Teachers Notes El Sistema upholds PASSION firstREFINEMENT second
- Slides: 17
Teacher’s Notes El Sistema upholds PASSION first/REFINEMENT second. This Power. Point has some activities for just doing that. Children must love music first even though they don’t understand all the details of it! Once the passion and desire is there, we begin to refine. This PPT contains the following: • An expression activity • A rhythm activity • A process of refinement through ensemble work • An encouragement for YOU as the teacher to show the local community what these awesome kids have learned! NOTE: It is all a process! Even the product of a performance is part of the process! Remember that kids LOVE the process! The words may not all be here for you to say but YOU ARE AN EDUCATOR, BE CREATIVE! Most importantly, ENJOY YOURSELF and smile!
Carnival of the Animals: “Fossils” By: Camille Saint-Saëns PPT By: Maria Ahrens
What is a fossil?
“Fossils” At midnight in the museum hall, The fossils gathered for a ball, There were no drums or saxophones, But just the clatter of their bones, Rolling, rattling carefree circus, Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas, Pterodactyls and brontosauruses Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses, Amid the mastodonic wassail I caught the eye of one small fossil, “Cheer up sad world, ” he said and winked, “It’s kind of fun to be extinct. ” -Ogden Nash
What would fossils look like dancing?
A dancing brachiosaurus?
A dancing triceratops?
A dancing tyrannosaurus?
Let’s do it!
Clap this rhythm on your lap!
Teamwork Time!
Teacher’s Notes Refinement is a long process. Don’t make it boring! On the next slides there are bits of a reduced score of the “Fossils”. Use them how you can. If your students are agile instrument players, you may go ahead and give it a shot with them, however, for younger students just beginning, you need to be a little bit more hands-on. An idea: Divide the piece in your own way and create your own version of the song. For example, if you have 12 kids, divide them in to 4 groups. Group 1 plays the first run of eighths and a quarter note. Group 2 plays the second run. Group 3 plays the third run. Group 4 plays the last segment to finish and the whole class repeats. FUN! It doesn’t have to exactly like the piece! Consider this the class “Fossils”-inspired work of art! Go ahead and add a B section in which everyone plays the “Twinkle, Twinkle” theme and then repeat the A section again!
Group 1? Group 2? Group 3? Group 4?
Teacher’s Notes After lots of hard work and tons of fun, the next step is performance! Schedule a small concert for the students’ parents and teachers! Part of El Sistema is getting students to perform often so that performance is never a high-stress moment but rather a way of sharing!
