Students in second grade learned the terms legato (smooth and connected), staccato (short and choppy), and learned a new music vocabulary word: slur. A slur is a symbol that looks like an arch, and tells you to connect your notes and sing (or play) legato. We sang a song called Legato Staccato, and then we used scarves to show staccato movements and legato movements while listening to The Syncopated Clockcomposed by Leroy Anderson. The C part is the most fun- whenever the “alarm” goes off, throw your scarf in the air!
We began with this chart:
And finished with this one!
We also discussed the structure of the piece: ABACA with a coda at the end, and the instruments used in the song.
After doing the scarf activity (and of course, folding our scarves during the magical scarf folding music) we made it into a parachute listening activity!
First and second graders have been reinforcing the term “Rondo Form” with another scarf activity and the song Viennese Musical Clock by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály.
First, we reviewed the term “rondo form” by singing the song “There is a form that we all know and Rondo is it’s name-o!” (to the tune of Bingo of course) and discussing what it means for a song to be “in rondo form.” Then we listened to Viennese Musical Clock and charted it out:
Next, I demonstrated the movements for each section: Wave your Flag for the A section, Ring of Fire for the B section, Bug in a Rug for the C section, Crystal Ball for the D section, and Throw in the Air for the coda. We love this activity!
Wave your Flag
Ring of Fire (make a big circle in front of yourself)
Bug in a Rug
Crystal Ball
Coda!
And afterwards, the “scarf folding music.” As soon as the students hear the special scarf folding music, they know what to do
Students in first and second grade are learning about Rondo Form. A song is in rondo form if it has an A section that is repeated several times, with new sections in between each A section. An example of a song that is in rondo form is Spring by the famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. When we listen to Spring, we call the A section “The Trees” because it is played by the whole string family and sounds strong and graceful like trees in a forest. This tree or A section music is represented with green and brown scarves.
After the tree music comes “The Birds,” which sounds different from the trees: it is played by violins which trill and sound a bit like chirping. Because this new section sounds different, we give it the next letter of the alphabet and call it the B section! The bird music or B section is represented by pink and purple scarves.
After the bird music, the tree music comes back.
Next we hear new music that does not sound like the tree music or the bird music, it is bubbly but peaceful sounding, so this music is “The River.” Because it is different than the A section and the B section, we give it the next letter of the alphabet, and call it the C section. The river music or C section is represented with blue scarves.
After the river music, the tree music comes back again! Next we hear music in a minor key that has a fast tempo and sound “zig zaggy,” so this music is “The Thunder and Lightening Storm,” and we call it the D section. The storm music, or D section is represented by yellow and white scarves.
Suddenly, we hear music that sounds just like the trees, but is still in a minor key, so this is tree AND storm music- we still call it the A section though.
Next, we hear slow violins playing: this is “The Rising Sun,” and is the E section.
Then we hear music that sounds a lot like the trees but is a little different, so this is the tree AND sun music- but we still call it the A section.
Towards the end, the bird music (B section) comes back!
And finally, the song finishes with another section of tree music (A section).
The form of the song is: ABACADAEABA
I usually help students the first two times we do the activity (I do it two times every week for about three weeks, they always ask to do it again and again). The next week, I tell them they need to hear their part on their own!
We also have a coloring sheet to go along with the activity:
Students in second grade reviewed the terms legato (smooth and connected) and staccato (short and choppy), and learned a new music vocabulary word: slur. A slur is a symbol that looks like an arch, and tells you to connect your notes and sing (or play) legato. We sang a song called Legato Staccato, and then we used scarves to show staccato movements and legato movements while listening to The Syncopated Clock composed by Leroy Anderson. We also discussed the structure of the piece: ABACA, with a coda at the end. They love this one!
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