Journal #5

When reviewing my semester in music 373 as a whole, there are a great deal of musical and non musical concepts that I have learned that will help me to become a better teacher overall in teh future. One of the first musical concept I learned, was how to teach a song. The way in which I learned how to teach is song is by first learning how to write a lesson. Dr. Wang first instructed us on how to set up our lessons and then encouraged us to be creative in doing so. After we learned how to write lessons, we designed our own lesson plan on how to teach a song to a class of ten students. We were then required to present this lesson to those ten students, and this proved to be a great learning experience. For the first time, we were exposed to what it would be like to teach a "music" lesson, and we also learned how to have good classroom management skills and how to keep children engaged through various activities and so forth.
Another main concept in which I learned in this class was how to incorporate music into the classroom, and into other non-musical subjects. As a class we learned that music can help develop the brains of children and keep them engaged, and therefore it was a good idea to make music a main tool within the classroom. There were various ways in which we learned how to incorporate music and one was incorporating the use of instruments into a children's story during a literature lesson. As a class we were told to bring in objects to use as instruments that would represent sounds within a childrens story we were reading. As a class, we learned to incorporate these instruments, and it proved to be a very engaging experience. Another way in which we incorporated music into the classroom was through our warm up activities. Basically, Dr. Wang wwould begin class with a warm up, and this warm up would include our class singing, dancing or even listening to music alone. The use of music as a warm up was crucial because it got out attention and our thoughts going. Therefore, there were many ways in which we learned how to incorporate music into other non-musical subjects as well as into the classroom.
I feel another crucial concept we learned in music 373 was how to play the recorder instrument. As a class, we learned how to read sheet music, and then how to incorporate that sheet music into playing it on the recorder. Dr. Wang even had us make up our own songs to play, and this was a good way for us students to get familiar with watching how to teach children how to use a recorder and how to actually use one ourselves. The way we went about learning the recorder was we would come in as a class and practice various notes, often times playing them for the teacher or in front of a group. We would also play songs as a class and add other instrument playing into our songs.
I feel that one last major concept that was learned in our music 373 class was how to listen and move to music. As a class we also discovered the importance of listening and of moving to music within the classroom. Our class went about learning these concepts by first participating in various activities that through listening to music we were able to learn the meaning of dynamics, tempo, rhythm and keeping a steady beat. Sometimes as a class we would learn these by passing around objects, playing rhythm sticks and other objects, and dancing and moving around a classroom.
In addition, I feel that it is important for students in music 373 to learn how to teach lessons and to write lessons because we will be using these lessons inour future careers as a teacher. Also, I feel that it is important for us students to learn classroom management skills along with activities on how to keep our students engaged because we too will one day use these techniques on a daily basis to ensure the best learning for our students.
I feel it is important to us students to learn how to incorporate music within our classrooms because music has been proven to be a learning tool within all subject areas and that it can enhance a child's learning greatly. Because music is such a powerful tool, it is important that as students we learn how to use it effectively in our future classrooms, to get the most from our students.
I feel it is important to learn how to play musical instruments and incorporate them into all subject areas within the classroom because the playing of musical instruments keeps the children's minds going and active, only enhancing their learning power in all subject areas. I feel it is important for us students to learn how to play these instruments as well because we will need to know this in order to help teach our own students one day.
Finally, I feel it is important for all students to learn how to incorporate listening and movement into our musical and other non musical lessons because these help to keep children engaged in their learning as well. These unconventional methods of learning prove to be very enjoyable for students and will provide them with more positivity surrounding school in general, making them much more eager to learn and therefore easier to teach to as teachers.
I feel that it is important for the students themselves to learn about teaching and singing songs because it can give them a creative and emotional outlet that other subjects might not be able to do within school.
I feel it is important for the students to have music incorporated into the classroom because it will keep their brains engaged and interested in the material they are trying to learn. I also feel it is important for children because it will be enjoyable for them and put a link between school and the good instead of the bad.
I feel it is important for students to be able to learn how to play the recorder because it helps them develop their fine motor skills in their hands. Playing the recorder can also help to challenge their brains and spark more activity. Finally, playing the recorder can help to bring out children's competitiveness and emotions in their attempts to strive for satisfaction for themselves and their teachers in their playings.
Lastly, I feel it is important for children to learn through listening and movement activities because not only is it challenging the students brains, but it is keeping them up and physical and engaged in learning. The more freedom children have to move around, the better and they will stay more alert and focused while in the classroom.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this semester and am truely appreciative of all that I have learned from Dr. Wang. I am also more confident in my teaching and feel secure with the materials provided to us that will benefit us when we become actual teachers ourselves.
B.
1. One thing I like about it is that we do not have to go out of our way to print out or hand type our assignments. This is especially true because it can be difficult to have to go to the library to print something out, it is justmore convenient this way. The second thing I like is being able to look at other's opinions on our assignments and questions on the blog.The third thing is that we have more flexibility in when things are due. The fourth thing is that we can connect more of our classmates The fifth thing is that we were given comments by our instructors on each assignment.
2. One problem with posting assignments on our blog is that everyone can see them.The second problem would be that it is hard to download recorder clips, I usually have technical difficulty.
The third problem is that I do not always have access to the internet, therefore it is hard for me to do my assignments when I want to.
The fourth problem is that it was confusing at first to set up. I had a hard time following how to set up my account.
Finally, the fifth problem is that this way of using blog to give people feedback is a little too personal for my taste.
3. Overall, I believe that using the blog to post assignments is very efficient and I assume less time consuming. I also like that we have a classroom community through this blog and that is very nice. I also like that we have more freedom in when we complete our assignments, however the use of blogger is not always reliable. I feel computers in general are less reliable and it is very frustrating when something goes wrong. Finally, I feel that this method of keeping assignments and grades should be used in the future as a way of turning in assignments and efficiently.

