Week 8

TEMPO

What you need:

• Music book (blue)
• Pencil case
• Access to Teachers Sharing folder > 2013 - P1 Term 1 Tracks > Highway No. 1 and Highway No. 1 (minus one)
• Piano / Keyboard
• Tempo - Fast and Slow lesson plan
• Aesop's Fable: The Tortoise and the Hare (http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/emphoto2003-290714-tortoise-hare-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/)

Objectives:

• Move and create to Highway No. 1 to recapitulate timbre and steady beat, and use it as a segueway to explore tempo
• Distinguish different tempos - fast and slow - of a given piece of music
• Use body movements to express music using the theme of animals
• Listen to an Aesop's Fable (The Tortoise and the Hare) and deduce the moral of the tale (NE/SEL element)
• Create and think critically using the theme of animals

Acknowledgement: Tempo Lesson Plan by Guan Xiaoting

Experience

Bridging activity (Highway No. 1)

• Pupils are told that they should march in steady beat to the following song and pretend to be driving a car (hands in 'steering wheel' position).
• Teacher plays Highway No. 1, a guided music and movement track, for pupils to participate (Teachers Sharing folder > 2013 - P1 Term 1 Tracks > Highway No. 1 and Highway No. 1 (minus one).
• Teacher plays Highway No. 1 (minus one) for pupils to create their own movements, to facilitate the subsequent main activity.
• Teacher asks pupils what element of music they have explored (Answer: Timbre).
• Teacher asks pupils which element of music they think they are going to learn today, something that cars do all the time on the road (Answer: Tempo).

Main lesson - Introduction  

• Teacher plays a piece of music on the piano (e.g. Row Row Row Your Boat) with the tempo getting gradually faster. Pupils are to clap/stamp the steady beat of the music.
• Teacher asks, "Do you feel any change while you are clapping/stamping the steady beat?"
• Pupils now stand up and walk according to the steady beat of the song. They can walk anywhere in the music room, and have to walk back to their original position when the music ends.

Main lesson - Snail, Snail

Snail, snail, crawling near       C C CD E 

Snail, snail, with his shell         D D DE F

Snail, snail, let him rest           E E EF G

Slow down, slow down            F D E C

• Teacher asks, "What feature does a snail have? (Shell) How does the snail move? (Crawls) What is a snail's speed? (Slow)"
• Teacher sings the above song with pupils, with actions (up to Teacher). Teach the song phrase by phrase for pupils to follow.
• Teacher sings the song as a whole for pupils to follow.
• Pupils think while they are singing the song. What is the tempo of the music? Pupils are to clap the steady beat.
• Pupils use their feet to tap the beat while singing the song, 'Snail, Snail'.
• Finally, pupils move around the classroom with the slow speed of a snail while singing the song.

Concept

• Teacher writes 'Tempo = Fast / Slow' for pupils to jot down in their Music Books.

Application I

Aesop's Fable: The Tortoise and the Hare

• Pupils name one animal that moves faster than a snail (Answer: Rabbit).
• Pupils demonstrate the beat and movement of a rabbit.
• Teacher screens a narrated PowerPoint story (of only 16 slides) for pupils to watch and deduce the moral of: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/emphoto2003-290714-tortoise-hare-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/
• Questions: Can we make a choice about our speed? Does it mean that a 'fast' person will always be 'fast' and a 'slow' person will always be 'slow'? What school value does this fable teach us? (Answer: Resilience; Aspiration is acceptable too).

Application II

Group Work

• In groups of 5, pupils think of two types of animals, one fast, one slow.
• They are given 5 minutes to think of a suitable steady beat and movements/actions for each of these animals.
• After 5 minutes, each group performs the steady beat with movements in front of the whole class (reinforce concert and performer's etiquette here), using their foot to stamp the beat. The class guesses the type of animal based on each of the movements, slow and fast, and claps the steady beat that the group has used.
• At the end of each performance, gather feedback and comments.

