Can you feel the force of the beat?

Star Wars Extravaganza

 

 

 

In Kindergarten the main focus is to find the beat and the rhythm of the words. This helps students with reading and recognizing the different syllables in words. In music we call the beat: The heartbeat and the rhythm of the words: the way the words go!

 

This activity we used our "beat"sabers to tap with our friends the heart beat of the music from Star Wars.

 

First we discussed how to properly listen to music. 1. We sit criss cross applesauce 2. We keep our lips sealed 3. We put our listening ears on 4. Our hands in our lap.

 

Then I played the song The Imperial March from Star Wars. It was amazing to see how the students faces lit up once they recognized where the song was from!

 

We then brought out our "beat"sabers and created movement that matched the music! Check out the fun we had in music class!

 

 

Music and Art

Century Park Learning Center Art Walk

As a fundraiser Century Park Learning Center had the students create an art walk. Classrooms chose an artist and then recreated the artwork and displayed it in the windows and around the school. With the help of the art teacher Nick Leonard, he showed me a really cool painting by Jasper Johns.

I noticed that the painting was comprised of numbers between 0-9. I wanted to put a musical spin on it so we decided to use musical notes starting with the shortest beat progressing all the way to the whole note which receives four whole beats. The students then listened to a musical piece called Totentanz by Liszt.

 

 

The students then were asked to draw how the music made them feel or an experience it reminded them of. Some students thought the music sounded happy or even sad. Others expressed how it reminded them of Halloween and spooky. 

This student said how he thought the music started out dark and scary then kept getting happier and brighter by the end. That is why he started with the dark color and then progressed into the happier colors!

 

 

 Students in action!

Our finished project!