Home Expectations & 

Activities

Kindergarten Readiness-Kindergarten

A. Sing traditional children's songs

B.  Move to the steady beat of music while listening or singing

C.  Perform traditional children game songs

RHYTHM

• Play music on the radio, tapes, or CD's.  Keep the steady beat of  the music by marching, snapping, tapping, or clapping.  Try clapping and marching together.

• Tap steady beat on lap

• Play instruments (drums, rhythm sticks, woodblocks, etc.) or use household items like spoons and plastic lids, pots and pans, or wooden spoons.

• Play steady beat by marching, clapping, tapping on child's lap while reciting traditional nursery rhymes ( Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock).  Add instruments

MELODY AND MOVEMENT

• Sing traditional children's song with the child.  Create motions and movement for the songs ( The Farmer IN The Dell, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, BaaBaa Black Sheep, Hot Crossed Buns, Six Little Ducks, Old MacDonald, Yankee Doodle, The Hokey Pokey, Three Blind Mice etc.

LISTENING

•  Children love to listen and relax to classical music. J.S. Bach, J. Haydn, W.A. Mozart, F. Handel are some composers whose music I would suggest.  Play the music softly and have the child lay still with their eyes closed.  Great for a calming activity!

• Use the public library.  Many children's story books use words from children's songs.  They love to sing the words of the book like a song. Super way to have children read!

GRADE ONE

A.  Add rhythm patterns or instruments to children's songs

B.  Use rhythms to match syllables of words

C.  Listen to classical music

RHYTHM

• Select a topic (ex. animals,reptiles etc). Name four things from the topic-Buffalo, alligator, lion, shark.  Discuss how many syllables are in each word. Create rhythm for each word

          buff - a - lo        buff - a -lo                all - i - ga - tor 

          li - on                 shark

          Play rhythm of words on instruments, pans, plastic lid, spoons, etc.
          Work into a round (like singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

MELODY AND MOVEMENT

• Sing familiar American Folk Songs (ex. Shoo Fly, Hush Little Baby, Bingo, She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain, Old Dan Tucker).  Keep the beat by clapping, snapping or tapping.  March while singing and add another motion like clapping.

 LISTENING

• Listen to classical music (Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Handel).  Discuss tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, range of notes, direction of melody ( upward, downward).

GRADE TWO

A.  Rhythm games to reinforce note values

B.  Sing traditional folk and patriotic songs while performing various rhythms

C.  Musical Math

D.  Creative Writing

RHYTHM

• Musical Math-make rhythm cards using quarter, eighth, half, and whole notes, plus quarter rests.  Create a 4 beat pattern that child can clap or play on an instrument.  Play the pattern to pre-recorded music or while singing a familiar song.

• Clap a rhythm pattern with 2, 3, or 4 beats.  Use rhythm cards to make up rhythm patterns.

• Review the five lines and four spaces of the music staff.  Have students practice placing notes ( use plastic chips or little pieces of paper) on lines and spaces in upward, downward, and repeated patterns.

• Place chips on different lines and spaces of the staff.  Starting at the first two chips have students tell if notes are moving by steps, skips or repeats.

CREATE

• Choose a familiar children's song.  Compose new words to the melody (ex. "BINGO"    ("Mary went to the fashion mall - and bought a beaded bracelet"   "Jacob made the winning goal in the hockey tournament").

RESOURCES

"Wee Sing " CD's and vidoes

"Raffi" CD's and videos

"Hap Palmer" CD's and vidoes

Classical music composed by Mozart, Bach, Ravel, Handel, and Haydn, or any others that may be available

Listening to different styles of music like Folk, Jazz, Spirituals, patriotic, blues or any others.

Studying the lives of the composers (Encarta; Gladstone public library has a composer series for young children.

www.childrensmusic.org