Learning About Nature Through
Music and the Arts
Be Curious Be Inspired Create and Share Through Music |
Be Curious Be Inspired Create and Share Through Music |
I got the idea of just sharing a regular day for Outdoor Music class! So here is a snapshot of what a day is like, taken from a day in March 2021: First class of the day, the sun is rising. Shadows are long. Because it was "Spring Forward" the day before, we now get to enjoy the sun rise around the beginning of class. We run up the hill to watch, then I put "The Circle of Life" on the portable speaker and we dash around like we are animals in this opening scene. The kids are thrilled to re-experience this moment! Geese are flying over constantly so we stop to watch… I play BNL’s ‘ Here Come the Geese’ and we make a V formation and ‘fly’ across the field… all 50 of us… there are actually geese on the lawn so we turn so we don’t frighten them, which would be ironic while celebrating geese, really. We stop and notice that the chickadees are singing both their call and their song alternately, because it is chilly but also, spring is coming Next class – we pause to notice the billowing like giant waves of the clouds…. It`s like an ever changing canvas in the sky… vapor trails – bold brush strokes. The lesson itself isn’t nature related… so it is more ‘outdoor classroom’ than officially ‘outdoor education’… but it is an integration of dance, a musical style from a different time, and math because we are looking at the larger form of the piece, plus the patterns in it… but there are ‘outdoor education’ moments peppered throughout as we connect the sounds and sights to the beauty of our situation Break time – watch a video of dances (of north America… I point this out to them that it is centred in north America vs all the dance styles from other cultures the whole time) from the 1920s to now… I share the music from the video and dance it myself, with them trying it with me, but stop around the 2000s and let them try their flossing and orange justice that they can all do but I can’t lol! This is so I can show them these dance styles to show that music often matches a style of dancing too… and actually music and art and dance often have elements that can be connected… Everything is connected. We listen to a song called "Can you Find It" by TMBG because there was a giant X in the sky… but shared with a bunch not in my class too because they were outside and can also see it! Then, even better, in the afternoon there was an X and a Z right next to it! Classes are thrilled with finding letters everywhere during our musical walk around the field! Lunch – TedX video on how everything is connected… lunch and learn… These are the times I learn about new things, and things I want to know more about - SEL for music, how the brain works, etc. I'm fascinated with learning new things, and one never knows when they will pop up in a new musical experience!
An afternoon of a story where we add our own sound effects and listen for birds on a sound walk are highlights with kindergarten students. A fun day with many new experiences!
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Click HERE to go back to the first postBio - Jennifer EngbrechtI am a music specialist in the Louis Riel School Division in Manitoba, Canada. I have a strong interest in the interrelationship of all subject areas, especially infusing the arts into all learning, and as their own stand-alone subjects. NEW:
So excited to be interviewed for Green Teacher Magazine's "Talking With Green Teachers" Podcast My article in the MSSTA Journal for Fall 2021... Click on the image below:
My article in the Summer 2021 Green Teacher Magazine. Click on the image below:
Disconnect: The Outdoor Education Podcast - listen to this episode about Teaching Music Outside by clicking on the picture below:
Looking for the WSO Manitoba Mosaic lesson for Hey Terre by Kelly Bado?
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