Another story about Kokopelli wandering in the woods playing his flute to all those nearby..

By Lilli Leonhard- Grade Five

I wandered through the woods centuries ago playing my trusty flute serenading all the creatures around me.  I recall it was when I came to a large clearing in the woods and it was there I saw the most beautiful sight; a herd of horses galloping to the beat of my flute.  As they approach I kept on playing the same tune.  The head mare bowed down so I could hop on.  Once I got on my music seemed more powerful.  More people and creatures heard my melody and I, Kokopelli and my herd of horse have wandered the land ever since playing the song of the forest.  I told the kids from the Navajo tribe.

New Ideas for the Native American Project

I have added a new piece to the Native American Project for fifth grade music class.  Students will create a dance that tells a story that is important or interesting to them.  To bring that process to the forefront and to get students' creative juices flowing, this week I had students begin one class by listening to Kokopelli's Wandering Song on Native American Flute.  In case you are not familiar with Kokopelli, he is a legendary character in Native American folklore who travels around playing his flute all over the countryside.  The assignment was to listen to the music and have the melody inspire you to create a story around Kokopelli's wanderings.  Where is he going? Why? Who does he play for and what happens to the people or animals when he plays for them?  Here are some of the amazing stories that came out of the assignment.

Ava Peltz
He plays his flute day and night.  He walks through forest and deserts for people to hear.  from village to village.
One day he is playing his flute in a forest.  It is evening and he came across an angry bear.  The bear said, "These are my woods."  "No one comes without a gift."  Kokopelli didn't have any gifts with him, but he said, "I have no gifts to give but I will play for you and your forest."  The bear said, "ok I will hear you play, but if the forest is not pleased then you need to turn back.  So he started to play.  He played for two long hours, The forest swayed to the music, and he when he stopped playing the bear said, "you have a talent, thank you for your gift.  and he let him pass.  The end

Look forward to next week when you will read more stories about Kokopelli.  Enjoy!!

It just goes to show you!!

I am accustomed to giving students three days or at least two and a half days to complete this project on Native American Dances.  If you are interested in seeing what it entails, there is a post about it from last year.  This year, we had one class on Monday and then ended up having two days of snow days on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I was worried about students being able to complete the project in one day, and I cut one of the dances that I normally teach them.  I give them usually four dances to incorporate into their Native American modern dance and then they add as much as they want along with those four dances.

This year we only had one day to teach the traditional dances, and then one day to create their own version of these dances in a modern song with electric guitar and other more modern instruments.  I am amazed at what they all created from practically whole cloth.  I have also taught them the twist and the pony, during another class the week before.  They were able to remember all their moves, they were able to incorporate all the dances into a more modern version of a dance, and some of them told stories through their movements.  It was really incredible.  I was worried for nothing.

But it goes to show you, as I have always believed.  No matter how much time you give a class to get a project completed, that is how long it will actually take.  If you give them too much time, they just waste it anyway, knowing they have time to do that.  Because there was a very limited amount of time to get the job done, they knew that and they took advantage of every minute they had to get the job done.

Played a new game in Enrichment class..

A new game is always a way to inspire students and make them really use their imagination.  The game I found from David Farmer's website!  Check it out!

The game is called Alphabet shapes.  Students are walking around the room, and you call out a letter.  They have five seconds to create a thing or an idea that begins with the letter you have called out to them.  After the five seconds is up, you must ask each student to tell you what they made.  We had some wonderful ideas from these students!  Here is what we found!

The letter was K!  They had kangaroo, and knight, but one student had kale!!

The letter was B!  There were bears, and bumble bees but also the BEACH!! (A boy lay on his side and waved his hands around as the beach.)

When there are two students left, you can then have the other students vote on the most creative idea!
This was so much fun, and I laughed until I cried!

Did they learn anything?  Or was it just good, clean fun?  I believe that they did.  They learned about vocabulary, which one student mentioned.  They learned how to think on their feet, with only five seconds to think up a shape from their bodies.  They learned how to use their bodies in different ways, and they learned how to be creative and think of something that someone else might not have thought of..because you are out if two people do the SAME THING!!

That is my grave, intense and inspiring thought for the day!  Try to think of something that no one else ever might have thought of, and you might become rich and famous! (Or not, but at least you will have fun and keep your brain malleable and new while you are working on it!! ) Have a great week!