Assignment # 10

1. According to the author, the possible cognitive benefits derived from music in early education are improving children's vocabulary, symbolic understanding, memory, sense of sequence, spatial temporal reasons, and auditory training.
2. Important classroom activities that teachers should consider when trying to enhance the self esteem of their students would include things such as having group discussions on appropriate social behaviors and positive guidance techiniques. Also teachers can emphasize what skills to use for problem solving and having self-management. Finally, teachers can encourage to pursue their own self-selected interests and do things that make them happy and satisfied.
3. The author also explains that the use of gross and fine motor movement within the classroom can help a child's self esteem improve because it provides another outlet for children to express themselves and feel good about themselves. Children are given the oppertunity to do express themselves fully through movement and music, especially if they have a hard time doing so otherwise.
4.The guidelines that teachers of early childhood education should follow when implementing a music program within their classroom include the following: Select music for preschoolers that will help them feel successful, include movement activities in the music program, use the children's names whenever possible, use musical terms to enhance concept development, incorporate a variety of music within the classroom.

Journal # 4

These last few weeks, my class learned a great deal about incorporating movement into music, in order to help children be more active in the classroom and active in their learning of music skills. Another concept we focused on these last few weeks was on listening and how to incorporate that into our teaching.Therefore, much of our classtime was spent going over the importance of both movement and listening when teaching music. However, it was made clear to us that movement and listening can be done in all subject areas in school, and that the activities that accompany them are great to keep children engaged in their learning whether it is musical or not. While learning how to listen to music, we also focused on identifying tone color, dynamics and changes in rhythm within music.
One way in which we learned how to incorporate movement within a musical classroom was by doing various warm up activities, such as just moving to music or making up motions to music to do while we were moving around the classroom. These warm up activities got our blood flowing and us ready for class, so we knew that these warm up activities would definitely help to warm up younger children who need a good deal of physical activity to stay focused. Outside of the warm up activities, our class spent time being with partners and learning various dance moves to put to music. Our teacher would teach us movements, and we would have to follow them to a certain pace and do them in conjunction to music. Another activity we did was also in partners, and our teacher had us make up a dance to the music she provided and it had to be original and go along with the music. We competed against other sets of partners to see who made up the most creative dance, therefore teaching us creativity along with movement concepts. Finally, we learned how to identify tone color, dynmanics and change in rhythm by doing an activity in which we were split into two groups and had to pass around a ball in a circle to the pace of the music. We would change our pace when there was a change in dynamics or tone and it helped us learn how to identify those using our listening skills.
I feel it is important for me to learn both movement and listening skills in music because both of these help in all areas of school. Movement and listening can be used in all classrooms not matter what the subject, and they only enhance the children's ability to engage in learning. Being that I will be a teacher one day, I value what I have learned as far as the movement and listening activities that our teacher presented because I know they will be helpful with my students one day. The warm up activities that I have been taught and the various listening games that we have done in class can be used in my classrooms, even though I am not planning on teaching music. My students will never be bored and can get the exercise they need while learning musical concepts.
I feel it is important for children to learn both movement and listening skills and concepts because it provides not only a fun aspect to learning for the kids by keeping them active, but it keeps them creative. What I learned through participating in these listening and movement activities is that children are left to interpret the music in their own way and show their creativity in how they express themselves in relation to the music. I also feel that these activities help children understand music and appreciate it, so I feel they are very helpful to the students in the classroom. It is fun to listen and dance to music, and therefore to be able to incorporate that in a classroom, children will enjoy school on a whole other level.

Assignment #9

1.The following are guidelines that can be used to help teachers generate ideas for students to learn music through rhythmic bodily response activities.
.Encourage the child's natural inclination to move. For example, student's naturally want to get out of their seats or if they are sitting for too long they are squirming around trying to make themselves more comfortable. Teacher's should take advantage of this situation and should use the student's eagerness to move to incorporate music and movement in their lessons.
.Encourage the natural use of speech, gesture, and body language to express thoughts and emotions. Allow the students to feel the music and respond to it with whatever comes natural to them, which will in turn bring out their creative ideas.
.Encourage the use of various levels of energy (dynamics) and timing in movement, speech and gesture. Encourage the students to move to the music in the way that they feel about it at the time, usually when children hear fast paced music, they will move that way or sing that way as well.
.Allow children to explore and find ways to "live" particular elements of music in movement. this means that children should not be directed necessarily on how to move to music, they should simply just be encouraged to move and whatever movements come out of that are their own creation and this shoulld be supported.
.Identify elements, concepts, or other aspects of music that children should experience.
.Pay attention to children's individual responses. Because children are creative in a variety of ways, they each have something creative to bring to the table. Therefore, encourage their individual creativity and have that reflect on the other students.
.Allow children freedom and opportunities to express music with their bodies in spontaneous ways. It is okay for the student's to act "silly" and this should be encouraged because a child's true creativity will be brought out and children will know this is acceptible behavior in the classroom and their ideas can fully be expressed.
.Encourage the completion of structured tasks that will, in turn, result in musical learning. It is good to have openness and freedom in the classroom, especially with music, but it is important to have a criteria for the children to follow to make sure they gain every musical concept possible to accompany their learning. In the end, it will only better their education not restrict it.
.Choose music for rhythmic activities that causes children to respond instictively. An example of a instinctive response is tapping of their feet to music, and this is encouraged because it will let their natural creativity and response to music come out and this will lead to them expressing themselves musically.
2. A locomotor skill is to move from one place to another. A non-locomotor skill is to move within a stationary position.
3. The four stages in children developing body awareness include the following:
1. movement as an expression of problem solving
2. movement as an expression of imagery
3. movement with no external beat
4.movement to a beat with a sense of timing
4. The musical concepts that can be taught through movement activities include the concept of the following:
.beat/meter,
.fast, slow, getting faster, getting slower
.accents
.dynamics
.rhythm patterns
.melodic contour
5. A lesson that involves the concept of teaching students rhythm patterns begins with the teacher introducing this concept by having her students "step" the rhythm patterns. For example, the teacher will play music using an instrument such as the piano or drum and will have her students move to the notes of the music. Specifically, the teacher can have her students walk, gallop, skip, hop or do any of the following movements in conjuction with her playing the notes. Therefore, the teacher can assign a note to a certain movement such as a quarter note to a walking step. Once teh students practice moving around the room according to the notes being played, the teacher can combine the notes and a rhythm "pattern" is created. One game of activity presented in this lesson that a teacher can use to express this idea is the stop and go game which involves the students moving according to the musical notes and stopping as soon as the teacher stops playing her instrument. This game can be done in groups or as a class and is similar to musical chairs with the stopping and starting of the music.
After these games are done to emphasize the rhythm patterns, the teacher can then have the students translate the movemnt words into rhythmic notation. For example, the teacher can assign different note values to the words of songs and have the students step the rhythmn while singing the song. Another way the teacher can emphasize this concept is by assigning different words like the childrens names or seasons to note values so they see the relation in all words not just movement words.

