Music

 

I thoroughly enjoyed today’s music input as a local primary school came to visit us. The children have been participating in the ‘String Project’ which allows for the pupils in the class to choose a string instrument and then the class comes together to form a string orchestra. This is a very rewarding project for the children as they have been able to entry competitions, play alongside other musicians and were able to preform in front of royalty- something the children will always be able to look back at fondly.

 

Here is a link to a video about the string project: https://vimeo.com/176221212

Above as a screenshot from a video I took of the string project today.

The orchestra preformed to us before we partnered up with a pupil who would teach us how to play the basics on their instrument. This allowed us to ‘switch roles’ and become the learners and experience possible feeling the child may come across when we teach them. This was also very rewarding for the pupils as they could educate the teacher.

 

I learned to the viola. At first, I struggled however, I began to pick it up and was thankful that my partner was patient with me. We were able to ask questions to the class teacher at the end. The teacher stated that the class have better concentration, worked better as a team and were calmer within the class because of this extremely rewarding project.

 

Drama

Today we looked at how drama can easily be linked into other subjects such as literacy.

We used the book ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne for the session. The novel is about “a brother and sister who were complete opposites and constantly fought and argued. One day they discovered the tunnel. The boy goes through it at once, dismissing his sister’s fears. When he doesn’t return his sister has to pluck up the courage to go through the tunnel too. She finds her brother in a mysterious forest where he has been turned to stone” (Amazon, 2010).

Through the story, we discussed several drama techniques such as ‘roll on the wall’, ‘freeze frames’ and ‘thought tunnels’. This allowed us to consider characters’ feelings, how others may preserve them and to imagine ourselves in the characters’ situation- helping with literacy skills.

Drama can help with personal, social and emotional development for example taking turns and sharing equipment during imaginative play (Taylor, 2014).

References

Amazon (2010) The Tunnel. [Online] Available: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tunnel-Anthony-Browne/dp/1406313297 [Accessed: 7 January 2017].

Taylor, J. (2014) The Five stages of the creative process. [Online] Available: http://www.jamestaylor.me/creative-process-five-stages/ [Accessed: 8 January 2017].