Observation #1:
I observed a class designed for children ages 0-3. There was a good turnout of parents and children. In this particular class the majority of kids are under the age of one. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were just as many fathers as there were mothers. Some children had both parents present. The classroom was an empty room with a few props on a table in the corner. There was one teacher and three assistants who each took turns leading the class.
As the parents and children came in the door, they removed their shoes and sat in a circle on the floor. Once every one had come in and sat down, the teacher sang a hello song that included saying hello to each and every child by name. Most of the parents joined in and sang along. Most of the class was spent trying to acculturate the students to the music. The teacher or one of her assistants would sing ba, da, ba, da, ba, etc. The parents were often moving the baby’s arms along with the beat. Some were bouncing the babies on their knees. The class incorporated the use of a lot of props. Pom poms were one of the first props the teacher used; the babies ran their hands through the pom poms as they watched the teacher as she waved them around. There was one little girl who was a little bit older than the rest of the children. She was probably between 18-24 months old. Using the pom pom she tapped the beat the teacher was making on her dad’s belly. Sometimes she said the beat along with the teacher. At the end of each activity, the teacher would say “and, stop.” And the little girl would repeat her.
Another prop used during the class was the expandable ball. This was used to help the children explore the movement element of space. There were a few babies who were really interested in the ball and wanted to play with it. Almost every single child was staring intently at the ball as it expanded and shrunk. When it would shrink back to the smallest size, they would all look up at the teacher as if they were saying “do it again”. One of the props that seemed to be favored by all of the children were colorful scarves. The teacher played peek-a-boo and demonstrated by putting the scarf over her head and pulling it off when she said “peek-a-boo”. A few of the babies also pulled the scarf off of their head when they heard “peek-a-boo” and some never wanted it back on their head.
The egg shakers were another popular prop, a lot of the children shook them to the beats the teacher was making. One of the babies made noises similar to what the teacher was making. The teacher then repeated the noises back to the baby that made them. The baby smiled and waved her arms. During one of the last activities the class stood up (most parents carrying their children) and pretended to be a marching band. The oldest little girl stood up and followed the adults marching and waving her arms as if she was beating on drums just like the adults were. At the very end, the teacher (and some parents) sang a “goodbye” song, where they said goodbye to each child individually.
Throughout the entire class the teacher and her assistants spoke in song. For this young age group, the class is meant to get them acculturated to music. It was interesting to see all of the random responses from the children. Each child seemed to respond to something different. I was also pleasantly surprised to see many dads actually participating in the class. Observing this class reaffirmed what we have talked about in class… that even though very young children do not often purposely respond to music, they are definitely absorbing it.
Observation #2:
For my second observation of a children’s music class I visited the music classroom at the elementary school where I am placed for TE 401. The class I observed was a kindergarten class. I was really excited to see the difference between this class and the first one I observed. The classes are different for many reasons. The first class I observed was for children ages 0-3 and their parents come and participate as well. This class was obviously for older children, ages five and six, there are no parents because it is during the regular school day and the children have to be there whether they like it or not. The classroom was set up so that the students could all participate easily. There was a large colorful rug in the middle, a few instruments set up on tables on one side, some chairs were set up along one wall and the teacher had a desk in the corner with a CD player on it.
The students came into the room and sat down on the carpet. Once all of the students had taken a seat the teacher said “Good morning class, how are you today?” and the students responded with a mumbled “good”. There was no obvious warm-up or “hello” song like I observed in the other class. The students were very noisy and were not really paying attention as the teacher tried to sing a song. They began to pay attention when she started to sing “put your hands on your head, put your hands on your knees.” Now that she has their attention a little bit better she asks them to tap the beat with her. She began to play a beat on a tambourine and the students all followed her cue and began to tap their hands on their knees/legs.
The teacher put on a recording of “Shake your Sillies out” and the students all began to move shake and jump as the song instructed them to do. It was obvious that this was a familiar song to them. She also put on the song “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and all of the children began to sing along while doing the movements. It soon became obvious that the purpose of this class was movement. Some of the movement elements they explored include free flow, self-space, loco motor, and time. Just like in the first class I observed the teacher modeled everything she wanted her students to do. One of the things I found interesting was that the girls seemed to participate more than the boys. The boys liked to hide out in the back of the group and try to “goof around”. Even though it seemed as if they were goofing around, you could tell that they were participating in the movements whether they meant to or not. On that same note, some students (even girls) were just going through the motions to get through the class, while others were really into the activities.
One of the activities was not about movement but more of a response activity. The teacher sang “everything I say repeat after me” and then she sang things like “a, b, c” and “one, two, three”. The students all responded to these and repeated exactly what she said. Once the teacher began to sing “gibberish” words, the students tried to repeat what she was saying but most of them sang other “gibberish” words. There was definitely more involvement in the movement activities.
There were some obvious similarities as well as many differences in the two classes I observed. In the first class, the teacher sang everything she said, whereas this time, the teacher only sang some of the things she said. There was no warm-up/hello or goodbye song for this kindergarten class. I think they would have really enjoyed singing the hello song to each and every student. The class period was so short and there were so many students that I understand why she didn’t have them sing it. It would have taken up a large chunk of class time. It was really interesting to see the differences in the age groups (from 0-3 years old to 5 & 6 years old) as well as the differences between students of the same age. Some of the students in the class have a higher aptitude for music than others, but that is okay because there is still time for them to develop it.