Journal #3

Overall, within this unit my class focused on and learned a great deal about how to incorporate instruments into the classrooms and various subjects. Specifically, in the beginning of the unit we learned that many everyday objects can be used as instruments, especially in the early grades because it is a good way to introduce them to the ideas of musical sounds and how to create them in many ways. In relation to this we learned how to use everyday objects as instruments while telling stories. As a class, we learned that a teacher can add educational and musical aspects to their story telling. We learned that using instruments or making sounds while reading a story keeps the children more active and involved in their own learned and that it can keep them interested for a longer amount of time.
Another aspect that we learned as a class within this unit was the fact that music can be incorporated into other educational subjects to enhance the lessons. By incorporating music or musical concepts into other educational subjects, a teacher can add more emphasis to a lesson and therefore keep the kids interested in what they are learning. Basically, if teachers do this they can keep children more musically inclined and allow them to learn more efficiently. A specific example of this concept that we learned in class was that music was a great way to add emphasis to children's literature. However, overall our class learned that music and musical concepts can be added to just about every subject within a curriculum.
As I stated before, a large part of this unit was spent on discussing how to incorporate instruments into not just musical lessons but other subjects within the curriculum. In learning how to do this, my class learned about the various classroom instruments and how to play some of them including the recorder, xylophone, and the drums. Much of our class time was also spent playing our recorders and learning how to compose our own song. The "chocolate candy" song involved us students learning how to play the five notes A,B,C,G and D. We had to use these five notes to compose our own song in which we will be tested on soon.
An example of how my class learned the musical skill of using various objects to produce musical sounds is that our class was broken up into groups and each member in the group was responsible for bringing a piece of trash to class to use as a musical instrument. These "musical instruments" were then used when our group told a story to the class. The instruments represented various sounds within the story and we used this techinique to also show that incorporating musical instruments into other subjects leads to more class participation and interest in the story.
As a class, we also learned how to incorporate musical instruments into other non-musical subjects such as children's literature. For instance, as a class we did another activity involving the playing of instruments in accompaniment to a story being told. As an entire class we used real instruments such as the xylpohone, recorder and drums to represent various parts of the story.
Finally, as a class we went about learning the various classroom instruments through class discussion and by some of us playing them. We also learned how to compose a song using five notes and are expected to play it on our recorder's for a grade.
I feel that it is crucial as a future teacher that I learn how to incorporate musical instruments into my lessons because no matter what subject is being taught, if a musical aspect is involved the children will automatically pay attention more and will be having more active and creative fun. I also feel it is important for me to learn how to play the recorder and have a better knowledge of the classroom instruments because as the leader I would like to go around and help every student possible. I also feel it is important for me to know how to use the recorder properly because as a teacher I would be need to help a good deal of my younger students who struggle and if I know my instruments well I can help teach them.
I feel that it is important for the children to learn how to play various instruments and use them while in music class and in other subjects because it enhances their learning and knowledge of the material. Using instruments in accompaniment to learning is great for keeping children’s attention and interest in what they are learning. Also, children develop better use of their fine motor skills by playing instruments. I feel that children have more fun learning when they can be active throughout the lesson which is why I feel it is important for children to be exposed to them. Like singing, the playing of instruments is a creative outlet for children and a great one to accompany other musical lessons. I feel that it is important for students to understand sounds of their environment and that anything can be an instrument because music is so important in everyday life.
Overall, I feel that as a class we learned a great deal of information and I had no real difficulty when learning any of the concepts including learning how to further develop my recorder playing. I had a good time learning just how much instruments can be incorporated into music and non musical lessons.

Assignment 8

1. (a) A melodic instrument is any instrument that can produce a melody. Examples of instruments that play melodies are the piano, electronic keyboards, xylophone, recorder, melody bells, resonator bells, glockenspiel, metallophone and tone chimes.
(b) A harmonic instrument can play harmonies or drones as accompaniments to songs. Examples of harmonic instruments include the autosharp, the q'chord and the guitar.
(c) Rhythmic instruments can play the rhythmic accompaniments to songs. They are divided into woods, metals and skins. Examples of percussion or rhythmic instruments are rhythm sticks, claves, woodblocks, maracas, sand blocks, guiro, cymbals, traingle, tambourine, jingle bells, hand drum, bongo drum, and conga drum.

2. One musical concept that can be gained by playing instruments is that children can better identify contrasting melodies. Another musical concept gained is that children can increase their ability to hear repetition and contrast of musical ideas. Another musical concept children can gain from playing instruments is being able to work in ensembles and listen to others sounds and incorporate it with their own. Finally, another musical concept to be gained is the understanding of dynamics by the differences in the way they play various instruments.

