Written by Mary Ann Cocca-Leffler
ISBN: 978-0-545-45344-8
So I wanted to add the activity to go with last weeks posting. This week's activity will hopefully share some insight as to how my kids in Grade 1 are creating and singing so-mi-la melodies using this story. Because of copyright issues, I'll refer to pages as 2-page spreads and give you some basics so that you understand which page I'm working with.
To begin the activity, you will want to have either blank flash cards or pre-cut sentence strips cut in 8" length. Since most sentence strips are 24" in length, you can get 3 pieces from each strip. It doesn't matter which you use, but you will want to be sure that you have enough room to write a 2-beat pattern of words on each card.
The beginning of the book opens with a title page. I simply introduce our story and author and we turn the page. We sing the next 2-page spread using the familiar playground s-s-m-l-s-m pattern. You will need to sing the first 3 words with a little swing to get them to fit into the melody of the chant.
Once you turn the page, begin singing the story using the melody of "We Are Playing in the Forest." This will be the A SECTION of the song. When you reach the words "BUT THEN" -- you have reached the place that we will begin our B SECTION where kids will start to write and sing their own melodies. Here are my steps:
As the children sing the A SECTION, place the flash cards with words from the B SECTION on the board. Simply read the words in the word chain until you return to the next A SECTION. Continue singing the second verse as you place the next set of words on the board. Continue until the story is finished and the book has sung (A SECTION sung - B SECTION spoken).
Go back into the story and look at the word chain created in the first B SECTION. Invite a student to put the words found in the B SECTION (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WORD CHAIN CARDS) on the board. The word chain should be placed on the board prior to this next step. Here are the steps I use to lead the children to discovering the rhythm patterns of each flash card:
1. Say the words on the flash card 4 times
2. Say and pat what the words on the flash card 4 times
3. Pat what the words say BUT do not say the words - hear them in your brain - 4 times
4. Pat what the words say BUT listen for rhythm patterns - listen for "ta" "ti-ti" and "rests" - 4 times
5. Write the rhythms of what you hear
My students are pretty good at this, and many of them can move from 1 directly to steps 4 and 5. However, since I always have new students, I usually make them repeat each step at least 2 times to help any of our "new music friends." Once we have written our rhythm patterns, here are the steps I use to start writing our melodies:
6. Write simple s-m-l patterns under the stick notation
7. Sing the flash cards using solfege syllables and hand signs
8. Sing the flash cards on "loo" (this is a step that we no longer need to use)
9. Sing the flash card words using the solfege written under each rhythm notation
Once they have sung the "new melody" - erase and repeat creating a brand new melody! Once we do this a few times as a class, I put them into groups with their own set of cards and markers. The kids have had a great time creating and singing their own melody patterns. We sing the first pages of the A SECTION together and then allow each group to sing their own B SECTION -- creating a RONDO.
THE WORDS FOR THE B SECTION WORD CHAIN ARE LINKED ABOVE - SIMPLY CLICK ON THE LINK AND PRINT ON CARDSTOCK -- CHECK BACK IN A FEW DAYS AND I WILL HAVE A LINK TO THE SMART BOARD ACTIVITY FOR YOU! :)
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF LET IT SHINE FROM AMAZON.
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