Journal # 4

Edith Pacheco
Music 373
Reflection Journal #: 3 (Date: 11/07~11/20)


o In this unit, we learned about movement
o We learned about the C major scale by having a piano scale as a reference. The space between a white key and black key signifies a whole step and the space between two white keys is a half step. We also played and created a song using C major scale with G being the vocal pitch. The class was instructed to create a candy song starting with G and ending with G.

For the Cante Fable Tradition, bringing out the musical elements in stories we were introduced to this concept with the song, “What do we do with the Drunken Sailor.” As a class we learned this song and incorporated dance and animation. We then changed the song to “What shall we Do with the Boo-Hoo Baby?” which is a story appropriate for younger children. With this story we were able to incorporate the song and different sounds tied to the animals in the story.

In lieu of Halloween, the class was separated into different groups and we were assigned a story we would read and add music as well as sound to it with trash we were assigned to bring to class. Each group read the story and presented their own representation of the sounds in the story with the trash assigned to bring in to class and also chose a line from an assigned song to read.

We also worked on two other stories in which all students were given an instrument to play and some students played a melody when instructed. This was a lot of fun and everyone in the class was able to participate by reading the story, playing an instrument, singing, or playing the recorder.

o It was important for me to learn these things because this style of teaching is very effective to use for children. Having the students participate and be part of the story telling engages them to understand the content and pay attention. I was just in a class observation where a student was asked to read from a book and the other students did not engage in the reading at all. It was like the student was reading to herself and not the whole class. Learning how to incorporate music to story telling gives me ideas on how to create effective lesson plans where students will engage in the content.

o It is important for the children in elementary school to learn in a manner that will allow them to reach their potential. In the observation I made of the student reading to the class it seemed that the majority of students were not following along. Perhaps if they were quizzed about the reading the majority of students would not be able to answer questions unless they read the story over. By incorporating music and participation from the class the students will be alert and attentive to the story. They will have to know when to participate and identify the order they are to participate. They have to follow along the story in order to do this. This may also be an effective way for children at a lower level of reading to be able to retain information.