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General
Subjects and Characteristics
Below are some subjects and characteristics to assist teachers and parents
in introducing
subjects and content before interactive music instruction. Pick the
content you would like to
review, and then use the music to solidify it. Review these subjects prior to playing and
practicing the songs. Ask questions of the students about their experiences and things
they have
seen.
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SAMPLE SUBJECTS & CHARACTERISTICS
(How
to dig deeper!)
PEOPLE
o
Anatomy (skin, bones, internal organs - how we breath,
chew, swallow, walk, talk, cry, smile, eat…)
"Where does our food go?"
o
Body Parts (Eyes, ears, nose, arms, hands, legs, stomach,
feet, toes, hair….)
"How do we use them?"
o What
are our 5 senses? (taste/mouth, touch/skin, see/eyes, hear/ears,
smell/nose) "Can everyone have all 5 senses? What
happens when we lose one of our senses?"
Activity:
Without talking, have the kids team up and try and convey a
message (that you have secretly given them) to each
other.
Activity:
Take turns blindfolding a child and station the other children
around in a circle at different distances. Have the child
who is blindfolded try to identify the child by voice, and
identify the distance or location.
Activity: Have the kids hold their
nose and taste a variety of food and then try to identify what
they are tasting. They won't, of course be able to
identify it. Don't let them smell it before they taste
it. Watch out for allergies! Try using something
from their own lunch box, or something already on the lunch or
snack menu.
Activity:
Have the children sit down and close their eyes. Play different
types of music: country, flamenco, tango, Mexican Hat Dance,
classical slow, classical fast, Hava Nagila, etc. How does the
music make them feel? Have them stand up, let them open
their eyes. How does the music make them want to move?
o
Feeling (sad, happy, hurt, confused, tired, strong, weak,
sick, bad, calm, helpful, strong, weak, smart, silly, hot,
scared, mad, shy, playful, lonely, confused, uncertain…)
o
Characteristics (rich/poor, short/tall, clean/dirty,
neat/messy, friendly/mean, active/lazy, rude/polite,
healthy/sick, quiet/loud, dominant/submissive, strong/weak,
young/old, bald/hairy, naked/clothed…)
o
Sounds (voices, heartbeat, sigh, cough, burp, laugh,
slurp, tap, pat, clap, sneeze, snap, sniff…)
o
Motion (walk, run, slide, jump, fall, stand, sit, trip,
lay, tip toe, lift, pace, slide, skip, turn, stop, go, spin,
swim…)
o
Health & Medical (sick, healthy, doctor, nurse,
dentist, check-up, shot, hospital, medicine…)
o
Medical procedures (check ears, listen to heart, check
throat, blood pressure, weight, height, touch body…)
o
Activities (play, rest, bath, clean, wash, pick-up, put
down, turn on/off lights, close, open, build, tear down…)
o
Sports (forms of exercise, weights, teams, teamwork,
indoor, outdoor…)
o
Nutrition (food identification, how food helps, types of
food, feeling of food, taste, smell…)
o
Experience (at hospital, dentist, with friend, with
family…)
o
Family (Mom, dad, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, grandma,
grandpa, step relatives…)
GEOGRAPHY
& LAND
o
Location (Address, Street, City, State, Country,
World…)
o
Terrain (hill, valley, woods, brush, land, sea, island,
river…)
o
Weather (report, stormy, windy, cloudy, rain, wet, flood,
sunny, cold, hot, hail, snow…)
o
Nature (grass, tree, branch, leaf, bark, rock, shell,
sand, water, weed, fruit, bamboo…)
o
Experience (growing food, picking fruit, coconut,
bananas, cutting tree, pulling weeds, coral reef, lei, sand
castle...)
NUMBERS
o
Purpose (price, count, measurement, age, height, weight,
length, money…)
o
Experience (doctor, store, bank, saving…)
o
Counting (1 and up, by 2s, by 5s, by 10, backward, to
100...)
o
Math Slills (add, subtract, divide, multiply…)
TRANSPORTATION
o
Type (Car, truck, bus, train, plane, boat, motorcycle,
bike, scooter, skateboard, roller-skates, wagon, horse,
roads…)
o
Experiences (Vacation, visit, everyday travel…)
o
Characteristics (Fast, slow, on rails, on street, on
water, rocking, smooth, bumpy, loud, quiet, dark, light…)
o
Sounds (honk, choo choo, screech, neigh, varoom…)
MUSIC
(See other music activities
by clicking here)
o Music: Music is the art of combining sounds
o Instruments (Drum, horn, violin, piano, shaker,
tambourine, harp, guitar, cymbals, flute…)
o Sound (Clang, tap, rat-a-tat, ding-a-ling, waa waa,
clank, thump, ding, dong, clickety clack, clip clop…)
o Characteristics:
loud/soft, fast/slow, deep/high, rough/smooth, quiet/noisy, in
harmony…
o Rhythm
is the stead beat of a song that repeats over time. Lots
of things in our lives have rhythm: walking, running, the
syllables of our names, a spinning fan, the rotation of a tire,
a clock ticking, etc. It is the steady rhythm that helps
everyone sing the song together.
o Beat: A beat is a rhythm that repeats over time. (bada
boom, bada boom, bada boom, bada boom or rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat)
o Tempo: The rate or speed of a song. This is usually
constant, but songs can speed up or slow down as they go. Try
taping the beat of different songs and see if the beats stay the
same distance from each other.
