My Arts Bridge Experience

Lesson 7 This lesson we analyzed songs in lots of different ways! We started by analyzing the perspective of the song because they're learning about first, second, and third person in Language Arts. I played several songs and had them raise their hand when they had identified what the songs perspective was. First person example: "We were both young when I first saw you. I closed my eyes..." (Love story by Taylor Swift) Third person example: "Once there was a mermaid, swimming gracefully. When a spaceship started sinking deep into the sea..." (The astronaut and the mermaid by Cheri Call) Second person example: "You ain't nothing but a hound dog. Crying all the time." (Hound dog by Elvis Presley) After that we compared and contrasted Elvis Presley's version of Hound dog to Big Mama Thornton's version. We watched the video with Elvis dancing and Big Mama Thornton with all her attitude. They brought up how the key seemed different ...

Lesson 6 This was one of my personal favorite lessons. I thought of a game that would help me get a refresher on the student's names but would be fun for them even if I made a mistake. I called the game "hiding in plain sight." All of the students names are in a can on popsicle sticks. I pulled out a stick, read the name out loud, and they had to say "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi" before I pointed to the student. (They had an extra advantage because they had changed their desks and their seating chart around.) If they were faster than me than I got a strike. I had told them that if I got three strikes I would be out, but that happened faster than I was expecting! They were having a great time. They were hiding their name tags and saying "don't smile if she says your name guys, it'll give it away!" They decided that for each one I got right I could erase a strike. One of the students eagerly volunteered to be in charge...

Lesson 5 First we did the Division Game and since the students have started to do that in their math lessons, they really seemed to be connecting the dots and understanding what the activity was representing. It was also funny to see several kids really going for it when it was their turn to do "The Remainder Dance." After that I explained to them that there are lots of ways that we can divide music. I played 3 or 4 snippets from different songs and we found different ways to subdivide it. We sat in a circle and found different beats we could tap. I introduced them to syncopation on a Johnny Cash song with a strong cowbell sound on (1) AND (2) AND (3) AND (4) AND which they seemed to think was fun. I showed them that if I conducted in 4/4 that the "and" was half way in between me swinging to the next beat in the 4/4 pattern. I told them that "syncopation" happens when we emphasize a beat/note NOT on the normal strong Beats 1, 2, 3, and 4. A student...

Lesson 4 Today we focused on Weather to go along with what they're studying in Science. We started with an exploration of the question: How does weather affect our lives? (This is part of one of their science benchmarks.) I had each table be a group and I assigned them to discuss a specific kind of weather. Sunny, Snowy, Windy, and Rainy respectively. I asked them to discuss a series of questions about how the weather impacts their choices. What will you... wear? Do? Eat/drink? Where will you go? After that we talked about how when weather becomes extreme it can be dangerous. We talked about the recent Pole Creek and Bald Mountain Fires. The students had a lot of comments and stories to share because many of them knew people who were evacuated. Many of them knew a bit about how it started. We talked about how when it doesn't rain for a long time then the earth gets dry and then when lightning strikes it catches on fire more easily. Then we talked about how in the ...

Lesson 3 Similar to last class, we listened to a piece of music to inspire the students to write stories, only this time it was individually. We listened to Grand Canyon Suite: On the Trail by Ferde Grofe min 5:59-end: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=6_7DA1G6tVs&frags=pl%2Cwn I was amused by the kids reactions when the music abruptly got loud and the tempo sped up. It was quite the contrast to the "twinkly" beginning. Mrs. Bruce suggested that they use a vocabulary word in their story. I thought that was great. One of the kids was able to use all six, which was impressive. The students' stories were very creative. Some wrote about thievery, some rescue upon a galloping horse, some dreaming, some a bear chase. I had them share their stories in groups and I asked them to try to read fluently like a real narrator or storyteller. Afterwards I got comments from some of the students about whose story they were impressed with and why. Some t...

Lesson 2 One feat of the day was that I was able to memorize each student's name! We did a name game where we pretended we were packing our bag to go on a vacation together. We voted on the location and picked Japan. (This wasn't actually important for the game itself but made it a little more fun for the kids from the get-go.) Each student had to pick something to pack for our trip but it had to be an alliteration with their name. We brainstormed at first and helped each other think of a few items that we could pack that started with the same sound as our name. The last element we added was rhythm . We patted our knees and clapped to keep a steady (more or less) beat. I demonstrated " My name's Mrs. An derson, I'm packing an ap ple" in rhythm to which they responded " Her name's Mrs. An derson, she's packing an ap ple" in rhythm - after a few tries of course! We went around and many of the kids were able to speak in rhythm but it...

Lesson 1 Today we started with a get-to-know-you game called " Jump in, jump out" Jump in, Jump Out turn yourself around I said Jump in, jump out Introduce yourself! My name is so and so (class says "Yeah!") And I like blank (yeah!) And I can blank (yeah!) Alright,Alright, alright When the person introducing themselves said what they can do, they made a gesture to help everyone remember. Then when the class said "alright, alright, alright" everyone did that gesture 3 times in rhythm. We had the whole class introduce themselves which was fun but a little longer than I expected. Many of them needed a little coaxing introducing themselves and picking a gesture simply because they felt kind of shy. This pushed their comfort zone a little bit, but the kids had fun. They certainly got a lot of wiggles out. Fun fact: A lot of the students said they like cake, pizza, and dogs. It's a good thing that we went over my atte...