This particular series took place at Mountain View Methodist Day School during the spring of 2014. It was an 15 week series which focused on learning the Old Testament books and stories. As with previous preschool classes, I like to open with movement (this allows us to get the wiggles out before we get down to business). For this series, I used The B-I-B-L-E, The Drums of the Lord from Leap of Faith (Movement and Praise Songs for Kids) which can be found on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Faith-Movement-Praise-Songs/dp/B003AFLIGM/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1451403306&sr=8-15&keywords=Leap+of+Faith%2C+music+book) and Father Abraham. I also like doing a closing song, which for this series I re-used Go Now in Peace (I also used during the Creation series). For this particular series, we learned to sing the books of the Old Testament to the tune of Ten Little Indians. Each week, I'd add a new phrase, and broke the song into three large sections. I didn't use music- I basically copied this guy from YouTube: I don't have music for Father Abraham- I taught it from memory as a song that I learned as a kid. You can probably find it on YouTube. I should also note that while I play my ukulele most of the time with my preschool kids, I do not during movement time, I just sing. What I have found is that as soon as I stop doing the motions, the kids stop doing the motions, and during movement, I think it's really important to engage the whole body with the music. I want them to FEEL the beat. We learned about seven different stories in the Bible- Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses parting the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Daniel, Shadrach, Mesach, and Abendigo, and Jonah. There were three large songs which combined multiple stories- Fill in the Blanks, Drums of the Lord (from movement), and Adam, Adam. Each week, I would start with one of the familiar songs and add the new verse, then have a "story time" where we read the story. I used The Lion Book of Five-Minute Bible Stories- except for SMA, then I had to improvise. But as we were doing It's Cool in the Furnace for music camp that year, I was in a Shadrach, Mesach, and Abendigo mood. I found their story in a book called Bedtime Bible Stories that I borrowed from the library. It wasn't very colorful, but I still managed to get the story out. One last note: I did create a CD and music lyrics sheet for each class. The teachers liked to include music as part of their day, and having lyric sheets during music class helped them out. Plus, sometimes the teachers helped keep ME straight. I tend to go off-book so I can interact with the kids, and sometimes forget what the lyrics are, or what comes next. :) Class #1Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E (verses 1 and 2) My kids knew verse 1 already, so we sang it for fun, and then learned verse 2. Also, by adding verse 2 in the first week, you can get them clapping early. Learn: Drums of the Lord. Just the chorus. I broke it into two sections- the "drums of the Lord keep pounding, pounding" part and the "Way oh, oh way oh" part. They had fun with the steady beat on the thighs. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- Genesis-Numbers. I had the kids sing it with me 5 times- I would hold up fingers- it's good for preschoolers to count. Read: Psalm 119:105- Thy word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path. For the rest of this series, we are going to be reading God's word, and learning the stories of past believers. Who do you already know about from the Bible, who do you want to learn about? Discuss. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #2Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1 and 2, learn verse 3. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- Deuteronomy-Ruth. I had the kids sing it with me 5 times, then added it to Genesis-Numbers 5 times. Sing: Drums of the Lord. Review the chorus and learn the Daniel verse. Read: Daniel and the Lions- P. 57. For obvious copyright reasons, I can't include the whole story. Again, I used The Lion Book of Five-Minute Bible Stories, but feel free to use any illustrated Bible book you wish. I HAVE included one picture from the story just as an idea. Learn: Fill in the Blanks (just the Daniel verse- #3). You can use it to review the story. Sing: Go Now in Peace. Class #3Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-3, learn verse 4. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- add 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles. Again, sing them 5 times, then add them to Genesis-Ruth 5 times. Sing: The Drums of the Lord- Review the chorus and Daniel verse. Learn the Jonah verse. Sing: Fill in the Blanks. Review the Daniel verse, add the Jonah verse (verse 1) Read: Jonah and the Big Fish p. 52 Learn: Hey Jonah! Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #4A Review Week. Nothing new. This allows you to talk through the stories as you sing familiar songs. Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle. Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Verses 1-4. Review: The Books of the Old Testament- Genesis-2 Chronicles. Sing it through 5 times. Sing: The Drums of the Lord. At this point you should be able to do the entire song. Sing: Fill in the Blanks. Just the Daniel and Jonah verses. Review the stories of Jonah and Daniel. Discuss. Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Go Now in Peace. Class #5Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-4, add verse 5. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament. Learn Ezra-Job. Sing it 5 times. Add to Genesis-2 Chronicles. Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Adam, Adam. Just the Adam verse Read: The Garden of Eden p. 11 Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #6Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-5, add verse 6 Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Psalms-Ecclesiastes. Sing it through 5 times, then add it to Ezra-Job five times. Go from Genesis-Ecclesiastes once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Adam, Adam. Add the Noah verse. Read: Noah and the Flood p. 16 Sing: Arky, Arky. Learn verses 1-2 Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #7Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-6, add verse 7. This should complete the song. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Song of Songs through Lamentations. Sing through 5 times, then start back at Ezra 5 times. Go from Genesis to Lamentations once. Sing: Adam, Adam. Both the Adam and Noah verses. Recall the stories and discuss. Then, in no particular order- whichever the kids prefer... Sing: Arky Arky. Review verses 1-2, learn verses 3-4. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #8Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Finally, the complete song. Review, review, review. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Just a review of the two larger sections: Genesis-2 Chronicles and Ezra-Lamentations. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky. Review verses 1-4, add verse 5 to complete the song. Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam and Noah verses, then learn the Moses verse. Read: Moses and the Great Escape p. 38 Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #9Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Ezekiel-Joel. Sing through 5 times. Add to Genesis-Lamentations once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam, Noah, and Moses verses. Learn the David verse. Read: David and Goliath p 47 Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #10Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review the entire song. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Amos-Micah. Sing through 5 times, then add to Ezekiel-Joel 5 times. Go from Genesis-Micah once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam, Noah, Moses, and David verses. Add Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Read: The Furnace of Blazing Fire and Four Men Walk in the Fire p. 184-185. Sing: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Note: At this point, the kids know all the songs that will appear in the spring program. They need to finish learning the Books of the Old Testament, but for the next five weeks, I reviewed all the songs in two large chunks: Drums of the Lord, Hey Jonah!, and Fill in the Blanks and Adam, Adam, Adam in the Garden, Arky, Arky, How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea?, Only a Boy Named David, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Class #11Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Nahum-Malachi. These are the last 6 books. Sing through 5 times, then sing from Ezekiel-Malachi 5 times. Sing from Genesis once. Yay! You know them all now! Sing: Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Review all the stories. I had success with bringing up a name, and letting the kids tell me the story. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #12Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. For the last three classes, I focused on one of the three phrases in addition to putting it all together. This week, we did Ezekiel-Malachi 5 times, then went from Genesis-Malachi 5 times. Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #13Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Review Ezra-Lamentations. Sing Genesis-Malachi 5 times as well. Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! ART PROJECT: Draw your favorite Old Testament Bible story. Everyone talked about their favorite story, and I used these to decorate the Ministry Center. Parents could wander through and see all the stories that we talked about. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #14Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Review Genesis-2 Chronicles. Then Genesis-Malachi. Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #15The final class. For this class, we just did a spring concert run-through. Because I worry about kids falling off risers, I don't do movement for the concerts. Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Sing: the Books of the Old Testament Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego Thanks so much for reading!
