DEVELOPMENTAL PRESCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION: A P R O P O S E D RATIONALE, PHILOSOPHY AND 12-WEEK CURRICULUM FOR 4-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN By KATHY ANN PRUSKY B . M u s . E d . , Dalhousie University, 1988 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT O F THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE O F MASTER O F ARTS in T H E FACULTY O F GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of V isua l and Performing Arts in Educat ion Music Education) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard Dr. A Clingman Dr. G . Chalmers Mr. J . Berarducci T H E UNIVERSITY O F BRITISH COLUMBIA September , 1989 © Kathy Ann Prusky, 1989 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of V i s u a l and Performing Arts i n Education The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date September 13, 1989 DE-6 (2/88) BSTRACT Numerous curricula for preschool music education have been developed in the past two decades . For the most part, however, these have not incorporated important ev idence from three d isc ip l ines which has important implicat ions for how the music educat ion of preschool children should be approached . The first of these is the field of developmental neurobiology, which has provided relevant information concerning early learning and experience. The second is the research pioneered by Jean Piaget, whose insights into cognitive development bear heavily on curriculum planning for preschool music educat ion. The third is research in musical deve lopment , which indicates what skil ls and behaviors can be expected of preschool children in a musical setting. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate (a) why an understanding of the major f indings from these f ields is important to the formulat ion of a music education program for preschool chi ldren; and (b) how this understanding can and should impact on the curricular cho ices made for the musical education of preschool chi ldren. To this extent, a ser ies of developmental and musical objectives for the music educat ion of preschool chi ldren, speci f ical ly 4 -year -o lds , have been formulated to serve as a theoretical and practical foundation on which to develop and choose musical activities which are appropriate for this age group. The educat ional and practical value of each of these activities was tested with a group of 4 -year-o ld chi ldren during a 12-week study carr ied out i i at the University of British Co lumbia Chi ld Study Center . The activities which adequately demonstrated this value were then organized into a 12-week music curr iculum for 4 -year -o ld ch i ldren . Four conc lus ions are made in this thesis . The first of these is that music educat ion should begin early in life in order to influence the general learning patterns necessary for the development of musical skill. The s e c o n d conclus ion is that early exposure to music will be most effective when the activities c h o s e n are complex and stimulating and allow for interaction with numerous musica l stimuli on a variety of different levels . The third conc lus ion is that developmenta l ly appropriate musical activities may make an important contribution to the enrichment of the learning environment during the preschool years and may subsequently enhance sensory, motor, verbal and nonverbal, socia l and creat ive thinking ski l ls. Final ly, it was conc luded that preschoo l music educat ion will be most effective when musical tasks reflect the limitations of ch i ldren 's cognit ive deve lopment . Supervisor Approval Dr. Allen E. Clingman i i i T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S P A G E A B S T R A C T (i i) L I S T O F T A B L E S (v) A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S (vi) D E D I C A T I O N (vi i ) C H A P T E R I: I N T R O D U C T I O N 1 C H A P T E R 11: R A T I O N A L E 8 C H A P T E R III: P H I L O S O P H Y 26 C H A P T E R IV: M U S I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T 48 C H A P T E R V : 1 2 - W E E K C U R R I C U L U M 58 C H A P T E R V I : S U M M A R Y , C O N C L U S I O N S A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R S T U D I E S 181 B I B L I O G R A P H Y 1 92 A P P E N D I X A : S U M M A R Y O F P I A G E T ' S S T A G E S O F C O G N I T I V E 2 0 3 D E V E L O P M E N T A P P E N D I X B : S U M M A R Y O F A C T I V I T Y O B J E C T I V E S 2 0 5 iv LIST OF TABLES SUMMARY OF HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT 1 0 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I w o u l d like to thank Dr. Al len Cl ingman for acting as my superv isor and for the support, encouragement and professional direction which he offered throughout the writing of this thes is . I would a lso like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Graeme Chalmers and Mr. Joe Berarducc i , for the suggest ions, time and energy given during the preparation of this thesis . Gratitude is also extended to Dr. Robert Douglas from the Research Group in the Department of Ophthalmology for the use of the technical equipment which made the writing of this thesis possib le . I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to Dr. Glen Dixon, director of the University of British C o l u m b i a Chi ld Study Center for al lowing me a c c e s s to an inspiring group of 4 -year-old chi ldren which enabled me to complete this thesis and to Ms. Margo Fil ipenko for her cooperation and support. Many thanks are also extended to Mr. Bruce C h a p m a n , director of the Canadian Conservatory of Music in Halifax, Nova Scot ia , for the giving me the opportunity to explore and develop my ideas concerning preschool music education. Final ly, gratitude is extended to Glen Prusky for the knowledge, gu idance and direction which have made important contributions to the writing of this t h e s i s . vi DEDICATION X Lo my husband, G len and my family for the adv i ce , suppor t and encouragement which have made this poss ib le vii 1 DEVELOPMENTAL PRESCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION: A PROPOSED R A T I O N A L E , PHILOSOPHY AND 1 2 - W E E K CURRICULUM FOR 4 - YEAR- OLD CHILDREN C H A P T E R I INTRODUCTION I n c r e a s i n g numbers of preschool chi ldren are entering chi ld care facil it ies a c r o s s C a n a d a . For example , in 1982, 96,242 chi ldren between the ages of 3 and 5 were enrol led in day care facilit ies across the country (Health and Welfare, 1982). By 1986, this number increased to 134,826 children (Health and Welfare, 1986). Accord ing to Health and Wel fare C a n a d a (1986), there is no indication that this enrol lment will decl ine any time s o o n . T h e s e statistics are interesting when compared to ev idence that the preschool years are a period of rapid knowledge acquis i t ion (Bloom, 1964) and a time during which the learning environment will have its most profound impact on the deve lopment of normal cognit ive, physical and social behavior (Kandel , 1985; J a c o b s o n , 1979; Kuffler & Nichol ls , 1976; Kolb & Wishaw, 1980; Scott , 1962; Lund, 1978). Many music educators are concerned that music play a prominent role in the learning environment during this period and that the nature of 2 these early musical exper iences enable growing numbers of preschool chi ldren to deve lop posi t ive attitudes toward music and gain better understanding and ski l ls for express ing themse lves with music . A s a result of this c o n c e r n , numerous preschool music curr icula have been deve loped over the past two d e c a d e s . However, an examination of these curr icu la indicates that they are somewhat limited in s c o p e in three important a reas . First, many of these curr icula al lude to ev idence that the preschool years are critical o n e s for deve lopment (Biasini , 1970; A n d r e s s , He imann, Rinehart & Talbert.1 973; Aronoff, 1974; G r e e n b e r g , 1979; C h o k s y , 1981; Tse Perron , 1987; S a m s , 1988). For the most part, however, these curricula do not do not demonstrate an adequate understanding of the research which supports this theory. In addit ion, there appears to have been little attempt to incorporate this ev idence into planning for preschool music educat ion. S e c o n d , many of these preschoo l music programs claim to be "developmental" , in that they are based on evidence from learning theory and other areas of developmental psycho logy (Biasini , 1970; Aronoff, 1974; G r e e n b e r g , 1979; Andress ,1980 , 1984; Gerber , 1982; Woods , 1982; Nye, 1983; S a m s , 1988). However , the musica l activities sugges ted in many of these curr icula do not reflect a thorough understanding of the information provided by these r e s e a r c h areas and its full impl icat ions for p reschoo l mus ic . F ina l ly , while most of these curr icu la refer to the importance of unders tanding d i f fe rences in musica l ability, interest and learning style 3 between preschool chi ldren of different ages (Greenberg , 1972; F rega , 1982; W o o d s , 1982; Regner , 1982; Zeit l in, 1982; A n d r e s s , 1 984, 1985; Krokfors & Kuosmanen , 1987; Brink Fox, 1987; S a m s , 1988), many have over looked ev idence from the field of musica l deve lopment which prov ides insight into these d i f ferences . T h i s failure to ser ious ly c o n s i d e r and incorporate the information from these three areas of research represents a void in the area of p reschoo l music educat ion . It indicates that a comprehens ive curr iculum for p r e s c h o o l chi ldren which e n c o m p a s s e s a realistic grasp of the importance of early learning and exper ience, an understanding of cognit ive development during the preschool years and an awareness of musica l learning p r o c e s s e s and skill levels among preschool chi ldren of varying ages is lacking. S T A T E M E N T OF PURPOSE The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how an understanding of the ev idence from these three areas can enhance preschool music educat ion , by developing a comprehens ive 12-week curr iculum which e m b r a c e s the major f indings from each of them. Th is curr iculum will be f o c u s e d speci f ica l ly on 4 -year -o ld ch i ldren , as it has been demonstrated that c o n s i d e r a b l e d i f f e r e n c e s in motor sk i l l s , ab i l i t ies , interests (Piaget, 1969) and musica l aptitude (Andress , 1984; F r e g a , 1982; Warrener , 1985) exist between preschool chi ldren of varying a g e s . This cur r i cu lum will be p l a n n e d within a 12-week time f rame for two 4 reasons . First, it has been sugges ted that a 10-12 week plan provides an effect ive starting point for curr icu lum deve lopment on a larger s c a l e (Greenberg , 1972; Br idges, 1987; Brink Fox, 1987). S e c o n d , this was the time allotted to the r e s e a r c h e r by the Universi ty of British C o l u m b i a Chi ld Study Center to carry out this study. Th is curr iculum will be d is t ingu ished from other p r e s c h o o l music programs by e n c o m p a s s i n g the major f indings of three research areas which are: (1) developmental neurobiology; (2) cognitive psychology; and (3) musical deve lopment . The implicat ions of this research for p r e s c h o o l music educat ion will be examined in detail and will be incorporated into the planning and execution of the curriculum being p r o p o s e d . Ev idence from these areas will provide reliable support for a rationale and phi losophy of p reschoo l music education and will serve as a theoret ical and pract ical foundat ion on which to make curr icular dec is ions appropriate for the age group being cons idered . What follows is a brief definition and explanat ion of each of these a reas . DEFINITIONS AND/ OR EXPLANATIONS OF RE S E A R C H AR E A S DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY T h e preschool years represent a very important period for learning and development (Kuffler & Nichol ls , 1976; Lund, 1978; J a c o b s o n , 1979; Kande l , 1985). Research in the area of developmental neurobiology ind icates that the early years of deve lopment represent the per iod of most rapid neuronal growth (Greenough , Black & Wal lace , 1987; 5 F ishburne) . What is perhaps more significant is that during this per iod, exper ience will have a profound and lasting impact on normal brain deve lopment and the behavior which results from it (Kandel , 1985). This r e s e a r c h has shown that a "sensi t ive" or "cri t ical" per iod exists during this per iod of rapid neuronal development which may be l ikened to a brief open ing of a window, with the environment having the most impact while this window is open (Bateson, 1979). During this sensi t ive per iod, learning exper iences will have more inf luence on behavioral deve lopment than at any other time (Kuffler & Nichol ls , 1976; Lund, 1978; J a c o b s o n , 1979; Kolb & Wishaw, 1980; Kandel , 1985). The impl icat ions of this r e s e a r c h for p reschoo l mus ic educat ion will be explored in terms of when the optimal period for beginning musical educat ion occurs , how activities should be organized and planned for the most effective deve lopment of musical skill and how complex musical activit ies c a n be u s e d to contribute to general deve lopment in 4-year-old ch i ld ren . The resul ts of this d i s c u s s i o n will provide a rationale for the curr iculum being formulated. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Cogni t ion is def ined as the process of knowing in the broadest s e n s e (Guralink, 1980). The research of Jean Piaget is one of the first and most c o m p r e h e n s i v e attempts to understand this p r o c e s s in children (1969, 1976). His research into the phenomenon of how intelligent behavior such as thought, language and knowledge gradually evolve have provided many va luable insights into the behavior and cognit ive 6 development of preschool chi ldren (Wadsworth, 1984). T h e s e insights will be d i s c u s s e d in terms of their impl icat ions for p r e s c h o o l mus ic educat ion . Th is d i s c u s s i o n will explore how preschool music educat ion shou ld be approached in terms of the cognit ive behavior character ist ic of 4 -year -o ld children and how appropriately p lanned musical exper iences may contribute to or enhance the development of this behavior. The resul ts of this d i s c u s s i o n will provide the ph i losoph ica l foundat ion for the curriculum being formulated. MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT Musical development can be descr ibed as the development of musica l aptitude or potential to learn musica l skil ls (Shehan , 1986). Over the last 25 years , there has been an increasing amount of sys temat ic investigation into this deve lopment in young chi ldren. Th is r e s e a r c h , as it pertains to musica l behav ior in 4 -year -o ld ch i ld ren , will be rev iewed in some detai l , spec i f ica l ly in the areas of l istening, s inging and vocal development , rhythm and movement and creativity. The results of this review will provide a pedagog ica l bas is on which to c h o o s e activi t ies for the curr iculum being formulated and present s u g g e s t i o n s as to how they should be taught. T h e s e three a r e a s of invest igat ion will make important contr ibut ions to developing a reliable foundation on which to base curr icular dec is ions for a preschool music program. Although each of these areas is fundamental to any music program, no single curr icular 7 theory or program could be found which e n c o m p a s s e d the most important implications of these areas in a comprehensive manner. The purpose of this t h e s i s , therefore, is to fill this vo id by deve lop ing a 12-week curr iculum for 4 -year-old chi ldren which is b a s e d on these ideas and to subsequent ly demonstrate the importance of providing appropriately p lanned musical exper iences for preschool chi ldren. 8 CHAPTER II A R A T I O N A L E F O R P R E S C H O O L M U S I C E D U C A T I O N S e v e r a l preschool music educators have speculated about the importance of providing musical exper ience in the preschool years (see for example Bias in i , 1970; A n d r e s s et a l , 1973; Aronoff , 1974; Greenberg , 1979; S a m s , 1988). S o m e of these have suggested that the early years of deve lopment represent the optimum period in which to provide chi ldren with opportunit ies for musical learning. For example , A n d r e s s et al (1973) have written: Concern has been raised in recent years that we well may be neglect ing the young chi ld 's intel lectual growth at the most cr i t ical s tage of his development - those years from age three to f ive. What role music p lays in the life of this chi ld and what impact his early exper iences have in shaping his lifetime musica l behaviors have become primary concerns of the music educator (p. 1). Similar ly, F rega (1 982) has written: "Where and when should the p r o c e s s of [music education] begin? A s early as possible - during the preschool stage [as] the c h a n g e s occurr ing during a child during this stage are various and remarkable" (p. 40). There are some limitations to these specula t ions , however. The most ser ious of these is that there has not be any thorough investigation of the evidence which supports them. In fact, in many c a s e s , no evidence is ci ted to support these specu la t ions . In those ins tances where it is, the ev idence is often weak and somewhat quest ionable . In addit ion, there has been little effort to incorporate these s p e c u l a t i o n s into planning for preschool music educat ion. The purpose of this chapter is to review the research which supports these specu la t ions , examine its impl icat ions for p reschoo l music educat ion and make sugges t ions for the implementat ion of the f indings in preschool music programs. Most of this research has been done by individuals in the field of developmental neurobiology. T h e s e researchers have demonstrated that the ex tended period of infancy reflects the importance of incorporat ing enormous amounts of information into the brain (Greenough et al , 1987). It has been est imated that, even within the s igni f icant ly smal le r brain of the rat, approximately 250 000 connect ions between nerve cel ls are formed each s e c o n d during the first month of postnatal deve lopment (Schuz , cited in G r e e n o u g h et al , 1987). Greenough et al write that, "these c o n n e c t i o n s , at least those that persist , c o m p r i s e the combinat ion of intr insic and experient ial information, recorded in neural circuitry, upon which behavior is b a s e d " (p. 539). S tud ies into human brain growth provide support for the existence of a per iod of rapid neurological growth in early deve lopment (F ishburne, 1985). T h e s e studies suggest that the human brain grows in neither a l inear nor a proportional way, but rather appears to have per iods in which growth is very rapid and per iods in which it is very slow with little or no perceptible c h a n g e . The following summar i zes a breakdown of average brain growth with age: TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT STAGE A G E Fetus 6 months BRAIN V O L U M E (cm ) 6 0 c m 3 Birth 9 months 300-500crrT Infant 1 year 600-700crrT Chi ld 3 years 1200cm' Adult 29 years 1350-1400cm' (adapted from Fishburne, 1985). T h e s e figures indicate that neurological deve lopment goes through vary ing growth per iods in humans , with the most rapid growth occurr ing during early ch i ldhood. A group of studies on stability and change in human growth and development carr ied out by Benjamin Bloom between 1959 and 1964 provides support for this data. In these studies Bloom found that 80% of all learning at age 17 has been acquired by 8 years of age , and 50% of that by the age of 4. This led him to conclude that the a g e s of 4 and 5 are possib ly the most crucial years for learning. 11 All of this research b e c o m e s even more interesting when c o m p a r e d to other research f indings in neuro log ica l plastici ty, or the ability of the brain to change in var ious ways to compensate for environmental inf luences (Kolb & Wishaw.1980) . Such studies suggest that a "sens i t ive" or "cri t ical" pe r iod ex ists during this per iod of rapid neural development and that during this stage of development , the development of neurological structures is more dependent on interaction with the environment (Kuffler & N icho l l s , 1976). It a lso indicates that var ious types of experience and interaction with the environment can change neurological performance and strategies. (Rosenwig, Krech , Bennet & D iamond, 1962). T h e s e studies have led researchers to bel ieve that whi le, "the structure of the brain is , to an important d e g r e e , spec i f i ed by genet ic and developmenta l p r o c e s s e s , the pattern of interconnect ions between neurons also depends on experience" (Kandel, 1985, p. 757). Developmenta l neurologists have indicated that the early years of deve lopment represent a window of opportunity wherein environmental exper ience can and will c h a n g e the physical structure of the brain, bringing about inevitable c h a n g e s in both immediate and subsequent behavior (Bateson, 1979; Kolb & Wishaw, 1980). Researchers interested in test ing these h y p o t h e s e s have invest igated the effects of different types of impover ished envi ronments on various behavioral character is t ics . They have found that sensory deprivation has a powerful effect on perceptual and soc ia l development in the early years . Spitz (1945, 1946) c o m p a r e d the deve lopment of infants ra ised in two different environments. O n e of these environments depr ived the infants of s e n s o r y and socia l st imulat ion. Spitz conc luded that severe soc ia l and sensory deprivation in early chi ldhood has catastrophic c o n s e q u e n c e s on later development . Similar results have been found in studies by G e b e r (1958), Singh & Zingg (1940), Dennis (1960), and Harlow (1971). A 1964 study by Diamond, Krech and Rosenwig found that varying kinds of exper ience bring about physical c h a n g e s in neurological s t ructures . Th is study revea led signif icant neocort ica l d i f fe rences between rats reared in enr iched and impoverished environments. The "enr iched" rats' depth of cortex (an external layer of the brain which has 4 - 6 layers of cells) e x c e e d e d that of the depr ived rats by 6.2% in the visual region and 3.8% in the somatosensory region. Addit ional research (Kolb & Wishaw, 1980) has invest igated the effects of the environment on brain size in various animal models, and have found as much as a 35% reduction in animals reared in depr ived environments. In addition to these anatomical c h a n g e s , enr iched animals tend to perform better than their impover ished counterparts on a number of tests of learning and memory. The effect of the environment on brain development s e e m s to be the most dramatic if enr iched exper ience is ga ined in early life. Th is research clear ly indicates that neural development can be disrupted by abnormal sensory input during the sensit ive per iod. Converse ly , it suggests that performance can be sharpened by complex or e n h a n c e d sensory input (Kuffler & Wishaw, 1976). While this research 13 p laces considerable emphas is on the role of the environment on neural d e v e l o p m e n t , there is no quest ion that it is genet ic material which provides the basic organizat ion of the nervous system (Kandel , 1985). However , it has consistently been shown that there is a s e c o n d a r y sys tem of regulation which inf luences neural development . Lund (1978) s u g g e s t s that, in a gross behavioral s e n s e , this regulation mechan ism operates to program an organism's response to its environment such that stimuli exper ienced frequently in early s tages of development become the o n e s to which it r esponds most effectively later. Th is r e s p o n s e to environmental inf luences is greatest in man, less in other mammals and least in submammals ( J a c o b s o n , 1978). I MPLICATIONS FOR PRESCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION This research has many impl icat ions for preschool music educat ion which up to now have not been ser iously cons idered by preschool music educators . The most obvious of these is that musical exper iences shou ld be introduced into the chi ld 's learning environment early in life, and preferably before entering s c h o o l . Accord ing to the research d i s c u s s e d above, the years before a child begins grade one (6-years-old) represent the most critical per iod for brain deve lopment . The neural plast ic i ty which c h a r a c t e r i z e s this per iod i n c r e a s e s the extent to which the learning environment in f luences the development of var ious behaviors (Scott et a l , 1974; G r e e n o u g h et al , 1987). This sugges ts that the ear l ier a chi ld is immersed in a musica l environment , the more profound impact these e x p e r i e n c e s will have on his /her musical development . Accord ing to this, the preschool years represent the optimal time to begin the deve lopment of musica l ski l ls in ch i ldren . Th is is not to suggest that a child who does not begin his /her musical training during the p reschoo l years will never deve lop adequate musical sk i l ls ; there is an a b u n d a n c e of anecdota l information which would chal lenge such a posit ion. Instead, what is being proposed is that the preschoo l years represent a time during which general learning patterns can be inf luenced by the educat ional programs in which children part ic ipate. Early exposure to appropriately p lanned musica l stimuli dur ing this sensi t ive per iod will enable chi ldren to d e v e l o p ski l ls which will have more of an impact on the development of var ious musical behaviors than such exper iences might in subsequent years. Another important impl icat ion of this research for p r e s c h o o l music educat ion is the emphas is it p laces on the role of exper ience for normal brain development . It has been shown that the environment will inf luence the development of var ious neurological structures during an organ ism's sensit ive period (Diamond et al , 1964; Hubel , Weise l & LeVay , 1977; G r e e n o u g h et a l , 1987) which suggests that enr iched learning exper iences during the preschool years will have a positive influence on deve lopment . For p reschoo l music educat ion, this indicates that learning exper iences should be var ied and complex, allowing the child to exper ience and exper iment with numerous musical st imuli . Part icipation in a complex musica l environment of this nature will have the greatest impact on musical development . 15 From a more general perspect ive , this research supports that idea that music be should inc luded in the educat ional setting of p reschoo l chi ldren as a means of enriching the learning environment. Th is is not intended to suggest that the deve lopment of musical ski l ls be of s e c o n d a r y importance in this learning environment, but rather, as Whit ing (1975) pos i ts : This would not mean that we do not teach spec i f ic sk i l l s , but rather that we would be less concerned with the outcome and more with the contr ibution s u c h exper ience was making to the development of the child in terms of the d e v e l o p m e n t of abi l i t ies (cited in Fishburne, 1985, p. 14). Complex musical exper iences during the preschool years may make an important contribution to the general deve lopment of ch i ldren . By its very nature, music is a complex activity which requires that the part ic ipants involved incorporate var ious and different ski l ls which may help to create an enr iched and complex learning environment during the cri t ical per iod . In order to d i s c u s s what kind of contr ibut ion music cou ld make to this type of environment , it is n e c e s s a r y to define some of its dist inct ive charac te r is t i cs and the role that e a c h cou ld play in development during the sensi t ive per iod. For the purpose of this d i s c u s s i o n , these character is t ics have been divided into four a r e a s : (1) s e n s o r y (including auditory, v isual and somatosensory ) ; (2) motor; (3) soc ia l ; and (4) language. 