Big and Small, Low and High

Kindergartners have been working throughout the year on keeping a steady beat while singing, moving and playing instruments. We've also explored melodic direction and are noticing how large things make low sounds and small things make high sounds. The Orff instruments provide the perfect platform for melodic exploration: visually, aurally and kinesthetically the students are free to create and explore melodic direction and pitch while creating music together. This week we are using the book "Mortimer," by Robert Munsch and Michel Martchenko (Annick Press) to practice steady beat and upward downward on the Orff Instruments. When the characters go up the stairs the students play the thumps on any pitches going up; when the characters go down the stairs the students play the thumps in a downward direction. Ask your kindergartner to sing the "Mortimer" song for you after the next music class! "Clang, clang, rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day. Clang, clang, rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day!"