Different Ways to Listen

Today I wanted to emphasize that there are so many different ways to hear and express music. A bunch of the kids who are a bit shy with singing have already demonstrated the ways they connect with music in terms of beat and dance, so I wanted to spend a class emphasizing the physical aspect of music. We did a drawing exercise where the kids recommended songs and then with paper and pencils, we all drew out what we were hearing in the music. It was amazing how different the kids' interpretations were! To finish off, we played a musical freeze/go game, moving around the room and emphasizing the high, middle, and low voices of the music with dance moves at different heights. The kids got a kick out of the stop and start nature of the game, and they were engaged throughout! I'm particularly looking forward to doing the drawing exercise again, I think there's potential for the kids to make one big drawing or painting that they could hang in the program room!