16 T H E SENSORY NATURE OF MUSIC O n e of the d is t ingu ish ing character is t ics of mus ic is that it is a s e n s o r y activity; par t ic ipat ion in musica l act iv i t ies requi res audi t ion, v is ion , and in some c a s e s , touch . There is little quest ion that a critical per iod for these s e n s o r y skil ls exists, as the above review of var ious studies has indicated. T h e y have also shown that although many aspects of sensory development are genetically determined, exper ience during the critical period can either enhance or damage development of this sys tem, depending on what type of experience it is. O n e type of s e n s o r y stimulation a child exper iences during musical activity involves the audi tory cortex. What is important about this auditory exper ience is that it is not randomly organ ized s o u n d that the child is hearing. Music is made up of tones of varying f requency and rhythmic durat ion. A l though there are few l imitations to the manner in which these sounds can be arranged, for the most part they are presented in a patterned mode which the listener can easily c o m p r e h e n d . Accord ing to Kande l (1985), it is only when it is st imulated by patterned s o u n d that the auditory cortex is c a p a b l e of initiating act ion. T e e s (1967) has found that rats depr ived of patterned auditory st imulat ion during the cr i t ical per iod demonst ra te marked behaviora l def ic i ts in r e s p o n s i v e n e s s to auditory st imulat ion. 17 The importance of patterned sound to auditory development represents one area where musical exper iences could play a role in the deve lopment of the s e n s o r y sys tem during the critical per iod. A p r e s c h o o l music curr iculum which prov ides the learner with many opportuni t ies to hear and experiment with var ious melodic and rhythmic patterns may stimulate auditory development to some degree. B a s e d on studies into auditory development and the role that exper ience plays in it ( T e e s , 1967; C lopton & Winf ie ld , 1976), this is a hypothesis that is worth test ing in future r e s e a r c h . V isua l stimulation can also be exper ienced during musical activity. T h e patterned sounds of which music is compr ised can be represented v isual ly in var ious ways . T h e most c o m m o n type of visual representat ion of melodic patterns is staff notat ion. However , melodic patterns can be visual ly represented with other objects which denote var iat ions in pitch (for example , s e e chapter V, l esson nine). Rhythmic patterns can be notated using traditional note va lues , but other objects cou ld be used to represent different rhythms as well . Whatever the m e a n s of visual ly represent ing a melodic or rhythmic pattern, a v isual pattern would result. Ch i ldren involved in musica l activit ies can be instructed to recognize a variety of melodic and rhythmic patterns. In addi t ion, they can learn not only the durational symbols which are tradit ionally used to represent these patterns, but can also be e n c o u r a g e d to explore new ways of v isual ly representing them. This v isua l st imulat ion would serve to re inforce auditory patterns which are 18 being learned or have previously been learned. A s with the auditory s y s t e m , it has been shown that patterns and forms play an important role in the deve lopment of the v isual sys tem (Kuffler & Nichol ls, 1976; K a n d e l , 1985). Von S e n d e n (cited in Kuffler & N icho l l s , 1976) has s h o w n that it is "form v is ion" (patterns) and not light that is the most important st imulus required to p reserve the normal r e s p o n s e s of cort ical ce l ls a l ready present in the v isual cortex at birth. Addit ional s tudies of the deve lop ing v isual sys tem of an imals have supported this data (Wilson, Webb & Sherman, 1976; Lund, 1978) and confirm the role that exper ience plays in the development of the v isual sys tem. It is pos i ted that exper iences in music during the preschoo l years may contr ibute to this development if they include opportuni t ies to learn about and exper iment with music as it is v isual ly represented . The role that these patterns might play in the development of the s e n s o r y sys tem dur ing the crit ical per iod is worthy of further invest igat ion . The somatosensory system (sense of touch) is another area of the s e n s o r y sys tem which is often uti l ized in musica l activity. T h i s s y s t e m allows individuals to perce ive and recognize objects through touch. This s e n s e of touch is mediated by nerve endings in the skin which serve as touch receptors unevenly distr ibuted over the entire body, result ing in some areas which are more sensit ive than others (Hughes & Noppe.1985) . T h e tips of the f ingers, for example , are more sensit ive than the backs of 19 the hands . Although there have not been many large-sca le investigations regarding a critical per iod for the s o m a t o s e n s o r y s y s t e m (Kuffler & Nichol ls , 1976), there is s o m e evidence which e m p h a s i z e s the importance of exper ience in the development and maintenance of this system (Woolsey & Van der Loos , 1970; Van der Loos & Woolsey, 1973). These studies suggest that the neuronal architecture of the s o m a t o s e n s o r y sys tem is flexible and sensi t ive to exper ience . T h e y further indicate that tactile exper iences may enhance the functioning of this s y s t e m . A preschool music program could provide var ious opportunit ies for tactile manipulat ion and exper ience . T h e s e activit ies could include exper iences in body percuss ion in which children respond to music through s tamping, patting, c lapping and s n a p p i n g . Tact i le stimulation could a lso be a c h i e v e d through var ious group activit ies in which children practice s o m a t o s e n s o r y responses with others. S lapp ing hands with partners to the beat of a song is an example of such a response. More refined group tactile r e s p o n s e s could be exper ienced as the chi ldren's sensit ivi ty to music d e v e l o p s . Other tactile exper iences could include exper imentat ion with a variety of pi tched and non-p i tched musical inst ruments . Th is exper imentat ion could demonst ra te that the intensity of a touch will effect the resultant s o u n d of an instrument. For example , if a t r iangle is hit with force , the chi ld will d i s c o v e r that a loud s o u n d results. C o n v e r s e l y , if hit gently, the cor responding s o u n d will be a quiet one. 20 T h e s e sugges t ions represent a small sample of activit ies which could be used to stimulate the somatosensory system in a preschool music program. A variety of other musical activit ies cou ld a lso be employed in this manner with preschool chi ldren. B a s e d on the studies which indicate that exper ience plays an important role in the deve lopment of the s o m a t o s e n s o r y sys tem, it is posi ted that s u c h exper iences would not only enhance musical development in children but may also make a contribution to their somatosensory deve lopment . Al though this hypothesis remains to be tested, it represents an interest ing a rea of invest igat ion for both the f ields of music and developmental psychology. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT Motor deve lopment is another domain in which musical activit ies play a part. When testing rhythmic ability in chi ldren, Moog (1976) found that preschoolers have a tendency to respond to musical stimuli through movement. He found that these movements appear at around 6 months of age and become increasingly refined up to the age of 6. This is an indicat ion of the importance of motor involvement in musica l e x p e r i e n c e s at the p r e s c h o o l level . It a lso implies that motor skil ls are d e v e l o p i n g concurrent ly with musica l skil ls during p reschoo l musica l e x p e r i e n c e s . For example , when a 4-year-old chi ld is learning to walk steadi ly to the beat of a drum, h e / s h e is a lso deve lop ing the ability to move smoothly at var ious s p e e d s . Similarly, when playing a singing game wherein a change of phrase in the music s ignals a change of 21 d i rec t ion , he /she is pract ic ing the ski l ls of s topp ing , starting and changing direction. P lay ing an instrument not only gives a child the opportunity to deve lop a variety of musical ski l ls , but a lso al lows him/her to develop hand-eye coordinat ion and increasingly prec ise fine motor ski l ls . Singing provides an opportunity for the chi ld to deve lop and refine control over his /her vocal mechan ism. T h e s e represent only a few examples of the role that musical learning can play in motor development. T h e deve lopment of motor skil ls is in part a maturation of the neuromusculature which is genetical ly predetermined and present at birth (Hall , Perlmutter & Lamb, 1982). Although there are universal charac ter is t ics of motor deve lopment which occur regard less of the environment in which a chi ld is reared (Dennis & Dennis , 1940), it is c lear that exper ience a lso inf luences motor skill deve lopment . For example , in an environment deprived of both social and physical s t imulat ion, the deve lopment of motor skil ls appears to suffer a ser ious lag. Th is was demonstrated in the Spitz study d i s c u s s e d above . Later studies have replicated Spi tz 's findings (Dennis, 1960; Dennis & S a y e g h , 1965; White & Held , 1966) and have indicated that although motor deve lopment may require only normal f reedom for spon taneous activity, s o m e environmental factors have the ability to promote deve lopment while others can retard it. An environment in which music is an important component may effectively serve to enhance the development of va r ious motor ski l ls dur ing the cr i t ical per iod . 22 SOCIAL I NTERACTION T h e s e studies on the effect of deprived and enriched environments on development have also generated data concerning the signif icance of soc ia l interaction during the critical per iod. T h e s e studies provide ev idence that socia l interaction with other humans during this period is essent ia l for normal development . One of the most well known of these studies was carr ied out by Harlow & Harlow (1969) in which an experimental model of human social deprivation was deve loped using monkeys . T h e s e investigators found that monkeys who were social ly depr ived for 6 months to 1 year were physical ly healthy but suffered devastat ing behavioral effects. They also found that soc ia l isolation during the critical period produced persistent and ser ious behavioral alterat ions whereas deprivat ion after this time appeared to have very little effect on behavior . G i v e n the soc ia l nature of music , it is possib le that musical act ivi t ies provided during the crit ical per iod may inf luence soc ia l deve lopment in chi ldren. In most c a s e s , participation in a musical activity requires working as part of a group in a cooperat ive venture. S u c h participation promotes socia l exchanges between children which may make important contributions to the development of normal soc ia l behavior (Mcdonald & S imons , 1989). In a study of the effects of this type of musical experience on the behavior of d isadvantaged chi ldren, 23 Foster (1965) observed that: Music has an integrating power on the individual and the group. The withdrawn child tends to relax his guard and is more ready to part ic ipate with the others , while the hosti le child s e e m s to be less aggress ive , so that each is helped to become a contributing member of the group. Here is one task in which all can cooperate to produce something mutually pleasing (p. 374). LANGUAGE A final implication of this research for p reschoo l music educat ion can be found in studies into language development in early chi ldhood. T h e s e studies indicate that skil ls are present in the preschool years which virtually d isappear if they are not pract iced and subsequent ly developed (Mayeux & Kandel , 1985). For example, very young children are sensi t ive to the acoust ic dist inct ions of all human l a n g u a g e s , including those phonet ic dist inct ions that are not util ized in their native language. That J a p a n e s e adults cannot distinguish between the sounds of "r" and "I" and J a p a n e s e infants can i l lustrates this point well . However , this ability deter iorates quite rapidly as chi ldren mature. E i m a s (1985) s u g g e s t s that there is a neural basis for this decl ine which would not occur if such skil ls were pract iced during the critical per iod . C h o m s k y (1957) has indicated that no matter what language a child first hears , an ident ical set of deep structure rules is avai lable for t ransformat ion to the rules of almost any other language. Hughes & Noppe (1985) suggest 24 that the preschool years represent a time when chi ldren could potential ly learn innumerable l anguages and that this ability falls off sharp ly after the fifth year of life. Exper iences in music can give children an opportunity to practice and refine var ious l inguistic ski l ls , as many activit ies e m p h a s i z e verbal communica t ion . S o n g s or activities which utilize words or s o u n d s from a variety of l anguages allow chi ldren to refine their ability to make acoust ical and phonetic distinctions. Chi ldren can also be encouraged to experiment with these sounds in assorted ways and use them to create their own composi t ions . S u c h activities would not only give chi ldren an opportunity to rehearse important l inguist ic ski l ls but may also stimulate general speech and vocabulary development with various sound and word plays, rhymes and chants. Addit ional support for the use of music during the preschool years can be found in Graham's research into music and the learning of language in early chi ldhood (1985). The results of his study suggest that the sentence patterns and vocabulary used in songs becomes a part of the product ive linguistic system of the learner when the song being taught is used as a means of verbal interaction. T h e s e exper iences give children an opportunity to develop and expand their vocabulary skills in an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere. The importance of this is evident when c o m p a r e d to other research f indings on the effects of deprivation on language acquisi t ion. This research indicates that when children are 25 depr ived of normal soc ia l and experiential language stimuli during the critical per iod, the deve lopment of language will be severe ly retarded (Fromkin, Krashen , Curt iss , Rigler & Rigler, 1974). Converse ly , when s u c h stimulation is made avai lable to chi ldren during this per iod, language development will be enhanced. Final ly , Kolb & Wishaw (1980) indicate that the normal development of language skills depends upon complex interaction of sensory integration and symbol ic assoc ia t ion , motor ski l ls , learned syntactic patterns and verbal memory. It has been suggested that music requires an integration of all of these ski l ls, which represents another way in which musical exper iences may contribute not to only musical but also general development during the critical period. Th is s u g g e s t s that it is poss ib le that the neural networks, which are being laid down as musical skills develop, are of general benefit to other functional a reas . Al though this suggest ion is a theoretical one, it is a hypothesis b a s e d on information which has been tested, replicated and a c c e p t e d by the scienti f ic community. B e c a u s e of this, it is a testable theory. Studies which would examine the effects that early musical experience has on sensory , motor, social and language skills in children should provide support for such a hypothesis. 26 CHAPTER III A P H I L O S O P H Y O F P R E S C H O O L Mus ic E D U C A T I O N The preceding chapter suggested that the preschool years represent an important developmental period during which rapid intel lectual growth takes p lace . It a lso indicated that these years represent what may be ca l led a "window of opportunity" to inf luence the deve lopment of certain ski l ls . Th is has impl icat ions for preschool educat ion because it suggests that learning exper iences during this per iod of life may impact on later deve lopment . It follows that the programs and pedagogical tools which are used to educate preschool children must be chosen assiduously . Musical exper iences are no except ion to this rule. Andress (1986) has suggested that the most effective manner in which to make such cho ices is to base them not only on musical objectives, but also on general knowledge about how children learn. She suggests that the insights provided to educators from research in cognitive development provide invaluable criteria on which to base curricular dec is ions . The purpose of this chapter is to explore the value of this idea for curricular cho ices in preschool music educat ion. Through a d iscuss ion of the learning theory of Jean Piaget, who has provided a comprehensive and informative perspect ive on learning in young chi ldren, some character is t ics of music will be explored as they pertains to learning and development in the preschool years. This examination will serve as a philosophy of preschool music education. LEARNING T H E O R Y Perhaps the most intriguing and perplexing question concerning educators is that of how humans learn and develop, and how education can aid children in the improvement of the learning p rocess . Many learning theories have been suggested that have helped educators to better understand this process and which have opened new areas of investigation for researchers . One example of a comprehensive theory of cognit ive development , was deve loped by the Swiss biologist-psychologist Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980). Piaget began his career as a biologist , studying the deve lopment of mol lusks in fresh water habitats throughout Switzer land. Through extensive observat ional studies, Piaget found that structural c h a n g e s took place in s u c c e s s i v e generat ions of mol lusks which could only be attributed to environmental adaptat ion. T h e s e observat ions led him to conclude that biological development was a result of not only heredity and maturation, but also of var iab les in the environment. Piaget thus postulated that biological development was a process of adaptation to the environment which could not be explained by maturation and heredity alone (Wadsworth, 1984). T h e s e conc lus ions answered many of P iaget 's quest ions about the biological development of mollusks and presented new ones about the biological basis for learning in humans. Piaget suspec ted that cognitive development was the 28 intel lectual counterpart of biological adaptat ion to the environment; as humans adapt biologically to their environment, they also develop intellectually (Wadsworth, 1984). Thus began the interest in psychology and epistemology (the study of knowledge) which led Piaget to explore ontogenet ic changes in cognitive development from birth through adulthood in humans. O n e of the basic pr inciples of P iaget 's theory of cognit ive is that all living organ isms deve lop through interaction with their environment and that this interaction is made productive by the twofold p r o c e s s of organization and adaptation (Hughes & Noppe, 1985). Organization involves the tendency to integrate the self and the world into meaningful patterns of parts within a whole to reduce complexi ty . Adaptation involves the tendency to interpret new exper iences within the perceived demands of the environment. Piaget bel ieved that this tendency, which was so predominant in biological development , also played an important role in intellectual development . He wrote: Life is a cont inuous creation of increasingly complex forms and a progressive balancing of these forms with the environment. To say that inte l l igence is a part icular instance of b io logica l adaptat ion is thus to s u p p o s e that it is essent ia l ly an organizat ion and that its function is to structure the universe just as the organism structures its immediate environment (Piaget, 1952, pp. 3-4). 29 B a s e d on this premise, Piaget suggested that an individual cannot be given knowledge, but rather obtains it through the p r o c e s s e s of organizat ion and adaptation in an environment which is rich in appropriate encounters and where learning is not rushed or forced. Piaget observed that children approach organization and adaptation in two different ways. First, he observed the tendency to assimi late newly perce ived data into a lready existing cognit ive structures. That is, when a chi ld d iscovers someth ing new, he /she attempts to fit this into what he/she already knows. As Piaget wrote, "indeed, no behavior, even if it is new to the indiv idual , const i tutes an absolute beg inn ing . It is always grafted onto previous s c h e m e s and therefore amounts to assimi la t ing new e lements into a l ready const ructed structures" (Piaget, 1976, pp. 170-171). S e c o n d , he found that children adjust cognit ive structures to adapt and relate new information from the environment to previously p r o c e s s e d data or exper iences, thus creating novel and increasingly complex structures. Piaget cal led these two p r o c e s s e s assimi lat ion and accommodation and asser ted that cognitive structures are acquired as the individual keeps a ba lance, or equilibrium between them (Piaget, 1976). This is a central concept in Piaget 's theory, and he maintained that intellectual development could not take p lace without it. He wrote that, "general ly speak ing , this progress ive equil ibrium between assimi lat ion and accommodat ion is an instance of a fundamental process in cognitive development" (Piaget, 1976, p. 175). 30 Piaget maintained that this innate desire for order and balance provides the motivation for advancement through a ser ies of s tages of cognitive development , with each s u c c e s s i v e stage representing a higher level of intellectual functioning. He found that these s tages merge together and progress sequential ly for each individual but they arrive at subsequent stages at varying times depending on cultural background, rate of growth and exper ience (Hall et al, 1982). Piaget also s t ressed that these stages appear in a fixed order of s u c c e s s i o n and that each one of them is a necessary prerequisite to the following one. In proposing s tages of cognit ive development , Piaget was not suggest ing that intel lectual deve lopment was a ser ies of disjointed s t e p s , but rather that it p rogressed in a cumulative manner, with each new step becoming integrated with previous ones . He wrote: In a general way, the fact should be em-phas ized that the behavior patterns character is t ic of the different s t a g e s do not s u c c e e d each other in a linear way (those of a given stage disappear ing at the time when those of the following one take form) but in the manner of the layers of a pyramid (upright or upside down), the new behavior patterns simply being added to the old ones to complete , correct or combine with them (Piaget, 1952, p. 329). Piaget 's "Stages of Cognit ive Development" can be broadly def ined as fol lows: 1. Sensorimotor Period - 0 - 2 years During this period behavior is primarily motor. The child does not yet engage in conceptual thought, though cognitive development can be observed. 2. Preoperational Period - 2 - 7 years Th is period is character ized by the development of language and rapid conceptual development. 3. Concrete Operational Period - 7 - 11 years Th is period is character i zed by the ability to apply logical thought to concrete problems. 4. Formal Operational Period - 11 - 15 years During this per iod the chi ld 's cognit ive structures reach their highest level of funct ioning, and the child becomes able to apply logic to all c l a s s e s of problems (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). T h e s e stages always appear in the same order of s u c c e s s i o n . B io logica l maturation o p e n s the way to possib le construct ion of cogni t ive s t ructures; it remains for the subject to actua l ize the construct ion based on exper ience within the environment. Piaget wrote of rate at which the s tages p rogress : In consider ing the . . . rate of success ion of the s tages , we can readily observe that accelerat ions or delays in the average chronological age of 32 performance depends on specif ic environmental (ie. abundance or scarci ty of possib le activities and spontaneous exper iences, educational or cultural environment) , but the order of s u c c e s s i o n will remain constant (Piaget, 1976, p. 180). The chronological ages at which children can be expected to develop behavior representative of a certain stage are not f ixed. The ages suggested by Piaget are normative and only suggest times at which chi ldren can be expected to display the intellectual behaviors character ist ic of the s tages (Wadsworth, 1984). He also s t r e s s e d that the age at which the s tages occur can vary with the nature of both the individual 's exper ience and his/her genetic potential. P rogress through the s tages is not automatic. The only aspect of Piaget 's stage theory that is "fixed" is that every chi ld must pass through the s tages in the same order. (For a summary of the intellectual behaviors character ist ic of Piaget 's stages of development, see Appendix A). In addition to these s tages, Piaget has suggested that there are four other factors which act to inf luence the course of cognit ive deve lopment : 1) maturation, 2) physical exper ience , 3) socia l interaction and 4) a general progression of equilibrium (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). He v iewed each of these factors and their interaction as n e c e s s a r y condit ions for cognit ive development , but he s t ressed that they are not sufficient to ensure cognit ive development on their own. Movement within and between s tages of development is a function of these factors and their act ions. 33 MATURATION Piaget considered maturation of the neurological and endocrine sys tems as an important contributor to cognitive development . He be l ieved that while the maturation of these sys tems provided the individual with the n e c e s s a r y structures for intellectual deve lopment , this was not in itself responsib le for cognit ive development . Rather, he be l i eved that it se rved primarily to provide possib i l i t ies for the deve lopment of intellectual functioning which need to be reinforced by functional exercise and exper ience, or action. He wrote: There are no 'innate ideas' . Even logic is not innate and only gives rise to a progressive epigenetic construct ion. T h u s the effects of maturation consist essent ia l ly of opening new possibi l i t ies for development , that is, giving a c c e s s to structures which could not be evolved before these possibi l i t ies were of fered. But between possibi l i ty and actual izat ion there must intervene a set of other factors such as exerc ise , exper ience and social interaction" (Piaget, 1976 p. 192). EXERCISE AND EXPERIENCE According to Piaget, exercise and experience represent another factor in cognitive development . For example, he wrote: Knowledge is not a copy of reality. To know an object, to know an event , is not simply to look at it and make a mental copy or image of it. To know an object is to act on it. To know is to modify, to 34 transform the object and to understand the p rocess of this transformation, and as a c o n s e q u e n c e , to understand the way the object is const ructed . [This] is thus the e s s e n c e of knowledge; it is an inter ior ized act ion which modif ies the object of knowledge (Hughes & Noppe, 1985, p. 214). Piaget s u g g e s t e d that there are two different types of exper ience which can contribute to cognit ive development . The first of these is exercise, which he bel ieved involved some sort of action exerted upon an object. Piaget s t ressed that this type of exerc ise did not necessar i ly imply an increase in awareness of the external environment. Instead, he bel ieved that it had to do more with the development of certain structures which would be used for later learning (Piaget & Barbe l , 1969). The s e c o n d type of action d iscussed by Piaget was experience, which he further d iv ided into physical and logicomathematical experience . He defined physical experience as the extraction of information from objects through a simple p rocess of abstract ion. He s t ressed that physical exper ience was not merely a s imple recording of phenomenon , but rather a set of actions which deve loped structures for more intuitive thinking ski l ls to follow, spec i f ica l ly logic . He def ined logicomathematical experience as acting upon objects. This type of action is different from simple exper ience and phys ica l exerc ise in that it p roduces knowledge which, "seems to be der ived from the objects b e c a u s e it cons is ts of d iscover ing by manipulating objects, propert ies introduced by action which did not belong to the objects before these actions" (Piaget, 1964, p. 194). 