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It's hard to argue the fact that the most important thing you can teach your piano students is how to practice. Across the board, EVERYONE needs to practice- we practice sports, presentations, speeches, we do mock interviews, and debates. A good chef will try a recipe before serving it to others. A good writer journals regularly. We need to practice our craft- it's how we get better. Unfortunately, I get so many transfer students who haven't been taught HOW to practice. They bring notebooks to me full of assignments with notes to practice X,Y, and Z. When I ask students how they practiced, they usually say something about 30 minutes a day. They sit down and play for 30 minutes. I would say that at least 50% of my lessons are focused creating a practice strategy. As a teacher, you will get 14% of a student's time at a piano (if they practice 30 a day every day), so you better be sure that when they leave, they are prepared to go home and master that new technique. I ask my kids to do a certain number of reps, rather than a certain time on the clock, and we do that short practice session together. If they sit down and get busy, they can usually knock my assignments out in 20 minutes, and they WILL improve. Practice doesn't have to take forever, but it does need to be FOCUSED. My goal is to get them to sit down to the piano for at least a short time everyday- this is way more effective than one or two long sessions. Okay... scales. I am totally OCD about scales. I teach them early- way earlier than the method books recommend. I start my students with scales as soon as a student feels comfortable with the white key names. They usually haven't started reading the staff yet. When I notate the scales in their assignment book it usually looks something like this: The fingering for scales is identical backwards and forwards, so your fingers actually follow your eyes- to go up, read left to right. Going down, right to left. I teach scales so early for several reasons: 1. It helps them understand the need for good technique (you can't have a bad wrist position and slide your thumb under comfortably, etc.) 2. It reinforces the finger numbers, while not associating a finger number with a note: i.e.- C will not always be under your thumb in the RH and pinkie in the LH. 3. It reinforces the sound and harmonic progression of traditional western music at the very beginning of music making. They already know this sound instinctively. 4. It shows us how to move comfortably up and down the piano in all keys using various patterns. Students will instinctively understand why you don't put a thumb on a black key without you actually needing to explain it. You can eliminate weird fingering at the very beginning. 5. By the time you get to key signatures, your student will already understand it. 6. By the time you get to switching positions, your student will already be navigating the keyboard comfortably. In a slightly insane twist, I also start my students out with two octave scales instead of just one. As a student, my first teacher who taught me one octave scales, and when I switched, the new teacher made me do two. It was so difficult adding that second octave it was like learning the whole scale over again. BUT, if you can play two octaves, you can do three or four. It's difficult to add to one, but not to two. In my experience, your kids will rise to meet your expectations, so set the bar high. This is achievable, AND will save them stress in the long run. In my opinion. I have three scale levels in my studio- Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. I usually set up a chart in September, and again in January, and everyone starts at the beginning and plays as many scales as they can. At the end of the "semester" (December and May), the student with the most scales learned in each category receives some sort of prize. You've gotta make scales fun in some way, because who really wants to practice scales? Here are my criteria for each level: Beginner- receive a "pass" for each hand alone, and then hands together. They are also doing arpeggios- one hand, two octaves (LH, RH, LH crosses, then back down). Students stay in the Beginner level until they have successfully passed C,G,D,A,E,B, and F scales hands together. Once a student has gotten to B and F, which are slight fingering variations from the "norm", they are now ready to do scales with "unique" fingering. Intermediate- These students need to do their scales hands together, the arpeggio two octaves hands together, and the I,IV,V,I chord progression to "pass". FYI, I teach V and NOT V7 in the chord progression. This way when you're teaching inversions, you can already demonstrate first inversion chords (the V chord), and second inversion chords (the IV chord) and save teaching 7th chords for another day. My Intermediate students need to add F#, C#, Bb, Eb and Ab scales to the beginner scales. At this point, they should know ALL their major scales, including black key scales, chords, and arpeggios. They have started on minor scales and understand the difference between the three types of minor scales, but are playing the harmonic minor scale. Advanced- All the scales, both black and white in major keys, plus arpeggios with the metronome set at 60- 1 octave in quarter notes, 2 octaves in eighths, 3 octaves in triplets (hard!), and 4 octaves in sixteenths. I have yet to actually have a student complete ALL the minor scales. Black key minors are HARD! Again, everyone starts back at C at the start of the "semester". You can come in and pass all your scales in one week if you can. The student with the most scales at the end wins fame and glory beyond their wildest dreams. Or... An iTunes gift card. Anyway... In my studio, my desire to help students develop practice skills and my insistence that all students learn scales have led me to develop some helpful strategies. Here is one where the scale is broken down into four smaller sections: ascending 1 octave, ascending the second octave, descending 1 octave, descending the second octave. You can watch me break this down for a young student- I'm excited to see what next week will bring! Depending on the student, you could just do ascending one week, and descending the second week, and then put them together the third week. There are many variations that you can make to this. The key strategy: create a systematic approach, break it down into more manageable sections, and master the scale!