3. Activity: Playing the xylophone while reading the historical story "Pocahontas" depicting the Native American Pocahontas and early American civilization. The xylophone will express the various sounds made by the dwarfs along with the sounds of the environment.
Musical concepts:
.Students will be able to learn the proper way to play the xylophone through teacher instruction and repetition throughout the story.
.Students will be able to recognize various sounds throughout the story and interpret them through the playing of the xylophone.
Non-musical concepts:
.Students will better their reading abilities.
.Students will better their reading comprehension.
.Students will learn the history of Pocahontas and how she affected U.S history.
Musical skill:
.Students will learn how to play an instrument, the xylophone.
.Students will be better at interpreting sounds made by the xylophone.
Non-musical skill:
.Students will be able to read, follow along and comprehend the story.
Procedure:
The teacher will first provide all of the students with their own xylophone. The teacher will then review the proper way in which to play the xylophone. The teacher will continue the lesson by introducing the story "Pocahontas" and will read it to them once through. Then the teacher will have the students name the various sounds they heard while she read. Once the sounds of the characters and the environment are described, the teacher will assign certain students to play the xylophone for the various sounds. Then the teacher will read the story to the children and have them play their assigned sounds when they come up within the story. In addition to playing the xylopohone, the teacher can add to the lesson by having them sing along with some of the sounds in the following repetitions of the story.

assignment # 7

1. I believe, along with the author, that just passively listening to music will not make a child smarter. However, like the author, I believe that when music is applied within a child's curriculum and daily life, it can greatly benefit the child's cognitive abilities. In addition, research shows that if music is understood, appreciated and played by children that it can greatly benefit a child's education and their cognitive abilities within all aspects of learning.
2. The first type of research finding provided by the author that suggests music has strong biological roots is that animals have strong fundamental music abilities. For instance, research shows that monkeys are able to think in terms of musical abstractions. Another finding provided by the author that suggests music has biological roots is that the use of music is universal. Specifically, there are many cultures across the world that use music to soothe their children such as in lullabies. Another finding provided by the author that suggests music has biological roots is that musically biological factors are found in infants before culture is able to effect them. For instance, research shows that infants have musical capabilities because they can remember two notes just as well as adults can. Finally, the fourth finding that suggests music has strong biological roots is that the brain is organized to process musical activities. Specifically, the two hemispheres of the brain play a certain role in processing music in that the right hemisphere deals with melody and the right deals with the results of that melody and the assessment.
3. According to the article, playing music makes the synapses stonger by exercisng the brain and specifically the parts of it needed for strong cognitive abilities. For example, playing music uses teh sensory and perceptual systems, along with the cognitive system of the brain. Because of this, these systems grow stronger making students ahve better auditory, visual, tactile and kinesthetic abilites. Children will also do better with reading and linguistics seeing that they are apart of the cognitive system. Also, playing music influences planning movements including fine and gross muscle action and coordination. Playing music also increases synaptic strength because there is feedback and evaluation going on within the brain after a performance, strengthening the synapses once more. Lastly, playing music betters the brains memory therefore strengthening the synapses.
4. Research seems to suggest that music does help to improve reading comprehension. Specifically, a study has found that music helps children learn most in the phenomic stage of reading comprehension. More specifically, studies show that a child's ability to discriminate between pitches of music can help benefit the second stage of reading comprehension or the sound-outing stage. The author believes that there needs to be further studies to help clarify what exactly music does in the specific stages of reading comprehension but feels that it provides a good deal of insight and support for musics ability to improve reading comprehension. I agree with the author in that there does need to be more studies done to find more details in this process, however the research already done proves to me that music has a good deal of influence on reading comprehension.
5. The most interesting fact that I found within this article dealing with music is that the entire cerebral cortex of the human brain is active when musicians are playing music. This is fascinating because it shows just how active music makes the brain and how much power it has over the brain.
5.

