MUSIC

February is a wonderful month to explore songs about love and self-love.  We have sung "This Little Light of Mine," "There's a Little Wheel Turning in my Heart" and "All I Really Need" by Raffi, accompanied by sign language.  

With January being the birth month of Martin Luther King Jr. and February being African-American history month, the kindergartners have been diving into some rich musical material.  Students are learning "Free at Last," the old spiritual that Martin Luther King Jr. so famously quoted at the very end of his "I Have a Dream" speech.  We have read "This is the Dream" which explores what life and segregation was like when Martin Luther King Jr. was just a boy.  We have been doing some lighthearted African-American singing games as well, such as "Down in the Valley" and "Pour me a Bucket of Water."  I am having a wonderful time exploring this potent subject with the children, using music as a vehicle of understanding. 

The students are starting to work with the xylophones, which is very exciting!  We are taking simple rhymes, such as "1-2, Buckle My Shoe" and "Peas, Porridge Hot" and putting the rhythm of the speech onto our xylophones.  We are working our way up to the beautiful Spanish melody and song "La Mariposa" which we will ultimately sing, dance and play as an ensemble together.  All of our xylophone work so far has taken place in C Pentatonic scale, a versatile and easy 5 note scale.