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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: Crowd all of the older children in a dark closet with you and close the door. Everybody quiet! What do they feel?

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.

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        Math (add, subtract, divide, multiply…)  

o        Counting (1 and up, by 2s, by 5s, by 10, backward, to 100...)

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        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.  

o        Melody: A melody is a sound in sequence. Your voice usually rises and falls to the melody of the song.

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        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).  

o        Tempo: Tempo is the rate or speed of a song.  Tempo  is usually constant all through a song, 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.   

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, thorns, 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, cube, box, heart, octagon, hexagon…)

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. 

      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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