(My New Dress)

Ang Sinina Ko’ng Bag’o (My New Dress) is a Cebuano rhyme in the Visayan language that my mother grew up hearing during her childhood in Cebu, Philippines.

Speaking Visayan

Visayan is one of many languages/dialects spoken in the Philippines. Generally speaking, Filipino languages use the same phonetic rules as Spanish. When introducing this song, keep these things in mind:

Vowels

A is an ah sound like in Moana

E is an eh sound like in elephant

I is an ee sound like in feet

O is an oh sound like in open

U is an ooh sound like boo

Two vowels next to each other have a small glottal stop in between (e.g. gipaangay: gipa+angay)

Consonants

The apostrophe between letters is a glottal stop, similar to the sound that you make when you say “uh-oh!”

R is a rolled r, almost sounding like a d

T is not an aspirated sound, a mix of a t and d

Procedure

• Introduce the song as a children’s rhyme from the Philippines. Explain that the rhyme is about all the new clothes and shoes.
• Teach rhyme phrase by phrase with the below movements:

• Teach the first half of ostinato “brand new dress and shoes, brand new dress and shoes” and have students clap the rhythm before transferring to woodblocks.
• Teach the second half of ostinato “sway, twirl” and have students snap the rhythm before transferring to triangle.
• You can ask students to change the last two words (“sway, twirl”) to other action words they’d use when getting brand new clothes.
• While students are speaking the rhyme, the teacher speaks the words for the ostinato.
• Split the classroom into three groups. Two groups will play woodblock and triangle and one group will speak the rhyme with movements.
• Perform three times, so each group has a chance to speak the rhyme with movements or play each instrument.

Depending on your class and your classroom’s set of instruments, you can let your students choose which un-pitched instruments are appropriate for each ostinato.

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Lynn Osborne shared this lesson in our “Back to School Lesson” contest from last year, and was the first runner up from our entries. In this lesson she shares her process for getting to know what her students like about school and a variety of ways to explore sing, say, dance, and play.

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PROCEDURES:

Opening Warm up: Students enter classroom for warmup; Students stretch and create movements to rhythm of various rap recordings; (NOTE: when playing RAP music in the classroom, always be sure to check it first for appropriate language and subject matter)  

RHYTHM ACTIVITY:    

Step 1                                                                                                                                                             

• S’s in front of SMARTBOARD with new Notebook page opened, with title “What’s Cool for Back At School?”  This is a 4-beat musical phrase as shown below: What’s Cool for Back At School?  

• Teacher speaks this phrase several times to a RAP rhythm, clapping a 4-beat RAP steady beat as the phrase is repeated; Simple 4-beat RAP-clap rhythm below:  

• S’s echo Teacher several times.
• Teacher points around class with question eyes until a Student raises a hand and says something “NEW” about being back in school (for instance: “Friends”; “Recess”; Science” etc…)
• Teacher or a student scribes the ideas onto SMARTBOARD onto the Notebook page and keeps repeating the process, adding new words but always going back to the “What’s Cool …?” chant between ideas. (NOTE: NOT REQUIRED for every student to contribute an idea!)   

Step 2     

• All Students clap RAP beat and speak chant, then three different words or phrases, then back to chant, then three more words/phrases, until all have been spoken.
• Next to each word or phrase, students take turns writing out the notation rhythm of the word/phrase, until ALL the ideas have been notated.    
• For example: Play-ing at re- cess

Step 3  Move/Rhythm Rondo

• Students in groups of 4-5 choose 4-5 words or phrases
• Each group creates a body-percussion pattern for their words, and practices it together. Create a circle so that each group follows the last
• On REFRAIN: Students create movement for the refrain, What’s Cool for Back At School? Chant it several times in unison, everyone using the movement; (Can be locomotor or non-locomotor
• After each REFRAIN: Each group gets a chance to perform their individual word chant with body percussion;  

Step 4  Extensions For Following Lessons   

• Students set up xylophone instrumentarium in G pentatonic scale  

IMPROVISE: Using these notes, students choose a word or phrase to play the rhythm; Improvise using these 5 tones and explore possibilities;  

TONIC: Teacher asks each student to end their words/phrases on the “G”, or tonic, “do”;  

MOVEMENT:  Students in each group decide on one specific “cool” thing about being back at school to create pantomime scene for C part of RONDO. Using chosen xylophone(s), have 2-3 students from each group act out the “cool” thing while the 2-3 others create a pentatonic ostinato to accompany their IMPROVISED SCENE.  