Photo courtesy of: http://rockstarsmusic.net/kidsmusic/kids-music-n-motion
I observed a class designed for children ages 0-3. There was a good turnout of parents and children. In this particular class the majority of kids are under the age of one. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were just as many fathers as there were mothers. Some children had both parents present. The classroom was an empty room with a few props on a table in the corner. There was one teacher and three assistants who each took turns leading the class.
As the parents and children came in the door, they removed their shoes and sat in a circle on the floor. Once every one had come in and sat down, the teacher sang a hello song that included saying hello to each and every child by name. Most of the parents joined in and sang along. Most of the class was spent trying to acculturate the students to the music. The teacher or one of her assistants would sing ba, da, ba, da, ba, etc. The parents were often moving the baby’s arms along with the beat. Some were bouncing the babies on their knees. The class incorporated the use of a lot of props. Pom poms were one of the first props the teacher used; the babies ran their hands through the pom poms as they watched the teacher as she waved them around. There was one little girl who was a little bit older than the rest of the children. She was probably between 18-24 months old. Using the pom pom she tapped the beat the teacher was making on her dad’s belly. Sometimes she said the beat along with the teacher. At the end of each activity, the teacher would say “and, stop.” And the little girl would repeat her.
Another prop used during the class was the expandable ball. This was used to help the children explore the movement element of space. There were a few babies who were really interested in the ball and wanted to play with it. Almost every single child was staring intently at the ball as it expanded and shrunk. When it would shrink back to the smallest size, they would all look up at the teacher as if they were saying “do it again”. One of the props that seemed to be favored by all of the children were colorful scarves. The teacher played peek-a-boo and demonstrated by putting the scarf over her head and pulling it off when she said “peek-a-boo”. A few of the babies also pulled the scarf off of their head when they heard “peek-a-boo” and some never wanted it back on their head.
The egg shakers were another popular prop, a lot of the children shook them to the beats the teacher was making. One of the babies made noises similar to what the teacher was making. The teacher then repeated the noises back to the baby that made them. The baby smiled and waved her arms. During one of the last activities the class stood up (most parents carrying their children) and pretended to be a marching band. The oldest little girl stood up and followed the adults marching and waving her arms as if she was beating on drums just like the adults were. At the very end, the teacher (and some parents) sang a “goodbye” song, where they said goodbye to each child individually.
Throughout the entire class the teacher and her assistants spoke in song. For this young age group, the class is meant to get them acculturated to music. It was interesting to see all of the random responses from the children. Each child seemed to respond to something different. I was also pleasantly surprised to see many dads actually participating in the class. Observing this class reaffirmed what we have talked about in class… that even though very young children do not often purposely respond to music, they are definitely absorbing it.
Observation #2:
For my second observation of a children’s music class I visited the music classroom at the elementary school where I am placed for TE 401. The class I observed was a kindergarten class. I was really excited to see the difference between this class and the first one I observed. The classes are different for many reasons. The first class I observed was for children ages 0-3 and their parents come and participate as well. This class was obviously for older children, ages five and six, there are no parents because it is during the regular school day and the children have to be there whether they like it or not. The classroom was set up so that the students could all participate easily. There was a large colorful rug in the middle, a few instruments set up on tables on one side, some chairs were set up along one wall and the teacher had a desk in the corner with a CD player on it.
The students came into the room and sat down on the carpet. Once all of the students had taken a seat the teacher said “Good morning class, how are you today?” and the students responded with a mumbled “good”. There was no obvious warm-up or “hello” song like I observed in the other class. The students were very noisy and were not really paying attention as the teacher tried to sing a song. They began to pay attention when she started to sing “put your hands on your head, put your hands on your knees.” Now that she has their attention a little bit better she asks them to tap the beat with her. She began to play a beat on a tambourine and the students all followed her cue and began to tap their hands on their knees/legs.
The teacher put on a recording of “Shake your Sillies out” and the students all began to move shake and jump as the song instructed them to do. It was obvious that this was a familiar song to them. She also put on the song “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and all of the children began to sing along while doing the movements. It soon became obvious that the purpose of this class was movement. Some of the movement elements they explored include free flow, self-space, loco motor, and time. Just like in the first class I observed the teacher modeled everything she wanted her students to do. One of the things I found interesting was that the girls seemed to participate more than the boys. The boys liked to hide out in the back of the group and try to “goof around”. Even though it seemed as if they were goofing around, you could tell that they were participating in the movements whether they meant to or not. On that same note, some students (even girls) were just going through the motions to get through the class, while others were really into the activities.
One of the activities was not about movement but more of a response activity. The teacher sang “everything I say repeat after me” and then she sang things like “a, b, c” and “one, two, three”. The students all responded to these and repeated exactly what she said. Once the teacher began to sing “gibberish” words, the students tried to repeat what she was saying but most of them sang other “gibberish” words. There was definitely more involvement in the movement activities.
There were some obvious similarities as well as many differences in the two classes I observed. In the first class, the teacher sang everything she said, whereas this time, the teacher only sang some of the things she said. There was no warm-up/hello or goodbye song for this kindergarten class. I think they would have really enjoyed singing the hello song to each and every student. The class period was so short and there were so many students that I understand why she didn’t have them sing it. It would have taken up a large chunk of class time. It was really interesting to see the differences in the age groups (from 0-3 years old to 5 & 6 years old) as well as the differences between students of the same age. Some of the students in the class have a higher aptitude for music than others, but that is okay because there is still time for them to develop it.
Photo courtesy of: http://rockstarsmusic.net/kidsmusic/kids-music-n-motion