Journal # 2

Throughout these past few weeks of class my class has learned a great deal of information specifically geared toward teaching children musical skills and concepts. While we learned new information, we also expanded on ideas that we had previously discussed in the first few weeks of class. There were many aspects within this past unit that focused on ways to teach music to children, specifically how to sing and to keep a steady beat. Therefore, one of the first things that our teacher taught us to do was write lesson plans. Our teacher had us fairly simple, ten minute lesson plans that focused on teaching a group of students how to sing a particular children's song. We were then taught a few key classroom management skills in order to prepare us to teach a lesson plan to ten of our peers. Therefore, in this process of writing lesson plans and presenting them to our peers, I know I learned a wealth of information that will help me when I have a career as a teacher one day. Another concept that we learned as a class were the vocal characteristics and abilities of the different age groups of children ranging from pre-k to upper elementary or age 4 to 12. Once these characteristics and abilites were learned we were taught that it is important to keep these in mind when teaching. It is these characteristics and abilities and their importance that led us into the next concept we learned. We were then taught various techniques that teachers have used to provide a foundation for children to learn how to sing. Within this unit we were taught about the famous Hungarian composer named Kodaly and the importance of his pedagogy and its effect on the teaching of music around the world. Lastly, my class was taught solfage and how it is used to teach children how to sing.
The way in which I learned how to write a music lesson was that I was given an example of a lesson plan by our teacher and she went through the various steps and explained what she was looking for in each of them. Once that was clear, she had us students choose a song to teach and write a lesson plan for. We were allowed to bring our lesson plans in for feedback and to practice them and once we did she had us actually present the ten minute lessons to ten of our peers. After doing our singing lesson plans, we went more into depth on the appropriate ways to teach children music, and what is necessary to know about the students before teaching them the actual musical skills and concepts. Specifically, my teacher had us read chapter four in our textbooks which discussed the exact vocal characteristics of both boys and girls as they age from preschool to upper elementary. The abilities to be expected of the students at these various ages were displayed as well. My teacher also demonstrated while we were in class various ways in which a teacher should speak to certain ages of children and what to expect out of them based upon their ages and how to incorporate that into our lesson plans. I know that I was specifically told by my teacher to take a few musical concepts out of my lesson to make it simpler for my younger students who need to just focus on one task at a time in order to truely master the lesson. The way in which I learned about Kodaly and his pedagogy was through discussions in our class with our teacher and reading a packet that had information in it about his pedagogy and views on music education. Finally, my class learned the musical concept of solfage by listening to the sound of music soundtrack, and doing various class activities that involved singing, dancing and physically jumping from note to note while singing the proper solfage.
In general, all of the musical concepts and teaching strategies that I have learned in this past unit are important because they will help me become the most efficient teacher of music possible. Specifically, it is very important for me to know how to write good lesson plans because they will be the foundation for my class. Lesson plans will make up my curriculum and with the proper lesson plans I will be able to teach my classes all of the necessary musical skills and concepts while making sure they have fun at the same time. Also, it is important for me to learn the vocal characteristics and abilities of children from pre-k to upper elementary age groups because this is the time when they can build their musical foundations and I need to know what is the best way to teach these students according to their ages. In relation to this, it is important for me to know the various teaching techniques that work best when teaching students within these ages in order for them to be as successful in music as possible. Finally, it is important for me to know about Kodaly because he was a leader in musical education and brought forth ideas on how to teach children music that have stood the test of time, such as solfage. Kodaly's ideas have provided the core ideas found in music education and it is important as a music teacher for me to know them.
It is important for children in elementary school to learn musical concepts such as how to sing and how to keep a steady beat because those are the first steps in them becoming musically inclined. Children can learn a great deal through music, even in other subjects, which is why it is important for them to learn how to express themselves through music and use it as a tool for learning. If children learn at this age to sing properly, keep a steady beat, and know how to read musical notation it will only benefit their educational standings. This age range is a crucial time for children to learn because they get all of their foundational knowledge which is why it is important to teach foundational musical concepts to them.

Worksheet chapter 4

1a.Children who are ages four and five who attend preschool and kindergarten.

1b. Children who are ages four and five have vocal characteristics that include their voices being small and light, and they are generally unable to sing in tune. Also, the children's singing range is from D-A for some and D-D for most. Children who are ages four and five have the ability to sing play chants and easy tonal patterns. The children can also sing melodies which are short in major, minor or pentatonic scales. Children in this age range can also keep a steady beat and can sing melodies with one note to a syllable. Children ages four and five can also sing accurately repeated rhythmic patterns and can sing melodies with or without accompaniment. Lastly, children ages four and five can sing both soft and loud.

1c. The song interests of children ages four and five are ones that tell a story. Specifically, children of this age like songs about familiar experiences such as helping songs and wake up songs. Also, children liek songs about seasons, special occasions, and ones that overall deal with make believe.

2a. In the early/primary age range, children are ages six and seven.

2b. The vocal characteristics of children this age are taht their voices are light and high, with a few being a little low. The children still have a hard time singing in tune at age six and by age seven most of the children will be able to sing short phrases and tune and will try to sing alone. Also, the children can understand what high and low pitches are and can sustain a single pitch. The children's range in pitches can go from D-B to a full octave D-D. The children within this age group have the ability to understand the difference between a playground voice and a singing voice. The children can start to understand why breathing is important in singing. The children can also sing call and response songs, along with two and three part songs. The children can also sing while paying attention to dynamics and changes in tempo. The children can sing from simple music notation and can sing melodies with simple harmonic or rhythmic accompaniment.

2c. The song interests of six and seven year olds are songs about animals, friends, community, pretending, one with action and movement along with folk game songs.

3a. The children in the intermediate age group are ages eight and nine.

3b. The vocal characteristics and abilities of children in this age group are that they can sing a song in tune and some children can sing in rounds, partner songs, canons and descants. Also, the girl's voices are still very light and thin. The boy's voices are becoming more mature due to development of resonance and they have the soprano-alto voice. also, children in this age group have more control over their singings, specifically the legato, dynamics and sustained phrases. There are also some children who are able to sing melodies and parts of music notation and can harmonize. Children of this age also have the ability to sing songs with complex rhythms.

3c. The song interests of children ages eight and nine are ones that involve early America, specifically songs about Native Americans and Pilgrims. Children of this age also like songs involving geography and planets. Lastly, children ages eight and nine like songs that express emotion.

4a. The children in the upper elementary age group are ten and eleven years old.

4b. In the intermediate age group the childrens vocal characteristics are that their voices remain clear and light but the boy's voices become more resonant. The differences between children's ability to sing in two and three parts become evident. There are also differences in that some children have a heightenened rhythmic sinse and respond to music with strong rhythms. Also, children try and imitate their voices to sound like popular singers and celebrities. Lastly, some children can read simple music notes.

4c. The song interests of children ages ten and eleven have to do with adventure, transportation, work, history and especially emotions. Children in this age group like songs about happiness, sadness, and love. Children also like popular songs and songs about places and events.

2. One of the techniques teachers use to teach children to sing is creating an environment efficient for singing experiences. Specifically, teachers help students become ready to sing by singing to them or playing recordings of children their age singing songs. Children first learn how to sing the proper tones, pitch, melody and rhythm after hearing songs repeatedly. It is a good idea to have children be surrounded by good songs, with helpful instructors.

Another technique teachers can use to teach children to sing is by having them improve their posture. A good way to do this is to tell the children that their bodies are their singing instruments and that they must be held upright whether sitting or standing. A good way to practice this good posture is to have the students play games surrounding the idea and to get them used to the position.