You can do it! This series ran at Mountain View Methodist Day School for 8 weeks in 2013. The remainder of the semester was spent learning Christmas songs for the Christmas program. Each class was 20-30 minutes- they tend to get longer as you add more music. As this series was the start of a new year, I typically spend the first 3 weeks singing the "Name Song", which is my made up way of saying- I sing in 3rds- "Hello, what's your name?", and each student is to echo back their name- "Hello, my name is ___________" in thirds- a little bit of pitch matching. When working with young musicians, I prefer to start with movement. For this series, we started with the song- Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands which went very well with He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Mid-way through, we added Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, which was a nice addition to the concept of God creating human-kind. In each lesson, we read a brief passage from the Bible, telling the story, and then learned a corresponding song. Each week we closed by singing "Go Now in Peace". One final note- for this class, I teach using a ukulele- so many ukulele-friendly chords have been written in. Class #1Welcome! Sing the name song. Make sure to take time with this- a student's name is the most important thing you can learn. I am terrible with names! Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. So, for the movement with these, clap your hands where it says clap, stamp your feet where it says stamp, nod your head where it says nod, shake your head where it says shake, stretch your arms up in the air where it says stretch. In between all the movements there is a pattern of la las, which I obviously didn't type out, but the pattern is 7, 5, 7, 6 las in a a phrase. I would march the kids in a circle while circling our hands. After movement, sit in a circle. Using the ukulele allows me to sit comfortably on the floor with everybody. I really like it as a tool for this age. Once everyone is seated, read Genesis 1:1- "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."- whichever version you prefer. Learn: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. I use the verses on the music pictured, but have changed the chords to make it more ukulele-friendly. No one wants to play a C-sharp diminished seventh chord on the uke- that's just cruel. You can close out by saying that we can clap our hands because God's got the whole world in His. He created all, and He cares about it all. Learn: Go Now in Peace. Class #2The Name Song. I need 3 weeks on this to be sure I remember all the names. Depending on the class size. Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Have a seat in the circle. Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Read: Genesis 1:2-5. The "let there be light" verses. Learn: This Little Light of Mine. Musically, I like the tune of the music pictured. I did change the verses to what I remember learning as a kid, which went: Verse 1- As written- use finger as candle. Verse 2- "Don't let anyone blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine!". Add a beat at the comma to allow the kids to blow out their "candle". Verse 3- "Hide it under a bushel, NO! I'm gonna let it shine!". Cover the candle, then shout NO, and uncover the "candle". Verse 4- "Share my light with others, YES! I'm gonna let it shine!". Shout YES, and raise your "candle". Verse 1- As written, just to close out. Discuss: God created light, and we can share that. What are some of the ways that we can share the light of God with our families, our friends, and our neighbors? Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #3The Name song. Last week. Give yourself a silly quiz- if you can't remember, give the kid a silly name such as Yuki McStripes. They can laugh and correct you. Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Have a seat in the circle Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Review: This Little Light of Mine. Read: Genesis 1:6-10- creation of sky. Learn: If I Were the Wind. This was a hard day to find music for. It's not exactly sky, but it is also not of earth. Is air sky? I ran with that idea, but I'd love to hear other ideas. Discuss: The second verse prompts us to thank God for all he's made. What are some of the things you are thankful for? Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #4Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Learn: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. I don't have music for it, but if you're reading this, I bet you know it! This is a great way to teach the concept of tempo- do the movements super slow, or super fast. You can also have some fun doing it backwards- again super slow, then medium, then super fast. Have a seat in the circle Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Review: This Little Light of Mine. Review: If I Were the Wind. Read: Genesis 1:9-10. Separation of dry land and water. Learn: Go Tell it on the Mountain- the chorus only. Anticipating Christmas a little bit :) We learned the chorus here, and learned the verses closer to Christmas. Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #5Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Movement: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Have a seat in the circle Review: This Little Light of Mine. Review: If I Were the Wind. Review: Go Tell it on the Mountain. Read: Genesis 1:11-12. God creates plants Learn: I'm So Glad- FYI, tune of London Bridge. I started out with just the first 2 verses, then added verses 4 and 6 as appropriate in the next couple of weeks. Side Note: If it times out well, this is a great song to do right around Thanksgiving. Discuss favorite plants, favorite fruits and vegetables- plants that we eat, plants we need to survive. What are some of your favorite plants and why? If you can, feel free to add them to the song. This song pairs well with If I Were the Wind as well- both end with "Thank you God" phrases. What parts of God's creation are you most thankful for? Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #6Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Movement: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Have a seat in the circle. Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Review: If I Were the Wind. Review: Go, Tell it on the Mountain. Review: I'm So Glad. Read: Genesis 1:14-19. God creates the sun and moon, separates day from night. Learn: This is the Day- if you've got time and want to have fun, do it as an echo song- or boys vs. girls, etc. These kids already knew this song, so there wasn't much teaching involved, just lots of fun playing around with a familiar song. Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #7Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Movement: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Have a seat in the circle Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Review: Go Tell it on the Mountain. Review: This is the Day. Read: Genesis 1:20-23. God creates the sea creatures. Learn: Creature Praise. This is far and away the most difficult song you will teach. As a matter of fact, the chord structure from the book was so odd, and I had to simplify so much, that it was easier for me to re-type the words and write in the chords that worked for me. Unfortunately, I can't find my original music, so I'm sorry for the lack of melody help- I am pretty sure it came from Lillenas' book All the Best Songs for Children- which is a great resource. I highly recommend it. For this particular group I did just the first verse and chorus. Review: Go Now in Peace. Class #8This is the final class, and although there is still one more day in the creation story, this is just a full review day. Being the hardest song of the series, Creature Praise applies beautifully to the idea that God also created not only the creatures of the sea, but also the creatures of the land. It is a great opportunity to review what is a difficult and new song and tell the entire story in one class session.
Movement: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands. Movement: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Have a seat in the circle. Prompt the kids. "In the beginning, God created...." Review: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Prompt the kids. "Then God said 'let there be....'" Review: This Little Light of Mine. Prompt the kids. "What did God do next? He separated the what from the what?" Review: If I Were the Wind. Prompt the Kids. "Then God built up and separated?" Review: Go Tell it On the Mountain. Prompt the kids. "After God separated the land from the sea, He put what on the land?" Review: I'm So Glad. Prompt the kids. "What do plants need to grow? They need soil, which God created (land), the need water which God also created (seas), what else do they need?" God created plants, and He also made sure they had everything they needed to survive and thrive. Review: This is the Day. Prompt the kids. "God created life on the earth in the form of plants, what about the leftover space on the earth, the oceans? What about the skies? What did He do next?" Review: Creature Praise. Prompt the kids. "What do you think God did next? This is our last class, what else do you see regularly that we haven't sung about yet? Read: Genesis 1:24-26 Review one more time: Creature Praise. He also made you. From your head, all the way down to your toes. Review: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. You can get them all worked up, then send them back with their teachers. :) Review: Go Now in Peace. |
Amy Riffle-Kouyeasis a professional pianist, teacher, singer, and Music Director currently residing in Snohomish, Washington. She is the Director of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Monroe, WA, and also teaches private piano, voice and ukulele lessons at The ARK in Snohomish, WA. |