Finding song in our names

I've been exploring the wonderful process that is Orff-Schulwerk.  As I've said before, I'm a beginner in this form of Music Education.  So everything I'm doing this year is something of a first-time experiment.

Room 8 proved to be an exciting discovery field today.   I wrote the names of some of the kids on the board and it was Rhys who noticed a pattern in the colours and positions I was writing them in.


Here's how they looked.

			Riki		Aadil
		Kayla		Aarav
	Saqqara		Maddison
Rhys		Chase

We split the class into boys & girls each side of the room. The boys took the bottom two lines.  On the lowest line the boys stamped their feet.  On the secon line up, they patsched their knees with thier hands.

The girls then worked on the top two lines.  Kayl and Aarav's names were chanted accompanied by clapping, while Riki and Aadil's names were clicked with the fingers above the head.


Next we transferred the rhythms onto the Xylophones and Marimba.  Take a look at the process we have been involved in today. These children were just so engaging to work with.  They were engaged.

Kid Conductors

Our Marimba Band Rehearsals are a regular fixture on Thursday afternoons now.

With around 20 Year 5 & 6 children it's an exciting 90 minutes.  Today I handed the reins over to "kid conductors".  Zara, Haney and Wesly each had their own style.

Wesley was one of the first to put his hand up to lead. Counting us all in is a tricky thing to master.   Zara's leadership was positively artistic. She could have been performing in a ballet.



Haney lead the group with precision.  Both girls were fully in command.

BIG Thank You Ukulele Festival Trust

The Ukulele Festival Trust (supported by Mr & Mrs Smith) have gifted our school 12 ukuleles.  This will really kick our Friday Lunchtime Uke band into action. 

I found a cheap way to keep our Ukuleles accessible, portable, protected and importantly always visible. Also, it reuses the boxes they came in.

I removed the instruments from their shipping boxes, sliced each box apart on a band saw - at about one third of the way up at a 30° angle, glued them all together with ½ a tube of Liquid-Nails ($8), then glued them into a Pack-n-Save shopping bag ($2.50)

Packing box cut at a 30° angle.

 

5 boxes glued into a shopping bag.

Kids carry sets of 5 ukes safely & easily.

Stacked out of the way & always visible.