Student Initiative

I am very impressed by how students can sometimes take initiative to start a new experience for themselves in school.  There were some boys who thought up a new enrichment class at our school a few weeks ago.  They found some dance videos on youtube, and wanted to find a teacher to help them, or dance with them to these videos.  They went around to all the enrichment teachers in our school and asked for their help.  There were certain days they needed, and when they came to several of us, we had to say "no" as we already teach an enrichment class during those times.  However, in the end, they found teachers to help them with their endeavor.

Here is where it gets interesting.  On the first day of what they believed should be their new enrichment, they had the teacher find a room, and take them all there.  The fascinating part is, neither the teacher of the enrichment, nor the administrator seemed to understand how important it might be for them to know how it was that the students were actually "free" and "available" to be in this new enrichment class.  The fact of the matter was that they are NOT "free" or "available" at that time for this enrichment.  They are supposed to be in other enrichment classes.

 In fact, several of them have been in MY enrichment class for the past few weeks, and I thought I was doing some interesting activities with them, building on skills that we would use later in the quarter to do some acting and development of characters.  The students never came to me to say they wished to leave my enrichment.  The teachers never came to me to mention or ask about these students switching enrichments in the middle of the quarter.  These students just DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR MY CLASS!!  What are we trying to teach these students?  I am responsible for them, so why is this ok?  Students in my class went down to try to find them, and they told them they didn't have to come back to my class..again, what are we teaching these students??  And what is enrichment??

Finally, I have to say, that I still appreciate their efforts and their initiative, but it is essential that students are taught the correct way to go about starting something new in a school.  And can I just say that COMMUNICATION  to all the important parties is probably more important than ANYTHING ELSE THAT ANYONE CAN THINK ABOUT DOING.  I hope this can be a teachable moment for all involved, and I hope we can come away with a better feeling about it all in the end.  Have a great week everyone, and enjoy all the enrichments, tlts, advisories, extra curricular activities, and all the commitments that you have made this year!!

New Lyrics to Down By the Riverside

Gonna make everyone happy
Down in the city 3x
No one is sad no more 8x

Gonna make everyone feel the joy
Gonna jump up and down in the joy

Gonna pick up the trash today

and throw it all away 3x

Gonna pick up the trash today

and throw it all away

And take out the recyclables 8x

Gonna help hurt animals 3x

and give them medicine

Gonna help hurt animals

and give them medicine

And take out recyclables 8x

Gonna donate my money to charity

So the homeless will get food 3x

Gonna donate my money to charity

So the homeless will get food

And take out the recyclables 8x

   Make the world better

     

Gotta help those kids who are on the road

Gotta get them on their feet

Gonna show them way *2  

Gonna love today  tomorrow and maybe the next. Give them the perfect home with the hope and care.*2

Gonna open the door to trust to show them the care ,the hope, the love.Gonna show them the love that they need to groooooow and I will be the sun that lights the waaaaaay.

What is happening in fifth Grade Music

This week and last week in fifth grade music we began to delve into composition, day one!  You might think fifth graders might not be prepared to compose anything if they haven't had a great deal of experience with music, however, that is not the case.  We are composing rhythm compositions, not melodic compositions.  Melody will come later, rhythm can come first.  It is complicated enough.  We begin by practicing how a quarter note will be counted, then a half note, and a dotted half and a whole note.  We practice a quarter rest, a half rest and a whole rest.  We discuss what all these are worth, and we also count double eighth notes.

From there, we create a sixteen measure composition together as a class.  Sixteen measures of rhythm, combining all the different types of notes that we know, in four/four time.  All of the students will contribute their ideas to this first composition, and then we will learn how to play it.  We practice it together and perform it together a few times.

After this, students go off on their own, and I am by them to help them when and if they need it, and they create their own sixteen measure composition, all on their own.  When they are completed with it, they check it with me, and I can fix whatever is not quite right.  After the first check in, they then practice the piece by themselves until they think they are ready.  It is funny, because students always believe they are ready after practicing a piece two or three times.  They come to me, and do not keep a steady tempo, or they clap the eighth notes the same way they are clapping the quarter notes, so I send them back with feedback on how to count better.

The final day of the week they perform their pieces for me and the class, and it is heartwarming to see and to hear.  They have come a long way in a few days with their compositions, and some of them have also learned each other's compositions, and have learned even how to play their compositions together as a duo, two separate pieces in rhythm, in time.  For me, a wonderful way to get to know the students quickly, and a wonderful way to get them to play music for each other right away!  I look forward to more performances tomorrow and Friday!  Have a great week!.