35 Although Piaget bel ieved that exercise and exper ience alone were not suff ic ient condi t ions for intel lectual deve lopment , his communicat ions suggest that he placed considerable emphasis on the role of action within and upon the environment (Piaget, 1951, 1969, 1972a, 1976). He bel ieved that learning is never passive and that, "in order to know objects, the subject must act upon them and therefore transform them: he must d isp lace , connect , combine, take apart and reassemble them" (Piaget & Barbel , 1969, p. 165). He bel ieved that enhanced cognitive development was the natural consequence of such act ive interact ion between the subject and objects within h is /her environment. SOCIAL INTERACTION Piaget bel ieved that soc ia l interaction between individuals was also a fundamental factor in cognit ive development . Piaget def ined two types of social interaction: (a) those which can be s e e n , heard, spoken, etc., and (b) those which do not have obvious referents (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). For example , the concept of "tree" has physical referents; the concept of "honesty", however, does not. S ince there are physical referents for the concept of "tree", most chi ldren could learn about that concept relatively independently of others. However, a concept such as "honesty" could not be deve loped independently as it is social ly def ined. Therefore the child is dependent upon socia l interaction for the formulat ion and val idat ion of h is /her concept of what "honesty" is. 36 Piaget be l ieved that soc ia l interaction was a factor in cognit ive development to which the individual contributed as much as he /she received from it (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). He emphas ized (1969, 1976) that socia l action could only be a compel l ing factor in this development if the chi ld was c a p a b l e of ass imi la t ing it into a l ready exist ing cognit ive structures. He further asser ted that what is learned through s o c i a l interact ion is ef fect ively ass imi la ted only when it g ives rise to an active construction or reinvention by the child. He also suggested that when soc ia l interact ion is construct ive and if chi ldren are able to assimi la te what is e x p e r i e n c e d within this soc ia l environment , learning, and thus cognitive development, could be accelerated. Converse ly , when soc ia l interaction is restr icted or underva lued , cognit ive deve lopment could be inhibited (1969) . EQUILIBRATION Piaget p r o p o s e d that there was an internal "regulating" sys tem that operated to reconci le the roles of maturation, exper ience and socia l interaction (Piaget, 1976). He wrote: If development depends . . . on internal factors (maturation) . . . and . . . on external factors (physical and soc ia l ) , it is sel f -evident that these internal and external factors equil ibrate each other. An internal mechanism is observable at the time of each partial construction and each transition from one stage to the next. It is a p r o c e s s of equil ibrium . . . of sel f - regulat ion (Wadsworth, 1984, pp. 32-33). 37 Th is sys tem of se l f - regulat ion is the motivation for learning in Piaget 's theory of cognitive development. Piaget suggested that through maturation, exper ience and socia l interaction, the structures necessary for cognitive development are formed. Through these mechanisms, new st ructures emerge which enable the individual to interpret "reality" in his/her environment. This enhanced understanding creates cognitive disequilibrium, which is a d i s c r e p a n c y between reality as it is currently perce ived and the view of reality previously formed in the cognit ive structures (Hughes & Noppe, 1985). Piaget believed that humans have an innate need for order and organization and therefore seek balance, or equi l ibr ium, between themse lves and external reality. Equi l ibrat ion is an internal mechan ism which exists for each new cognit ive structure; the deve lopment of this mechan ism represents the chi ld 's attempt to c o m p e n s a t e for the external d is turbances of the new information. A c c o r d i n g to Piaget, the end result of this adjustment is some degree of cognit ive deve lopment which is both retroactive and anticipatory of future development (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). IMPLICATIONS FOR PRESCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION The basic premise of P iaget 's learning theory, then, is that intel-lectual deve lopment involves the development of cognit ive structures which consist neither of a simple copy of external objects nor of a mere unfolding of structures performed inside the subject . Instead, it 38 involves a set of structures progressively constructed by cont inuous and dynamic interaction between the subject and the environment. The quest ion that must be asked is: What implications does this understanding of cognitive development have for preschool music educat ion? Perhaps this can most effectively be answered by examining its re levancy to bas ic musica l e lements which are most frequently encountered in early musical exper iences (Biasini , 1970; A n d r e s s , 1980; Nye, 1983; S a m s , 1988). T h e s e include: (1) the symbolic nature of music ; (2) the express ive nature of music; (3) the creative nature of m u s i c ; and (4) the socia l nature of music. T H E SYMBOLIC NATURE OF MUSIC In its simplest form, music is a combinat ion of pi tches or s o u n d s which are made meaningful to the l istener through patterned organizat ion. Staff notation has been extrinsically der ived to provide a symbol ic representation of these arrangements. This notation not only increases the number of individuals who can extract meaning from these arrangements , but a lso facil itates a means by which they can perform them (Kennedy, 1980). As Gardner Read has suggested, these, "written symbols of musical notation are universal ly understood wherever western culture has deve loped , though the musical ideas may have originated in Yugos lav ia , Argentina, Sweden or the United States among c o m p o s e r s whose verbal expression may be mutually incomprehensible" (Read, 1979, p. 3). However , musical ideas need not conform to staff notation as a means of symbol ic representation as music has a unique quality which allows individuals to experiment with sounds and shape them into an entity which is meaningful to them. The ideas which result from such experimentation can be represented in any number of ways because s y m b o l i s m related to music can take a variety of forms. In their attempt to derive a meaningful pattern out of their e x p e r i e n c e s with music, children can dance or move, draw or paint, make up stories and act them out as a means of interpreting their response to musical stimuli . S u c h exper iences in music allow children to operate as a c o m p o s e r , performer, interpreter and critic at their own level of understanding. Piaget has indicated that in order to understand, we have to invent some means of symbol ical ly representing our exper iences (Hall et al, 1982). Amer ico le Biasini supported this aspect of Piaget 's theory when he wrote: Notation is not a character ist ic of music and certainly is not needed to grasp the nature of music , to think creat ively in it, or to generate and project musica l ideas . It is the child who must take the lead in the use of such symbols. When he feels the need , he will create his own descr ipt ive patterns and coding devices" (Biasini, 1970, p. 7). Giv ing chi ldren the opportunity to exper ience music in this way during the p reschoo l years would be an effective way to initiate them into musical thinking and activit ies, as preschool children do not have the cognit ive structures which would equip them for understanding the complex i t ies of staff notation. There fore , the symbol ic nature of music can not only provide a vehicle for the early expression of musical ideas but may also contribute to cognit ive development by allowing chi ldren to derive some form of symbol ic representat ion of their exper iences . Piaget maintained that the ability to communicate ideas through symbol ic representation indicates a dramatic change in the preschool child's intellectual functioning (Hughes & Noppe, 1985). T H E EXPRESSIVE NATURE OF MUSIC Through distinctly unique and complex combination of sounds , music can convey a myriad of ideas and feelings. These sounds can be organized to express numerous and diverse "images" by individuals of var ious ages and levels of musical training. Piaget has suggested that the need to be express ive is an important character ist ic of preschool chi ldren (Barbour & Seefeldt , 1986). This expressive nature of music provides children with a tool for shap ing and refining their express ions . Th is ability to express outwardly what they understand internally can help chi ldren to refine their interact ions with their environment and the people within it. In his theory of cognit ive development , Piaget s t ressed that as chi ldren's exper iences within their environment become increasingly complex , their cognit ive structures also become more complex . He also s t r e s s e d that such complex interactions are critical to cognit ive development in chi ldren (Barbour & Seefeldt , 1986). By giving 41 chi ldren the opportunity to express themselves with and through music , their cognit ive structures b e c o m e increasingly complex which in turn e n h a n c e s the rate at which intellectual development takes p lace . The expressive nature of music can contribute to cognit ive development in other ways as well. For example, when children are e n c o u r a g e d to experiment with music in their learning environment, they have the opportunity to express and gain insight into var ious emotions and perceptions about themselves and their surroundings. David Swanwick wrote: "Music is one mode of understanding the world and our exper ience of it. It is a way of knowing the affective and knowing through feeling" (cited in Barbour & Seefeldt , 1986, p. 312). Piaget referred to this kind of broadened perceptual background as the reduction of egocentr ic i ty . He further s t r e s s e d that this reduction of egocentr ic i ty equips chi ldren for interaction on a different, he ightened level with their peers which further a c c e l e r a t e s the rate at which cognit ive development takes place (Piaget, 1976). Giving chi ldren the opportunity to physical ly respond to the express ive elements of music may also be intellectually and physical ly st imulating to chi ldren (Piaget & Barbe l , 1969). In fact, P iaget 's theory leaves no room for quest ioning the value of learning through activity, or exerc ise . He wrote, "I think that human knowledge is essent ia l ly active. Knowing . . . means acting upon [something]. It means constructing s y s t e m s of t ransformat ions that can be carr ied out or on with s o m e object" (Hughes, & Noppe, 1985, p. 214). From this perspect ive, the p rocess of responding to the expressive quality of music and acting upon that express ion physical ly and emotionally constitutes a certain degree of cognitive development. T H E CREATIVE NATURE OF MUSIC Piaget maintained that the motivation for learning ar ises out of an innate curiosity to understand the environment (Piaget & Barbel , 1969). He has also indicated that children cannot obtain knowledge by copying the reality of others, but instead are motivated by an intrinsic desire to d e v e l o p their own reality through creat ive interaction with the environment (Piaget, 1952). Preschoo l children are constantly creating within their environment as they develop new and more complex cognit ive structures (Piaget, 1974). During this period of rapid language acquis i t ion, they experiment with words as they create new ones and redefine old ones. Preschool children develop an extended capacity to form mental images that stand for or represent objects or events (Wadsworth, 1984) and they begin to create and manipulate mental substitutes for the real thing (Lay-Dopyera & Dopyera , 1987). The diverse possibi l i t ies for the arrangement of musical s o u n d s can provide preschoo l chi ldren with an effective vehic le to help them explore these creat ive impulses . Through music, creativity can be developed and expanded upon as a tool for the deve lopment of cognit ive s t ructures , for musica l activit ies can be filled with the action of d iscovery . Biasini d i s c u s s e d this va luable quality of music when he wrote, "in the [music c lassroom] the chi ld [can] regard himself as a creative music ian , exper iment ing, interpreting and d iscover ing for himself the concepts and potentials of the art" (Biasini , 1970, p. 5). Piaget s t r e s s e d that in order to truly acquire knowledge, chi ldren must explore and be creative within their environment . If information is always verbally imposed on them, they will not internal ize it as well as if they had d i s c o v e r e d it for t h e m s e l v e s through creat ive interaction with their environment (Piaget, 1972b). The creative nature of music provides an ideal tool for this kind of exploration and learning, as appropriately planned exper iences in music can give children basic tools for exploring and expanding their creativity. P iaget maintained that creat ive explorat ion of this nature makes a signif icant contribution to the cognit ive development of young chi ldren (Hall et al, 1982). T H E SOCIAL NATURE OF MUSIC In chapter II, some aspects of the socia l nature of music were d i s c u s s e d . It was sugges ted that the socia l nature of musical exper iences can make an important contribution to general as well as musical development during the preschool years. Indeed, participation in c l a s s r o o m musica l act ivi t ies almost a lways requires soc ia l interaction in that they usual ly involve interactive group part icipation. Through part ic ipat ion in var ious musical act ivi t ies, chi ldren can deve lop 44 cooperat ive ski l ls, shar ing and patience ski l ls, respect for the rights and opinions of others, an understanding of the necessity for group leadership and "followership" and a general reduction in egocentr ic i ty which will acce lera te the rate at which cognit ive deve lopment takes place (Piaget, 1976). Piaget s t r e s s e d the importance of construct ive soc ia l interaction for cognitive development (Piaget & Barbel , 1969, 1976) and suggested that cognitive development can be enhanced as a result of such interaction. He def ined two types of socia l interaction: (a) those which can be seen , heard, spoken, etc., and (b) those which do not have obvious referents (Piaget & Barbe l , 1969). Involvement in musica l activit ies requires the exerc ise and use of both types of socia l ski l ls . The first type of soc ia l interaction is usual ly present in group musical exper iences . For example , verbal interaction usually plays a part in preschool music exper iences , including teacher-student interactions and student -student interact ion. T h e s e interactions often involve the exchange of ideas about music and how it should be performed to convey some idea or feel ing. The s e c o n d type of socia l interaction is frequently present in musical activit ies in that chi ldren are e n c o u r a g e d to learn skills such as pat ience, respect and cooperation which do not have obvious referents. T h e s e examples of the social character is t ics of music cou ld therefore facil itate both types of soc ia l interact ion. Piaget a s s e r t e d that what is learned through soc ia l interaction is effect ively ass imi la ted only when it g ives rise to an active construct ion or 45 reinvention by the child (1969) Reinvention of this kind can be made a part of early musical exper iences which will therefore have an impact on the general cognitive development of preschool chi ldren. P iaget 's research converges with the studies d i s c u s s e d in chapter II, in that he s u g g e s t s that learning is a result of interaction with the environment and that the more complex and enriched this environment is, the more vital this interaction will be (Piaget & Barbe l , 1969). The contributions which appropriately p lanned musical exper iences can make to the development of sensory , motor, language and social skills were d i s c u s s e d in chapter II. B a s e d on the d iscuss ion in this chapter, it is sugges ted that such exper iences may also contribute to cognitive growth in preschool chi ldren, they can allow children to explore meaning through symbol ic representat ion, express their thoughts and feel ings in a meaningful manner, create new modes of thought and expression and deve lop important soc ia l interactive ski l ls . Piaget sugges ts that such complex learning exper iences will have a signif icant effect on cognit ive development during the preschool years (Piaget,1969). PHILOSOPHY OF PRESCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION This idea provides part of the foundation for a working phi losophy of preschool music educat ion. S u c h a phi losophy refers to a system of bas ic beliefs which underl ies and provides a basis for the operation of the musical enterprise in a musical setting (Leonhard & House , 1972). 46 With these basic beliefs def ined in the foregoing, a phi losophy of music educat ion as it pertains to preschool children can be formulated. It has been suggested that music can be used effectively to promote cognitive development in the education of preschool chi ldren. However , in light of P iaget 's learning theory, it is c lear that musical experiences must go beyond merely singing and dancing. A preschool music program should embody a hands-on , experiential d iscovery approach to music and not impose contrived ideas and repertoire on the chi ld . S u c h an approach will provide chi ldren with the opportunity to learn, explore, d iscover and make judgments about the ways in which they will use and enjoy music throughout their l ives. Indeed, it s e e m s likely that a program which emphas izes process is one which encourages chi ldren to learn to think "musical ly" for themse lves very early in their l ives. B a s e d on the above d iscuss ion it is proposed that if a preschool music program e n c o u r a g e s chi ldren to develop important soc ia l ski l ls , derive meaning from their environment, express their ideas and feel ings and create new meaning through music , it will not only be a positive musical exper ience, but it may enhance their cognitive development as well . If music is imposed on chi ldren, it does not become a part of them, and they do not internalize its intrinsic value as they would had they personal ly d iscovered and exper ienced it. Allowing children to grow and develop as they experience music may help them to develop a love for and 47 understanding of the p r o c e s s e s involved in music that may be sustained throughout their l ives. The pursuit for providing this type of exper ience for young children lies at the root of a phi losophy of preschool music educat ion. The guiding principle must therefore be that when chi ldren's musical exper iences are guided rather than inhibited by preconceived expectat ions, the resulting environment can enrich not only musical learning, but can enhance general intellectual growth. When young chi ldren's musical exper iences are stifled by the forces of academic conformity, and when musical concepts are verbally imposed , the resulting environment may be inhibiting to both musical and intellectual growth. C H A P T E R IV M U S I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T O F 4 - Y E A R - OLD C H I L D R E N 48 T h e past 25 years have wi tnessed an increasing interest in the systemat ic study of musical development in preschool chi ldren. From the broadest perspect ive, research in the area of musical development has attempted to provide information about the acquisi t ion of musical ability. More speci f ica l ly , it has e n d e a v o r e d to determine which factors inf luence this development and what musical behaviors are character is t ic of particular ages or s tages of life (McDonald & S i m o n s , 1989). Th is chapter will outline this research base as it pertains to 4-year -o ld chi ldren. The areas of musical development which will be d i s c u s s e d are listening, singing and vocal development , rhythm and movement and creativity. L I S T E N I N G S K I L L S G i v e n the importance of l istening skil ls for the development of other musica l abi l i t ies, it is not surpr is ing that this area has rece ived cons iderab le attention from researchers (S imons, 1 978, 1986). By its very nature, music requires that the participant have certain l istening and discriminat ion skills in order to adequately perceive it. Even in the most s impl ist ic s o n g , severa l musical e lements are present which require the part icipant 's attention. It has a melody, a rhythm pattern and a form. To be performed it must be produced by an instrument or voice which has unique timbral character ist ics. The song may be 49 per formed loudly or quiet ly, fast or slow, or at different pitch leve ls . In order to correctly perform the s o n g , the participant must be aware of these character ist ics at some level. Th is , according to many researchers (Greenberg, 1979; McDonald & Simons, 1989; S imons, 1986) requires that l istening skil ls precede the development of other musical abil it ies. S imons (1986) has suggested that, "experience and growth in l istening skil ls underl ie and are essent ia l to musical concept development . C o n c e p t attainment enables children to formulate mental impress ions , compare and differentiate, see relat ionships, genera l ize musical ideas and eventually interpret or produce music" (p. 43). With considerat ion to this, many researchers have attempted to determine when and how such skills develop and if this development is inf luenced by exper ience, practice and maturation. The most widely investigated a s p e c t s of l istening ski l ls are aural d iscr iminat ion of pi tch, melody, rhythm, dynamics and timbre. Studies into the development of l istening skills have demonstrated that certain musical e lements may be dist inguished and comprehended earl ier than others. The ability to respond to and discr iminate between various dynamics and timbre appears to develop around the age of 4 or 5 years (Ful lard, 1967; Jetter, 1978; Loucks , 1974; Scott , 1979), which is much earlier than previously considered possible (Simons, 1986). T h e s e studies suggest that 4-year-old children can not only respond to and accurately dist inguish between var ious dynamic levels, they can also identify orchest ra l inst ruments by their t imbral c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . 50 Investigations into pitch discr iminat ion and concept formation ability in preschool chi ldren have revealed that 4 -year -o lds are capable of forming c o n c e p t s of pitch register, melodic contour and interval s ize and that this ability inc reases with age and exper ience (Scott, 1979, Jetter, 1978). Other studies (Ramsey,1983; Dav idson, 1985) suggest that 4 -year -o lds can perceive rhythm, melodic contour and melodic intervals ("skips" v e r s u s "steps") and that these d iscr iminat ion abi l i t ies improve with both maturation and experience. The development of such concept formation, however, is only evident when nonverbal response modes are used (Hair, 1977; Ramsey , 1983; Van Zee , 1976; Webster & Schlentr ich, 1982). T h e s e investigat ions indicate that this appears to apply to preschool children of all ages and may even include 6-year-olds. This body of research suggests that 4-year-old chi ldren are capable of a higher level of aural discrimination than was previously thought possib le (Scott, 1979). It has provided ev idence that children of this age are able to perceive and respond to timbral di f ferences and d y n a m i c s , c lass i fy pi tches and pitch register, accurate ly perform or reproduce melodies with various contours and dist inguish between simple melodic intervals. T h e s e studies also suggest that the development of such skills in early chi ldhood may have a profound influence on the emergence of other musical behavior (Scott, 1979; S i m o n s , 1986). In addit ion, it indicates that s ince chi ldren are capable of deve lop ing spec i f ic and sophist icated l istening ski l ls , i nc reased emphas is on ear training exper iences is required in preschool music 51 curr icula . However, s ince there is ev idence that the development of these discriminat ion skil ls during the preschool years may inf luence further musical development , this ear training should be an ongoing p r o c e s s and not an occas iona l part of early musical training (Simons, 1986). S I N G I N G A N D V O C A L D E V E L O P M E N T : The development of singing ability in preschool chi ldren has also provided impetus for var ious studies over the past 50 years . A s with l istening ski l ls , this deve lopment p r o g r e s s e s in sequent ia l s tages (Gardener, Davidson & McKernon, 1979). By the time children are 4-years -o ld , they are able to learn songs rapidly. This appears to be facil i tated by the following learning s e q u e n c e : words, rhythm, phrases and melodic contour. At this age, tonal stability is not evident and chi ldren cannot easily match pi tches, although this ability does appear to improve with age and experience (Gardener et al, 1979). Gembizkaja (cited in S i m o n s , 1978) s u g g e s t s that chi ldren 's ineptitude in this area can be attributed to underdeveloped vocal and auditory organs, emotional d is turbances and lack of concentrat ion. Another study indicates that s inging ability is improved by group training (Smith, 1963). Final ly , while it a p p e a r s that early voca l training may acce lera te s inging ability in 4 -year -o lds , Boardman (cited in G r e e n b e r g , 1976) suggests that it d o e s not signif icant ly affect the growth pattern in later years . 