Teaching Strategies and Approaches
Singing
- Select songs within a pitch range which is manageable for children to sing. Children have a limited range (around middle D tothe B above) -a chime bar is useful for finding an appropriate starting pitch.
- Select songs and rhymes which are short, repetitive and easy to remember -teach by breaking down into chunks e.g. line by line,using call and response –and talk about the structure of the song (verse, chorus, repeated sections etc.).
- Continue to vary the dynamics and tempo when singing songs and to model the difference between a speaking and singing voice.
- Begin to develop the skills required for singing in parts through songs which can be sung in a round (two or more groups singthe same melody but start at different times).
- Provide opportunities for children to sing short phrases individually using singing games (e.g. ‘Who Stole My Chicken?’).
- Use fun warm up exercises (e.g. tongue twisters, humming) to develop diction, breathing and pitch accuracy.
- Introduce the solfanames and handsignsto represent pitches using simple, well-known songs (e.g. ‘I Like Coffee, I Like Tea’ or ‘Bounce High, Bounce Low’). Start with so, miand la, then add doand reto complete the pentatonic scale.
- Use a stave (5 lines, 4 spaces) to practice placing pitches on the lines and in the spaces -draw on on a whiteboard, mark out with tape on the floor, or use your hand (fingers for the lines and in-between fingers for spaces).
Beat & Rhythm
- Develop children’s sense of pulse by providing regular experiences where children can physically ‘feel’ the beat in music –e.g.keep the beat by walking, performing actions, bouncing a ball, passing an object, clapping or tapping knees. There should be an initial focus on the beat when learning any new song.
- Children can tap heart shapes to the beat whilst singing to reinforce the idea that pulse/beat in music is like the steady heartbeat in our bodies.
- Use short, well-known songs/rhymes to introduce Kodályrhythm names –practice clapping and saying the rhythm names.
- Support learners to differentiate between beat and rhythm when chanting a rhyme by asking one group of children to keep a steadybeat, while another group claps/plays the rhythm.
- Link rhythm names to the associated stick notation symbols and play games using rhythm flashcards which help children to recogniseand follow written rhythm patterns (e.g. Don’t Clap This One Back or Rhythm Corners).
- Children can practisethe skill of ‘internalising’ by clapping/playing the rhythm of a rhyme whilst saying the words or rhythm names in their ‘thinking voice’.
Playing Instruments
- Apply the pitch and rhythm skills taught through singing and body percussion activities to perform short simple melodies on pitched instruments e.g. tuned percussion (xylophone, glockenspiel, chime bars), tin whistle, recorder or keyboard.
- Introduce the treble clef and pitch names to practice reading notation and playing pitches on an instrument (as above).
- Introduce performance direction vocabulary and symbols used in music to indicate changes in tempo or dynamics (e.g. piano, forte, crescendo, diminuendo, accelerando, ritardando).
End of Level Benchmarks
- Performs songs with enthusiasm, from a range of styles and cultures, demonstrating a variety of basic singing techniques such as accurate pitch, good diction and appropriate dynamics, for example, loud or quiet.
- Performs a simple rhythm part on a range of instruments, for example, keeps the beat using body/untuned percussion.
- Performs simple melodic parts, for example, on tuned percussion, tin whistle, recorder.
- Follows performance directions, for example, follows the group leader.
- Follows simple music notation, for example, in the form of pictures, graphics, treble clef.
Interdisciplinary links
LIT 1-02a, LIT 1-03a
MNU 1-07a, MTH 1-13a
HWB 1-10a, HWB 1-11a , HWB 1-14a, HWB 1-21a , HWB 1-23a
SOC 1-04a
