Introduction Kindergarten   Lesson One     Experience One     Experience Two     Experience Three   Lesson Two   Lesson Three Grades One and Two Grades Three and Four Online Games and Activities Culminating Experience Train Glossary National Standards		Kindergarten: Lesson One - Experience Three The Music of the Rails >> Resources What do songs tell us about trains? 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 "Down by the Station," CDs or tapes of train songs Time: Two 30-minute periods Words: More powerful than a locomotive... Station, stationmaster, pufferbellies Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on key ideas in Experience Three. Why is it fun to sing about trains? See the Little Pufferbellies! Indiana's Academic Standards: Music - Standard 1: Singing alone and with others (K.1.1, K.1.2). Language Arts - Standard 7: Listening and Speaking (K.7.4). Procedures: Prior to this experience, prepare students by playing "Down by the Station" during routine activities, such as lining up for lunch, for several days. Day One: After students have been listening to "Down by the Station" over a period of time, remind them that the song is about trains. Play "Down by the Station" on tape or CD. Have students listen and line up like train cars and march around the room, making train movements in time to the music. Help students sing the song together, maintaining a steady beat. Day Two: Practice singing the song and imitating the sounds the train makes, such as "chug-chug" and "toot-toot." Help students identify train words in the song, such as station and stationmaster. Can they guess what pufferbellies are? Have students identify individual words and individual sounds in the words and find rhyming words, such as "row" and "go." Ask students to discuss why it is fun to listen to and sing train songs. How do the songs make them feel? Repeat singing the song at the beginning and end of class and during routine activities over several days until students are familiar with the words and melody. Assessment: After practicing the song over a period of time, all students will participate in singing the song together. Performance Criteria: Students should be able to: Sing the song together accurately and maintain a steady beat. Imitate train sounds and movements. Train of Thought Journal: Add the words to "Down by the Station" to the Big Book of Trains. Visual 5 can serve as a model. Use one page for each line of the song. Remind students of the words to the song and ask them to draw pictures that go with the words. Family Connection: Send the words and music to "Down by the Station" home with students. Families may enjoy singing the song together. 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)