52 Studies into the average vocal range of preschool children has emphas ized the importance of choosing songs with considerat ion to range, as the natural pitch range of the 4-year -o ld chi ld is fairly l imited. Wi l l iams (1932) s u g g e s t e d that the natural range of the 4-year -o ld chi ld 's voice l ies between c' and c " . Hatwick (1933) indicated that this range is b-g' . Jers i ld and Bienstock (1934) sugges ted that vocal range increases steadily from 2-5 years and that the range of 4-year-olds is b -c" . Drexler (1938) recognized that most 4 -year -o lds were able to sing comfortably between c ' - d # " . Alfred (1966) reported that the most frequently heard vocal range among preschool children was a b - d " and Klanderman (1979) reported this range to be from c' - a' (cited in R a m s e y , 1983). Although there is some variation in the results of each of these s tudies , it s e e m s c lear that the natural vocal range of 4-year-olds is quite narrow and pitched somewhat lower than some music educators believe (Simons, 1978). The importance of these findings for planning preschool music curr icula is three-fold. First, the s e q u e n c e s employed by chi ldren when learning songs should be carefully cons idered when planning for musical learning. Research indicates that chi ldren's approach to learning songs is sequential in nature, b a s e d on the characterist ics of the s o n g . The teaching of songs in a preschool setting should therefore be based on this s e q u e n c e , making learning more effective and enjoyable for the children involved. Second ly , songs which properly incorporate the vocal quality and range of children can be used to help children develop both 53 vocal and aural concepts . S imons (1978) suggests that neglecting to take s u c h character ist ics into considerat ion when planning for preschool music education can be both damaging and counterproductive to musical learning. Finally, the ev idence that group vocal training can be effective in a p r e s c h o o l setting sugges ts that this is an important time for the development of singing ability. While this training may not have an effect on the long-term musical growth of ch i ldren , it does appear to accelerate singing ability during that period and encourages children to take pleasure in group singing experiences at an early age. The importance of this for preschool educat ion is that early vocal training al lows chi ldren to not only explore their s inging v o i c e s , but also to deve lop other highly sophist icated skil ls such as aural discr iminat ion (pitch matching, intervalic a c c u r a c y , melodic contour) , rhythmic a c c u r a c y and expressive skil ls which can make an important contribution to later musical learning. With considerat ion to these f indings, this researcher 's exper ience also suggests that the texture of a melody has a s igni f icant effect on the ability to reproduce pitch in 4 -year -o ld chi ldren. This exper ience has demonstrated that the melodies used with this age group should have an uncluttered, simple texture in terms of interval ic character is t ics , rhythm and accompan iment in order to provide the most effective learning exper ience . It has been found that m e l o d i e s without these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s are difficult for 4 - y e a r - o l d s to accurately reproduce. 54 R H Y T H M A N D M O V E M E N T Most young children respond to musical stimuli through movement. For this reason, the development of rhythmic skill in preschool chi ldren is often investigated with reference to chi ldren 's movement r e s p o n s e . Moog (1976) observed such responses in 500 children and reported that motor movement to music begins at about 6 months of age. At 2 years of age, these movements become more refined and synchronized responses to music . Moog observed that in 4-year-old chi ldren, the total number of movements to music dec l ines rapidly, although there is no signif icant increase in the frequency of coordination between movement and music. Moog also found that considerable progress in synchronizing movement with music is made between the 4th and 6th year of life. Rainbow and Owen (1981) conducted a study over a three year per iod to determine the ability of 3- and 4-year -o ld chi ldren to learn and master rhythmic tasks . The results of this study indicated that in the per formance of the rhythmic tasks , those requiring large muscle r e s p o n s e s were more difficult than tasks involving simple instruments, and s imple instrument tasks were more difficult than s p e e c h pattern r e s p o n s e s . Signif icant di f ferences were observed between 3- and 4-y e a r - o l d s in the ability to perform these tasks , indicat ing that maturation also plays an important role in rhythmic development . In a s imi lar s tudy, F r e g a (1979, 1982) reported that most 4 -year -o ld chi ldren can keep a beat with their hands, feet, rhythm instruments and other body parts. She also observed that 4-year-olds can echo rhythm 55 patterns using their hands , s p e e c h and singing patterns as well as with instruments. In terms of auditory and visual d iscr iminat ion, F r e g a found that 4 -year -o lds can d iscern between two different rhythm patterns both aurally and visual ly , although aural recognition is general ly more accurate than visual recognit ion. None of the 4-year-o lds tested in her study could accurately perform a rhythmic ostinato. F r e g a also indicated that both maturation and exper ience play an important role in the deve lopment of rhythmic ski l ls . Th is research has severa l important impl icat ions for curr iculum planning for preschool music . First, it indicates that the development of rhythmic skill in p r e s c h o o l chi ldren is most effective when motor involvement is e n c o u r a g e d . It further implies that certain types of movement are more effective in this development than others and s t resses the importance of using s p e e c h patterns for teaching rhythmic skil ls to p reschoo l ch i ldren . In addit ion, it s u g g e s t s that while it is important to be sensi t ive to the phys ica l l imitations which chi ldren exper ience when developing rhythmic skil ls, it appears that preschool chi ldren can perform more refined rhythmic tasks than previously thought possib le provided the environment is sensi t ive to their learning style. P e r h a p s the most important implication of this research lies in it emphas is on the reliance of rhythmic development on physical maturation. Most of this research caut ions that the a g e s from birth to 6 56 years should be cons idered developmental in the most literal s e n s e as it appl ies to rhythmic development (McDonald & S imons, 1989). Failure to perform a rhythmic task accurate ly may be a result of limited motor coordinat ion skills and should not necessar i ly be equated with poor rhythmic perception. CREATIVITY Investigations have also been made into creative vocal improvisation and song development in preschool chi ldren and efforts have been focused on determining how they relate to the evolution of musical concepts and development (Moorhead & Pond, 1978; Shelley, 1981; Dav idson , 1985). This research indicates that the songs created by p reschoo le rs indicate the emergence of the ability to integrate var ious highly sophist icated musical knowledge and skills (Davidson, 1985). The Pi l lsbury Studies (1937-1948), which were reported by Moorhead and Pond (1978) inquired into the natural musical expressions of chi ldren and found that a) for young chi ldren, music is primarily the d iscovery of s o u n d ; b) music time with chi ldren should include their purposive action or involvement; c) in planning for musical exper iences , it is n e c e s s a r y to consider soc ia l , environmental and procedural condit ions; and d) spontaneous music making should be carefully cons idered (cited in Z immerman, 1985). She l ley (1981) invest igated chi ldren 's innate musical i ty as expressed in a contemporary preschool setting. She found that an 57 environment which allows for free exploration of sound and uninhibited sound construction can be establ ished in a contemporary preschool sett ing. She further s u g g e s t e d that chi ldren's innate creativity can be most effectively nurtured in this environment and that the nurturing of these express ive qual i t ies will lead to more effective musica l learning, espec ia l l y if this type of environment is consistent throughout the chi ld 's musical educat ion. This research emphas izes the importance of establ ishing an appropriate physical and emotional environment to ensure effective musical learning. It indicates that this learning does not need to be i m p o s e d on chi ldren, but rather that chi ldren have instinctive musical behaviors which can be extracted and nurtured if the environment is sensi t ive to them. It has been shown (Kirkpatrick, 1962) that the effect of the home environment which nurtures the development of musical skil ls is greater than that of the c lass room environment. Al though a preschool music program should not be considered a substitute for a lack of musical nurture in the home, this research should be carefully c o n s i d e r e d when planning for this age group as it indicates that this approach to introducing musical concepts is the most effective. T h e s e studies suggest that musical learning should be experiential in nature and should given children to opportunity to manipulate their environment in a manner that is sui ted to their learning style. The provision for this kind of learning environment will help provide for creative and dynamic musical learning. C H A P T E R 5 1 2 - W E E K C U R R I C U L U M 58 rJLie preceding chapters have presented some bas ic pr inciples, all of which represent a theoret ical foundat ion on which to base curr icular dec is ions for preschool music educat ion. T h e s e basic principles are: a. The preschool years represent a period of rapid brain development. b. Environmental in f luences have their greatest impact on this development during the preschool years. c. An enriched learning environment may influence both cognitive and physical growth during the preschool years . d. Cognit ive structures are constantly developing as the chi ld acts on the environment and assimi lates and accommodates to s t imul i within it. e. Cognit ive development is inf luenced by maturation, exper ience and social interaction, and depends upon the process of equi l ibrat ion to mediate the inf luence of these factors . e. P reschoo l chi ldren have the ability to develop var ious musical skil ls in the appropr iate learning environment . f. The development of musical ability is dependent upon both experience and maturation. g. A preschool music program should embody a hands-on , experiential d iscovery approach to music . 59 B a s e d on these pr inciples, a ser ies of object ives for a preschool music program can be formulated. Two areas have been considered as ca tegor ies for these object ives: a)developmental object ives and b) musica l object ives. T h i s division provides a deve lopmenta l rationale for c h o i c e s while al lowing for a spec i f i c , musica l focus . It must not be over looked that this is a curr iculum d e s i g n e d for musical learning. The focus of this curr iculum and the pedagogica l c h o i c e s which are subsequent ly made must therefore be the development of musica l skills in preschool chi ldren. However, as the preceding chapters have attempted to demonstra te , careful considerat ion to and thorough unders tand ing of what is deve lopmenta l ly appropriate for 4 -year -o ld chi ldren may in fact make these musical exper iences more effective in developing these ski l ls. B a s e d on the developmental theory presented in chapters II and III , a ser ies of "developmenta l object ives" for p reschoo l music educat ion can be created. Considerat ion of these objectives when choosing act iv i t ies for a p r e s c h o o l mus ic cur r icu lum will aid in the formulat ion of a program which is deve lopmenta l ly appropr iate for 4 -year -o ld chi ldren. T h e y can be outlined as follows (these are not presented in any order of importance): DE V E L O P M E N T A L OBJECTIVES V E R B A L A N D N O N V E R B A L E X P R E S S I O N a. Express ion of ideas both verbally and physical ly. b. Exploration of sounds , instruments, words and sentences . c. Deve lopment of observat ion and creativity ski l ls . d. Development of perceptual -motor skills through verbal and nonverbal expression. e. Develop confidence in verbal and nonverbal expression. P E R C E P T U A L D E V E L O P M E N T a. Development of sensory awareness in response to various mus ica l s t imul i . A F F E C T I V E D E V E L O P M E N T a. Express ion of perception and attitudes through p s y c h o m o t o r activity. b. Deve lopment /s t rengthening of se l f -concept through exploration and express ion of var ious emotions and attitudes. S O C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T a. Development of cooperat ive skil ls. b. Development of shar ing and patience skil ls. c. Development of respect for the rights, opinions and feel ings of others . d. Development of group leadership and fol lowership ski l ls. 61 I N T E L L E C T U A L D E V E L O P M E N T a. Develop and implement problem solving skil ls. b. Deve lopment of verbal skil ls for use in explorat ion of d iscuss ion of var ious musical exper iences . c. Develop the ability to make dec is ions through higher intellectual p r o c e s s e s such as how to communicate through music , how to play instruments, which instruments to use to produce a certain sound and how to imitate certain sounds from the environment . d. Enhance symbol ic representation skills by creating sounds , movements , etc. that represent previously formed images . P H Y S I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T a. Development of body awareness and large and small fine motor control . b. Develop an understanding of the purpose and potential of var ious body parts through psychomotor activity. c. Deve lop the concept of directionality and laterality, (adapted from Nye, 1983) T h e musical object ives for this preschool curr iculum have been b a s e d in part on the information provided by research in the area of musica l deve lopment . The col lect ive results of these studies provides not only a substant ia l s o u r c e of information concern ing what musica l ski l ls c a n be expected of chi ldren but also indicates what kinds of musical goals and object ives are suitable for this age group. Other pertinent suggest ions for these musical object ives have made by var ious curr iculum planners and p e d a g o g u e s in the field of preschool music educat ion . Most agree that skill development should take place in the areas of aural discrimination (Sams , 1988; C h o k s y , 1981; F r e g a , 1982; Brink Fox, 1987; F o s s More, 1987), rhythm and movement (Frega, 1982; Krokfors & K u o s m a n e n , 1987; A n d r e s s , 1980,1984), creativity (Frega , 1982; Br idges, 1987; A n d r e s s , 1984), and singing (Andress, 1980, 1984; Nye, 1983; S a m s , 1988; Choksy , 1981; F o s s More, 1987). Based on these s u g g e s t i o n s , the following musical object ives for p reschoo l music have been formulated (these are not presented in any order of importance): MUSICAL OBJECTIVES C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) d. timbre (brighter/darker; happ ier /sadder , etc.) M O V E M E N T a. creat ive, expressive movement b. singing games, dances c. development of accurate beat keeping skil ls d. rhythmic prec is ion M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. pitch matching c. conversat ional singing d. melodic patterns (singing, aural recognition) R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. development of accurate beat keeping skil ls b. note va lues (durational names and symbols) c. rhythm instruments to develop accurate beat keeping s k i l l s d. echo clapping 64 e. rhythm pattern recognit ion f. building and performing of s imple rhythm patterns g. ostinati G E N E R A L M U S I C A L S K I L L S a. learning about instruments b. improvisat ion with body and musica l instruments c. development of a song repertoire T h e s e developmenta l and musical object ives provide a framework for the formulat ion of a music curr icu lum for 4 -year -o ld ch i ldren . Thei r value to this p r o c e s s is two-fold. First, they are b a s e d on tested ev idence which provides insight concern ing how chi ldren learn and deve lop , both general ly and musical ly . It fol lows that curr icular c h o i c e s b a s e d on information of this nature provide learning exper iences which are suited to the needs and capabi l i t ies of the chi ldren being planned for. A s it was sugges ted in chapter II, the pedagogica l cho ices made for preschool children may be have more impact on the development of musica l skill during this per iod than at any other t ime. Th is inc reases the importance of making sound educational dec is ions based on empirical data. The research d i s c u s s e d in chapters II and III and the developmental object ives suggested above provide this context. S e c o n d , the informat ion ava i lab le from the pract i t ioners in the f ield of p r e s c h o o l mus ic is extremely v a l u a b l e to the formulat ion of a curr icu lum for this age group. Indeed, not all of the insights into the musical behavior of 65 preschoo l children evolve in a laboratory. The exper iences of practi t ioners in the area of p reschoo l music educat ion must not be over looked as valuable s o u r c e s of knowledge, as they provide a wealth of pract ical information and ideas on which to base curr icular d e c i s i o n s for musica l learning. The curr iculum being proposed in this chapter is therefore based on the insights provided by both researchers and pract i t ioners . O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F T H E C U R R I C U L U M The lessons presented in this curr iculum are intended to be taught on a weekly basis over a three month per iod. This is not to indicate, however, that the musical educat ion of preschool children should c e a s e at the end of three months. Indeed, the activities presented in the fol lowing l e s s o n s are d e s i g n e d with severa l fol low-up s u g g e s t i o n s in mind. T h e s e fol low-up act iv i t ies, which are outl ined in the sect ion titled "suggest ions for further use" at the end of each l e s s o n , are intended to provide a foundat ion on which to plan further musical e x p e r i e n c e s in the p reschoo l c l a s s r o o m . It is s u g g e s t e d that this 12-week curr icu lum be fo l lowed by two addi t ional 12-week cur r icu la , thus providing for 36 weeks of musica l learning for the four -year -o ld ch i ld . It is r e c o m m e n d e d that this curr iculum be taught by a music spec ia l is t . Although severa l individuals have sugges ted that learning exper iences in music can be taught competently by general preschool teachers (Greenberg, 1976; Gerber , 1982; Br idges, 1987; Brink Fox, 1987; Krokfors & K u o s m a n e n , 1987), it is the contention of this author that a teacher trained in music and music pedagogy would most effectively carry out this task. Th is author be l ieves that while a general ist may be able to communicate b a s i c musical ideas to chi ldren when deta i led l esson plans are provided for them, a music special ist will have an understanding of not only what to teach, but also how to teach it and why it should be taught. S u c h skil ls a lso lend insight into the direct ion the music curr iculum takes in providing for the optimum deve lopment of mus ica l skill in p r e s c h o o l ch i ld ren . Th is insight will ult imately lead to more effective musica l educat ion for the preschool ch i ld . Final ly , in determining where this curr iculum should be taught, two possibi l i t ies can be s u g g e s t e d . The first is that it be taught in preschoo l institutions themse lves . Health and Welfare C a n a d a (1986) indicates that increasing numbers of p reschoo l children are entering child care institutions across the country. T h e s e expanding numbers present preschool educators with the task of providing adequate educat ional exper iences for a growing number of chi ldren. In an effort to make music an effective part of these exper iences , this curr iculum c o u l d be taught by itinerant m u s i c t e a c h e r s in chi ld care faci l i t ies within var ious communi t ies . T h e s e c o n d poss ib le setting for this curr iculum is as part of a community educat ion program which would be offered outside the realm of the chi ld 's regular preschool program. Communi ty educat ion programs might include private music s c h o o l s or conservator ies , public s c h o o l s , churches , continuing educat ion programs 67 or as a private commerc ia l enterpr ise. Provid ing this curr iculum in both of these sett ings would increase the number of chi ldren who could potentially become involved, as not all p reschoo l chi ldren are enrol led in ch i ld c a r e faci l i t ies a n d not all ch i ld care faci l i t ies would be will ing to offer s u c h a program. Th is curriculum should therefore be offered in both sett ings as a means of providing musical exper iences for a larger number of preschool chi ldren. O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F T H E L E S S O N P L A N S 12 deta i led , sequent ia l l esson plans will form the body of this cur r icu lum. T h e s e l e s s o n s will be p lanned within the context of a 20-25 minute time frame. Th is time frame was c h o s e n b a s e d on suggest ions made by Piaget (1974) concerning the average attention span of 4-year-old ch i ldren. The activit ies used in these l e s s o n s were c h o s e n with regard to the developmenta l and musical object ives listed above and were tested with a group of 4 -year -o lds during a 12-week study carr ied out at the University of British C o l u m b i a Ch i ld Study Cente r to determine their pract ical va lue. In the c a s e s where activities have been b a s e d on suggest ions from publ ished s o u r c e s , they will be referenced in the l essons plans. E a c h lesson in this curriculum is d e s i g n e d to provide for the s imul taneous deve lopment of var ious musical ski l ls, al though one part icular skill a rea may receive more attention in one lesson than in another. The purpose of this approach is to provide for the development of genera l musica l ski l ls and to lay down a b a s i c repertoire of abil it ies 68 through a variety of musical exper iences . T h e s e skill areas include: s inging (in-tune, pitch matching, etc.) , movement , rhythm, beat and c o m p a r a t i v e s (h igher- lower , f as te r -s lower , louder -sof ter , t imbre) . Most of the activities s u g g e s t e d in the curr iculum are d e s i g n e d to contribute to some aspect of the musica l development of the chi ldren. T h e musica l deve lopmenta l nature (pertaining speci f ica l ly to the deve lopment of musical skill and not to the development of general skil ls) of each these activit ies shou ld be evident in the progress ion of the l essons and in their cont inued use from lesson to lesson . Other s u g g e s t i o n s pertaining to the musica l deve lopmenta l nature of the act iv i t ies will be made in the " s u g g e s t i o n s for further use" sec t ion at the end of each lesson and in Appendix B. In some c a s e s , the activities used have been planned as isolated musical experiences and are not expanded upon from lesson to l e s s o n . In these c a s e s , this will be d o c u m e n t e d in the "suggest ions for further use" sect ion at the end of each lesson. E a c h lesson plan has been organized in five sect ions: (1) lesson ob jec t ives; (2) skill deve lopment ; (3) p r o c e d u r e s ; (4) materials; and (5) s u g g e s t i o n s for further use . The l esson object ives represent what should be accompl ished in each l esson , and the skill development section ind ica tes which musica l ski l ls the c o m p l e t e d object ives shou ld contr ibute to. The p rocedures sect ion will provide information on how these object ives should be a c c o m p l i s h e d . The materials sect ion will provide suggest ions as to the materials which cou ld /should be u s e d in attempting to a c c o m p l i s h the object ives of the l e s s o n . In the fifth s e c t i o n , sugges t ions for further use for each of the act ivi t ies in the lesson will be provided. T h e purpose of these suggest ions is to provide bas is for further deve lopment of this curr iculum. A s u m m a r y of how these activities c o r r e s p o n d with the musical and deve lopmenta l objectives listed above can be found in Appendix B. LESSON 1 O B J E C T I V E S : 1. Sing a greeting song to learn the children's names and to prepare the ch i ldren for later s ing ing act iv i t ies: If Your Name Begins With the Letter I Sing (5 minutes). 2. S ing a song with movement to get into circle formation and to introduce var ious musica l comparat ives to the ch i ldren: Can We Make a Circle? (3 minutes). 3. Learn a new song: Teddy Bear (5 minutes). 4. Perform various movements to the above song as the words suggest (5 minutes). 5. Sing a good-bye song: Good-bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. singing games, dances b. keeping a beat M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. pitch matching R H Y T H M A N D B E A T 71 a. keeping a beat G E N E R A L a. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. If Your Name Begins With the Letter I Sing a. Review the alphabet by asking the children to stand up when they hear the first letter of their name. When they are s tanding, ask them to take a bow. ie) All of the " E ' s " , take a bow. F lash cards with the letters of the alphabet on them could be also be used with this act iv i ty . b. S ing the song to chi ldren and ask them to sing along with you when they know it too. Tel l the chi ldren to tap the "beat" on their laps as they sing the song with you. c. A s the children s tand up when their letter is s u n g , ask them to s ing* their names individually then to take a bow when they are f in ished. d. Cont inue this procedure until all of the children have had an opportunity to sing or say their names and take a bow. 72 2 4 3 If 3 d your name m up! d name d be d be d 3 3 I gins with the let r Stand m up! i n d 3 3 I gins with the let m d r t up and take a 1 ter n i ter I d bow! 3 f sing, stand z n 3 your s f 3ing, stand d A-B. C 2. Can We Make a Circle a. Begin singing the s o n g and indicate to the c lass that a circle formation is des i red by joining hands with the chi ldren next to you . It may be necessary to tell the c l a s s to join hands so that a circle can be formed. S ing , rather than say this instruction to them. b. O n c e the chi ldren are in c irc le formation and are comfortable with the s o n g , sing additional v e r s e s . 1. Can we make it b igger . . . 2. C a n we make it s m a l l e r . . 3. Can we make it louder . . . 4. C a n we make it softer . . . 5. C a n we make it f as te r . . . 6. Can we make it s l o w e r . . . 2 4 d d d m 3 d Can we make a c i r - c l e ? d d d m s d d r 3 3 Can we make a c i r - c l e , a c i r - c l e , a r 3 Show me J m d c i r - c l e ? d how! 74 3. Teddy Bear (Birkenshaw, 1977). a. A Teddy Bear is in a bag. Give the children some clues, and ask them to try and guess what is in the bag. For example: It is brown a n d fluffy It is very snugly and nice to take to bed with you His first name is T e d d y What is it? b. Show the Teddy Bear to the chi ldren. Point out its arms, legs, ears, face , c lothing, etc. A s k chi ldren if their bodies have the s a m e features. Ask the chi ldren to move their body parts as you move those parts on the Teddy Bear. c. Tel l the children that you have a specia l song about all of the things that Teddy can do. Sing the song and do the actions with the Teddy Bear. d. Tell the children that you need them to help you sing the s o n g . T e a c h them the song by rote, with the chi ldren echoing what you s ing . 