In Kindergarten, one of our main curricular focuses is singing and teaching students how to correctly use their singing voice. As a class we discuss how to access our higher range using our "fuzzy singing voice" and then practice it with solo and group singing games. Students spend the a portion of each music class exploring with their voice and singing "Sol and Mi" songs in fun and creative ways! Some of the kindergartners' favorite singing games include "Teddy Bear", "Blue Bird", "Hop Little Bunnies", and "Old King Glory".
After learning how to correctly use their singing voice, Kindergartners start exploring the scale and solfege. Solfege is a system of nonsense syllables that represent each level of the scale. (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do). Studying the scale in Kindergarten helps set the foundation for pitch relation. Students can then transfer their knowledge of the scale to other instruments such as the xylophone and boomwackers!
Check out Mrs. Mastronardi's class playing a scale with boomwackers!
Movement and Folk Dance
In Kindergarten music classes, we also spend a lot of time learning about how to move our body to the beat and how to physically respond to music. Kindergartners experience music best through movement and through mirroring, moving to the beat, and playing singing movement games, students learn how to control their bodies and actively engage with the music they are listening or singing to. Each class we turn our bodies into shapes, animals, letters, emotions, or even textures.
After Kindergartners have mastered the basics of moving to music, we start to explore folk dances. Folk dances are important because not only do they require students to think about movements in sequences, they also require them to work with a partner or groups of other people. These dances help ingrain a steady beat and teach students how work with others.
Check out Miss Dyke's class performing a folk dance!