Art Form: Music

Supplies Needed

-All Are Welcome book

Vocabulary

Tempo - the speed of the beat

Ostinato - a repeated pattern

Rhythm - long and short sounds and silences

Stead Beat - the consistent pulse or “heartbeat” of music

Rest - silence

Form - the organization of a piece (how the music is put together)
Character - a person in a story or play, or an animal or object that has human qualities

Instructions

1. Read the book. Discuss the events in the book. Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the main idea or theme of the book?

2. Listen for the repeated phrase, “All are welcome here”.

3. Pat the steady beat on your knees. Say, “All are welcome here”, in a four-beat rhythm. You may say more than one word or syllable on a beat. Some beats may not have any words (this is a rest).

4. Add a repeated pattern or ostinato by patting and clapping the steady beat (pat-clap, pat-clap, etc.). Say, “All are welcome here”, while performing the ostinato.

5. Have someone read the book rhythmically while continuing the ostinato. They will read each line in a rhythm for four beats, so there will be multiple words and/or syllables on each beat. Each time they get to the repeated phrase, “All are welcome here”, read it together chorally.

6. Talk about how the book is organized: each section has three lines (in regular font) followed by the repeated phrase (in bold font). This is the form!

Extensions

Find materials around you to use as instruments (paper plates, empty paper towel rolls, pencils, empty cans filled with rice or beans, etc.).

Compare and contrast two sounds in the story. How are they alike? How are they different?

Art Form: Music

Supplies Needed

-Math Curse book
-Items for sound making (pencil, pot, spoon, etc.)

Vocabulary

Dynamics - loud and soft sounds; volume

Steady Beat - the consistent pulse or "heartbeat" of music

Tempo - the speed of the beat

Found Sound - materials in the environment that make sound, including the body

Timbre - the distinctive quality of sound

Character - a person in a story or play, or an animal or object that has human qualities

Central message - the main point or lesson of the story

Key Details - specific pieces of information that support or add meaning to the story

Instructions

1. Read the book. Notice the many problems the character encounters during his
day! Who is the main character? What is the central message of the story? Think about the events and issues the character experienced. What was the sequence of events. What are the details the author adds to make the book interesting?

2. Using found sound, experiment with different ways of making sound. Notice the distinct sound (timbre) each makes. Some materials may make several different sounds. When sounds are played together it creates texture. Notice the dynamics of each sound. Practice performing the steady beat using several found sounds.

3. Create music to illustrate the events or details in the book. For example, how could the plaid shirt, the blue shirt, and the striped shirt be represented with found sounds? How could you change the found sound to demonstrate the ugly, plaid shirt? What it sound differently? Why did you make those choices? Next, try using your favorite sound at different volumes to represent each type of shirt and show the difference with dynamic changes.

4. Find other events or details in the story and add sounds as you reread the pages. What sounds would the character make when he feels trapped in the math curse? What sounds could you create to demonstrate how the character feels when the curse is broken? How do the sounds compare?

Extensions

Create rhythms using the sounds you created. Combine the sounds to add texture.

What would happen if the math curse wasn't broken? Write a new musical ending
to the story.

Art Form: Music

Supplies Needed

-A Chair for My Mother book
-Paper
-Glass jar
-Coins (paper clips, pebbles, or other small objects will work, too)
-Writing Materials

Vocabulary

Dynamics - loud and soft sounds; volume

Rhythm - long and short sounds and silences

Beat - the consistent pulse or “heartbeat” of music

Tempo - the speed of the beat

Introduction - a short section at the beginning that sets the mood and generates interest

Coda - a short section at the end after the main part is finished

Character - a person in a story or play, or an animal or object that has human qualities

Central message - the big idea or lesson of the story

Instructions

1. Read the book. Discuss the events in the book. Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the main idea or central message of the book?

2. Write a short sentence about what we can learn from the story.

3. Pat a steady beat. Practice saying your sentence in a rhythm while patting the beat. You may say more than one word or syllable on a beat—this creates an interesting rhythm.