3 3 Ted-dy m 3 3 B e a r , Ted - dy m s B e a r , t u r n 1 s m a - round m m Ted-dy B e a r , Ted - dy B e a r , touch m m 3 s m 3 3 m s Ted-dy B e a r , Ted - dy B e a r , show Ted-dy B e a r , Ted - dy B e a r , that m the 1 your m w i l l r ground. s shoe. d do! m 4. Teddy Bear (with movement) a. Sing the song together and ask one of the children to do the actions with T e d d y . Go through this step once or twice, until the chi ldren perform the act ions while s inging the s o n g . b. If the chi ldren are comfortable with this task, ask them to pretend that they are Teddy Bears , and to do the actions as you s ing. 76 5. Good-bye Song a. A s k the children to be your echo by saying what you say when you are f inished. For example: G o o d bye children (T)* G o o d bye children (ch)* Good bye teacher (T) Good bye teacher (ch) We had a lot of fun today (T) We had a lot of fun today (ch) See you next week (T) See you next week (ch) Good bye children (T) Good bye children (ch) Good bye teacher (T) Good bye teacher (ch) *T=teacher ch=children b. Now tell the chi ldren that you will perform the verse using a different kind of v o i c e , ca l led a s inging vo ice . A s k them to try to find their singing vo ices as they echo you. Follow the same procedure as a b o v e , using l-s-m in a range which is comfortable for the ch i ldren. For example: 4 1 t i l l I 3 m 3 3 m s T: Good - bye boys and girl3. Ch: Good m bye 3 Tea m cher. I I I I I I I I I 3 3 m 1 3 3 m 3 1 Mu -3ic cla3swa3fun to - day. See you 3 m s s m s m 3 m • T:Good - bye boys and girls. Ch: Good - bye Tea - cher. M A T E R I A L S a. f lash cards of the letters of the alphabet (optional) b. Teddy Bear s next m week. S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. This activity could be used on a regular basis as a greeting s o n g , to begin the lesson s inging rather than speaking. If the chi ldren are reluctant to sing by t h e m s e l v e s to begin with, they cou ld be encouraged to say their names as they bow. Gradual ly , this response cou ld be ref ined to s a y i n g their name rhythmical ly , with sensi t iv i ty to the beat of the s o n g . This response could eventually be sung by the ch i ld ren , with attention to in-tune s ing ing . In this cur r i cu lum, however , this activity is only u s e d once as a means of initiating the chi ldren into the first music c l a s s in a re laxed, enjoyable manner . 78 2. A variety of musica l comparat ives could be taught and/or reinforced through the use of this song: high and low; fast and slow; and loud and soft. When used on a regular basis, children can be encouraged to refine the per fo rmance of these ski l ls while part ic ipat ing in a musical activity b e c a u s e although chi ldren may be able to verbal ize these c o n c e p t s , it is not until they can accurate ly perform them that they have actually internal ized their mean ing . There fore , this activity c o u l d be very effective in giving chi ldren the opportunity to sharpen these skills in an enjoyable context. This song can also be u s e d as a tool for c l ass room control in that it can be used to get ch i ldren into circ le formation on a "mus ica l" note without having to s p e a k to them. Ch i ld ren will understand that this s o n g signif ies the end of one activity and the beginning of another without being verbally asked to do so. 3. Th is song has melodic qualit ies which are conduc ive to promoting in-tune s inging in that it is b a s e d on the pentatonic s c a l e , which children find easy to s ing . Melodical ly , many patterns are repeated which makes it eas ier for chi ldren to hear and vocal ly reproduce. In order to promote in-tune singing in individuals, one child cou ld be p laced in the center of the circle as the Teddy Bear. The song will be sung by the whole c l a s s , with the child in the middle s inging the "Teddy Bear" phrases (so-mi a p p e a r s to be the eas iest interval for chi ldren to hear and correct ly reproduce) while the rest of the c l a s s s ings the remaining p h r a s e s . It will be n e c e s s a r y for the teacher to keep the 79 pitch center clear and stable . Th is activity cannot be done until the ch i ldren are comfortable with the teacher and with their own musica l competence. 4. Cont inue to expand on the movement suggested in the song until the chi ldren can comfortably perform them while they s ing . Gradual ly help the children to refine these movements until they are synchron ized with the beat. Another approach would be to allow the chi ldren to move freely without any sugges t ions from the teacher . A l lowing the chi ldren to r e s p o n d to the music in this manner will undoubtedly be stimulating for their imaginat ions. Keep in mind that this may result in the chi ldren becoming preoccup ied with the movement to the extent where they are not s inging. If the objective of the activity is to encourage s ing ing , stop the movement and s ing . However , if total invo lvement in the musica l activity is the g o a l , allow the children to immerse t h e m s e l v e s in their movement and do not be concerned about the reduced vocal participation. 5. T h e value of this s o n g is that it provides an opportunity to end the l e s s o n musical ly . A s the chi ldren b e c o m e comfortable with the q u e s t i o n - r e s p o n s e format and with their own singing v o i c e s , individual ize the activity. For example , instead of singing "Good bye chi ldren", sing "Good bye Andy" , with Andy singing the response on his own . Th is will re inforce s ing ing ski l ls and will help to build conf idence in the chi ldren. 80 LESSON 2 O B J E C T I V E S 1. S ing a known song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious comparat ives: Can We Make a Circle? (2-3 minutes) . 2. Learn a new greeting s o n g : Hello, Boys and Girls (5 minutes). 3. Review a known song with movement: Teddy Bear (3 minutes). 4. Learn a new poem with movement: / See a Snowflake (8 minutes). 5. Sing a good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. creative, expressive movement b. singing games, dances c. keeping a beat M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional s inging c. pitch matching RHYTHM AND BEAT a. keeping a beat GENERAL a. development of a song repertoire 81 PROCEDURES 1. Can We Make a Circle? a. Following the procedure outlined in lesson one (procedure #2) , get the chi ldren into c i rc le formation. O n c e they are in this formation, s ing the additional v e r s e s , encouraging the chi ldren to move in the way suggested by the words. For example: C a n we make it higher? (use higher singing voices) C a n we make it faster? ( increase the tempo) C a n we make it quieter? (use quiet s inging voices) etc. 2. Hello, Boys and Girls a. O n c e the circle has been made "just right", ask the chi ldren to sit down in their c i rc le . A s k them to be your echo , using their speaking voices. For example: Hel lo, boys and girls (T) Hello, boys and girls (ch) Hello, T e a c h e r (T) Hello, T e a c h e r (ch) 82 b. A s k the children to say only "Hello teacher". O n c e they can perform this, say "hello" to var ious individuals and ask them to respond. c. A s k the c lass to echo you using their singing vo ices . Use the interval of the minor third to form the melody of this s o n g . For example: s m s s m s m s m T: Hel - lo boys and g i r l s . C h : Hel - lo tea - cher d. If the chi ldren are comfor table with this, s ing "hello" to var ious individuals and ask them to echo you using their singing vo ices . This will provide an opportunity to determine which chi ldren are able to match pitch and those who cannot. 3. Teddy Bear (Birkenshaw, 1977) a. A s k the children to stand up in their c i rc le . Ask one child to go into the middle of the circ le and show the rest of the c l a s s how to turn a r o u n d . Ask all of the chi ldren to turn around in this way. Follow this procedure with touching the ground and showing your shoe . Ask the chi ldren who they know who can do all of these act ions. The answer shou ld be "Teddy Bear". Sing the song with the action. b. Tel l the children that a Teddy Bear is needed to help all of the other 83 T e d d y Bears remember how to do their act ions. Ask one child from the group to go into the center and be this Teddy Bear. Sing the song with the act ions. c. Repea t this activity once or twice with different chi ldren being the "center" Teddy Bear. Ensure that the children are singing as they do the act ions. If they are not, ask only the child in the center to do the act ions while the rest of the c l a s s s i n g s . 4. Two Snowflakes (Morningstar, 1986). a. Still s tanding, ask the chi ldren if they know what a snowflake is . A s k one chi ld to give h is /her definit ion to the rest of the c l a s s (a picture of a snow flake might be useful to reinforce this definit ion). C a n h e / s h e tell the c l a s s what a snowf lake looks like when it f a l l s? Is it light? Heavy? Fas t? S low? Loud? Soft? C a n he/she show the c lass how a snowflake fa l ls . A s k another chi ld to fall down like another snowflake that is being "wooshed" down by a storm. How would it fa l l? W o u l d it be fast or s l o w ? A s k the rest of the c l a s s to fall down like a fast or slow snowf lake and to get in a circle when f in ished . b. Reci te the following for the chi ldren Two Snowflakes I see a snowflake slowly fall, It turns and makes no sound at all. Gently, gently, twisting 'round, It comes to rest upon the ground. 84 Another one is spinning by, This one seems to whirl and fly; Faster, faster round it goes Before it settles on my nose. c. If necessary , repeat the poem. Then ask the children about the s n o w f l a k e s . What was the first snowf lake l ike? W a s it fast or s low? W a s the s e c o n d snowflake the same as the first o n e ? W a s it fast or s low? Have two different chi ldren show the c l a s s how a fast and s low snowf lake would fal l . d. A s k s o m e of the chi ldren to be the first snowf lake and to fall slowly as you say the poem. A s k another group of children to be the s e c o n d snowflake and to fall that way during the s e c o n d part of the poem. e. Using a triangle, tap out a slow beat (J= 48). Ask the children to move around like snowf lakes as they listen to the tr iangle. A s k them if it m a k e s them feel like moving fast or s low. If they a n s w e r "fast", ask them to explain why. If necessary , slow down the tempo. Tell the children to stop when the sound stops. Now tap out a faster beat ( J = 126) and ask the chi ldren how this makes them want to move. If the answer "slow", ask them to explain why, and if n e c e s s a r y , increase the tempo. A s k the chi ldren to move around like "fast" snowflakes and to stop when the sound stops. g. Alternate tempi, and ask the children to change the way they move when the sound c h a n g e s . Tell them to stop when the sound stops. 85 h. Repeat the poem and ask the children to move in the way that the words suggest . At the end of the poem, tap the triangle slowly and ask the chi ldren to fall slowly to the ground and "melt". 5. Good Bye Song a. Get the chi ldren back into circle formation by s inging Can We make A Circle? To reinforce what they have just done , make the circle faster and s lower before sitting down. b. Sing the good bye song as suggested in lesson one. If possible , sing good bye to individual children and have them respond. For example: 2 I 4 I $ T: Good m 3 s - bye M a r - i 3 3 m 1 3 3 M u - s i c c lass was fun to s T: Good m s s bye J o n - a m s anne. C h : Good m day. s See m 3 thon. Ch : Good m bye 1 you m bye s Tea 3 next 3 Tea m c h e r . m week. m c h e r . 86 M A T E R I A L S a. p ic ture /model of a snowf lake b. tr iangle S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson one, #2. 2. Th is activity should be done in every music l e s s o n , preferably toward the beginning to serve as a "vocal warmup" and to encourage vocal involvement in the l e s s o n . This greeting s o n g , or some variation of it, could be used to encourage individual s inging, in-tune s inging, pitch matching and se l f -conf idence about using the singing vo ice . A s chi ldren become more comfortable with this activity and as the above skills deve lop, the greeting song can become increasingly complex and more refined responses can be expected of the chi ld . This activity can also be used as a diagnost ic tool as a means of determining which chi ldren are mastering the skil ls l isted above . Chi ldren who do not demonstrate this mastery can be provided with some extra help both from the teacher and from the children who appear to be executing the task with relative e a s e . 3. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #'s 3 and 4. 4. Th is poem has been used only once in this curriculum as an experiential approach to introducing the concept of tempo (faster and slower) . However, there are many potential uses for this poem for later learning exper iences in music . Firstly, as the words s u g g e s t , it c o u l d be used effect ively to demonstra te the di f ference between fast and slow. Using their bodies , chi ldren can experience this as they listen to or say the p o e m . A s the chi ldren become familiar with the poem, more refined movement could be used in response to the words. The chi ldren's sugges t ions for this movement should be ser iously cons idered by the teacher . Nonpitched percussion instruments suggest ive of the words could a lso be introduced. With time, the chi ldren could be e n c o u r a g e d to keep the beat with these instruments as the poem is per formed. Th is might eventually be t ransformed into rhythmic ostinati which can be performed by the chi ldren. A very simple bordun played on pitched percussion could also be introduced with time. Finally, this poem could be set to a melody and sung by the ch i ld ren , bringing with it many more possib i l i t ies for mus ica l learning. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 88 LESSON 3 O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious comparat ives: Can We Make a Circle? (2-3 minutes) . 2. Sing a known greeting song: Hello, Boys and Girls (3-5 minutes) . 3. Perform a movement activity to reinforce the concep t of fast and slow: Alarm Clock (3 minutes). 4. Learn a new song with movement: Bell Horses (8 minutes). 5. Learn a finger game with act ions: Five Little Monkeys (5 minutes). 6. Sing a good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes) S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (high and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) d. timbre M O V E M E N T a. creat ive, express ive movement b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic prec is ion M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional s inging c. pitch matching R H Y T H M a. keeping a beat G E N E R A L a. improvisat ion b. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Can We Make a Circle? a. Follow procedure #1 in lesson 2. 2. Hello, Boys and Girls a. Fol low procedure #2 in lesson 2, with the following addit ion. b. S ing the first phrase to individual chi ldren and ask them to sing the response back to you. Encourage each child to sing in tune by suggest ing that they make their voice sound like yours. For example 2 4 s m s m s m s m Hel lo An - dy. Hel - lo Tea - che r . 3. Alarm Clock (Morningstar, 1986) a. Reci te the following narrative and encourage the children to move as the sound suggests: Have you ever seen an alarm clock? Well, th is is what it looks like (show the chi ldren a c lock) . Can you hear it saying TCHK TCHK TCHK TCHK TCHK? Now I'm going to set the alarm clock for a minute or two from now. There - it will make a loud ringing in a little while. Let's just step gently from foot to foot, lifting our knees high and going for a little walk around the room while the clock goes TCHK TCHK TCHK TCHK and I make this noise on the jingle ring at the same time. Now, when it rings, let's jump in the air and wave our arms and hands and heads all over the place. Are you ready for the ring to come in a minute? Keep stepping from foot to foot - remember to lift your knees high - any second now - RINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG! (shake the jingle ring quickly) It's slowing down . . . -n-n-n-n-n-ng! (slow down the shaking of the jingle ring). It's stopped. Have you stopped? b. A s k the children how they moved while the clock was t icking. W a s it fast or s low? How did they move when the alarm was ringing? W a s it fast or s l o w ? 4. Bell Horses (Choksy, 1974) a. A s k the children if they have ever s e e n a horse. Ask one of the chi ldren to descr ibe what a horse looks like. Other quest ions could include: What do horses like to eat? Do horses move fast or s low? C a n they do both? C a n horses make sounds? Make some of these sounds for me. Make some high horse sounds, ones. 91 Now make some low b. Tell the children that you have a song to teach them about a horse. A s k them to listen to you sing it. 3 i n i n i n j 8 m m s m m s 1 1 s Be l l h o r - ses , Be l l h o r - s e s , what t ime of day ? n i | n i | i n | J s s m s s m 3 1 1 s One o' c l ock , two o" c l ock , three and a - way c. T e a c h the song by rote, one phrase at a time. Ask the children to "walk like horses" with their hands on their legs while they s i n g . Encourage them to keep a steady beat as they do this. d. O n c e the children are able to sing the entire song and are accustomed to keeping the beat on their legs, ask them to stand up. In a single file, walk to the beat a s the song is s u n g . Tel l the chi ldren that they must lift their feet very h igh, or they will get s tuck in mud . T h i s will make walking the beat accurately much easier for the chi ldren. When the song is f in ished, ask the children to make some horse noises and 92 movements (ie. neighing, pawing ground with one foot, etc.). e. A s k the chi ldren to walk like fast horses ( J= 108). Now try walking like s low horses ( J= 60). f. A s k the chi ldren to s ing like "high" (not tall) horses by using their high s inging v o i c e s . Tel l them to walk on their toes when they sing the s o n g in this way. g. A s k the chi ldren to s ing like "low" (not short) horses by using their low singing vo ices . Tel l them to crouch down when they sing the song in this way. 5. Five Little Monkeys (Rust in -Sta ton, 1989) a. Get back into circle formation and ask the chi ldren to sit down. Reci te the following poem for them: Five Little Monkeys swingin' from a tree, (swing hand upside down) Teasin' Mr. Crocodile: "you can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Along comes Mr. Crocodile, slow as can be . . . (place hands together and slowly move them t towards the children) SNAP!! (clap hands) Four little monkeys swingin' from a tree. . . (swing hand upside down, with four fingers hanging down) 93 Three little monkeys swingin' from a tree. . . (swing hand upside down, with three fingers hanging down) Two little monkeys swingin' from a tree. . . (swing hand upside down, with two fingers hanging down) One little monkey swingin' from a tree. . . (swing hand upside down, with one fingers hanging down) No little monkeys swingin' from a tree. . . (swing fist upside down) b. A s k the children to "clap" on the word snap while you say the poem again . Then ask them to say the word and clap it while you perform the poem again. c. A s k the children to tell you how the crocodi le moves . Is it fast or s low. Tel l them to listen again to find out how he moves . d. A s k the children to say the poem with you, while they do the act ions. 6. Good Bye Song Fol low procedure #5, l esson 2. M A T E R I A L S a. C lock b. Jingle ring c. J ingle bells S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson two, #2. 3. Th is story represents a type of activity which could be used extensively in preschool music exper iences . Although this part icular story is u s e d only once in this curr icu lum, its purpose is to stimulate the ch i ldren 's imaginat ions, encourage involvement in the activity and to bring about an increased understanding of the concept of faster and slower. It could be used in later l e s s o n s if the ch i ldren are hav ing diff iculty with this c o n c e p t , but it is s u g g e s t e d that musical stimuli be used for this purpose whenever poss ib le in later l e s s o n s . 4. Th is is a good song for the development of var ious musical ski l ls , many of which have been suggested in the above lesson plan. Cont inued use of this song could be used to develop an awareness of dynamic variation, tempo, high and low, body awareness and coordinat ion. In addi t ion, the melodic qualit ies of this song (based on l -s -m; repeated patterns) make it an excel lent tool for deve loping in-tune s inging skills in young chi ldren. 5. In this curr icu lum, this ve rse is used as an experient ial activity to reinforce the concept of faster and slower and does not appear in any subsequent l e s s o n s . However, it does have some possibil i t ies for future use . For example , it could be used to demonstrate d i f ferences in tempo in future l e s s o n s , as line 3 is reci ted at a s lower tempo than the previous two l ines. The original tempo resumes at the repeat. Chi ldren could be encouraged to distinguish between the different tempi and to experiment with var ious different ones . Eventual ly, terms could be applied to each tempo, ie) l ines 1-2: moderato; line 3: al legro. S u c h exper iences will enable chi ldren to understand that music (rhythm) can be per-formed at different s p e e d s and that the variation in s p e e d can change the character of the performance. 6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. LESSON FOUR O B J E C T I V E S 1. S ing a known song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious comparat ives: Can We Make a Circle? (2-3 minutes) . 2. Sing a known greeting song: Hello, Boys and Girls (3-5 minutes) . 3. Perform a movement activity to introduce the concept of high and low: Leaf Dance (8 minutes) 4. S ing a known song with movement to reinforce the concept of high and low and other comparat ives: Bell Horses (5 minutes). 5. Learn a new song: Can You Clap Your Hands? (3 minutes). 6. Sing a good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. creat ive, expressive movement b. singing games, dances c. keeping a beat M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. pitch matching c. conversat ional s inging R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments G E N E R A L a. learning about c l a s s r o o m instruments b. improvisation (body) c. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Can We Make a Circle? a. Follow procedure #1 in lesson 2. 2. Hello, Boys and Girls a. Fol low procedure #2 in lesson 2, with the following addi t ions. b. S ing the first phrase to individual chi ldren and ask them to sing the response back to you. c. Us ing a high or low pitched vo ice , sing the first phrase to individual children and ask them to sing the response back to you, imitating the vo ice that you have u s e d . Th is will give the chi ldren an opportunity to explore their "high" and "low" v o i c e s , in preparat ion for the next activity. 3. Leaf Dance (Morningstar, 1986). a. With the children s tanding, ask them the following quest ions: 98 How far can you reach up - right up to the ceiling? Let's jump and get higher up still. Now let's do a high dance. How near to the floor can you get? Can you reach your whole self down to the floor? Is any bit of you left sticking up in the air? Is your head down there too? Now, let's do a dance way down here. b. Now, following the same procedure as above, add voice inflections to indicate high and low pitches. Ask the children to make some sounds with their high vo ices when they are stretched up high, and to make different sounds with their low vo ices when they are c r o u c h e d down low. For example: How far can you reach up - right up to the ceiling? Let's jump and get higher up still. Now let's make some high sounds (ca. 8 beats) How near to the floor can you get? Can you reach your whole self down to the floor? Is any bit of you left sticking up in the air? Is your head down there too? Now, let's make some low sounds way down here (ca. 8 beats) c. Us ing a picture or model of a leaf, ask the children to listen to your story and to watch what the leaf does . U s e different vo ice inf lect ions to indicate vocal ly what the leaf is doing. I'm a leaf, can't you see? Falling, falling, look at me! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I'm a leaf, blowing high, See me right up in the sky! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm a leaf, down so low, Rolling over, watch me go! Yumpity Yum pity Yum pity Yum pity Yum! I'm a leaf, in a heap, Now I think I'll go to sleep! Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! d. Now ask the children to stand up and be the leaves by doing what the words tell them to do. e. A s k the children to make the sounds in line 3 of every s tanza . Ask them what kind of sound a high leaf would make (high sounds) and what kind of s o u n d s a low leaf would make (low s o u n d s ) . Perform the poem again with the children making these sounds . 100 4. Bell Horses a. Get the children back into circle formation. Begin singing Bell Horses and ask them to join in when they know what the song is. O n c e all of the chi ldren are s i n g i n g , move into single file formation (with hands joined) and begin moving around the room while s inging. Encourage the ch i ldren to lift their feet h igh. Th is will make walking to the beat l e s s difficult for them. b. O n c e the children are familiar with the song again and have gained a s e n s e of the beat, ask one child to come up to the front to be the "lead horse". Give that chi ld a set of jingle bells to shake to the beat as he /she leads the other "horses" around the room. c. With another chi ld leading, ask the chi ldren to sing like horses with high vo ices and to walk on their toes as they move around. d. With a different chi ld leading, ask the chi ldren to s ing like horses with low v o i c e s and to walk down low as they move around. e. If t ime permits, cont inue this with loud and quiet, fast and slow horses , etc. Note: Ask the children to make horse sounds and movements each time the song is completed. 5. Can You Clap Your Hands? (Shieron, 1988) a. S ing the song to the children and indicate that they should perform the act ions. 4 4 d Can f Big 1 J d d m s you c lap you r hands? r c l a p s , m l i t m d t ie c laps . i n j 1 1 f 1 3 Can you c lap your hands? J r r 3 s d Can you c lap your hand3? b. Encourage the children to clap their hands to the beat as you sing the song. c. T e a c h the song to the children by rote. When they are able to sing it, add the following response to s o n g : 102 ' n n j n n j d d d m 3 I can c lap my hands! 1 f 1 3 I can c lap my hands! i n j f Big r c l a p s , m m d i l i t - t ie c l aps . I r r 3 s d can c lap my hands! d. Sing the song together in the quest ion- response form. If time permits, add the verse : "Can you pat your knees?". 6. Good Bye Song Follow procedure #5, l esson 2. MATERIALS a. P ic ture /model of a leaf b. J ingle bells SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER USE 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use" , lesson two, #2. 3. This poem has been used in this lesson as an isolated musical exper ience to reinforce the concept of higher and lower. Al though 103 this poem is used only once in this context in this cur r icu lum, this type of activity is ef fect ive for introducing and re inforc ing var ious musical concepts , as it gives children an opportunity to exper ience these c o n c e p t s both physica l ly and intel lectually. Th is part icular poem could be expanded upon in four different ways. First, the chi ldren cou ld add v o c a l inflections to the words to indicate their direct ion. For example , in the third line of the s e c o n d s tanza , they could say /s ing "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" at a high pitch and in the third line of the third s t a n z a , they could s a y / s i n g "Yumpity Yumpity Yumpity Yumpity Y u m " at a low pitch. Second ly , four chi ldren could perform the poem with these inf lect ions, providing an opportunity to evaluate their understanding of higher and lower as well as a chance to express themse lves in front of others. Thirdly, this poem could be set to a melody which is indicative of the words, giving the chi ldren the opportunity to explore finer dist inct ions between high and low. The fourth sugges t ion for this activity is to add var ious pi tched and nonpi tched percuss ion instruments to the poem to reinforce the concept of higher and lower. T h e s e suggest ions could be implemented in later musical exper iences to reinforce the c o n c e p t s which have been laid down in this curr iculum. 