Take a simple song, like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, pat
together while you sing. Speed it up and slow it down.
o Melody: A melody is a sound in sequence. Your voice
usually rises and falls to the melody of the song.
o Anything
makes music: Every voice has a musical quality. Discuss
outdoor sounds and rhythms: car humming, birds and nature,
planes flying overhead, lawnmower, door bell, choo choo train,
sand, etc. Indoor sounds and rhythms: dripping
faucet, pencil tapping, alarm clock, grandfather clock, timer, shower, water running,
TV, radio, stereo, appliance hum, washer, dryer, phone ringing,
answer machine, fizz, food cooking, computer keyboard, toilet
flushing, shaking spice, frying food, brushing teeth, instruments,
etc. On the body: Velcro, zipper, walking, running,
heartbeat,
fabric
brushing against fabric, finger snapping, gum popping, tongue
ticking, sneezing, coughing, finger tapping, etc.
Activity:
Have one child tap a beat, and the other kids try to add on
different beats at different tempos (speeds).
DIRECTION
& DESCRIPTIVE MOTION
o Right/left, front/back/side, above/below/behind/beside,
around/over/under, close/near/far, edge/middle/end, enter/exit,
high/low, stop/come/go, down/up, back/forth, in/out, here/there,
lead/follow, fast/faster/fastest, slow/slower/slowest,
quiet/loud, etc.
PLANTS
o
Types (trees, plants, flowers, grass, vines, weeds,
cactus, edibles…)
o
Characteristics (Blooms, grows up, twists together,
branches out, thorns, leaves, grows up, grows over, wraps
around, grows under ground, grows over head, grows under water…)
COLOR
o
Identification of (Black, white, yellow, purple, blue,
red, green, orange…)
o
Facets (patterns, stripes, polka dots, checks, texture,
layers, lines, size, trace…)
o
Application (crayon, paint, paintbrush, chalk, pen,
pencil, fingers, charcoal…)
o
Mixing: red + blue = purple, blue + yellow = green,
yellow + red = orange, red + green = brown, green + yellow =
lime green, blue + green = blue/green, red + white = pink, white
+ black = gray.
o
Shades (light, dark, soft, or with reference to an
object...example for blue: turquoise, sky, ocean... )
o
Experience (clothes, shoes, food, fruit, bedding, house,
floor, walls, furniture, car, school, animals…)
o
Characteristics (light/dark, bright, mixed, favorite,
happy/sad, scary/happy…)
o
Used as Form of Expression (dark = lonely, scared, tired,
bad guy, sad light = wake-up,
breakfast, cheerful
bright= party, fun, hot
stripes = prison, brush teeth, circus
black= sorrow)
o
Seasons & Holidays (winter white - summer
yellow - red & white Christmas - blue, white & silver
Hanukah – red, white & blue 4th of July, orange
& black Halloween – rust, brown & red autumn – pink,
violet & yellow Easter)
SHAPES
o
Types (diamond, triangle, rectangle, square, circle,
oval,
heart, octagon, hexagon, 3-dimensional…)
o
Things in different shapes (kite, table, window, frame,
donut, wheel, truck…)
Activities:
Children can cut shapes out of paper and form a variety of
things using just those shapes.
Children
can use Template 5 and color the variety of shapes they
see using a different color for each shape, and then counting
the shapes. This template has the
following counts: 12 stars, 20 triangles, 21 hearts, 15 ovals,
13 rectangles, 16 circles, 19 squares, 18 diamonds, 19
crescents,
10 octagons (8 sides), 4 hexagons (6 sides).
Place paper cut-outs of shapes (each shape can be a different
color) on the floor and have children try to cross the room by
only stepping on a specific color or shape. It's a silly,
inexpensive version of Twister.
HOME
o
Rooms (bedroom, bathroom, den, living room, dining room,
kitchen, garage, back yard, front yard…)
o
Parts of rooms (corner, floor, ceiling, walls, windows,
doors…)
o
Purpose of room (eating, bathing, brushing teeth,
resting, sitting, watching TV, playing, storing food, washing
clothes, reading, working…)
o
Activities in home (cooking, cleaning, putting away,
washing/drying cloths, ironing, opening mail, dressing, vacuum,
combing hair, eating, going potty, sheets on bed…)
o
Safety (in front yard alone, opening door, using phone,
fire, earthquake, jamming fingers, drowning, going into street,
dad’s tools…)
o
Furnishings and their use (sofa, chair, tables, dining
table, bed, closet, rug, curtains, blinds, cabinets, lamps,
mirrors, chests, refrigerator, washer/dryer, other appliances,
desk, sink…)
o
Clothing & uses (coat, sweater, suit, uniform, shirt,
vest, shorts, pants, leggings, hat, shoes, pajamas, panties,
jewelry, glasses, tie, belts…)
o
Types of material/fabric
(soft, hard, leather, fur, stretch…)
o
Types of food (meats, fish, dairy, fruits, pasta, nuts,
herbs, cereals, cakes, cookies, candy, salad, soup…)
o
Sounds (Voices, Indoor/outdoor, lawnmower, door bell,
alarm clock, grandfather clock, timer, shower, water running,
TV, radio, stereo, appliance hum, washer, dryer, phone ringing,
answer machine, fizz, food cooking, instrument…)
o
Characteristics of things in home (hot/cold, dry/wet,
off/on, hard/soft, light/dark, open/closed, locked/unlocked, up
high/down low, sharp/dull, shiny/smoky…)
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children's music