A third technique used by teachers to help children learn to sing is teaching good breathing habits to help support tone. Specifically, teachers can help the students learn to support their tone by feeling the pitches by doing variuos breathing exercises like blowing out candles in a certain way and pretending to suck air through a straw.

A fourth technique used by teachers is to teach students how to find their head voice. One way to have the students try and find their head voice is by having them sing in various voices. Another way is to help the students find their speech inflection. Finding speech inflection can be done practicing speaking phrases in tonal intervals. A third way to accomplish this is by having the students imitate familiar sounds found in their environment like sirens and owl hoots. Lastly, teachers can help students find their head voice by using having the students read children's literature and talk in different voices for the various characters as well as say the different animal and environment sounds.

2nd revised lesson plan

Friday, September 18, 2009
Assignment # 4 Lesson Plan
Activity: Children's song, "Clementine"Grade Level: 1stNational Standards:1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.2. Performing with instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts and disciplines outside the arts. Concepts:Music- Rhythm, keeping a steady beat
Non-music- Multitasking, building of social skills, coordination
Skills:
Music-Singing
Non-music-Moving during the song, being social with classmates
Objectives:
The students will be able to:
. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping a steady beat by clapping their hands and patting their legs.
. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping up with the rhythm and steady beat of the song by passing a clementine to other classmates.
Materials:
.1 Clementine
.Open space in the classroom
Procedure:
1. Greet the students as they enter the classroom and have them form a circle around the teacher on the carpet.
2. The teacher will introduce the song "Clementine" by first showing the students the clementine fruit that will be used later on in the lesson, and will ask the students if any of them have ever heard the song "Clementine".
3. Once there is understanding on who has and has not sang this song before, the teacher will demonstrate the song for those who do not know it, by singing it through.
4. The teacher will then break the song lyrics into shorter phrases, and will have the students repeat the phrases after she sings them.
5. The teacher will then check for understanding of the lyrics, and will either go through them once more or will have the entire class sing with her the lyrics as a whole.
6. Once it is clear the students know the lyrics, the teacher will demonstrate to the students how to keep a steady beat going by tapping her hands to her knees to the rhythm of the song. The teacher will encourage the students to join in and imitate what she is doing by tapping their hands to their legs as well.
7. The teacher will go through the song once more with the children following her lead in keeping the steady beat and then will tell the students to pick their own method of keeping a steady beat with their hands. Once the students are able to keep a steady beat on their own the teacher will transition once more.
8. The teacher will now take out the clementine and give one to a student next to her. The teacher will instruct the students to pass the clementine to the next student but only on the beat, therefore the students will recognize the steady beat and keep it going with the passing of the clementine.
9. The teacher will then have the students pass the clementine on their own, while singing the song on their own and keeping the steady beat three times through without error.
Closure:
. Ask the students why it is important not to sing the song too fast or too slow and then ask what will happen if they do.
.Ask the students to give you examples of other ways they can move and keep a steady beat. For example, do the students have to be tapping on their legs while sitting down or can they do more with it.
.Ask the students if they know what a quarter note is and how it is related to a beat, and that will give us an introduction for what we will do in the next lesson.
Assessment:
.Aurally check to see if the students are able to learn the words to the song efficiently and successfully throughout the lesson.
.Visually check to see if the students can sing independently or if they need direction from yourself or the other students.
.Visually check to see if the students are able to keep a steady beat on their own while tapping their legs and passing the clementine to their classmates.
.Visually check if the students are able to come up with their own way of keeping a steady beat and did they go at the proper speed
.Verbally check to see if any of the students are able to recognize what a quarter note was and what it is.

Revised lesson plan

Friday, September 18, 2009
Assignment # 4 Lesson Plan
Activity: Children's song, "Clementine"
Grade Level: 1st
National Standards:1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing with instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts and disciplines outside the arts.

Concepts:Music- Rhythm, keeping a steady beat
Non-music- Multitasking, building of social skills, coordination
Skills:
Music-Singing
Non-music-Moving during the song, being social with classmates
Objectives:The students will be able to:
. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping a steady beat by clapping their hands and patting their legs.
. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping up with the rhythm and steady beat of the song by passing a clementine to other classmates.
Materials:
.2 Clementines
.Open space in the classroom
Procedure:
1. Greet the students as they enter the classroom and have them form a circle around the teacher on the carpet.
2. The teacher will introduce the song "Clementine" by first showing the students the two clementine fruits that will be used later on in the lesson, and will ask the students if any of them have ever heard the song "Clementine".
3. Once there is understanding on who has and has not sang this song before, the teacher will demonstrate the song for those who do not know it, by singing it through.
4. The teacher will then break the song lyrics into shorter phrases, and will have the students repeat the phrases after she sings them.
5. The teacher will then check for understanding of the lyrics, and will either go through them once more or will have the entire class sing with her the lyrics as a whole.
6. Once it is clear the students know the lyrics, the teacher will demonstrate to the students how to keep a steady beat going by tapping her hands to her knees to the rhythm of the song. The teacher will encourage the students to join in and imitate what she is doing by tapping their hands to their legs as well.
7. The teacher will go through the song once more with the children following her lead in keeping the steady beat and then will tell the students to pick their own method of keeping a steady beat with their hands. Once the students are able to keep a steady beat on their own the teacher will transition once more.
8. The teacher will now take out the two clementines and give one to a student on each side of her. The teacher will instruct the students to pass the clementine to the next student but only on the beat, therefore the students will recognize the steady beat and keep it going with the passing of the clementines.
9. The teacher will then have the students pass the clementines on their own, while singing the song on their own and keeping the steady beat three times through without error.
Closure:
. Ask the students to sing the song individually or with a partner while keeping a steady beat.
. Ask the students why it is important not to sing the song too fast or too slow and then ask what will happen if they do.
.Ask the students to give you examples of other ways they can move and keep a steady beat. For example, do the students have to be tapping on their legs while sitting down or can they do more with it.
.Ask the students if they know what a quarter note is and how it is related to a beat, and that will give us an introduction for what we will do in the next lesson.
Assessment:
.Aurally check to see if the students are able to learn the words to the song efficiently and successfully throughout the lesson.
.Visually check to see if the students can sing independently or if they need direction from yourself or the other students.
.Visually check to see if the students are able to keep a steady beat on their own while tapping their legs and passing the clementine to their classmates.
.Visually check if the students are able to come up with their own way of keeping a steady beat and did they go at the proper speed.
.Verbally check to see if any of the students are able to recognize what a quarter note is and what its relationship is to a steady beat.