4. Drop coins in a jar one by one. Describe the sound. How do the dynamics change depending on where you drop the coins from (close to the rim, higher in the air)? How does the sound change as the jar fills with coins (higher, lower, same)?

5. Read the story, putting coins in the jar each time the characters do. Decide:
-Will the dropping coins have a steady beat? Will they have a rhythm?
-Will they be dropped randomly (no steady beat)?
-How many coins will go in the jar each time?
-Will the dynamics be loud or quiet or in between?
-Will the coins be dropped individually or in groups?

6. Your jar needs to be filled by the end of the story! At the end of the story, say your rhythmic sentence. Decide how many times you’ll say your sentence and what the tempo and dynamics will be.

Extensions

Say the book title rhythmically over four beats. Read the title rhythmically as an
introduction to the book; read the sentence you wrote at the end as a coda.

Consider others ways to create an introduction and coda.

Art Form: Music

Supplies Needed

-All Are Welcome book

Vocabulary

Ostinato - a series of movements performed in
a specific order

Rhythm - an expressive movement of the body or limbs

Steady Beat - The consistent pulse or "heartbeat" of music

Rest - silence

Form - the organization of a piece (how the
music is put together)

Phrase - musical sentence

Character - a person in a story or play, or
an animal or object that has human qualities

Central Message - the big idea or lesson of the
story

Instructions

1. Read the book. Discuss the events of the book. Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the main idea or central message of the book?

2. Notice how the words are organized: one repeated phrase (“all are welcome here”) preceded by three phrases with rhyming words at the end.

3. Create a four-beat pattern using your body (for example, pat-clap-snap-snap).
Repeat your pattern several times. This is called a four-beat ostinato.
Remember to keep the steady beat! Keep your ostinato simple!

4. Say “all are welcome here” in a rhythm while performing your four-beat ostinato. You will say more than one word or syllable on a beat. Some beats may not have any words. Find the rhythm you like best!

5. Read the remaining phrases rhythmically while performing the ostinato. Read each phrase in a rhythm over four beats—remember you may have multiple words and/or syllables on each beat.

6. Notice how the book is organized: each section has three phrases (in regular font) followed by one phrase repeated throughout the book (in bold font). These same and different phrases create a musical form! Read the book rhythmically while performing the ostinato.

Extensions

Read the book at different tempos (faster or slower).

Experiment with different ostinatos to perform while reading the book.

Art Form: Music

Supplies Needed

-Thank You, Omu book

Vocabulary

Dynamics - loud and soft sounds; volume

Steady Beat - the consistent pulse or “heartbeat”
of music

Tempo - the speed of the beat

Character - a person in a story or play, or an
animal or object that has human qualities
movements are added one at a time and repeated in sequence (Ex: A, A+B, A+B+C…)

Setting - where the story takes place

Main Idea or Central Message - the main
message of the story

Punctuation - the marks at the end of a sentence
to clarify meaning

Instructions

1. Read the book. Talk about the main idea or central message of the story. Whoare the characters? How do people thank Omu?

2. Find words written in a larger font. Notice that many of these words are repeated throughout the story.

3. Practice reading what Omu says to each new character (“Little boy,” “Ms. Police Officer,” etc.). Notice the punctuation!

4. How would each character’s voice sound (high, low, medium, high to low, low to high, fast, slow, etc.)? Use the character’s special voice to read the response each character gives Omu (“ooooo, stew!”). Notice the punctuation!

5. Find “knock” each time it appears. How could you make a knocking sound? Notice that the number of knocks changes during the story. Will the knocking have a steady beat? Will it be at a fast, medium, or slow tempo?

6. Read the book, using different voices, dynamics, and sounds for the special words (greeting for each character, each character’s response to learning Omu has stew to share, and knocking).

Extensions

Find other parts of the story where sounds could make the book more interesting. For example, what would it sound like when Omu is stirring stew or when she puts down her spoon? What would it sound like when she spoons out the stew? Read the book, adding these special sounds.