PERFORM RONDO: ABCABCABCABCA

A =ALL perform REFRAIN
B= GROUP performs BODY PERCUSSION
C= GROUP performs PANTOMIME SCENE with accompaniment 

REFLECTION:  Students discuss this process, what would they do differently, new ideas for next time, more themes.  

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Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree is a charming children’s book about a too-tall Christmas tree that keeps getting whittled down, providing Christmas joy for a variety of humans and animals alike, from a wealthy man to a mouse.  I actually don’t remember how I learned about the book, but it has yielded a variety of ideas for Christmas from K-6.

I have used “O Christmas Tree” (the first two lines) as a musical tie-in with this story. Included here are two lesson plans: one for kindergarten and one for sixth grade. The kindergarten lesson plan is easily adapted for first grade and second grade. The sixth-grade lesson plan can be adapted accordingly for the other grades.

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree: Kindergarten

Kindergarten Targets Met: Vocal exploration, singing voice versus speaking voice, iconic rhythm notation reading, understanding and performance of short and long sounds, performance of ostinato, following the cues of the conductor, movement exploration (optional)

Materials Needed:

• Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree. Written by Robert Barry. ISBN-10:0385327218
• Power Point

Process:

• Display the Power Point, (Slide 14) and ask the students what they notice about the Christmas trees. (They are all different sizes). Tell them they are all from the same tree. How could that be? (Allow them to discuss this).
• Talk about the story briefly and how one tree is shared for many creatures to enjoy.
• Display Power Point (page 15) and point out the trees on this activity. Ask them what they notice. (some big trees and some small trees).
• Clap the rhythm and chant the words to the ostinato “Christmas tree, Christmas tree/Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree” to determine if the students make the connection between the short/long sounds of the ostinato and the sizes of the trees (iconic rhythmic notation).
• Continue to chant the ostinato until all the students are chanting it. One kinesthetic activity I like to do is ask students to get up and walk with me when they have learned the words to anything I am teaching them to sing or to chant. It is a quick assessment of who is participating and it also encourages participation.
• Tell the students you are going to read the story. Describe the following cues:
  *One hand to chest, one up out to the side. Sing “O Christmas Tree” in the range you establish, followed by “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree”.
  *Sad face “O, rats” (done when characters discover the tree doesn’t work for them)
  *Sweeping action in front of body with arm and snap, saying “O, snap”, when the tree is cut. *Sweeping action to the side with arm, saying “Whoosh” when the tree is thrown.
• Read the story, utilizing the cues. Video if necessary for assessment purposes.

Assessment-Standard Based:

• Vocal exploration. 3-student sings song in a variety of ranges. 2-student misses range change 2-4 times. 1-student does not change range
• Iconic reading 3-student is able to clap rhythm by reading iconic rhythm notation. 2-student misses on iconic reading at least 2-4 times. 1-student does not clap iconic rhythm correctly.

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Lesson: 6^th Grade

6^th Grade Targets Met:

• Improvising variations on a familiar tune
• Reading and performing complex rhythms
• Creating accompaniments

Materials Needed:

• Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree. Written by Robert Barry. ISBN-10:0385327218
• Power Point
• Various pitched instruments and unpitched percussion

Process:

