High and Low Melodies in Many Forms

Improvising melodies with the
Singing Puppies. 

Every person is unique.  Whether you are learning how to kick a ball, add numbers, tell a story or sing a song, every person learns in different ways and at different speeds. Every individual brings their own learning style and different background knowledge, so it is important that we explore new concepts in many different ways.



For example, Grade One students have been been learning how to recognize and manipulate high and low sounds through a variety of activities.  If you had peeked into the music class room in the last few weeks, you might have seen singing, stories, movement, reading and writing music - and puppets of course!  


In the course of our learning, students have:

Labelling high and low notes on
an illustration of the story of
Tic and Toc.

     - echoed teacher melodies
     - moved their hands and bodies to show high and low pitches
     - sung a given melody to respond to a sung question
     - used a puppet to improvise their own melody
     - used a xylophone to represent moving "up and down" a hill in a story
     - drawn high and low notes on a picture
     - finding high and low pitches on a one-line staff

Composing melodies on a 

one-line staff.

After all this experience, the next step for Grade One is to use the formal melodic notation of the one-line staff to write and share their own melodies.  What a powerful experience to create and write down a melody, and then hear it performed by a friend!