 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Grades Three and Four: Lesson One - Experience Three
In this experience, students develop skills in performing a song together and explore the meaning of the sounds and words of traditional train songs. Objectives: Experience Three will enable students to:  Increase their vocabulary by learning and using train-related words.Sing simple traditional songs from memory with a group.Sing together on pitch with appropriate beat, dynamics and phrasing.Consider the ways songs are used in everyday life.Examine the messages in songs, like the ballad of John Henry.You will need... Materials: Visual 5, Visual 6 and Visual 7: music and lyrics to traditional songs: "John Henry," CDs or tapes of train songsTime: Two 30-minute periodsWords: More powerful than a locomotive... Railroad, a cappella (without accompaniment) Grades Three and Four - Rhythm, melody, lyrics, ballad Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on key ideas in Experience Three. How can a song tell a story?How has music been used in everyday life in different times and cultures?
Indiana's Academic Standards: Grade Three: Music - Standard 1: Singing alone and with others (3.1.2, 3.1.3); Standard 8: Understanding music in relation to history and culture (3.8.1, 3.8.2). Language Arts - Standard 3: Literary response and analysis (3.3.1, 3.3.2). Grade Four: Music - Standard 1: Singing alone and with others (4.1.1, 4.1.4); Standard 8: Understanding music in relation to history and culture (4.8.1, 4.8.2). Language Arts - Standard 3: Literary response and analysis (4.3.2, 4.3.5). Procedures: Day One: Remind students of the stories of John Henry that they read in Experience Two. Explain that these stories were based on earlier songs.Using a CD or Visual 7 introduce students to the ballad of "John Henry." African-American musicians first sang this traditional song.Practice singing "John Henry" with appropriate dynamics and phrasing.Day Two: Use Visual 7 to help students read and analyze the story of John Henry. A poem or song that tells a story is called a ballad.Ask students how the events in the book they read compare to the events in this version of the song.Have students find clues that indicate when the story takes place. Can they identify exaggerations (hyperbole)?Ask students to consider why African-American people passed this song on to others. Why was John Henry a hero to them? Is he still a hero to people today?Assessment: After practice, all students should be able to participate in singing the song together. Performance Criteria: Students should be able to: Sing the song a cappella using appropriate phrasing and dynamics.Summarize major events in the John Henry ballad.Use musical terms and vocabulary.Train of Thought Journal: Ask students to reflect on one of these questions in their journal entry: Were the people who built railroads heroes? Why or why not?Do you have a hero? If you were writing a song about this person, what important qualities or accomplishments would you include? Write your own story or song about this person.Tips for the Teacher: Experience Three helps students develop skills in performing vocal music as they consider the role music plays in everyday life. This is an excellent opportunity to work with the music teacher as students are introduced to new songs and musical works from other cultures. Students of all ages will enjoy singing "Down by the Station" as an "echo" song or as a round. As students in Grades One and Two learn "I've Been Working on the Railroad," they can begin learning work songs from other cultures and times. The tradition of singing work songs to make hard, cooperative labor easier came to America from Africa. Workers improvised and mixed preexisting lyrics and melodies to match the rhythm of the specific job. The origins of this song are unknown. It may be based on folksongs of the Irish and African-American workers building railroads in the last half of the 19th century. The workers were organized in work crews or "gangs" under the supervision of a leader, called a "captain." "Dinah" may be the camp cook who blows a horn to call workers to meals. The story of John Henry is presented here in one of its early musical versions. John Henry was a steel driver who did the dangerous job of pounding holes into solid rock so that a railroad tunnel could be blasted with dynamite. The song may have begun as a series of short stanzas sung by African-American railroad workers. It eventually evolved into a long ballad with many versions and stanzas that were handed down from one worker or musician to another. This version was first written down around 1900 and probably was based on earlier songs. Because it is so long, only a few stanzas are provided. See Resources for Web-based John Henry sources. Bonus - Extending Experiences: Have students: Use musical instruments or objects from the classroom to create a rhythmic pattern that sounds like a train. (Music - Standard 5: K.5.1, 1.5.1, 2.5.2)Create a class song about work at school to the melody of "I've Been Working on the Railroad."Create a work song, a song about a famous person or a short song based on a story. Help write the words or the melody. (Music - Standard 5: 3.5.1, 4.5.1) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
