I isolate a small melodic passage in the song I'll be teaching and use that pattern.  Kids get a point if they don't echo me; I get a point if they don't,  I have to make sure they understand that if someone makes a mistake that it's ok and if they call out the ones who make the mistake, I automatically win.
2. Rhythm reading.  I also isolate the rhythms we're working on that day.  This one included iterations of quarters, rests and eighth notes.  I ask the students if they can tell me how many beats in each one and caution them not to count the notes.  Some get it right, most don't, so we talk, once again, about beat and rhythm.
3. I ask the students to clap 4 steady beats.  Then I have them change one of the beats to eighths.  Then I have them change another and then I add rests to the mix until I get bored or they start acting antsy, which generally occurs at the same time.
4. I tell them we're going to learn a song from Jamaica and ask if there are students with family members from there and lots of hands shoot up.  We talk about the Jamaican accent and that although they speak English, they have some different expressions and sentence structure.  
5. I sing the song Hill and Gully Rider and ask them to find the grammatical error. (Be prepared that many won't know what that means).  
6. They isolate the phrase: and a nigh time come a tumblin down. I tell them that often I overhear people on their cell phones say, "Where you at?" and ask the students how to say that correctly.  Then we discuss when it's ok to use that type of speech.  I ask them if they can name another song we've done in class and they can--Ain't Gonna Rain No More.  
7. The song has four beats of rest after each phrase with just four steady beat that are patted with alternating hands.  I have to stress that they not echo me and join in the patting when they figure out the pattern.  I sing the song twice.  I changed the ending the second time so it ends on the do  and not mi, so it sounds like it actually ends.  
8. I play the accompaniment (( syncopa rest) on the drum and stress that they should not copy my rhythm because it's MY rhythm that I bought at the rhythm store and I don't want to share it.
9. Transfer the patting to the instruments.  After playing once or twice I ask them to try and create a small motif and not just hit any old bars.  I give them a minute or two to work it out.
10. For grades 4-5 I extend the playing to change one of the beats to eights, just like in the rhythm warm ups. 

Another extension from the book is to change the words to :Everybody play now.  Then each instrument family separately, eg. Xylophones will play now.  At this point they all are looking over their instruments to read the names on the other side so I stop and hold up the bars and review that wooden bars are on the xylophones, etc.  But even after that, one or two will still look over to see what they are playing.  Sigh.

here's the song.  It's a call and response song, but instead of the response,  there  is the four beat space for improvising.

What I thought; What I actually said.

I can't believe it's the first week back after Thanksgiving and I already feel like a need a break.  Good news, though.  The next break is just two weeks away.  But after that there's a long time before the Spring break.  School calendar years are really poorly thought out.  Several years ago my county tried the whole year approach: Nine weeks on, three weeks off.  It's a great idea, but because there was no test score gains that year the calendar was nixed.  (And I think Six Flags might've also played a role.) Whoever expects to see test score gains in one year is probably from the same school of thought that says that data drives everything.  Sigh.  At what point will we really think about what's in the best interest of the students?

This week was typical.  Kids were squirrely  Teachers looked beleaguered.  PBIS (PEE-buhs) was rolled out at one of my schools. PBIS is a state-wide initiative to teach and reinforce positive behavior.  I'm trying to picture the meeting where this acronym was said out loud and no one snickered.  If a student said this: Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.  You are a PBIS,  it would be a free pass to call someone something that sounds like the male organ. It was such a resounding non-success in my other school.

Today there was an assembly for the kids to roll out the PBIS.  (hee hee).   There were skits that were inaudible acted out by students with the acting ability of a bramble bush. Cheerleaders from the feeder high school performed cheers that had nothing to do with positive behavior, unless you count the boys in the front row trying to get glimpses of the girl's undergarments.  One or two of their moves had a good deal of heavy gyration and maybe I'm an old fuddy duddy, but I find it offensive to see young girls move like that.  I don't mind when adults do it for an adult audience, but to me it's teen porn.  The cheerleaders threw out some plastic balls to the kids and there was a mad dive for the booty (hee hee) with lots of fighting and tugging to get those fabulous prizes.  You'd think they were throwing out 100 dollar bills.

All this positive behavior made me think about how I have to make an effort to remain positive.  One of my classes was a bit unrulier than usual (see calendar lament above) and I had to really fight back the impulse to say what was in my head, so I compiled a list of what I'm thinking and what I actually say.
T= think
S= say

1.  T: Why are you staring at the ceiling tiles/floor/door/Pluto instead of paying attention?
     S:  Sweetheart, can you please turn around and face me? If I taught the class like this
          (I turn and show them my profile), you would think I am sort of strange.  Pause.  Well,
         stranger than you already think I am.
2.  T:  Why are you sucking your fingers?  You're in second grade.  That's ridiculous.
     S:  Class, all hands in lap, please.
3.  T:  Seriously?  How do you NOT know that?  What special kind of idiot are you?  And stop
           throwing out answers to see which one will stick to the wall.  STOP GUESSING!
     S:  It's ok to say you don't know something.
4.  T: Why do you find the worst possible way to execute my directions?  Did I say to     
          stomp/hop/jump/jiggle/fly when we walk around the circle?
     S:  Please follow my directions exactly the way I tell you to.
5.  T:  Only an idiot sucks his/her teeth. it's one of the stupidest sounds you can make.
     S:  Please don't suck your teeth.  (Class joins in with more teeth sucking.)  Boys and girls,
          if you can think of a job that requires you to suck your teeth, raise your hand.  Teeth
          sucking finally ceases.
6.  T:  Stop hitting your neighbor, you anti-social crazy loon.  Did your Ritalin wear off already?
     S:  Class, all hands in laps please.  Hitting each other is not socially acceptable.  And except
           for boxing, I don't know a job that requires you to hit your co-worker.          
7.  T:  How is it that you can insult each other using a wide array of adjectives, yet you can't
          speak in complete sentences any other time?
     S:   Please use your kind words.  I don't know any job that requires you to insult your
            co-workers.
8.  T:  Why are you looking over your instrument to see what you are playing?  I have told you
           a bazillion times that the wooden bars are on the xylophones.  I have told you a bazillion
           and a half times what a bar is.   Is there a wind tunnel between your ears? .  The hell
           with  higher order thinking.  I'd be happy with just a little bit of factual recall. 
       S: Wooden bars are on the xylophone......
9.  T:  What kind of parent sends a child to school with such smelly/torn/too short/disgusting
           clothing?
      S:  Nothing.  I am speechless.