It Rained on Anne

Second graders at HSES are really enjoying our study of Italian musical terms. They love learning the vocabulary of "real musicians!" ;) This lesson about fermatas is one I learned from my mentor teacher years ago and it has become a favorite!

First, I teach the students the following poem. After they are comfortable, I like to add a simple steady beat (pat, clap). After the students can perform the poem well, I ask them to listen as I change something. I read the poem again, this time adding a long pause on the word, "huge." The students then perform with me.

I introduce the fermata symbol and definition and have the students practice drawing the symbol in the air. We perform the poem again, this time drawing the fermata in the air on the word, "huge." We then move the fermata to different words in the poem and perform the fermatas.

Next, I have the students get into small groups and experiment with the fermata on a variety of words. Once they have their poem like they want it, they practice it together. This gives them a chance to practice drawing the fermata as well as discover where fermatas might naturally fit in a piece.

Each group then performs for the class and the other students have to locate the words that had a fermata. The students pick volunteers to come to the board and put the symbols in the correct place.

At this point, we typically discuss how there are not usually many fermatas in a song and how some songs don't have any at all. The students enjoy looking through their music book to find songs that utilize a fermata. I usually follow up with another one of my favorite lessons, Shoo Fly!

There is also a great Orff lesson using the song, "It Rained on Anne," in Konnie Saliba's book, "A Musical Adventure." You can check it out here.

Shoo Fly, Fermatas, and Form!

NOTE: Since making this post, I have discovered the racist history of the song "Shoo Fly." Because of this, I have decided to take this song out of my curriculum. Here is more information if you are interested. I am leaving this post up so that others that check out my post will have this information as well. 

2nd Graders have been learning about musical terms! In first grade, they learned about many different opposites in music (fast and slow, loud and soft, high and low, long and short) and now they are learning the real Italian vocabulary. So far, they have learned about dynamic markings such as forte, piano, crescendo, and decrescendo and now they are learning about fermatas!

The students learned the song, "Shoo Fly," and quickly discovered that there was a fermata in the song! Then they learned some choreography and performed a circle dance mixer together.

They started out working with partners...

And then we tried it in circle formation...

Introduction/Interlude/Coda - students pretend to play guitar, banjo, and harmonica

Section A - Students clap hand with partner on "Shoo" (R, L, R), point to self with thumbs

Section B - Students clap both hands with partner on "Feel"

Fermata - Students draw the fermata in the air

(Music Teachers: I am using the arrangement from the "Share the Music" curriculum.)

To create the circle dance, I had the students form two concentric circles. The inside partners remained in place while the outside partners rotated to the right on each fermata (Oh!).

Musical Terms Fortune Teller

 

Second graders have been working on learning how to read a musical score.  They have been practicing tracking the music and following the musical "road map."  To help us with these skills, we have been working on a unit of "Musical Terms."  They learned many Italian musical words and symbols that they may come across in their score-reading.  Our focus words were: piano, forte, repeat sign, fermata, coda, crescendo, decrescendo, legato, and staccato. 

With all of these new terms, we needed a way to practice!  I used a template that I found online and created a Musical Terms Fortune Teller. Remember those?  I used to make these all the time in elementary school.  :)  I was excited to find out that some of the students knew how to make them as well!  Each flap of the fortune teller has a musical symbol on it and underneath the flap is the definition.  The students had so much fun playing the review game with their partners!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a great video tutorial if you'd like to try one yourself!