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson three, #4. 5. There are many potential uses for this activity for future music l e s s o n s , as the s o n g lends itself well to var iat ion. A s chi ldren b e c o m e more familiar with the s o n g , it cou ld be u s e d as a ski l l -d e v e l o p i n g activity for the ref inement of var ious musica l ski l ls as well as general body awareness and motor coordinat ion. For exampl Can you sing up high? Can you sing down low? C a n you sing quietly? Can you sing loudly? Can you nod your head? Can you blink your eyes? Can your hop on one foot? Can you hop on your right foot? etc. Th is song could also be used to teach and/or reinforce the names of var ious c lassroom instruments. For example: Can you play the woods? Can you play the metals? Can you play the sk ins? Can you play the drum? Can you play the wood block? Can you play the c laves? C a n you play the bel ls? etc. F inal ly , this activity cou ld be u s e d to deve loped improvisat ional ski l ls in chi ldren. Individual chi ldren could be given some type of instrument to play. When responding to the question "Can you play the children would be e n c o u r a g e d to improvise an answer on their instrument for 8 m e a s u r e s . S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 106 LESSON FIVE O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known song to get into circle formation and to reinforce various comparat ives: Can We Make a Circle? (2-3 minutes) . 2. Learn a new greeting song: Dingalingaling (3-5 minutes) . 3. Learn a singing game to reinforce the concept of loud and quiet: / Have Lost the Closet Key (5 - 7 minutes). 4. Play a matching game to reinforce the concept of loud and quiet: Loud and Quiet (5-7 minutes) . 5. Perform an echo exerc ise to develop rhythmic precision (3 minutes). 6. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic prec is ion M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. pitch matching RHYTHM a. keeping a beat b. echo movement /speech GENERAL a. development of a song repertoire PROCEDURES 1. Can We Make a Circle a. Fol low procedure #1 in lesson 2. 2. Dingalingaling a. A s k one of the children to demonstrate the sound of a telephone ringing (Ding-a- l ing-a- l ing) . Tel l the chi ldren that you are going to call one of them. Pick up an imaginary phone and sing the following 2 4 s s m m s Ding - a - l i n g - a - l ing . m 3 m m s m I'm c a l - l i n g ( c h i l d ' 3 name) 3 How m 3 m i s s m s m ? C h : V e - r y f i n e , thank you ! a re you. b. Encourage the children to sing the response , "Very fine thank you!". 108 c. If the chi ldren are comfortable with the s o n g , ask indiv iduals to "phone" someone else in the c lass . The child who picks up the phone then phones another chi ld . Cont inue this until severa l chi ldren have had an opportunity to sing by themselves . 3. Loud and Soft a. Explain to the children that there are things which can make loud sounds as well as things which can make quiet sounds . Hand out pictures of var ious items which have a character is t ic loud or quiet s o u n d that the chi ldren shou ld be familiar with. A s k individual chi ldren to place these pictures in either the loud column or the quiet column which have been placed on a felt board. b. Ask children if they can make the sounds made by the things in the pictures. Encourage them to make those sounds either loud or quiet, depending on what is in the picture. 4. / Have Lost the Closet Key (Choksy, 1974) a. Show the children a key which is for a spec ia l c loset containing musica l toys and s u r p r i s e s . Tel l the chi ldren that this is a very spec ia l key and that you carry it with you wherever you go. However, one day, as you walked through a "lady's garden" you noticed that you had lost your key. Tel l the chi ldren that you sang this song to help find the key: 109 3 3 m m 3 3 m s 3 m 1 3 m I have lost the clo - set keg in some la - dy's gar - den Help me find the clo - set key in 3 0 me la - dy's gar - den 1 have found the clo - set key in some la - dy's gar - den b. T e a c h the children the song by rote. c. A s k the children to help you find the key by singing the song in the loud voice (tell them not to shout!) . Do the same with quiet vo ices . d. Tel l the children that they are going tap play a game using their loud vo ices and their quiet v o i c e s . Ask one child to hide his/her eyes while you hide the keys somewhere in the room. Tel l that child that h e / s h e must try to f ind the keys , but that the rest of the c l a s s will help him/her find them by using their loud and quiet s inging v o i c e s . When the children are singing the song quietly, that means that he/she is far away from the keys . When the children are singing the song loudly, that means that he /she is c lose to the keys. O n c e the child f inds the keys, allow another child to do s o . e. P lay the game severa l t imes to allow chi ldren the opportunity to explore the sound of loud and quiet vo ices . 110 5. Echo Activity a. A s k children to be your echo and to repeat everything you do. b. Create various 4-beat phrases using vocal and body sounds in addition to movement. For example: k| k, ki k t, t, t, t m, m, m, m sh, sh , s h , sh ow, ow, ow, ow clap, c lap , c lap, clap snap, snap, snap, snap shake, shake, shake, shake stamp, s tamp, stamp, stamp nod, nod, nod, nod hips, hips, hips, hips (moving hips to the beat) bend, bend, bend, bend twist , tw is t , tw is t , twist high, high, high, high (on toes and using high pitched voice) low, low, low, low (crouching and using low pi tched voice) loud, loud, loud, loud (using loud voice) 111 quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet (using quiet voice) fast, fast , fast , fast (at a faster tempo) slow, s low, s low, slow (at a s lower tempo) , down, down, down, down (slowly falling) Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 6. Good Bye Song Follow procedure #5, l esson 2. M A T E R I A L S a. Key b. Felt board c. Pictures of loud and quiet objects S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one", #2. 2. Th is song has many of the same qualities of the greeting song which has been used in the lessons thus far. It's tone set (s-m) is one which is c o n d u c i v e to promoting in-tune singing skil ls in ch i ldren . In addi t ion, it e n c o u r a g e s the chi ldren to use their imaginat ions in the activity. For other pedagogica l ideas , see also "suggest ions for further use" , l e s s o n two, #2. 112 3. T h i s activity se rves as an effective v isual introduction and reinforcement of the concept of loud and quiet and has potential for further use in future music l e s s o n s . O n c e the children have demonstrated an understanding and mastery of this task, they can draw/paint their own pictures of things which they bel ieve to be loud and quiet. Bes ides visual representation of loud and quiet, the children can be encouraged to demonstrate their understanding physical ly by moving, s inging, playing and speaking in ways which are loud and quiet. When both of these modes of understanding are maste red , the musical symbols a s s o c i a t e d with loud (f=forte ) and quiet {p=piano) can be introduced into the chi ldren's vocabulary . When the children are familiar with these , the symbols can then be used as cues for how the children are to perform something. For example , they will understand they when they are asked to sing "p", they will sing quietly and when they are a s k e d to sing "f", they will s ing loudly. In time, they could be introduced to the remaining dynamic symbols as fol lows: ff= fort issimo = very loud mf= mezzoforte= medium loud mp= mezzopiano= medium quiet pp = pianissimo = very quiet 4. Th is activity could be used repeatedly to reinforce the concept of loud and quiet. Eventually, it could also be used to encourage and develop 113 in-tune singing and individual s inging skills in chi ldren. For example , when the "finding" chi ld f inds the keys based on the v o c a l / d y n a m i c cues provided by the c l a s s , he/she could be encouraged to sing "I have found the c loset keys" by him/hersel f . 5. T h e goal of this activity is to deve lop in chi ldren the ability to respond accurately to rhythmic c u e s by reproducing them with pre-c i s i o n . A s this type of activity as e x p o s e d to the ch i ld ren , their ability to perform this task shou ld become increasingly ref ined. A s this happens , the ch i ld ren 's rhythmic and general musical sensit ivi ty should increase, thereby enhancing their musical development . Rhythmic imitation c a n eventua l ly evolve into melodic imitation to increase perceptual development . Movement imitation could also be incorpora ted into this type of activity as well . A s c h i l d r e n ' s ability to respond and echo b e c o m e s more refined, improvisation could be in t roduced, thereby increas ing the chi ld 's ability to communica te through the medium of music. For example: T: snap snap snap snap ch: clap snap clap snap or This activity could a lso be used to explore the var ious s o u n d s which a voice can make. A s k the children to make up some sounds of their own, then perform the exercise using these. Nonsense words created by the children cou ld a lso be used in this exerc ise . S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. LESSON SIX O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song: Dingalingaling (3 minutes). 2. Learn a new song with movement to get into circle formation: Such a Making a Circle (3 minutes). 3. Perform an echo exercise to develop rhythmic precision (3 minutes). 4. Per form a movement activity to deve lop rhythmic precis ion (3 minutes) . 5. Learn a new poem with act ions: If I Could Play . . . (5 minutes). 6. B e c o m e familiar with var ious instruments and their names: Whose Got the Instrument? (5-8 minutes) . 7. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precis ion M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing c. pitch matching R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat GENERAL a. learning about instruments b. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Dingallngaling a. Follow procedure #2 in lesson 5. 2. Such a Making Circle (Brown, 1980) a. Begin singing the s o n g while walking the beat and indicate that you would like the chi ldren to get into circle formation. 117 i r I d d c i r - c le r m m m 3 nev - e r did see , 1 r-Such a m a k - i n g a 3 s f r r Such a m a k - i n g a F = I | m 3 f m d d Such a m a k - i n g a 3 s f r r Such a m a k - i n g a r r r c i r - c le I c i r - c le I n 1 r r s c i r - c le you f f f f nev - e r did see, r s nev - e r did see, r m d d can't catch me! r rr m m m 2. Such a moving to the right . . . 3. Such a moving to the left . . . 4. S u c h a stretching to the ceiling 5. Such a bending to the f loor . . . 6. Such a standing still . . . b. A s k one chi ld to show his/her right hand. A s k all chi ldren to hold up their right h a n d s . Te l l them that they will walk in that d i rect ion while they sing the s o n g . Sing verse two of the song with movement. 118 c. A s k one chi ld to show his/her left hand. A s k all chi ldren to hold up their left h a n d s . Te l l them that they will walk in that d i rect ion while they sing the s o n g . Sing verse three of the song with movement. d. S ing the fourth verse of the s o n g , demonstrat ing to chi ldren how to "st retch to the c e i l i n g " e. S ing the fifth verse of the s o n g , demonstrat ing to chi ldren how to "bend to the floor". f. S ing the sixth verse of the song very quietly to calm the chi ldren, then ask them to sing down in the floor in their circle format ion. 3. Echo Activity a. Ask the children to be your echo and repeat what you say. Use the fol lowing 2- and 4-beat p h r a s e s , p rogress ing from simple to more complex . Encourage the children to repeat precisely what you say. ha ha ho ho i n ha hee hee hee hee ha shoo shoo sho sho s ho shee shee shee shee 3 ho Hi there I Ho there How a re you? I I I I I Ve - r y f i n e , thank you ! l i k e p iz - za A l l k inds of p iz - za Pep - p e r - o n - i p iz - za I I J Hot dogs, too! 1 1 9 120 i n i l French fries and milk shakes I I J They're good, too I I I I I I I like choc'late ice - cream I I J Yum yum yum - mm 4. Movement Activity (Wood, 1982). a. A s k all of the chi ldren to "walk" on their laps with their hands to the sound of the drum. A s k them if the different s o u n d s make them want to "walk" in different ways . A s k some of the chi ldren to show you their way of "walk ing". b. A s k all of the chi ldren wearing "red" (choose any color) to walk with their feet to the sound of the drum and to stop when the sound stops. On a hand drum, tap out 8 beats of quarter note at a tempo the chi ldren are comfor tab le with. c. A s k all of the chi ldren wearing "blue" how the new s o u n d you are making makes them want to move. Tap out 8 beats of eighth notes at a tempo the chi ldren are comfortable with. 121 d. A s k all of the chi ldren wearing "yellow" how the new s o u n d you are making makes them want to move. Ask them to move on their bums to the new sound . T a p out 8 beats of half notes at a tempo the children are comfortable with. e. A s k all of the girls to move their feet to the new sound(s) you are making. T a p out an 8-beat rhythm pattern, combining two or more different note values (ie. quarter notes and eighth notes). f. A s k all of the boys to move their arms to the new sound(s) you are making. Tap out an 8-beat rhythm pattern, combining two or more different note va lues . 5. If I Could Play . . . (Cromwel l , Hibner & Fai te l , 1983) a. Show the children pictures of a piano, guitar, trumpet and drums. Al low the chi ldren to handle the pictures and ask them if they have ever s e e n these instruments before. A s k the chi ldren if they know how the instruments are played and what they sound like. b. Tel l the chi ldren that you have a story to tell them about the instruments that you would like them to l isten to. Reci te the fol lowing poem for them with ac t ions : If I could play the piano, This is the way I would play (move fingers like playing a piano) If I had a guitar, 122 / would strum the strings this way (holding guitar and strumming) If I played a trumpet, I'd toot to make a tune (move fingers like playing a horn) And if I played a drum, I'd go BOOM, BOOM, BOOM (like playing a drum) c. G i v e four different chi ldren a picture of one of the instruments mentioned in the p o e m . Ask the children to hold up the appropriate picture when they hear it ment ioned in the poem. d. Repeat the above procedure with four different chi ldren, then ask the rest of the children to do the actions suggested in the poem. e. A s k the c lass to say the poem with you while doing the act ions. 6. Whose Got the Instrument a. When the chi ldren are familiar with these instruments and how they are p layed , give four different chi ldren the pictures of the instruments. b. S ing the following to the c l a s s : s m m s m Whose got the ? (name of i n s t r u m e n t ) 123 c. Encourage the children to sing: 2 4 3 3 m m 3 An - dy'3 got the _ m (name of instrument) Also encourage in-tune singing by asking the children to make their vo ices sound like yours . d. O n c e the c lass has identif ied the instrument, tell them how the instrument is p layed. For example: 2 4 3 3 m m s m Thi3 is how you play it 3 3 3 3 plink plink plink plink (piano) strum strum strum strum (guitar) toot toot toot toot (trumpet) thump thump thump thump (drums) (all of the above with actions) e. W h e n the chi ldren are comfortable with this, sing them the first phrase as a question (How do you play it?) and allow them to respond as above. 7. Good Bye Song Follow procedure #5, l esson 2. 124 M A T E R I A L S a. Hand drum b. Pictures of a piano, guitar, trumpet and drums S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #2. 3. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #5. 4. T h i s could evolve into a creat ive, improvisat ional type of movement game. Ideally, the children should be able to move in any way they feel is appropriate and to develop imagination and creative thinking skil ls to make such d e c i s i o n s . However , this activity should also be u s e d to develop sensit ivi ty to var ious note va lues and rhythm patterns by encourag ing the chi ldren to move in different ways to varying s o u n d s . A s the chi ldren become comfortable with this idea , they can begin to move in character is t ic ways to different note va lues . For example , they might walk for quarter notes, run for eighth notes and hop for half notes. Th is would give them an opportunity to physical ly exper ience dif ferences in note va lues . When the children are able to do this, durational symbols and names for these note va lues could be in t roduced to them, thus increas ing the chi ldren 's potential to express themselves with and through music . For example , the teacher 125 may say "ta ta ta ta" rather than tap quarter notes to motivate the chi ldren to "walk". She may also write the symbols on the board in the fol lowing way: I I I I This will give the chi ldren a visual cue about how they should move. The potential of this activity is therefore very e x p a n s i v e . Al though this part icular activity is used only once in this cur r icu lum, as an introduction to movement in response to rhythm and timbre, the skills which it introduces the chi ldren to are used in addit ional l e s s o n s throughout. These exper iences should prepare the children for an introduction to more sophist icated concepts descr ibed above . 5. In addition to serving as an effective prelude into Whose Got the Instrument, this poem could be used to further develop a sense of beat in the chi ldren. Addit ional instruments could also be used in the poem to serve as an introduction to a variety of other instruments into the chi ldren's vocabulary . This poem is used only once in this curr iculum, serving as an introduction to Whose Got the Instrument. In those c a s e s where the chi ldren have difficulty with this game , this poem could continued to be used in this manner. 6. Th is activity s e r v e s to introduce chi ldren to a variety of instruments from the major fami l ies of instruments (strings, b r a s s , p e r c u s s i o n , 126 woodwinds) . C lassroom instruments which the children have been or will be exposed to could also be used quite effectively in this game. Addit ional instruments of var ious kinds could be introduced to the chi ldren to expand the possibi l i t ies of this activity. When the chi ldren are comfortable with this, more individual s inging could be encouraged , with the child singing the response to both quest ions sung by the teacher. Aga in , attention could be given to in-tune singing and pitch matching in order to provide for cont inued development of the chi ldren 's singing ski l ls . In addit ion, the actual instruments could be brought into the c lassroom to allow the children to see , hear and experiment with. In some c a s e s it may be possible to arrange for "guest mus ic ians" to bring their instruments into the c l a s s r o o m to perform for the chi ldren. This activity could also be easi ly expanded into one which could teach the concept of timbre to the chi ldren. When they are familiar with the instruments, the sounds which they produce could be introduced to the chi ldren. In time, the children may be able to identify the instrument by its s o u n d . 7. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. L E S S O N S E V E N 127 O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious musical compara t ives : Such a Making a Circle (3 minutes). 2. Learn a new greeting song: Sing Me Your Name (5 minutes). 3. Sing a known song with movement: Can You Clap Your Hands? (5 minutes). 4. Perform an echo exercise to develop rhythmic precision (3 minutes). 5. Create and perform a rhythmic composi t ion using the rhythm patterns explored in the previous echo exercise (5 minutes). 6. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) d. timbre M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precis ion 128 M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments c. rhythm pattern recognit ion d. rhythm patterns G E N E R A L a. learning about c lassroom instruments b. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Such a Making a Circle a. Follow the procedure outlined in lesson six to get the chi ldren into circle formation. O n c e this has been accompl ished and the children are familiar with the song again , add the following v e r s e s : a. Such a singing up high . . . b. Such a singing down low . . . c. Such a singing quietly . . . d. Such a singing loudly . . . e. Such a moving quickly . . . (at a faster tempo) f. Such a moving slowly . . . (at a slower tempo) 129 2. Sing Me Your Name (Tse -Per ron , 1987) a. With the chi ldren sitting in c irc le format ion, introduce two f inger puppets named "Jody" and "Johnny". Tell them that Jody and Johnny cannot talk, but that they sing everything to each other. Demonstrate to the children how they learn new names. For example: 2 4 Jody: Sing m s me, 3ing 3 m 3 Johnny:John - ny, John m s ny, that m 3 m r d me, sing me your name m is r d my name! b. With "Jody" singing the quest ion, ask each of the children to sing their names. 3. Can You Clap Your Hands? a. Review the song with the children as in lesson 4, procedure #5. b. O n c e they are familiar with the song and have "clapped" and patted", add the following act ions: Can you touch your nose Can you nod your head . . Can you sing up high . . . 130 Can you sing down low . . . Can you use your loud voice . . . Can you use your quiet voice . . . (Note: while the children are performing the last four ve rses , encourage them to pat the beat somewhere on their bodies while they sing) c. Now introduce two or three nonpitched percuss ion instruments into the activity. For example , a drum, a triangle and a wood block. After explaining the names of these instruments and how they are p layed, give them to individual chi ldren. Then add the following v e r s e s : Can you play the block . . . Can you play the triangle . . . Can you play the drum . . . d. A s k all of the chi ldren to pretend that they are playing the instrument being sung about. Have all of the children sing the response "I can play the . . .". 4. Echo Activity a. Using the rhythm patterns suggested in the previous l e s s o n , perform an echo activity. Repeat the following patterns severa l t imes with the ch i ldren , using var iat ions in vocal inf lections to maintain the chi ldren 's interest and to allow them an opportunity to explore their own voices . Pep - p e r - o n - i p iz F rench f r i e s end m i l k shakes J Hot dogs, too! Z Y u m - my yum y u m ! O n c e the children are comfortable with these patterns, ask them to clap and say the words when they echo. If the children are able to do this with conf idence , ask them to keep the words in their heads and clap them with their hands. (This is a sophis t ica ted task which may be very difficult for s o m e chi ldren. Do not pursue it un less they demonstrate sufficient coordinat ion and understanding of the activity). Rhythmic Composition Show the children pictures of p izza , hot dogs , french fries and mi lkshakes, and of s o m e o n e licking his/her l ips. A s k the children to say the corresponding rhythm pattern as the pictures are presented. b. P lace the pictures on the board/wall . Point to them and ask the children to say the corresponding rhythm pattern. For example, when pointing to the p izza , ask the children what it sounds like. They should respond: I I I 1 I I Pep - p e r - o n - i p iz - za c. W h e n the children are comfortable with this, put the pictures in a different order and ask them to say what the pictures suggest . Ask individual children to place the pictures in any order they like and then instruct the rest of the c l a s s to say the rhythm patterns in this order. Ask the c lass what their favorite order is and then say and clap it in that way. If it is poss ib le , have the chi ldren say the words "in their heads" and clap the rhythm pattern. 6. Good Bye a. Follow procedure #5, lesson 2. b. A d d the use of various voice inflections and ask the children to echo you. For example, use a high or low pitched voice or a quiet or loud vo ice . Th is will require increased attention from the chi ldren and will give them an opportunity to explore their own v o i c e s . 133 M A T E R I A L S a. Finger puppets b. Triangle c. Hand drum d. Wood block e. Pictures of p izza, hot dogs , french fries and milk shakes and a person l icking h is /her l ips . S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #2. 3. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson 4, #5. 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #5. 5. Th is activity has cons iderab le potential for expansion in a preschool music c l a s s r o o m . First, it can be used to develop the ability to dist inguish between var ious patterns which are made up of long and short sounds. Eventually, these sounds can be labeled and given symbols . For example , the pattern "pepperoni p izza" is compr ised of long and short sounds . Once the children have physically experienced this pattern and are able to say , c lap, pat, s tamp, etc. it, they will be ready to learn more about the tools which make it up. They can learn that "ta" (quarter note) represents the long s o u n d s and "ti-ti" (eighth notes) represents the short sounds. They can also be taught the symbols for these sounds . The children can then put these symbols into their own combinat ions. Other symbols can also be introduced, such as the half note and the quarter rest. Second ly , this activity gives chi ldren an opportunity to explore musical form by exposing them to "same" and "different" rhythm patterns. In addit ion, once they understand that music is made up of patterns and that these patterns can be combined in various different ways, they can put together their own simple composi t ions. For example, they could explore how many ways two different patterns can be put together (AB; A B A ; A A B B ; etc). Eventually, these patterns could become longer and more complex. Through these p rocesses , children are learning ana lys is skil ls which will increase their understanding of music and their ability to use it to express t h e m s e l v e s . 6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 135 LE S S O N EIGHT O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce various musical compara t ives : Such a Making a Circle (3 minutes). 2. Sing a known greeting song: Sing Me Your Name (3 minutes). 3. Sing a known singing game: / Have Lost the Closet Key (5 minutes). 4. Perform an echo exercise to develop rhythmic precision (2 minutes). 5. Learn a new poem with act ions: There Was a Little Turtle (5-7 minutes). 6. Play a known game to review four instruments and to learn the names of two new ones: Whose Got The Instrument? (5 minutes). 7. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precision 136 M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. pitch matching c. conversat ional singing R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat G E N E R A L a. learning about instruments b. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Such a Making a Circle a. Follow procedure in lesson seven, #1. 2. Sing Me Your Name a. Sing the first phrase of the song to one of the children and ask him/her to respond to it by singing his/her name. b. A s k that chi ld to sing the first phrase of the song to the child next to him/her. That chi ld will then sing the response and will go on to sing the first phrase of the song to the child sitting next to him/her . Cont inue this procedure until all of the children have sung . c. Encourage the children to sing in tune while they perform this song . It may be necessary to reestablish the pitch as the song moves around 137 the c i rc le . 