How to teach Primary Music

David Wheway, Hilary Miles and Jonathan Barnes have a wealth of experience as generalist primary teachers, subject leaders, secondary music teachers and lecturers in music education. They regularly lead workshops and projects across the country and further afield, promoting the use of music as a creative and powerful learning tool. All are passionately committed to supporting generalist teachers to deliver inspiring and effective music lessons.

100 INSPIRING IDEAS

‘This book provides simple, effective and imaginative ideas to support primary teachers in working musically with their children. The myriad of different activities gives great scope for teachers to develop and adapt them for their children.’ Sarah Hennessy, Educator, researcher and author.

Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter and Chair of the Orff Society UK

How to teach Primary Music

How to teach Primary Music presents 100 creative ideas to support anyone teaching music in primary schools. The ideas are inclusive, easy to implement and tackle everything from using music technology, creating tunes and singing through to classroom management, working with music hubs and putting on a performance. Whatever your prior musical experience, this practical handbook offers fresh and inspiring ways to invigorate music in your school.

CollinsPrimary ISBN 978-1-4729-2738-5

How to teach Secondary Music 978-1-4729-2737-8

How to teach Instrumental & singing lessons 978-1-4729-2739-2

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6 All about me “Can we sing a song about me and my friends?”

This idea offers a simple and enjoyable way to compose songs about the people and everyday activities in class.

Age: Early Years (particularly useful for children with SEND) Resources: A guitar if anyone can play it, otherwise voices are fine Top tip Practise at home first with personalised songs about friends.

For inspiration, look at the ‘The Lullaby Project’ videos on the Groundswell Arts website (groundswellarts. com).

Think of a well-known song and substitute the words with new ones to suit any occasion. For example: To the tune of Drunken sailor, exchange words with the name of someone in the class, e.g. ‘What shall we do with Annie Slater?’.

To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle – make up fun lyrics using the names of children in the class. Children could help with the words, e.g.

Stephen has got bright green toes, Craig has got a purple nose,

Taking it further...

Ibra’s smiling all day long, Bella’s singing a lovely song, etc.

Make up songs for different times of the school day, e.g. tidyup time, lunchtime, home time, etc.

Bonus idea Some children may be able to make up their own songs in pairs or groups.

To The wheels on the bus: Keziah’s coming into class, into class, into class … all day long.

David’s got a sniffy nose, sniffy nose, sniffy nose … all day long.

Children love hearing songs about themselves, their shoes, their favourite toy, a pet dog, an aunt/uncle in another country, and so on.

14 Getting started

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Let’s go disco-dancing

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“Children worked really well, helping each other and inspiring others with their actions.”

Children really appreciate activities that demand co-ordination.

In this activity, simple movements are made more challenging by trying to maintain a steady beat whilst alternating movements with a partner.

Age: 7–11 Work with a child to model the activity to the rest of the class (and be prepared for children to laugh).

You and the child alternate saying ‘one’ and ‘two’: (You say ‘One’, the child says ‘Two’, you ‘One’, child ‘Two’…). Repeat to a steady beat.

Create an action on your count (e.g. clap, raise an arm, touch your head, a dance move, a step…) and invite the child to invent their own movement.

Repeat the actions on each of your numbers.

Allow the children about 30 seconds to work in pairs to create their own alternating movements to a count of two.

Then, perform a whole class disco: Organise the children in a circle in their pairs, so that all number ‘ones’ are standing to the left of their partners.

Set up a steady 1–2 beat and ask all children to perform their actions to the beat.

It should be relatively easy to observe if children are maintaining their action to the first or second beat, as actions alternate.

Repeat the activity, but this time ask the children, still working in pairs, to create a sequence of four actions to a repeated count of four beats.

Top tip This is a very social activity. Notice how children may look across the circle to see what other children are doing, and how children support their partners. Note also how children might struggle but laugh about it – and still strive to improve.

Taking it further...

With children still in pairs, try a sequence to a count of three (both children initially sharing the three actions). Once the count of three begins, the children must try to alternate the three actions. This is much more difficult.

A sequence of five would be even more challenging.

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76

Finding patterns in the environment

“There are just loads of patterns everywhere.”

There are patterns all around us and this idea explores how rhythm and structure suggested by patterns can help children invent new musical ideas.

Age: 5–8 Resources: A checklist sheet with illustrations of common local patterns for children to spot (for each child) or paper for children to draw their own; pencils and clipboards; a selection of tuned and untuned percussion Top tip On a walk, children spot features like the long-short-long-short pattern of brickwork, Help individuals and steps, zigzags, spots, grids, curves, circles, groups refine their arches, squares and triangles, etc. offerings by stressing regularity of pulse and consistency of sound.

Taking it further...

Make a musicallyillustrated backing track to a series of excellently-framed photographs taken on the class iPad to share with other classes.

Bonus idea Combine the musical ideas children invent for shapes like rectangles and circles and patterns like those in brickwork, to build a musical house!

They record what they see by completing a pre-prepared checklist or by drawing.

Back in class, experiment with musical responses to their shapes and patterns, asking questions such as, ‘What could the repeated pattern of dots on our carpet sound like?’, ‘How could we make a sound that suggests a circle?’

Children work in small groups to explore and develop their ideas.

Use the sounds as backing for a sequence of photographic images that inspired them.

Pattern

Where did you find it? √ School door √ School wall drain cover kitchen floor √

96 Music in the environment

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