• Teach “O Christmas Tree” by rote. For my students, I found it easier to teach recorder in the key of G. Alto recorders will do best in the key of C. Teach the first two lines. This can be done either with recorders or barred instruments.
  Process (key of C. Transpose as necessary)
  *If you like, sing various solfege patterns incorporated in the first phrase of “O Christmas Tree”. Focus on the low sol-do pattern of the beginning.
  *Tell the students to listen to you play the first pattern (G-C-C-C). Inform them to start on G and decode the rest.
  *Follow the same pattern on D-E-E-E.
  *Teach the rest of the phrase in 3 note segments.
• Display Power Point, Page 2. This shows the actual notated pitch in two keys for “O Christmas Tree”, along with potential problem fingerings for both alto and soprano recorder.
• Read the story to the students. Ask them to note, during the reading, where sound effects would be appropriate and how they could connect melody (pitched) instruments to the tree as it gets whittled down.
• Show the Power Point, Page 3. This is an image map for the guidelines to be displayed later for the students.
• Show the Power Point, Page 4. Leave this slide out of presentation mode so students can slide the text boxes of instrument ideas in between the character graphic and the corresponding tree (i.e., Mr. Willowby’s moustache is over the largest tree). As an option, upload the Power Point into Google slides and ask students to do this on their devices. You can then have students compare their choices. This Power Point is set so you can add your own pitched instruments as needed.
• Show the Power Point, Page 5. For the first part, run out of presentation mode. Students can type in appropriate instruments for the following: When the characters find the tree won’t work, when the tree is chopped, and when the tree is tossed. Suggestions for the first sound: change a barred instrument in the key of G from a B to B-flat to turn G Aeolian or G harmonic minor (depending on whether you want F or F#), slide whistle descending, or digital piano set to choral, playing a chord cluster.
• Run presentation for the second half of the Power Point. Clap and say the ostinato. “Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree, Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree”. Ask various students to click on the rhythm pattern that corresponds with the rhythm of the ostinato. Again, this is an activity that can be done in Google slides. Also, note the bordun that is to be played during the reading.
• Determine instrument parts accordingly. I usually use the Tool kit in Class Dojo or random selector in iDoceo and let the students pick instruments in the order they are selected.
• Display Page 6 of the Power Point, and the subsequent pages briefly. These are the instrument “cue” pages. The students will follow the cues in the story to know when to play. The graphic in the upper left hand corner is the symbol for each character.
• During the performance, students chant the ostinato while the story is read and the bordun is played, unless instruments are playing “O Christmas Tree” or the sound effects are played.

Assessment ideas: Students can journal their thoughts about their creations, describe their musicality, or do critical writings on the quality of their work or what they would have done differently.

Have fun!

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by BethAnn Hepburn and Roger Sams

We trust you and your young students will enjoy this lesson taken from Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book Three – by BethAnn Hepburn and Roger Sams. Designed to encourage active music making, this lesson includes pathways to rhythm, literacy, partwork, ensemble, and improvisation. A printable version can be found here.

PATHWAY TO Rhythm: Eurhythmics treble-bass follow exercise

• Students begin in scattered space and walk to the steady beat, which you play on a low pitch on temple blocks or piano.
• Students continue walking the steady beat while you play 4-beat echo patterns on a higher pitch. Students echo these rhythm patterns (clapping) while walking the steady beat.
• Begin with even rhythms then introduce syncopated rhythms. Example:

Teacher Talk: Moving from simplicity to complexity
When teaching students to follow the beat and rhythm at the same time it is important to start simply and move incrementally toward more complex rhythms. Begin with the students echoing quarter notes and progress sequentially through the more difficult rhythm patterns found in the song.

• Continue to practice rhythms until the class is successful walking the beat while simultaneously clapping the rhythmic echo. Emphasize rhythms that contain syncopation.
• For an advanced challenge have the students step the rhythm in their feet and clap the steady beat in their hands.

PATHWAY TO Literacy:  so, la, do re mi

• Students read the rhythm of the song.

• Use the solfa tone ladder to prepare the tone set of the song. Ask the students to sing what you point to. After you have presented patterns from the song, point out the entire song on the solfa tone ladder.
• Students sing the melody from rhythmic notation with solfa

• Students sing the melody, with solfa and hand signs, reading from the staff.