Week 7

DYNAMICS

What you need:

• Music book (blue)
• Pencil case
• Tepuk Amai-Amai, Here is the Baby and Sleep Baby Sleep scores 
• Percussion instruments (e.g. triangle, tambourine, guiro, all in Mozart Manor)

Objectives:

• Sing and clap Tepuk Amai-Amai in different dynamics (papa, mama, baby clap)
• Use voices in different dynamic levels (and timbres), i.e. whispering voice and singing voice, to recite and sing a lullaby-related rhyme (Here is the Baby) and song (Sleep Baby Sleep)
• Sing along to an English and Malay lullaby medley in whispering and singing voices, snapping their fingers in steady beat
• Play a dynamics game with percussion instruments and a 'baby animal' soft toy, discussing why a soft voice has to be used around babies (SEL)

Teacher resource: Tepuk Amai-Amai, Here is the Baby and Sleep Baby Sleep scores, http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/englishmalay-lullaby-medley-sung-by-zee-avi/ 

Experience

Bridging activity from previous lesson (Tepuk Amai-Amai)

• Pupils present their chosen claps from last week's pair work to their classmates, e.g. one Papa, one Mama, one Baby clap.
• Teacher asks pupils what they notice about each clap, apart from sounding weak or strong. Which clap is the loudest? Softest? 
• Pupils now clap each of the claps in different dynamic levels, e.g. Papa clap in different dynamic levels, according to Teacher's expressions/gestures (e.g. stand up really straight and open your mouth wide to mimick a lion for loud; hunch and get into foetal position for soft).
• Teacher asks which clap is suitable to be used around real-life babies. Why?

Concept

• Teacher writes 'Dynamics = Loud (f) and soft (p)' for pupils to jot down in their Music Books.

Application I

(Acknowledgement: 'Here is the Baby' handout)

Here is the Baby

Here is the baby ready for a nap:           Hold index finger of left hand up.

Put him down on Mummy's lap:             Lay finger across palm of right hand.

Cover him up so he won't peep:             Cover with fingers of right hand.

And rock him gently till he sleeps:          Rock hands back and forward.

• Discuss how the rhyme should be told - in a whispering voice. Why?

Application II

Sleep Baby Sleep

  

 F#      E  E   D -

Sleep Ba-by sleep.

F#   F#    E    E    D -

Fa-ther tends the sheep.      

 G    G       E      E       A    A      F#   F#                         

Mo-ther shakes the dream-land tree and        

 G        G     E  E      A      A    F#

down come all the dreams for thee.              

 F#       E E   D- 

Sleep Ba-by sleep.      

• Pupils listen to the attached YouTube and describe the dynamics and how they feel after listening to this song.
• Teacher sings this song through with the children in a quiet singing voice, and let them pretend they are holding something or rocking something to sleep.
• Explain the importance of singing in a very quiet voice and rocking the baby to sleep. Try singing again in a very quiet singing voice.
• Teacher introduces the genre, 'lullaby = sleep song', to pupils.

• Pupils watch 'Baby Mine' from Disney's Dumbo, to get the feel of a quiet singing voice and the act of rocking a baby to sleep.

Application III

EL and Malay Lullaby Medley

Teacher opens this URL and increase the zoom to 150-200%: www.mamalisa.com/blog/englishmalay-lullaby-medley-sung-by-zee-avi/ 

Pupils sing along to the English and Malay lullaby medley in: (1) a whispering voice; then (2) a quiet singing voice, snapping their fingers in steady beat.

Application IV

Dynamics Game

Play a dynamics game with percussion instruments and a 'baby animal' soft toy.

First, get a child to cover his/her eyes. Hide the soft toy in a selected part of the Music Room.

Get the child to come in. Everyone will play this game together. The objective is for the child to find the hidden soft toy. Select one of these situations:

• When the baby is asleep (class to diminuendo when the child is approaching the baby soft toy)
• When you wish to wake the baby (class to crescendo to an acceptable volume when the child is approaching the baby toy)

Discuss why we have to lower or increase our volume in these different scenarios, and the loudest permissible threshold of 'loud' when a baby's eardrums are involved (SEL).

