Let's go fishing!

I recently came across this really cute Guatemalan folk song:

If anybody knows me, I love all things Latin American - except beans.  For some reason, I just hate those!

Anyway, this is a great song for teaching ta rest for your 1st graders, or bringing it back later on to practice low so.  I wouldn't really use it to present that, because the interval is always re-so, but it would help enforce I-V accompaniment, and is really good for practicing that interval.

Latin American folk songs often have an uneven feel to them, because a lot of the time, their phrases are a little uneven - just different from what we're used to here in the good old U.S.A.  This song has that uneven phrase thing - sort of.  It has 4 equal-in-length phrases, but each phrase is 6 beats long.  That's a little unusual - but cool.  Something that you can point out to your kiddos!  The form is ABA'B - so it's great for pointing that out as well.

The words are:

1. Vamos a la mar, tum, tum,

A comer pescado, tum, tum.

Boca colorada, tum, tum,

Fritito ya asado, tum, tum.

2. Vamos a la mar, tum, tum,

A comer pescado, tum, tum.

Fritito y asado, tum, tum,

En sarten de palo, tum, tum.

The meaning is (not an exact translation, but this way it can also be sung in English)

1. Let's go to the sea

To get fish to eat.

Mouth as red as ruby,

Grilled and fried and crispy.

2. Let's go to the sea

To get fish to eat.

Grilled and fried and crispy

In a wooden skillet.

There is not a game that I can find, but you could have the kids create their own (mine love doing this).

I found a cute little video of some kids adding body percussion to this song.  They do it a little differently - they add an extra measure of rests to make the phrases even.  Find that video here.

Also, since this song is so great for practicing/presenting ta rest, I came up with a little game I call "Fishing for Rhythms."  Basically, you print off a set of these cards:

Cut them out, laminate them, etc.  Then, you can spread them around the "pond," face down.  A student has to "fish" for a rhythm and either you can do individual assessment - that student performs it by themselves, or you can have their team perform it.  Either way, if it is performed correctly, they get a point.  If it is incorrect, have them throw it back in the "pond," and continue playing.

You can also use these cards for games like "Post Office" or the fly swatter game - you know how much I love that one :)  I've provided a set of these cards (12 in total, practicing ta, ti-ti and ta rest) in both color and black and white.  You can get my whole file on this song (and support my adoption savings) here.

OR, you can wait until next week, when I'm throwing a big Cinco de Mayo sale and get this for 20% off, as well as all of my other Spanish language files :)

Thanksgiving Dinner walk

Have you ever had your kids walk the rhythm to their songs?  It is such a great way to practice and internalize rhythms.  My kids absolutely love to do it.

Recently, I've been teaching my 3rd graders about Bach, especially through his music.  I've used some of Amy Abbott's great ideas on teaching Musette in D from her blog post here.  She also has some great tech tips on how to use Audacity to slow down YouTube recordings.  Read it!  You'll be glad you did :)

Anyway, I had the opportunity to retake Orff Level 1 this past summer.  I'm so glad I did.  The first time I took it, I hadn't even graduated or started teaching yet, and though I loved it then, it was so much more valuable this time as I've been teaching for a few years so I have some background.  I decided to use Amy's ideas but throw in an Orff twist.

I created the following words for Bach's Musette in D that go along with Thanksgiving:

The kids walk the rhythms and say the words.  It also helps when I play recordings of the piece - they can immediately identify the form (so helpful).

I then threw in a Thanksgiving twist.  I created some food cards and laminated them, and spread them around the floor (the cute clip art comes from mycutegraphics.com).  I used 9 different "food stations."

Some examples:

The kids walked the rhythms to the piece (I occasionally play them on the piano, but not always - I really want them to internalize them) and have to stop on a food station.  I then drew a card with a food word on it, and the students on that station, as well as the food are eliminated.  The game continues until only one station is left - and those students are declared the winners!

Sounds so simple - but my students absolutely loved this activity.  I extended it to 5th grade, where we are talking about micro beats and macro beats, and they would have to sing a song and walk either beat - depending on what I said.  When I blew a signal on my recorder (which I wear as a necklace at all times), they had to switch to the other type of beat.  When the students were eliminated in this grade, they came to the side, chose a rhythm instrument, and had to play either the micro or macro beat, depending on what was indicated.

You could extend this so many different ways - but my kids had a great time.  Hope you can use this!