• Students sing the melody with text.

PATHWAY TO Partwork: Rhythmic Ostinato

• Perform the BP ostinato. Ask the students to join you when they are ready. (simultaneous imitation)
• Students sing the song, while patting and clapping the rhythmic ostinato. Establish the ostinato before adding the singing.

• Transfer to BP ostinati to tubanos, or other large drums, producing low sounds (bass) with the palm of the hand near the center of the drum (pats) and high sounds (tone) with the fingertips near the rim of the drum (claps). Pat becomes bass and clap become tone. Encourage the students to alternate hands.

PATHWAY TO Partwork: Song with descant

• Students read the rhythm of the descant.
• Students play the rhythm of the descant on soprano recorder on the note B.

• Students sing the letter names for the BAG version and practice recorder fingerings with recorders resting in finger position on their chins.

• Students play the BAG version on recorder.
• Divide the class in half. Half sings the song. Half plays the BAG version of the recorder descant. Trade parts.
• Students sing the letter names for the advanced version and practice recorder fingerings with recorders on their chins.

• Students play the advanced version on recorder.
• Divide the class in half. Half sings the song. Half plays the advanced version of the recorder descant. Trade parts.
• Consider singing in two parts.

PATHWAY TO Ensemble: Split moving bordun, descant, countermelody, and BP ostinato

• Model patting and singing solfa for the BX/BM ostinato. Ask the students to join you when they have figured out the pattern. (simultaneous imitation)

• Divide the class in half. Half sings and pats the BX/BM ostinato. Half sings the song. Trade parts.
• Transfer BX/BM ostinato to barred instruments and put together with singers.
• Model patting and singing solfa for the AX ostinato. Ask the students to join you when they have figured out the pattern. (simultaneous imitation) If using a text is a support for your students, use the following text while teaching the ostinato.

• Divide the class in half. Half sings and pats the BX/BM ostinato. Half sings and pats the AX ostinato. Trade parts.
• Transfer this split moving bordun to barred instruments and put together with singers.
• Perform the BP part for the students, patting when the text says “alternating hands, both” and clapping and stamping as the text indicates. Ask them to count how many times you perform the opening motive. (seven)

• Ask the students to perform this BP motive with you seven times and then add three stamps as a final cadence.
• Divide the class in half. Half performs the BP. Half sings the song. Trade parts.
• Add the BP part to the arrangement.
• Students read the SX melodic ostinato, singing solfa with hand signs.
• Students prepare the SX ostinato by singing solfa and patting their legs, moving up and down as if they are a barred instrument.

• Transfer this ostinato to SX and add to the arrangement.
• Put all of the percussion parts together with singers.
• Add the SR (or singing) descant and put the entire arrangement together.

PATHWAY TO Improvisation: Question and Answer with focus on how tonic functions

• Set up the barred instruments in G=do pentatonic. Acclimate the students to the pitch set with singing and playing 4-beat solfa echo patterns.
• Model singing the improvisation structure for the students.

• Model question and answer improvisation for the students. Explain that the phrases are eight beats long, beginning with singing and ending with barred instrument improvisation. Ask them to determine what the difference between your questions and your answers. Model questions that do not end on do and answers that do end on do.
• Divide the class in half. Half the class sings the beginning of the question and then completes it with four beats of barred instrument improvisation not ending on do. The other half of the class answers by singing and then improvising for four beats, ending on do. Trade parts.
• Ask the students to figure out how to play, “Wake up, you sleepy head!” on the barred instruments.
• Repeat the process with the students playing everything, rather than singing and playing.
• Give the students an opportunity to improvise a question and answer chorus in the context of the entire 32 beats of the full orchestration.
• Put together with the song in a satisfying final form.

Excerpts from Purposeful Pathways, Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book 3 by BethAnn Hepburn and Roger Sams. Copyright © 2015 by MIE Publications. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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Click on the link to download the lesson: Purposeful Pathways: Fais Dodo.

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Click on the link to download the lesson: Purposeful Pathways: Old Mother Brown

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