Week 6

TIMBRE

What you need:

• Music book (blue)
• Pencil case
• Buster Buster, Clap Your Hands and Tepuk Amai-Amai scores 
• Percussion instruments (e.g. triangle, tambourine, guiro, all in Mozart Manor)

Objectives:

• Experience body percussion as different timbres in songs 
• Sing Tepuk Amai-Amai, a traditional Malay clapping song, and accompany the song with claps
• Create at least two different timbres from given percussion instruments 

Teacher resource: Buster Buster, Clap Your Hands and Tepuk Amai-Amai scores 

Experience

Tuning-in activity (Buster Buster)

Buster, Buster, climb the tree,     (Climb four branches)

Buster, Buster, slap your knee;    (Slap knee four times)

Buster, Buster, blow a kiss,         (Blow four kisses)

Buster, Buster, do not miss.         (Point finger four times)

• Each action is to be done four times to a steady beat.
• Substitute the actions with instrument-playing. Choose four pupils to transfer the steady beats to four different percussion instruments, e.g. triangle, tambourine, guiro, castanet.

Clap Your Hands

Clap, Clap, clap your hands,      (G G GG E)

Clap your hands to- ge ther.       (GG EA G E)

• Clap your hands quietly to the beat while singing this song, and get pupils to follow you.
• Substitute hand-claps with other actions, all performed to a steady beat:
• March, march, march along, march along together.
• Cluck, cluck, cluck your tongue...
• Nod, nod, nod your head...
• Blink, blink, blink your eyes...
• Jump, jump, jump up high...
• Tap, tap, tap your foot...
• Wave, wave, wave your hands...

• Get pupils to suggest new actions. A pupil-leader might also be chosen to lead.

Concept

• Teacher asks pupils to describe the different sounds they had made earlier. Do they all sound the same? How are they produced? 
• Teacher writes 'Timbre = Quality of sound' for pupils to jot down in their Music Books.

Tepuk Amai-Amai

English Translation:

Clap together, grasshopper, butterfly,

Clap till you're clever, Mum will give you milk;

Milky and sweet milk, from a coconut,

Younger sibling, don't cry, Mum has work.

Application I

• Teacher sings half of Tepuk Amai-Amai and plays the cross-hand clapping game with a pupil volunteer.
• Teacher gets pupils to guess what this song is about (Answer: Clapping). If pupils are receptive, Teacher enlightens pupils on the background of the song, i.e. a clapping song sang by an older sibling to soothe a younger sibling's cries when their mother is busy working.
• A small discussion can ensue on the responsibilities an older sibling has towards his younger siblings. "How many of you are older siblings? Which (school) value should you show towards your young sisters or brothers, especially when your parents are busy?"
• Pupils learn three different claps from Teacher of different timbres, i.e. Papa Clap (with all five fingers), Mama Clap (with four fingers) and Baby Clap (with two fingers). 
• Pupils describe how each clap sounds like, e.g. Papa Clap has a strong and loud timbre, Mama Clap is not so strong, Baby Clap sounds weak and soft. 
• Pair work: Pupils get into pairs, choose one of the above three claps, and practise clapping in tandem with half of Tepuk Amai-Amai, as steady beat accompaniment. 
• Performance: Pupils stand up and perform to their peers, singing and clapping their chosen clap. 
• Extension: Pupils create their own clapping game, with their own unique claps/clapping patterns.

Application II

• Pupils get into groups of four, where they are given two different percussion instruments per group. 
• Activity I: Explore at least two different timbres they can produce from their given instruments. Peer sharing will ensue after three minutes, e.g. Group A to Group B, and vice versa.
• Activity II: Perform the rhythm of Tepuk Amai-Amai using these two different timbres.