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 often get skeptical questions, such as "What do you do outside all day?" or "So, are you still outside?" or "Are you still enjoying it?" To be honest, it simply gets more amazing every single day. I feel like nature is just pouring ideas out for me all the time, and I love to receive these beautiful messages. It's very helpful to have an open mind to receive that which is around you. As you can see by reading what I have written over the months and months outside, I rarely experience a day where I can just follow the lesson plan, because I'm completely open and curious to the serendipitous world around me, and so are the students. Those moments where they can seem distracted are almost what I'm going with: quite the opposite of school inside. Go with the "distraction". In fact, when I look at what they are "distracted" with, it is actually that they are CURIOUS about something else. Children are natural learners, awake to that which is around them, and it is following that curiosity that helps them learn best. When I look at what they are CURIOUS about, it's usually something fascinating that they want to interact with, like woodchips in the tents, or fresh snow, or leaves on the ground, or their shadow, or snow falling... SO I LET THEM! We find a way to make it musical! I have since learned from the amazing Megan Zeni who was being interviewed for the Disconnect: Outdoor Education Podcast, that this is called the emergent curriculum! I've been doing this all year and just learned the term for following these moments of curiosity, and bringing the curriculum to it. This outdoor experience is life-changing for how I approach learning. It's helpful to have an open mind to the whole experience. It's also helpful to have a vast array of music repertoire knowledge to be able to have these connections at the ready, and having an endless library of music via a music subscription for my device so almost any piece of music is available to me. Also helpful that I have mostly memorized the music curriculum and the philosophy behind it for my province so that the curriculum outcomes (now called "Recursive Learnings" and "Enacted Learnings") and their interconnectedness are simply there for me to draw from when I see the moments arise. Here are some examples of following their natural curiosity, while bringing the curriculum to this curiosity: 1) Playing with woodchips: After observing them play with the woodchips for a while during a lesson, I thought it reminded me of The Sandcastle from the National Film Board of Canada when the sand creatures start working on their creation. The musical theme at this point of the film is rhythmic and has a strong emphasis on the beat, to connect with them all being busy at work: This also reminded me of a series of work song examples that I have saved on my YouTube Channel, so while they were working, I played several of the examples, and told them about using music to help them work. Examples of fishing, and a post office in Ghana, songs such as Day-o, songs of the voyageurs who use music to keep the beat of their rowing. I spoke of boats with drums on them so the boats would go fast. At the end of the class, we did the Japanese dance Tanko Bushi, which is a very rhythmic dance demonstrating movements to tell a story of a time of coal mining. 2) Playing with snow: There have been days where the kids KNOW the snow is right for building with... so that is what we did... I put on music from a playlist I use in my sunroom at home, which is a mix of a lot of reflective music, often from the Baroque era, that I use to read by... it was perfect for listening to while they created art. In this situation music is being used to support creativity and mindfulness... this is so needed during these times. 3) Melting snow, and puddles! Here, the snow was quickly melting and we weren't sure where we could even go in the field. I chatted with this smaller class about the opportunity of doing something really special if they could follow very tight parameters of only making small steps in the water and slush so they wouldn't get themselves or anyone else wet. They ended up creating a fun slushy song! 4) Playing with our shadows: When observing students playing with their shadows, I quickly took that idea because it is a brilliant visual for them that I did not have to create! We used our shadows to watch the phrasing with Satie's Gymnopédie. We used our arms to carve the phrasing into the air, similar to when students air-draw letters to visualize them. We also created balancing poses that we took the entire length of the phrase to get into the final position, such as posing as a tree, but slowly using the whole phrase to achieve that pose. I showed them videos inside the school of Peter and the Wolf, which we enacted for ourselves outside with our shadows! We created monster dances for The Monster Mash! Endless ideas for playing with shadows! There are many more ideas, that we have done to interact with our space outside, and the ways we can bring music to that space, or the ways that music is brought to us from the birds, the sky... I absolutely have to say that one amazing webinar that immediately flipped a switch in my mind as to how I would teach music outside was called "The Arts Go Outside" from Learning for a Sustainable Future! The ideas presented in that webinar definitely opened my mind to thinking about engaging with the spaces around us outside and opening my eyes to opportunities! Keep your eyes open for more great webinars in their series here at Resources for Rethinking! The "Enacted Learnings" that occured during these moments of curiosity are too numerous to place here... but one of the most important elements of learning that is taking place outside, while we connect music to the outdoors is from the words of David Suzuki:
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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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