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Students
in December perform seasonal songs. Songs learned are:
"First Day of Winter"
by Denise Fleming
 ANNOTATION:
A snowman comes alive as the child building it adds pieces during
the first ten days of winter.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Alive with swirling snow and lots of outdoor fun, the first ten
days of winter bring special gifts for a special friend. This
cumulative tale will have children chanting along as they discover
all the trimmings needed for themost perfect snowman ever!
The story of the book are actually lyrics that can
be sung to the same melody as the "Twelve Days of Christmas".
Did you know that the melody to the "Twelve
Days of Christmas" was a folk song that was either French
or English (it is unknown which origin the melody is from)? It
wasn't until later that the lyrics as we know them were added
as early as the 1780's in "Myrth Without Mishief",
a book published in England.
The form and function of the song was that of a
memory game that was very common. The game consisted of a number
of people in which the first individual would say or sing something,
then the second individual said or sang something new to add to
the old and so on. The person that missed a verse may have had
some sort of consequence in the game. Don't believe me? Read "A
Celebreation and History" by Leigh Grant.
It is a myth that the song was actually written
by the Catholic Church. It is unknown to me if the Church actually
used the song as metaphor for teachings of the Christian faith
from 1558 to 1829, when Chrisitanity was outlawed in England.
Anyway, students are paired (two per day) and sing
the song, and instruments are added later. Solfege is identified
phrase by phrase. Passing of the melody and rhythmical accompaniment
to one group to another proves to be a challenge! We strive to
not drop a beat or hesitate the slightest bit! Internalizing then
performing a steady beat and rhythm is the main skill focused
on, but it also gives students a challanging song for solfege.
Songs of Kwanzaa: The
following excerpts are from our 2nd grade textbook "Spotlight
on Music published by McMillan McGraw-Hill.
"Kwanzaa is a holiday that lasts seven days.
Many African American families and friends get together to share
stories of their histroy and culture. They eat traditional foods
and sing songs from their culture and other African cultures.
"In 1966 Dr. Maulana Karenga, an American professor
of African Studies, established the Kwanzaa holiday so that African
Americans would have a special time to celebrate their heritage.
The word Kwanzaa comes from the African language Kiswahili
and means "first fruits of the harvest." The holiday
begins on December 26 and lasts seven nights. During the seven
days of Kwanzaa, seven priniciples are celebrated, one for each
day: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility,
cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
* "Soup, Soup!" (pentatonic
African American Singing Game)
* "Hasewie" (pentatonic call and response
song, a Eritrean Folk Song)
Songs of Hanukkah: The following excerpts are
from our 2nd grad textbook "Spotlight on Music published
by McMillan McGraw-Hill.
"Hanukkah is a holiday of lights. It lasts
for eight days. A menorah holds nine candles. There is
one candle for each of the eight nights, and one candle to light
them."
"Hanukkah commemorates the moment in 165 B.C.
when the Jews defeated their Greek oppressors and regained control
of the Great Temple in Jerusalem. Though it seemed there was only
enough oil left to light the Temple's flame for a single night,
it burned for eight nights. Today, Jews all over the world celebrate
the eight-day Hanukkah holiday by lighting a candle every night
for eight nights in a candelabra called a menorah".
*Hanukkah Is Here (Rhythms To Reading
Picture Songbook; pub. by Bowmar)
*Light the Candles (Spotlight On Music 1st Grade
pg 351).
Miscelanous: (These are the last songs that were
learned shortly before winter break)
* "Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Christmas Time is Here".
(Originally written by Randy DeLelles as Hanukah is Here
and published in the "Game Plan Grade 1: An Active Music
Curriculum for Children. I expanded this song to include other
holidays for more length to the song and to have a more conclusive
song to our winter song studies).
* Time For Toys (Game Plan Grade
One by Kriske and DeLelles pg. 41-42.
National Standards:
1. Singing, alone and with
other, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments,
alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations,
and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging
music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing,
and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music
performances.
8. Understanding relationships
between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in
relation to history and culture.
Iowa Standards: same as national standards in
addtion to:
1. Moving to music.
ICCSD Benchmarks:
Melody:
* Identifying melodic direction
* Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La (and Fa and Ti when songs used them)
* Steps, skips, and leaps
Rhythm:
* Rhythm vs. beat
* Meter: 2/4, 4/4
* Experience quarter, paired eights aurally, kinesthetically,
iconically, and symbolically
Harmony:
* Experience aurally harmonic accompaniment with recording or
live guitar.
Form:
* Call and Response
* AB
* ABA
Expressive Qualities:
* Dynamics: Forte, piano.
* Vocal timbres: speaking, singing
Movements:
* dances (locomotor)
* Corwin hand signs (non locomotor)
* partner clapping (non locomotor)
Purpose: To learn songs of the season while
introducing new concepts and skills while reviewing others. Also
to learn the history and cultural traditions of holidays in December.
Objectives:
* Students will learn and review concepts and skills
listed above.
* Students will learn the history of songs common during December.
* Students will learn about the history, culture, traditions,
and people who perform various songs in December.
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