3. / Have Lost the Closet Key a. Show the children the key which you presented to them in lesson five. A s k them if they remember what it is for. If n e c e s s a r y , repeat the story of how you lost this key in a lady's garden and sing the song you used to find it. b. Review the song with the children. Sing the song in loud voices and in quiet vo ices . When they are comfortable with this, play the game as in lesson five, procedure #4. 4. Echo Activity a. Present this activity to the children in the same manner as lesson five, procedure #5 using the following rhythm patterns: snap snap c lap c lap T u r - t i e , T u r - t ie snap snap c lap c lap h i n M o s - q u i - to , Mos -qu i - to snap snap c lap c lap Flea Flea Flea Flea snap snap c lap c lap M i n - now, M i n - now 139 b. C lap and say the rhythm patterns and ask the children to echo you in this manner. 5. There Was a Little Turtle (Tse -Per ron , 1987) a. Tel l the children that you are going to tell them a story about an animal and that you want them to guess what kind of animal it is. Tel l them that it is green and has four legs and carr ies its house around on its back. Encourage children to tell you it is a turtle. b. Form a turtle using both hands, with the thumb of one hand extended (the head of the turtle) and the palm of the other hand cover ing it up (the shel l of the turtle). Show the children how the head of the turtle moves. c. Us ing act ions recite the following poem for the chi ldren. There was a little turtle (make turtle with hands- see below) who lived in a box (shape box in air with fingers) He swam in the water (make swimming motions with hands) and he climbed on the rocks (make climbing motions with hands) He snapped at a mosquito (clap on "snapped") He snapped at a flea ( clap on "snapped") He snapped at a minnow ( clap on "snapped") and he snapped at me (clap on face on "snapped") He caught the mosquito (clap on "caught") He caught the flea (clap on "caught") He caught the minnow (clap on "caught") but he didn't catch me! (shake finger) 140 d. Ask chi ldren to say the words "snapped" and "caught" when you recite them in the rhyme and to clap on those words. e. S a y the entire rhyme together with children doing act ions f. A s k children to make some "mouth" sounds for the words "snapped" and "caught" and have them demonstrate them for the c lass . Use these sounds in place of the words when the rhyme is repeated by the c l a s s . Encourage chi ldren to experiment with many different mouth sounds to be used in the performance of the rhyme. 6. Whose Got the Instrument? a. Review the instruments as they were presented in lesson 6, procedure #6. b. Introduce two new instruments: the violin and the harp. The sounds for these instruments are "bow . . ." and "pluck . . ." respect ively. c. Play the game with the children as in lesson six, procedure #6. 7. Good Bye Song a. Follow procedure #6, lesson 7. 141 M A T E R I A L S a. Key b. Pictures of a piano, guitar, trumpet, drums, violin and harp. S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggestions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #2. 3. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson five, #4. 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #5. 5. Th is activity is used only once in this curr iculum to reinforce rhythmic precision ski l ls. However, it could be used in later l essons or in subsequent curr icu la in the following ways. First , different t imbres could be explored by allowing the chi ldren to investigate var ious non-pi tched percuss ion instruments to represent the sounds suggested in the rhyme. First, allow the children to make up a number of vocal sounds to represent the words "snap" and "caught". The chi ldren could then experiment with var ious instruments as representative sounds. For example, woods could be used as "snapping" sounds and skins could be used as "catching" sounds . At a later time, woods could be u s e d to represent the "flea" and the "turtle"; metals for the "minnow" and sk ins for the "mosqui to" . 142 Final ly a variety of different t imbres could be explored to represent all of the sounds suggested by the poem. For example: Turtle sand blocks Box wood block Water jingle ring Rocks tic-toe block Mosquito cabasa Flea guiro Minnow triangle E x e r c i s e s of this nature would serve as an effective introduction or reinforcement of var ious timbre. In all of the c a s e s suggested above, however, the children should be encouraged to choose the timbre on their own. They should be allowed to use their imaginations and to exerc ise their own level of musical judgment in this type of exerc ise and therefore, the teacher should not impose his/her ideas about what a turtle should sound like. In addition to these exerc ises , increasingly refined body movements could be incorporated into the performance of the poem, thus involving chi ldren on var ious different levels . For example , different body movements could be used to represent the sounds suggested in the rhyme such as knee slapping for the turtle, shoulder tapping for the f lea, hip swinging for the minnow and clapping for the mosquito. Finally, the echo exercise suggested in procedure #4 could be adapted as an ostinato to be performed as the poem is recited with or without the above activit ies. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson six, #6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. LESSON NINE O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious musical comparat ives: Can We Make a Circle? minutes). 2. Sing a known greeting song: Sing Me Your Name (3 minutes). 3. Introduce the concept of melodic direction using a musical story Here I Am (10 minutes). 4. Sing a known song with movement: Bell Horses (5 minutes). 5. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precis ion M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing g. Melodic patterns 145 R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments G E N E R A L a. learning about c lassroom instruments P R O C E D U R E S 1. Can We Make a Circle? a. Follow procedure in lesson two, #1. 2. Sing Me your Name a. Follow procedure in lesson eight, #2. 3. Here I Am a. With the chi ldren sitting in a circle on the floor, show them a large picture of a set of stairs. Next, introduce them to a character - Happy Hopscotch - who is learning how to walk up and down these stairs. Tel l the children that he is quite confused about how to do this and requires their help. Happy's di lemma is that he doesn' t understand the difference between up and down and standing still. He therefore asks for the ch i ldren 's ass is tance in learning this task. b. P lace Happy at the bottom of the staircase and ask the children which direction he can go. For example, ask them if he can move down from that posi t ion. If not, which direction can he go? 146 c. Tell the children that Happy needs something to help him remember to go up when he is at the bottom of the stairs. Tel l them that you will give Happy a song to sing to remind him of which direction to go. Sing the following and ask the chi ldren to repeat after you: 4 4 d Here I J I I J m d r m a m , step - ping up J d r r m m d r r m mg l i t - t ie s t a i r - c a s e r ight to the top d. Show the children how Happy moves up to the top of the stairs as he s ings the song . Demonstrate this several times and ask individual children to help Happy get up to the top by singing the song for him. e. Ask the children to stand up and pretend that they are climbing up the stairs as they sing the s o n g . Pract ice this severa l t imes, until the children demonstrate that they understand. 147 f. Ask the children what direction the song moves in. Does it move up? Does it move down? Sing the song very slowly and allow the children to determine whether the song moves up or down. Once they have done this, demonstrate that as the song moves up, Happy moves up the stairs. Allow severa l chi ldren to move Happy up the stairs as they sing the song. g. Now place Happy at the top of the stairs and ask the children which direction he can move in. Can he move up? Can he move down? Which way should he move from the top of the stairs. h. Tell the children that you have a song to help him find out which direction to go. Sing the following for them and ask them to repeat after you : 148 4 4 m Here I J I I J d m r d m r r d d m r r d d a m , step - ping down my l i t - t ie s t a i r - c a s e r igh t to the bot - tom i. Show the children how Happy moves down to the bottom of the stairs as he s ings the song . Demonstrate this several times and ask individual children to help Happy get down to the bottom by singing the song for him. j . Ask the children to stand up and pretend that they are climbing down the stairs as they sing the s o n g . Pract ice this severa l t imes, until the children demonstrate that they understand. k. Ask the children what direction the song moves in. Does it move up? Does it move down? Sing the song very slowly and allow the children to determine whether the song moves up or down. Once they have done this, demonstrate that as the song moves down as Happy moves down the stairs. Allow severa l children to move Happy down the stairs as they sing the song. I. Tell the children that Happy does not have to move and can stand still on the stairs. m. Tel l the children that this is the song that Happy can sing when he is just standing still. Sing the following and ask the chi ldren to repeat after you: 4 4 J I d Here d d d d d d am, stand-ing still on my d lit d d d d d tie stair-case right at d d d the bot-tom n. A s k the children what direction the song moves in. Does it move up? D o e s it move down? Does it stand still? Sing the song very slowly and allow the children to determine whether the song moves up, down or stays on one pitch. O n c e they have done this, demonstrate that the song stays on one note when Happy stands still. Allow several children to hold Happy on the bottom step as they sing the song . o. This procedure could also be followed with Happy standing on the middle or bottom step, singing the song on re or mi, respect ively . 150 4. Bell Horses a. Follow procedure outlined in lesson 4, #4. b. O n c e the children are familiar with the song and are able to walk around as they sing it, add the following instruct ions. c. Pretend that you are race horses. How do race horses move? (Prompt the chi ldren to answer "fast"). Let's sing the song and move like race horses. (Play a wood block to establish the tempo and encourage the chi ldren to walk in this way). d. Pretend that you are very old horses. How do these horses move? (Prompt the children to answer "slow"). Let's sing the song and move like slow horses . (Play a wood block to establish the tempo and encourage the children to walk in this way). e. Let's pretend that we are farm horses. We'll be very loud as we go into the barn and we'll wake up the farmer's wife. Let 's sing the song and move like loud farm horses. (Encourage the children to use their loud singing vo ices , not their shouting voices) . f. Let's pretend that we are ponies. Do ponies make very loud sounds? Let's sing the song and move like very quiet ponies. (Be sure that the children are singing and not whispering). 151 g. Let 's pretend that we are silent horses and we'll sing the song in our heads. We'll still move like horses and make our horse sounds at the end. When you are f inished, very quietly sit down. 5. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. MATERIALS a. Mountable picture of a set of 3 stairs. b. Large round chip or plate to move on the stairs. c. J ingle bells d. Wood block SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER USE: 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson five, #2. 3. The purpose of this activity is to introduce the concept of melodic direction to chi ldren. Although this concept is usual ly taught using the melodic interval of the minor third (Choksy , 1974, 1981) this approach focuses on the "do re mi" melodic pattern to teach this ski l l . In this researcher 's exper ience, this approach has proven more useful and s u c c e s s f u l for teaching 4-year -o ld chi ldren this aspect of melod ic d i rect ion , and lends itself very well to the fol lowing suggest ions . First, when the children can dist inguish between the 152 melodic patterns visual ly and are able to sing them accurately , they can also be taught to recognize them by their aural character is t ics . For example, one of the patterns could be sung or played by the teacher on a pitched percussion instrument and the children could identify which pattern it is. S e c o n d l y , the chi ldren could explore playing these patterns on pitched percuss ion instruments on their own. All but three bars could be removed from the instrument and the children could be encouraged to d iscover for themselves how to produce the melodic patterns that they have learned. T h e s e melodic patterns could also be used as an introduction to sol fege. The children could be taught that when Happy steps up, he's singing do re mi and when he is stepping down he is singing mi re do . When he stands still on the bottom step he s ings do do do, on the middle step he sings re re re and on the top step he sings mi mi mi. In time, these patterns could be t ransferred from the stairs to the staff l ines, thus introducing children to the concept of reading music and notation. In addi t ion, when the chi ldren are familiar with how these patterns are notated, they could experiment with melodic form using the same procedure outlined in lesson s e v e n , procedure #5. Finally, this activity could lead into other melodic patterns. For example , instead of "stepping up" or "down" , Happy Hopscotch could "skip up" or "down" using the following melodies and d iagrams: 153 4 4 I J d m s d m Here I a m , s k i p - ping J 3 up d m m s s d m m my l i t - t ie s t a i r - c a s e r igh t to the J 3 top 4 4 cJ I J s m Here I d s a m , s k i p m pi ng d down s m m d d s m my l i t - t ie s t a i r - c a s e r igh t to m d d the bot - tom 154 T h e s e melodic patterns could be used in any of the ways suggested above to stimulate aural and visual recognit ion of melodic patterns, in t roduce/ re inforce pi tched p e r c u s s i o n instruments, so l fege , staff notation and form. 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson 3, #4. 5. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. LESSON T E N 155 O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce various musical compara t ives : Such a Making a Circle (3 minutes). 2. Sing a known greeting song: Hello, Boys and Girls (3 minutes). 3. Learn a new song with movement: Oh, How I Love to Sing (4 minutes). 4. Perform an echo activity to develop rhythmic precision (2 minutes). 5. Create and perform a rhythmic composit ion using the rhythm patterns explored in the previous echo exercise (5 minutes). 6. Review the melodic patterns introduced in lesson nine (5 minutes). 7. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) d. timbre M O V E M E N T a. creative, expressive movement b. singing game c. keeping a beat d. rhythmic precision 156 MELODY a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing c. melodic pattern recognit ion RHYTHM AND BEAT a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments c. rhythm pattern recognit ion GENERAL a. learning about c lassroom instruments b. development of a song repertoire PROCEDURES 1. Such a Making a Circle a. Follow procedure in lesson seven, #1. 2. Hello, Boys and Girls a. Follow procedure in lesson three, #2. 3. Oh, How I Love to Sing! (Kemp, 1983) a. Tell the children that you have a song to teach them about dancing and s ing ing . A s k them to listen to you sing the first 4 bars of the following s o n g : 157 4 4 r s d d d d Oh, how I love to d d d d Can you put your d d sing, oh r r r r r r how I love to dance, oh r d i n ? r d t 1 how I love to r- r 3 3 1 t how I love to r s s dance. Oh J sing! b. T e a c h the song to the children by rote, one phrase at a time. c. Once the children know the song, ask them to stand up and sing it. T h e n sing it with them again . In the last bar, ask the chi ldren to put their f ingers in. d. Add the following body parts accumulat ively as you repeat the song: a. head b. shoulder c. hips d. knees e. feet f. toes 158 e. A s k the children to suggest some parts of their bodies which could be moved in the song. 4. Echo Activity a. Ask the children to be your echo and repeat what you say. Repeat the fol lowing patterns severa l t imes with the ch i ldren , using var ia t ions in voca l inf lect ions to maintain the ch i ldren 's interest and to allow them an opportunity to explore their own vo ices . Hee hee Ho ho W a l k fast W a l k s low 159 Ap - pies and strav - ber - ries Hon - eg - dev mel - on Ra3 - per - ries and or - an - ges I I J Plums and pears b. O n c e the children are comfortable with these patterns, ask them to clap and say the words when they echo. c. If the children are able to do this with conf idence , ask them to keep the words in their heads and clap them with their hands. (This is a sophis t icated task which may be very difficult for s o m e chi ldren. Do not pursue it un less they demonstrate sufficient coordinat ion and understanding of the activity). 4. Rhythmic Composition a. Using the same procedure as in lesson seven , #5, help the children to create var ious rhythmic compos i t ions . The material for this composi t ion will be the last 4 l ines of the preceding echo exerc ise (apples and strawberries; honeydew melon; raspberries and oranges; plums and pears). 160 b. G ive four children a different nonpitched percussion instrument. Ask each child to play one of the phrases of the composi t ion. Perform the composi t ion in this way with the rest of the c l a s s c lapping and saying the words . If time permits, allow severa l chi ldren the opportunity to play the instruments. 5. Here I Am! a. Show the children Happy Hopscotch . Ask the children whether he is standing on the bottom or top step. b. A s k the children which direction Happy can go in. Ask them to sing the correct song to give him a hint. c. Once the children have done this, ask one child to move Happy up the stairs as the c lass s ings the s o n g . 161 d. P lace Happy on the top step. Ask the children which direction Happy can go in. Ask them to sing the correct song to give him a hint. e. Once the children have done this, ask one child to move Happy down the stairs as the c l a s s s ings . f. Fol low this same procedure for standing still on the bottom, middle and top step. g. Now ask the children to pretend that they are Happy Hopscotch. Sing one of the short melodies and allow the children to d iscover which direction they should move in. Follow this procedure with all three of the melodies. 6. Good Bye Song a. Follow procedure #6, lesson 7. M A T E R I A L S a. 4 different nonpitched percuss ion instruments b. Pictures of apples and strawberries; honeydew melon; raspberr ies and oranges; and plums and pears. c. Stairs (as in lesson 9) d. Happy Hopscotch (as in lesson 9) 162 S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson five, #2. 3. In the context of this curriculum, this song has been used as an isolated exper ience in movement for the chi ldren. However, it has many possib i l i t ies for future use which pertain spec i f i ca l ly to movement . As the children become familiar and comfortable with the song , increasingly complex movements can be introduced as a means of refining chi ldren 's response to the music . Movement with extrinsic objects such as percussion instruments could also be performed by the chi ldren in an attempt to achieve this goa l . Attention should be given to accurate performance of the beat in relation to the movements which accompany the performance of the song . 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson five, #5 5. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson s e v e n , #5. 6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 163 LESSON ELEVEN O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce var ious musical compara t ives : Can We Make a Circle? (3 minutes). 2. Sing a known greeting song: Dingalingaling (3 minutes). 3. Learn a new song: Hey, Hey Look at Me! (3 minutes). 4. Review melodic patterns and play them on pitched percussion instruments (5 minutes). 5. Begin learning a new song: Tick Tock (5 minutes). 6. Sing a known song with movement: Oh, How I Love to Sing (3 minutes). 7. Sing a known good bye song: Good Bye (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precision MELODY a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing c. Melodic pattern recognition RHYTHM AND BEAT a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments c. ostinati GENERAL a. learning about c lassroom instruments b. development of a song repertoire PROCEDURES 1. Can We Make a Circle? a. Follow procedure in lesson two, #1. 2. Dingalingaling a. Follow procedure in lesson five, #2. 3. Hey, Hey Look at Me! (Choksy, 1981) a. Tell the children that they are going to learn a song about rhyming. A s k them if they know what a "rhyme" is. b. Demonstrate examples of rhymes for the children and ask some of them to think of their own. For example: 165 Mommy -- tummy Ted -- head Rose -- nose c. S ing the following song for the children using these rhymes and some of the suggest ions made by the chi ldren: 3 m s 3 Hey, hey, look at Hey, hey, look at Hey, hey, look at Hey, hey, look at me! I fe l l down M o m m y ! She fe l l down Ted! He fe l l down Rose! She fe l l down m s 3 m and hur t my knee! and hur t her t u m m y ! and hur t his head! and hur t her nose! d. A s k the chi ldren if they can think of s o m e words that will rhyme with their names. e. Sing the song using some of the rhymes suggested by the children. In addi t ion, present the chi ldren with words and ask them to find another word which rhymes with them. 166 4. Melodic Patterns a. Show the children the stairs and Happy Hopscotch. Sing the following and ask one of the children to come and show Happy which direction he should move in: 4 4 I J d Here m d am, step r ping J m up d r r m m d r my lit - tie 3tair-case right to 1 J r m the top b. Once the child has done this correctly, ask him/her to sing the above melody moving Happy in the correct direction on the stairs. c. Follow the same procedure to review/reinforce stepping down and standing still . Use different chi ldren each time. d. After removing all but the bottom three bars, show the chi ldren a g lockenspie l which is t ipped on its end. This will help to visual ly demonstrate the concept of high and low as it appl ies to barred instruments. For example: 167 e. A s k the children to point out the bottom "step" on the g lockenspie l . Al low them to exper iment with the instrument to so lve this problem. f. A s k the chi ldren to point out the top "step" on the instrument following the same procedure as above. g. Ensure that the children can see what bars you are playing, then play the following melody and ask the chi ldren to tell you what it is: 4 4 d Here I J I I J m d r m am, step - ping up n J d r r m m d r r m my lit - tie stair-case right to the top h. Once they have determined what it is, ask them to sing the melody as you play it. Ask one of the children to move Happy on the stairs as the melody is played and sung. 168 i. Ask one of the children to play "stepping up" (do re mi) on the instrument. j . Play the following melody and ask the children to tell you what you are playing: 4 4 I I J m r Here I J d m am, step r d m r r d d m r r d d ping down my lit - tie 3tair-case right to the bot-tom k. O n c e they have determined what it is, ask them to sing the melody as you play it. Ask one of the children to move Happy on the stairs as the melody is played and sung. I. Ask one of the children to play "stepping down" (mi re do ) on the instrument. m. Fol low this procedure with the following melody, using the bottom bar of the g lockenspie l : I I J I I I I I I I I I I I I I I d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d Here I am, stand-ing still on my lit - tie 3tair-case right at the bot-tom n. If time permits, allow the chi ldren to exper iment with the three melodic patterns on the g lockenspie l . 169 4. Tick Tock a. Ask the children what sound a clock makes. Ask several children to demonstrate their sounds to the c lass . When one of the children says "tick tock" ask the rest of the c l a s s if they can make that s o u n d , too. b. Using a tic-toe block, establ ish a tempo (J= 69) and ask the children to make clock sounds to the beat. c. Experiment with var ious different sounds when doing this. For example , make "high" tick tock s o u n d s , "low" tick tock s o u n d s , loud tick tock s o u n d s , quiet tick tock sounds , etc. d. A s k the chi ldren to sit down in their circle and tell them that you have a story about a c lock to tell them. Recite the fol lowing: Tick tock, tick tock Goes the little clock Tick tock, tick tock, Now its one o'clock d. T e a c h the children these words by rote. Once they know them, play an ostinato on the tic-toe block while the words are rec i ted. For example: 170 Vc: TT: 2 4 2 4 Vc: TT: T i ck tock, t i ck tock now T i ck tock, t i ck tock goes the l i t - t ie c lock i t ' s one o" c lock Vc = voice TT = t i c - t oe block e. A s k one of the children to play the ostinato (the beat) while the rest of the c l a s s recites the words. f. A s k all of the chi ldren to pretend they are playing the tic-toe block while they recite the words. 6. Oh, How I Love to Sing a. Fol lowing the procedure outlined in lesson ten, #3 sing this song with the chi ldren. Ask the children for suggest ions on which body part to add. Encourage them to move their bodies to the beat as they sing and 171 dance. 7. Good Bye Song a. Follow procedure #6, lesson 7. M A T E R I A L S a. Stairs (as in lesson 9) b. Happy Hopscotch (as in lesson 9) c. Soprano glockenspiel d. T ic - toe block S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggest ions for further use", l esson 1, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson 5, #2. 3. There are several potential future uses for this s o n g . First, it can be used as an exercise for developing and expanding children's verbal and imaginat ion ski l ls. Cont inued use of this song in a music c l a s s will allow chi ldren to use words already in their vocabulary and to find new words through the creative p rocess of rhyming and improvisat ion. S e c o n d l y , this song has qualit ies which make it good for the development of in-tune singing in chi ldren because it is b a s e d solely on the interval of the minor third (so - mi) which is the eas iest interval for young chi ldren to accurate ly reproduce. Thirdly, 172 individual singing can be encouraged at a later stage, when children can sing a response or an entire rhyme on their own. This not only promotes conf idence in s inging, but also cult ivates creativity and improvisation ski l ls. Final ly, this song could be used to reinforce and develop beat-keeping skil ls in children by encouraging them to tap the beat on whatever body part, etc. being sung about in the song . This kind of beat-keeping encourages enthusiasm and active involvement in music which can only enhance the child's exper ience. In this curriculum, this song has only been used once to reinforce beat keeping skil ls in a context which is new and different to the chi ldren. However, in subsequent curricula for this age group, the above suggest ions could be implemented for further musical learning. 4. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson nine, #3. 