Journal # 1

Initially, I felt as if these first few weeks of class I would only be reviewing musical material that I felt I had already known, however I was wrong. In these first few weeks of class, I was able to review musical concepts I already knew, such as notes, their placement on the music staff and how to keept a steady beat. However, I was able to learn a great deal of new musical concepts such as how to play the recorder, make up children songs and put them with notes on a music staff, as well as what the true meaning of a time signature was. In addition to learning new musical concepts, I learned a wealth of knowledge on how to "teach" music to children and how to use music as a tool in the classroom. Specifically, I learned classroom management skills, how to keep children active in the classroom with warm up activities, and how to help children develope other skills outside of the musical ones, such as social skills.
I was able to learn new musical concepts like playing the recorder with one on one instruction help from my teacher and classmates, as well as having the teacher draw the finger placements on the board which helped me because I am a visual learner. Another way in which I was able to learn a new musical concept was when the teacher put musical notes to simple children songs and then had us perform them on our recorder. I was able to place myself in the situation of the student and learn how to teach the student in the best way by learning how to teach myself. We also used rhythm sticks to help us figure out what notes to put along with the words in the songs, and I would definitely use that technique in my classes. I also was instructed by the teacher on what the true meaning of a time signature is by explaining what the top and bottom numbers represented. I was able to learn other teaching skills by observing my teacher in the ways in which she directed our class. For example, my teacher keeps us engaged by having us students move around the room during warm ups, and she also teaches us social skills by making us students constantly work in partners.
It was very important for me to learn both musical and teaching concepts because I am not fully confident in music and I feel that when I have a classroom of my own, I will feel more comfortable using it in my classroom. This is especially important because it is good to have music in the classroom as a tool for learning, and this class has helped me to develope my musical skills more. It is also important for me to learn how to incorporate many skills into one activity to make my teaching more efficient and my teacher does this often in our classroom, and I would like to someday do this in mine.
It is important for children in elementary school to learn these musical concepts as well because it is important for them to become more comfortable around their peers socially, and musically, and all of the activites we do in class provide this experience for them. Singing songs, dancing and/or playing instruments all at once along with their fellow students will help children not just musically, but socially and will help them become great multitaskers. Performing songs like "Double Double Ice Cream" while singing, and dancing and working with partners is just one example of how a multiple level activity is efficient in teaching students a great deal of skills, both musical and non musical.
My experience so far within this class has shown me that music in the classroom is a very powerful tool and it brings togetherness in the class. I like being able to show my full creativity in this class, and I want this experience for my own students. It is important for children to have a personal, social and creative outlet especially at a young age, and having music in the classroom provides this. I am trying my best to take mental notes,(as well as written ones) on how my teacher instructs and leads our class because these are the tips that will benefit me the most when it comes to actual teaching and actual classroom management and experience.

Assignment # 4 Lesson Plan

Activity: Children's song, "Clementine"

Grade Level: 1st



National Standards:

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

2. Performing with instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music



Concepts:

Music- Pitch, rhythm, keeping a steady beat

Non-music- Multitasking, building of social skills, coordination



Skills:

Music-Singing

Non-music-Moving during the song, being social with classmates



Objectives:

The students will be able to:

. Sing the song "Clementine"while singing in the proper pitch.

. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping a steady beat by clapping their hands and patting their legs.

. Sing the song "Clementine"while keeping up with the rhythm and steady beat of the song by passing a clementine to other classmates.



Materials:

2 Clementines

Open space in the classroom



Procedure:

1. Greet the students as they enter the classroom and have them form a circle around them on the carpet.

2. The teacher will introduce the song "Clementine" by first showing the students the two clementine fruits that will be used later on in the lesson, and will will ask the students if any of them have ever heard the song "Clementine".

3. Once there is understanding on who has and has not sang this song before, the teacher will deomonstrate the song for those who do not know it, by singing it through.

4. The teacher will then break the song lyrics into shorter phrases, and will have the students repeat the phrases after she sings them.

5. The teacher will then check for understanding of the lyrics, and will either go through them once more or will have the entire class sing with her the lyrics as a whole.

6. Once it is clear the students know the lyrics, the teacher will demonstrate to the students how to keep a steady beat going by tapping her hands to her knees to the rhythm of the song. The teacher will encourage the students to join in and imitate what she is doin by tapping their hands to their legs as well.

7. The teacher will go through the song once more with the children following her lead in keeping the steady beat and then will tell the students to pick their own method of keeping a steady beat with their hands. Once the students are able to keep a steady beat on their own the teacher will transition once more.

8. The teacher will now take out the two clementines and give one to a student on each side of her. The teacher will instruct the students to pass the clementine to the next student but only on the beat, therefore the students will recognize the steady beat and keep it going with the passing of the clementines.

9. The teacher will then have the students pass the clementines on their own, while singing the song on their own and keeping the steady beat three times through without error.

