Haydn's "Surprise Symphony"

One of my goals in my music class is to instill a love for classical music in kids while they are small.  There are so many amazing things about classical music.  Last summer, I took a music class at Utah Valley University, in which we spent the entire semester analyzing all the different eras of musical composition.  It was truly an amazing experience and increased my love for classical music even more.  I hope that, even though I'm working with little kids, I can start to show them the wonder that is classical music.  The complexity of thoughts, feelings, and emotions that can be expressed through classical music is endless.  Too many people are missing out on the world of classical music!

So, one of the things we have started focusing part of our class time on is, you guessed it, listening to classical music.  One fun way to get kids excited about classical music is to have them try acting out the music in different ways.  For example, when we listen to "Flight of the Bumblebee," we run around really fast pretending to be bees flying around in a frenzy.  When we listen to the "March" from the Nutcracker, we march around during the more rigid, marching sounding music, and then run around all twirly and flowy in the contrasting parts of the song that sound as such.

My biggest hit by far, however, has been our acting out of Haydn's "Surprise Symphony," (Symphony No. 94 in G "Surprise").  The song is a whopping 6 minutes and 21 seconds long and the kids stay interested and engaged the WHOLE time.  Like I said, amazing!  We pretend that we are little mice on a mission to make it to the kitchen, stuff our faces and pockets full of all sorts of snacks, and then scurry on back to our mouse hole without getting caught.  During different parts of the song when things change we act out different interactions, but the kids have just really had a blast with it.  They are continually adding more of their own actions and descriptive parts to our adventure story.  They even sometimes remember that it is called the "Surprise Symphony"!  I'm so excited to see them falling in love with classical music and seeing how fun and dynamic it can be.

If you're interested in listening to this song to see what all the fuss is about, check out my playlist on the right hand side of the page.  Currently, it is the last song on the list, #77.  The other songs I use are included in the same playlist.  So, go out there and listen to some classical music!  There's so much to learn and discover about this amazing genre of music with an incredibly long and rich history.  Children will be greatly influenced in their listening by what they hear you listen to and by what music you have playing in your home.  Take a chance and turn on some classical music to share with the whole family.  You won't regret it!

Nursery Rhymes

We have been working quite a bit on nursery rhymes over the last month or so.  Nursery rhymes are a very important element in helping children learn how to read.  I was recently speaking to a friend of mine who is a Kindergarten teacher, and she told me that not very many children know the nursery rhymes anymore.  This makes me so sad!  There are so many great elements to them.  They usually have a strong, rhythmic pulse, that helps kids start to recognize rhythm, and they have lots of rhyming words.  Learning and recognizing rhyming words is an integral part of a child's pre-reading skills.  Nursery rhymes are a HUGE help in lots of areas.  Here are just a few of the many articles out there describing the value of nursery rhymes.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/the-surprising-meaning-and-benefits-of-nursery-rhymes/

http://www.funfelt.com/why-nursery-rhymes.html

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/value-nursery-rhymes-11872.html

Here are the nursery rhymes we've learned so far (just in case you don't remember the words):

Hickory Dickory Dock:

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

Mary Had a Little Lamb:

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.

Humpty Dumpty:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:

Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Wee Willie Winkie:

Wee Willie Winkie
Runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs
In his nightgown.

We have tunes and actions that go with all the songs.  Ask your kids to show them to you.  If I'm really on top of things, I will try to post a you tube video of me showing these songs, but don't hold your breath.  I always have big goals and never enough time to achieve them. :)