5. S i n c e this song is built on the interval of the minor third, it is very good for deve loping in-tune singing in chi ldren. Rhythmical ly , it is also very simple, having only quarter and eighth notes. Young children should therefore be able to c lap its rhythm pattern; eventual ly , this song could be used as a tool for discerning and labeling the names of the quarter and eighth notes (ta and ti-ti respect ively) . Tick Tock could also be used to reinforce the difference between high and low, using high c locks and low c locks as a visual cue . As with most other s o n g s of this nature, Tick Tock could also be used to help children internalize the feel ing of beat. At some point, it may be poss ib le that 173 half of the c l a s s recite a rhythmic ost inato to the words "tick tock tick tock" on quarter notes throughout while the other half of the c lass s ings the song . Additionally, because this song is in the pentatonic sca le , the children could be encouraged to improvise on a g lockenspie l or other barred instrument using the pentatonic scale throughout as an accompaniment or, after the song has been sung, as an improvised so lo . Structure could be lent to this activity by asking the child to play a "quiet" song about a c lock, or a "loud" s o n g , etc. The child must be encouraged to play with a steady beat, regardless of what he /she plays. 6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson ten, #3. 7. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 174 L E S S O N T W E L V E O B J E C T I V E S 1. Sing a known greeting song to get into circle formation and to reinforce various musical compara t ives : Such a Making a Circle (3 minutes). 2. Sing a known greeting song: Sing Me Your Name (3 minutes). 3. Review various instruments by playing a known singing game: Whose Got the Instrument? (5 minutes). 4. Finish learning a new song: Tick Tock (5 minutes). 5. Create and perform a rhythmic composit ion (7 minutes). 6. Sing a known good-bye song: Good Bye Song (2 minutes). S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T C O M P A R A T I V E S a. dynamics (louder and softer) b. pitch (higher and lower) c. tempo (faster and slower) d. timbre M O V E M E N T a. singing game b. keeping a beat c. rhythmic precision 175 M E L O D Y a. unaccompanied singing b. conversat ional singing R H Y T H M A N D B E A T a. keeping a beat b. rhythm instruments c. rhythmic pattern recognit ion G E N E R A L a. learning about c lassroom and other instruments b. development of a song repertoire P R O C E D U R E S 1. Such a Making a Circle a. Follow procedure in lesson seven, #1. 2. Sing Me your Name a. Follow procedure in lesson eight, #2. 3. Whose Got the Instrument? a. Show the children pictures of a piano, trumpet, viol in, guitar, harp and drums. Review the names of these instruments, the sounds that they make and how they are played. b. Introduce a new instrument to the chi ldren: the saxophone . Tel l the children its name, its sound and how it is p layed. 176 c. Play the game as in lesson 6, procedure #6. d. Encourage the children who are holding the instruments to sing the responses by themselves. 4. Tick Tock a. Show the children a clock which has movable hands. Ask the children if they can remember the poem that they learned in their last lesson about a c lock. If they remember, let them recite the poem. If not, review the words with the chi ldren as in lesson e leven , #5. b. A s k the children to say the words with you while they tap the beat on their laps . c. Tel l the children that you are going to recite the words by yourself , but this time you are going to use your singing voice. Sing the fol lowing for the ch i ld ren : i | n i 1 3 3 m the l i t - t ie c lock s m 3 m 3 1 Tick tock, t i ck tock now i t ' s 2 4 3 Tick m tock, s t i ck m tock s goe3 s s m one o' c lock 177 d. T e a c h the children the song by rote. Once they are comfortable with it, sing the whole song together, with one child keeping the beat on a tic-toe block and the others tapping the beat on their laps. e. A s k children why the words "one o' clock" were sung (prompt them to say that it is b e c a u s e that is what time the c lock says ) . f. C h a n g e the time on the clock. Ask the children to sing that time when that phrase of the song occurs . Ask one of the children to change the time of the clock then sing the song together. g. Continue to change the time on the clock each time the song is sung. A s k individual chi ldren to sing the time in the last measure of the song. For example: 178 2 4 3 T ick 3 Tick m tock, m tock. 3 t i ck m tock 3 goes s t i ck m tock, s now 1 the S 3 m l i t - t ie c lock 1 s It 's Ch : s o' m c lock Ch = ch i l d 5. Rhythmic Composition a. Repeat the following patterns severa l t imes with the chi ldren, using var ia t ions in voca l inf lect ions to maintain the ch i ld ren 's interest and to allow them an opportunity to explore their own v o i c e s . T ick tock, t i ck tock Be l l hor - ses , bell hor - ses Ted - dy bear , Ted - dy bear I have lost the clo - set key 179 b. Following the procedure outlined in lesson ten, #5, help the children to create various composi t ions using the above rhythm patterns. c. Split the c lass into four (or three, you being the fourth group) groups and assign each group to a rhythm pattern. Allow each group to pract ice their rhythm patterns on these instruments. d. Perform the rhythmic composi t ions that the chi ldren have created in this conf igurat ion. e. Al low smal ler groups of chi ldren to perform for the rest of the c l a s s . 6. Good Bye Song a. Follow procedure #6, lesson 7. MATERIALS a. C lock with movable hands b. T ic - toe block c. Pictures of a violin, piano, guitar, trumpet, harp, saxophone and drums. d. Nonpitched percussion instruments. S U G G E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R U S E 1. S e e "suggestions for further use", lesson one, #2. 2. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson s e v e n , #2 3. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson six, #6. 4. S e e "suggestions for further use", lesson e leven, #5. 5. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson s e v e n , #5. 6. S e e "suggest ions for further use", lesson one, #5. 181 C H A P T E R VI S U M M A R Y , C O N C L U S I O N S A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R S T U D I E S S U M M A R Y e development of preschool education programs has become a concern for many music educators throughout North Amer ica . This is due in part to the rapidly increas ing number of p reschoo l chi ldren entering chi ld ca re faci l i t ies on a full t ime b a s i s , which ind ica tes that formal educat ion is beginning at an earlier age for many chi ldren. Another factor is related to ev idence that the p reschoo l years are the most crucial ones for learning and development and that this period of a ch i ld 's life represents the optimal time to in f luence musica l development . Many music educators agree that they must be responsible for the mus ica l educat ion of this sec tor of the populat ion if early exper iences are to be viable and stimulating enough to have an impact on the long term deve lopment of musica l ski l ls . A s a result of these c o n c e r n s , numerous preschool music curr icula have been developed over the last two d e c a d e s . However, as the l iterature review out l ined in chapter I has ind ica ted , these curr icu la have not ser iously cons idered or incorporated ev idence from the areas of developmenta l neurobiology, cognitive psychology and musical deve lopment , al though it has many impl icat ions for how the musical education of preschool children should be approached . Although assorted c u r r i c u l a were found which either referred to or extracted from information pertaining to this e v i d e n c e , no preschool music program which e n c o m p a s s e d the most important aspec ts of all of them was found. O n e purpose of this thesis was to establ ish why an understanding of this ev idence is important to the formulat ion of a music educat ion program for preschool chi ldren and to demonstrate how this understanding could impact on the curr icular cho ices made for this p rogram. The final objective was to deve lop a 12-week music curr icu lum for 4 -year -o ld chi ldren b a s e d on this ev idence , which prov ides valid information about how chi ldren learn, why they learn this way and what techniques can be u s e d to most efficiently help them d e v e l o p musical ski l ls. In chapter II, numerous studies from the field of deve lopmenta l neurobio logy were reviewed. Th is review indicated that the development of the brain is not l inear, but rather is charac te r i zed by transient per iods of rapid neuronal growth and differentiation and per iods in which this growth is very slow with little or no percept ib le c h a n g e . T h e studies d i s c u s s e d also provided ev idence that the brain is in a very p last ic form and is extremely sens i t ive to environmental in f luences during the period of most rapid growth. Th is research into neural plast ici ty indicated that during this pe r iod , a cons iderab le portion of normal brain development is dependent upon environmental exper ience and that during this t ime, the environment can and will change the 1 8 3 physica l structure of the brain, bringing about inevitable c h a n g e s in both immediate and subsequent behavior. The importance of this ev idence to p reschoo l music educat ion is that this period takes p lace during the preschool years. The impl icat ions of this ev idence for preschool music were d i s c u s s e d from three p e r s p e c t i v e s . The first was its re ference to early exposure to music. Th is d iscuss ion suggested that exposure to music shou ld begin before a chi ld enters s c h o o l , s ince it is during this time that the general cogni t ive structures n e c e s s a r y for the acquis i t ion of musical skill can be most profoundly inf luenced. A s e c o n d implication was found in studies which had demonstrated that when an organism is given appropriate and complex forms of stimulation during this sensi t ive per iod, its development will be e n h a n c e d . Converse ly , when it is given inappropriate st imulat ion, deve lopment will be retarded. B a s e d on this, it was s u g g e s t e d that is not suff icient to s imply provide a mus ic program for chi ldren during this sensit ive per iod. What is equal ly important is that the m u s i c a l stimuli which p r e s c h o o l ch i ldren exper ience be appropriate from a developmental point of view. If these stimuli are inappropr ia te , musica l deve lopment will not l ikely be e n h a n c e d and may in fact be inhibited. The third implication of this research was that appropriately p lanned and complex exper iences in music during the p reschoo l years may contribute to both musical and general developmental p r o c e s s e s . 184 Chapter III examined some aspects of cognitive development in preschoo l chi ldren from two perspect ives: (1) D o e s the p r o c e s s of cogni t ive deve lopment character is t ic of chi ldren have impl icat ions for planning for preschool music educat ion?; and (2) What role can musical exper iences play in this development during the preschool years? This examination was based on the learning theory of J e a n Piaget, which indicated that cognit ive deve lopment is c o m p r i s e d of the establ ishment of structures which are progressive ly const ructed by cont inuous and dy-namic interaction between the subject and the environment . Th is c o n -struction can be inf luenced by maturation, exper ience and socia l interaction, and d e p e n d s upon the process of equilibration to mediate the inf luence of these factors . His theory s u g g e s t e d that children p o s s e s s certain cognit ive structures at var ious s tages of their deve lopment which enable them to perform certain tasks . It a lso indicated that chi ldren cannot operate outs ide the conf ines of these st ructures, and that certain skil ls will not appear until the necessary structures have deve loped . Chapter III s u g g e s t e d that these limitations of cognit ive deve lopment should be taken into considerat ion when planning musical exper iences for p reschoo l chi ldren. B a s e d on some of the limitations which Piaget ind ica ted were typica l of 4 -year -o ld ch i ld ren , the role that appropriately p lanned musical exper iences could play in their cognit ive deve lopment was exp lored . An analys is of four character is t ics of music 185 s u g g e s t e d that when it is p resented as an important part of the learning environment of the preschool chi ld , s o m e aspec ts of cognit ive development may be positively inf luenced. T h e s e included (1) symbol ic representat ion ski l ls; (2) verbal and nonverbal express ion ski l ls; (3) c rea t ive thinking ski l ls and (4) interact ive s o c i a l ski l ls . With chapters II and III establ ishing s o m e general developmenta l pr inciples for a preschool music program, chapter IV examined the impl icat ions of research in the field of musica l deve lopment . Th is chapte r outl ined this r e s e a r c h as it per ta ined to 4 -year -o ld chi ldren in the areas of l istening, singing and vocal development , rhythm and movement and creativity. T h e review indicated that while skill development in these areas is largely dependent upon physical maturat ion, it is also inf luenced by exper ience . Most of the studies rev iewed offered practical insight into what can general ly be expected of 4 - y e a r - o l d s in a mus ica l set t ing, ind icated what kinds of musica l goa ls and objectives are suitable for this age group and suggested appropr iate pedagog ica l t echn iques for facilitating the deve lopment of musica l ski l l . This r e s e a r c h , c o m b i n e d with the developmenta l theory d i s c u s s e d in chapters II and III, provided a foundation on which to begin the deve lopment of the curr icu lum. T o this extent, two se ts of ob ject ives for p reschoo l music educat ion were dev ised : a) developmenta l objectives and b) musical ob ject ives . This division was made to ensure that the while the 186 pedagogica l cho ices made for the curriculum focused primarily on the deve lopment of musica l sk i l ls , careful considerat ion cou ld still be given to what is deve lopmenta l ly appropriate for 4 -year -o ld ch i ldren . The rationale and phi losophy outl ined in chapters II and III indicated that this approach may make preschool music education more effective. T h e s e deve lopmenta l and musical objectives provided a theoretical and practical foundation on which to begin development of the curr icu lum. Th is curr iculum was c o m p r i s e d of 12 detai led and sequent ia l l esson plans d e s i g n e d to facilitate the s imul taneous deve lopment of var ious musica l ski l ls . T h e s e skill a reas inc luded: s inging, movement, rhythm, melody, beat and comparat ives (high-low, fas t -s low, loud-sof t , t imbre) . T h e organizat ion of this curr icu lum was intended to facilitate the deve lopment of general musica l ski l ls through a variety of activities over a three-month per iod. E a c h l esson was also fol lowed by a sect ion which made suggest ions concern ing potential future uses for each activity and provided a framework for future curr iculum development for this age group. C O N C L U S I O N S This thesis es tab l ished a theoret ical and practical foundat ion on which to base d e c i s i o n s for p reschoo l music educat ion which is suppor ted by a large body of research from three different a reas : (1) developmental neurobiology; (2) cognitive psychology and; (3) musical deve lopment . This research provided pivotal information in the 187 deve lopment of the p reschoo l music curr iculum p r o p o s e d in this thesis and the guiding principles upon which it is b a s e d . It is on this in format ion, then, that the four major c o n c l u s i o n s of this thes is were made. P e r h a p s the most important insight provided by research in deve lopmenta l neurobiology is that the preschool years are critical ones for deve lopment and that learning exper iences during these years will have a signif icant impact on both immediate and long term behavior. Th is p rov ides the context for the first c o n c l u s i o n of this thes is , which is that mus ic educat ion shou ld begin early in life to most effectively inf luence the general learning patterns n e c e s s a r y for the development of musica l ski l l . Early exposure to appropriately p lanned musica l stimuli dur ing the cri t ical per iod will enable ch i ldren to acqui re ski l ls which will have more of an impact on the development of var ious musical behaviors than such exper iences might in subsequent years . T h e s e c o n d conc lus ion of this thesis is related to ev idence complex in teract ions with the envi ronment make s igni f icant contr ibut ions to the deve lopment of var ious ski l ls . It is posi ted that early learning e x p e r i e n c e s in music will be most effective when the act ivi t ies c h o s e n are c o m p l e x and st imulat ing and allow for interaction with numerous mus ica l stimuli on a variety of different leve ls . Learn ing exper iences of this nature during the preschool years will have the most profound effect on the deve lopment of musica l ski l ls . 188 T h e third conc lus ion is also related to the importance of complex interactions, but in a more general s e n s e than d i s c u s s e d above . It has been s u g g e s t e d that music can be a complex activity which requires the integrat ion of var ious ski l ls which can help to create opportunit ies for st imulat ing and novel interact ions with the envi ronment . It is therefore c o n c l u d e d that musical activit ies may make an important contribution to the enrichment of the preschool learning environment and may subsequent ly enhance sensory , motor, verbal and nonverbal , social and creat ive thinking ski l ls. When musical exper iences are presented to p reschoo l chi ldren in an appropriate manner, then, it is possib le that both musical and general developmental skills will be e n h a n c e d . The fourth and final conclusion bears on each of the preceding ones. It posi ts that p reschoo l music educat ion will be most effective when the mus ica l tasks c h o s e n reflect the l imitations of ch i ldren 's genera l development . When musical exper iences are being planned for this age group, considerat ion of this development can only serve to enhance the mus ic educat ion of p r e s c h o o l ch i ldren , as it al lows their learning e x p e r i e n c e s to be tai lored to the level at which it is certain they can operate . Preschool music educators have frequently referred to the impor tance of educat ing the "whole" ch i ld , or of the e f fec t iveness of using the "chi ld-centered" approach to teaching chi ldren (Andress et a l , 1973; F r e g a , 1982; Gerber , 1982; Orff, 1983; Birkenshaw, 1985; Pautz , 1985; A n d r e s s , 1985, 1986). However , c lear ly defining what the "whole 189 chi ld" is in terms of neuro log ica l , cogni t ive , physica l and mus ica l development has been problematic or has been ignored. This thesis represents an attempt to gain s o m e understanding of what the "whole chi ld" is by looking at a large body of ev idence whose reliability has been empirical ly tested. Th is ev idence provides valuable insight into the general development of the preschool child and suggests that musical development does not operate in a vacuum. As children develop musical ly , other important general skil ls are also being d e v e l o p e d . C o n v e r s e l y , the physica l and cognit ive skil ls which chi ldren acquire during the preschool years a lso inf luence the way in which musica l skill evo lves . Given this, it is sugges ted that the pedagogical dec is ions made for this age group be informed ones which take into account all aspects of development and not one to the exclusion of others. Only in this way can the "whole" child be e d u c a t e d , either musical ly or otherwise. T h e s e conc lus ions and the research which supports them lead to the final point of this t h e s i s , which is that the p r e s c h o o l years represent the optimal t ime to initiate chi ldren into mus ic . Not only are chi ldren of this age group general ly very eager to learn about music , but, from a purely deve lopmenta l point of view, are in a period in which musical development can be deeply influenced by what they exper ience. Th is sugges ts that by providing the appropriate kinds of musica l exper iences for this age group, we are not only preparing chi ldren to be more open to music educat ion when they enter the s c h o o l s , but we are a lso making important contr ibut ions to many aspec ts of their 190 deve lopment . B a s e d on this, it is p roposed that the field of music educat ion take a much more careful and informed approach to planning for this age group than has been done in the past. This researcher be l ieves that this would be to the benefit of not only the chi ldren involved but also to the profession as a whole. R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R S T U D Y It is r e c o m m e n d e d that the following studies be undertaken as a fo l low-up to this t h e s i s : 1. A study of the effects of musica l training* on s e n s o r y skil ls (auditory, v isual , somatosensory ) in preschool chi ldren. 2. A study of the ef fects of musica l training on motor ski l ls in preschool chi ldren. 3. A study of the effects of musical training on verbal and nonverbal express ion skills in p reschoo l ch i ldren. 4. A study of the effects of musica l training on the soc ia l interaction ski l ls of p reschoo l ch i ld ren . 5. 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A P P E N D I X A SUMMARY O F T H E S T A G E S O F COGNITIVE D E V E L O P M E N T S T A G E CHARACTERIST IC MAJOR C H A N G E S Sensorimotor 0-2 years 0- 1 month 1- 4 months 4-8 months 8-12 months 12-18 months 18-24 months Reflex activity only Hand-eye coordination Repeats unusual events Object permanence* obtained New means through experimentaiton -follows sequential displacements Internal representation New means through mental combinations Development proceeds from reflex activity to representation and sensorimotor solutions to problems Primitive likes and dislikes emerge S T A G E CHARACTERISTIC M A J O R C H A N G E S Preoperational (2-7 years) Problems solved through symbolic represention and language development (2-4 years) Though t and language both egocentric Cannot solve conservation* problems Development proceeds from sensorimotor representation to prelogical thought and solutions to problems True social behavior begins Concrete Operational (7-11 years) Reversability * attained Can solve conservation problems Logical operations developed and applied to concrete problems Cannot solve complex verbal problems Development proceeds from prelogical thought to logical solutions to concrete problems Autonomy appears Formal Operational (11-15 years) Logically solves all types of problems Thinks scientifically Solves complex verbal problems Development proceeds from logical solutions to all classes of problems (Wadsworth, 1984) *Object permanence: The understanding that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight (Hall et al, 1982, p. 556). Conservation: The understanding that irregular changes in the physical appearance of objects do not affect their quantity, mass, weight or volume (Hall et al, p. 551). Reversibility: Thge understanding that irrevelant chnages in appearance can be reversed and that such changes tend to compensate one another (Hall et al, p. 559). A P P E N D I X B S U M M A R Y O F A C T I V I T Y O B J E C T I V E S ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENTAL MUSICAL If Your Name Verbal & Nonverbal (e) Perceptual (a) Social (a, b, d) Intellectual (a) Physical (a) Movement (c) Melody (a, b, d) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (c) Can We Make Verbal & Nonverbal (d) Perceptual (a) Social (a) Intellectual (c) Physical (a, b, c) Comparatives (a,b, c) Movement (b, c) Melody (a) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (c) Teddy Bear Verbal & Nonverbal (d) Perceptual (e) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (b, d) Physical (a, b, c) Movement (b) Melody (a) General (c) Good-Bye Song Verbal & Nonverbal (e) Perceptual (a) Social (a, b, c) Comparatives (a,b, c) Melody (a, b, c) ACTIV ITY D E V E L O P M E N T A L M U S I C A L Hello, Boys and Girls Verbal & Nonverbal (e) Perceptual (a) Social (b, c, d) Comparatives (a.b.c) Melody (a, b, c) Two Snowflakes Verbal & Nonverbal (a, b, c, d, e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a, b) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (a, b, c, d) Physical (a, c) Comparatives (a, b, c, d) Movement (a, c) Rhythm & Beat (a, c, g) General (b, c) Alarm Clock Verbal & Nonverbal (a, b, c, d, e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (a, b, c, d) Physical (a, b, c) Comparatives (a, b, c, d) Movement (a, d) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (b) Bell Horses Verbal & Nonverbal (a, c, d) Perceptual (a) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (d) Physical (a, b) Comparatives (a,b,c,d) Melody (a) Rhythm & Beat (a, c) General (b, c) ACTIV ITY D E V E L O P M E N T A L M U S I C A L Five Little Monkeys Perceptual (a) Social (a, d) Intellectual (a, b) Physical (a) Comparatives (c) Movmement (a, d) Rhythm & Beat (a) Leaf Dance Verbal & Nonverbal (a, b, c, d, e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a, b) Social (a, c, d) Intellectual (a, b, d) Physical (a, b, c) Comparatives (a, b, c) Movement (a) Rhythm & Beat (a, c) General (b) Can You Clap? Verbal & Nonverbal (b, d) Perceptual (a) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (c, d) Physical (a, b, c) Comparatives (a,b,d) Movement (b) Melody (a, c) Rhythm & Beat (a, c, f) General (a, b, c) Dingalingaling Verbal & Nonverbal (a, b, e) Perceptual (a) Affective (b) Social (a, b, c, d) Intellectual (b) Comparatives (a) Melody (a, b, c) Rhythm & Beat (a) ACTIV ITY D E V E L O P M E N T A L M U S I C A L Loud & Soft Verbal & Nonverbal (a.b.c.d.e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a,b) Social (b,c) Intellectual (a,b,c,d) Physical (a,b,c) Comparatives (a) Movement (a) General (b) 1 Have Lost the Closet Key Verbal & Nonverbal (b, c, e) Perceptual (a) Social (a,b,c,d) Intellectual (a,c,d) Comparatives (a) Melody (a.b.c) General (c) Echo Activity Verbal & Nonverbal (a,d) Perceptual (a) Social (a,d) Physical (a,b,c) Comparatives (a,b,c) Movement (c,d) Rhythm & Beat (a,d,e) Such a Making a Circle Verbal & Nonverbal (a,d) Perceptual (a) Social (a,d) Intellectual (d) Physical (a,b,c) Comparatives (a,b,c) Movement (b,c) Melody (a) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (c) A C T I V I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T A L M U S I C A L Movement Activity Verbal & Nonverbal (a.c.d.e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a,b) Social (a,b,d) Intellectual (b,d) Physical (a) Movement (a,d) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (b) Whose Got the Instrument? Perceptual (a) Social (a.b.d) Intellectual (b,d) Comparatives (d) Melody (a,b,c) General (a) Sing Me Your Name Verbal & Nonverbal (c) Perceptual (a) Affective (b) Social (a,b,c,d) Intellectual (c) Comparatives (d) Melody (a,b,c) General (c) Rhythmic Composition Verbal & Nonverbal (c) Perceptual (a) Social (a.b.c.d) Intellectual (a.c.d) Physical (a) Comparatives (d) Movement (d) Rhythm & Beat (a.b.c.d.e.f) General (a) A C T I V I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T A L M U S I C A L There Was a Little Turtle Verbal & Nonverbal (b,c,d,e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a,b) Social (a,b,c,d) Intellectual (b.c.d) Physical (a) Comparatives (d) Movement (d) Rhythm & Beat (c) General (a,b) Here 1 Am Verbal & Nonverbal (c,d) Perceptual (a) Social (d) Intellectual (a,b,c,d) Physical (c) Comparatives (b) Movement (a) Melody (a,d) General (a) Oh, How 1 Love to Sing Verbal & Nonverbal (a,d,e) Perceptual (a) Social (a,d) Physical (a,b) Movement (b,c,d) Melody (a) Rhythm & Beat (a,c) General (a,b,c) Hey, Hey Look at Me Verbal & Nonverbal (a,b,c,e) Perceptual (a) Affective (a) Social (a.b.d) Intellectual (a,b) Physical (b) Movement (a,c) Melody (a,b) Rhythm & Beat (a) General (b,c) Tick, Tock Verbal & Nonverbal (a,b,d,e) Perceptual (a) Social (a) Intellectual (b) Physical (a) Comparatives (a.b.c.d) Movement (c,d) Melody (a,b) Rhythm & Beat (a.b.c.e.g) General (a,b,c)