Title:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Performers:
AC East 2nd Grade Music Class
Origin:
America
Instrumentation:
Children’s voices
Children
have the ability to learn life skills through various modalities of learning.
When incorporating play into learning activities, we as teachers can subtly
weave in some of these life skills which will teach the child without his/her
being aware. “Play
is an important medium for learning in young children's lives--wherever they
may be. It assists them in their development of language and reasoning skills,
and it fosters social competence and peer-group interaction.”
We
can see an example of this in my selected video for this week. The teacher is leading
the students in what would appear to be a very easy musical game; however, the
students are learning how to work together, as well as maintain decorum in a
group setting. The process of the game not only fosters skills in discipline,
but also in recollection. As each new student is called upon, they must have
the knowledge of which students were already called on. This type of activity
creates the neural pathways necessary to begin recalling cumulative information
in higher levels of education. When
moving up in school levels, as well as entering the adult workforce, the ability
to actively listen, recall, and participate in a respectful manner is an
essential skill. By weaving this skill into an activity where the students feel
they are at play, we are providing a positive experience in which the students
will be keener on embodying this behavior.
Reference:
Lew,
J. C., & Campbell, P. S. (2005). Childrens Natural and Necessary Musical
Play: Global Contexts, Local Applications. Music Educators Journal, 91(5),
57. doi:10.2307/3400144
Hi Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching the activity in the video. You made some great points about how the children are learning extremely important social and behavioral skills through this game. Many skills that come naturally to well adjusted adults, such as listening, waiting for your turn, being respectful of one person as they are speaking, are all skills that take practice in children. I also noticed a lot of other learning skills in this game. Musically, children are learning phrase structure and how to finish a phrase and also to sing alone as well as in groups. I think the challenge of remembering animals and identifying animals takes the edge off of the "solo singing" and can be a useful strategy when asking students to sing or perform alone for assessment. Making a game out of it or introducing fun, creative elements makes the environment less pressured and more conducive to students putting their best effort. Finally, I really enjoyed this video because of its reference to the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. This book is one of my toddler's all time favorite books and from what I understand, is a big hit with a lot of young children. Singing a song or playing a game that relates to a favorite book is an awesome way to connect familiar concepts with the unfamiliar. Thanks for your post!