“Music is often thought of as a specialism which is accessible only to a few people who are born with a specific musical talent.” (Pound and Harrison, 2003) However, this is not the case, everyone has the ability to do music if they are provided with effective teaching. In today’s workshop we explored rhythm. The lecturer described the different layers of music being like a cake. This would be a good way to teach it to children to help them remember each layer. The bottom layer of the cake is the pulse, the beat that goes on in the background piece of music. Like your heartbeat, it is a steady pulse. The next layer of the cake is the ‘good bit’, the jam and cream, which represents the rhythm, short and long sounds which create the music. We started off with a quick warm up activity to awaken us and get ready for the lesson, which would be good to use in class as the kids may be doing music at the end of the day so may be tired. We then used drumsticks to explore rhythm patterns. When doing this activity with children you may choose not to give them drumsticks in the first lesson as they tend to get over excited, so starting with clapping may be best. It is not necessary at this stage to use correct notation, e.g. quaver, crotchet, instead you could use syllables to introduce rhythm patterns e.g. square = 1 syllable = 1 beat, circle = 2 syllables = 2 beats. We worked through some simple rhythm patterns and the lecturer checked throughout how we were feeling. It is important to do this with children to ensure they are grasping it and feeling comfortable before moving on. By the end we were playing along to a full piece of music. These would be a series of lessons and activities that you would build up with the pupils, to hopefully by the end be playing on instruments. Music helps to boost children’s confidence and allows them to express themselves and their feelings. Teachers must have the confidence to teach music to children by taking part in training days or seeking help from colleagues, to ensure they can provide rich music lessons that children will enjoy. (Mills, 2009)
We looked at Norwegian artists in our visual arts workshop such as Edvard Munch who created the Scream painting. We discussed how this made us feel and what message may be behind it. We thought the painting may be linked to Munch’s experience with mental health. There is usually meaning behind a piece of artwork and it would be good to explore this with children and discuss how pieces of artwork make them feel. We should try to teach about artists who are still living so the artwork is more contemporary and meaningful to the children. We should teach about printing as it made thinking visible through literacy, and teaching literacy through art. A printing lesson would allow teachers to break the routine of repetitiveness that they may be used to, e.g. exploring literacy through art may be more enjoyable. We created a print based on a world problem we feel strongly about. We chose to focus on mental health which stated, “There is strength in your softness.”
This lesson would allow children the chance to express themselves and gives them a voice on how they feel about world problems. It is important that we get involved in art with pupils and are seen to be interested in it so that our pupils will to.
References
Mills, J. (2009) Music in the Primary School, 3rd ed. Oxford: University Press.
Pound, L. and Harrison, C. (2003) Supporting Musical Development in the Early Years, Open University Press: Buckingham.