Closure:
. Ask the students to sing the song individually or with a partner while keeping a steady beat.
. Ask the students why it is important not to sing the song too fast or too slow and then ask what will happen if they do.
.Ask the students to give you examples of other ways they can move and keep a steady beat. For example, just it just have to be tapping on their legs while sitting down or can they do more with it.
.Ask the students who knows what a quarter note is and how is it related to a beat, and that will give us an introduction for what we will do in the next lesson.

Assessment:
.Were the students able to learn the words to the song efficiently and successfully throughout the lesson.
.Were the students able to sing independently or your direction or other student's help.
.Were the students able to keep a steady beat on their own while tapping their legs and passing the clementine to their classmates.
.Were the students able to come up with their own way of keeping a steady beat and did they go at the proper speed?
.Were any of the students able to recognize what a quarter note was and what it's relationship to a beat is.

assignment #3

1. A long term goal is what the teacher uses to help demonstrate what is to be accomplished in the learning environment by the end of semester or year. An example of a long term goal in a music class would be "students will understand the foundational musical concept of reading musical notes and providing the right pitches when singing them". A short term goal is similar in relation to the long term goal however, a short term goal helps the teacher address tasks to be accomplished within a specific and shorter period of time. An example of a short term goal would be " students will learn to sing their abc's using the proper pitch by the end of the class period". 2. A musical concept is a group of musical ideas that are combined based on common properties. Six musical concepts listed in the textbook are melody, texture, tone color, dynamics, rhythm, and form.
3. A musical skill is any action that a person does to make music. One example of a musical skill would be singing. Another example of a musical skills would be playing an instrument such as the flute. Lastly, an example of a musical skill would be keeping a steady beat by snapping your fingers.
4. The possible sequence of a lesson plan would being with describing what the musical activity involved in the lesson will be. The next step in the lesson plan would be to describe the age or grade level that the lesson plan is directed towards. The following step is to describe the concepts in which you want to teach your students in the lesson. The next step in writing the lesson plan is to write what materials you will need for your lesson. The following step is when you will write your objectives for the lesson or what you want the students to get accomplished during and from the lesson. Next in writing the lesson plan you will describe both the preliminary and main content procedures in which will help the students accomplish the objectives of the lesson plan. The next step of the lesson plan would be to provide closure and tie in all of the aspects of the lesson plan together. Finally, the last step in writing the lesson plan would be to assess the lesson itself, the effectiveness of it, how well you taught it and how well the students understood and performed their tasks involved in the lesson.
5. The nine national standards in music education include the following" 1. Singing, along and with others, a varied repertoire of music 2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments 4.Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines 5.Reading and notating music 6.Listening to, analyzing, and describing music 7.Evaluating music and musical performances 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts 9. Understanding music inrelation to history and culture.
6. Music is very important in a child's education for many reasons. One of the reasons music is so important in relation to a child's education is because it provides a creative outlet for students to express themselves, which can lead to higher learning. Also, music is important because it can keep a child's interest and attention longer by providing them with alternative ways of learning, which keeps things in the classroom more interesting. Music is needed because it can inspire, teach and bring out creativity in all children, and I feel that is the purpose of music.

Assignment # 3

Assignment 2 music 373

1. Psychomotor learning is a type of learning that uses mental processes to control physical activity involving the muscles. A musical example of psychomotor learning would be having children use an instrument to play a steady beat while singing the abc song to ultimately learn the abc's as well as the meaning of a steady beat.
2. Cognitive learning is a type of learning that involves gaining knowledge and information. A musical example of cognitive learning would be having the teacher present a visual example to the class such as a diagram or a chart in order to help the children fully acquire and understand the musical information. More specifically, teachers can use this method of learning when teaching children how many beats are in each note and how to use the notes to read music.
3. Affective learning is a type of learning that uses the childrens emotions and feelings to help them gain knowledge and fully understand the informationt they are given. In affective learning, children's emotions and feelings play a role in their understanding of the information and their own feelings can be expressed in this type of learning. Therefore, a musical example would be having children describe and discuss their feelings about the lyrics of a particular song before they sing it and then have the children sing out their feelings about the nature of the song.
4.The difference between teacher-centered learning and child-centered learning is that in teacher-centered learning the teacher lectures and provides the children with information and the children simply consume it and play a more passive role. The children are less active in their own learning because the teacher gives them all of the information they need during the lectures by providing them with examples and descriptions and other concepts used to learn. This is very different from child-centered learning because in child-centered learning the children are allowed to explore their way to gaining their own knowledge and are simply guided in the right direction by the teacher. The teacher's role is more passive in this type of learning and the children are more in control of their own learning. It is very common for children to use trial and error techniques when gaining their own knowledge and the teacher is their to assist them in doing so.
5. I believe that I use a combination of visual and aural learning techniques in order to gain knowledge. However, I do learn the fastest and most efficiently from visuals. I understand concepts more when I am given a chart, a diagram or examples on the board to help explain the material I have been given. I also tend to pay more attention to visual examples as oppose to aural ones, which is why I feel I learn faster when visuals are presented.

assignment 1 music 373

My name is Samantha Byers and I am a junior and just transferred to NIU this semester. Music has always played a huge role in my life and I can definitely say that it is one of my true loves! I participated in choir from 5th grade until my senior year and sang soprano. I very much enjoyed being able to sing every day while I was in school and even outside of choir music has been very important to me. I listen to music everywhere that I go and always have my ipod on me to listen to no matter what I am doing. I love all kinds of music, but my favorite is classic rock ! :) Music has always been an outlet for me emotionally and creatively. Not a day goes by where I do not use music to set the tone for my day and I have valued it my whole life. I believe children benefit immensly from musical activities because it provides them with a creative outlet different from what they are used to. I feel that musical activities encourage children to express themselves and gain confidence while learning and I feel that is very important in a curriculum, especially at a young age. Children benefit directly from musical activities in that they are learning and having fun at the same time and it always keeps them focused and active in their learning!