My students need cymbals, cabasas, guiros, story books, and solfa rhythmic cards for creating digital storytelling with our overhead computerized sound system.
I service the budding, little Mozartians from preschool age to 6th grade at two schools. As their music teacher, I'm always figuring out ways to lead them through "the mystery of music class” with joy full of surprises. Our students become fluent in Singlish as they enter the wondrous land of Sing-a-Lore each day. They come away dancing, singing, and moving to music comprehending the phrasing, structure, and timing behind it. They explore the textures of sound while learning the symbols, style, and art behind it. Their beat work causes their minds to expand, and their focus to increase while feeling its elements. They learn to incorporate all kinds of subjects from literature, spelling, math, history, and science while enjoying the beauty of the arts surrounding them.
My Project
Story books come to life with wonderful illustrations in the background projected digitally through an overhead computerized set-up combined with creative music making! Guiros create the movement, for instance in, "100 Marching Ants." Cymbals and cabasas enhance the chorus for, "The Day the Crayons Quit" and "King Bidgood in the Bathtub," and the rainforest sounds in, "The Great Kapok Tree."
Digital storytelling will be ever the more compelling with the added sound effects of the cabasas, maracas, guiros and cymbals!
Timing and dramatics will be developed as the students word smith and rhyme key points into songs and choruses from story books. Mixing and arranging will be a fun adventure as they experiment with sound possibilities, discovering how much is too much or what more they might add to make just the right combination with other instruments. Rhythm can be learned and mastered combining solfa rhythmic cards with story book words.
Once polished, students will then record their ideas and share them with other classes making their creations last beyond just a one-time performance. They can influence others through their innovative story making, heightening social justice issues as a movie or play might do through sound enhancement and enlarged dramatics while showing pictures onscreen!
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