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"Trains" by Michelle Scullion

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Learning Contexts:
Perceptive listening, notation (Music literacies); English; Technology
Learning Contexts:
Perceptive listening, notation (Music literacies); English; Technology
YEAR/S: 1-3 DURATION: 4 - 6 sessions
CURRICULUM LEVEL: Level One - Two CURRICULUM LEVEL: Level One - Two
Values highlighted in this unit How will these values be encouraged?
Excellence Persevering to learn and master new skills. Being prepared to offer personal reflections.
Innovation, inquiry and curiosity Constantly reflecting on how they can utilise new and known skills to create something original. Asking meaningful questions.
Diversity Learning about different musical styles and that all people have different musical tastes and interests.
Equity All having opportunities to participate to the best of their ability. Sharing resources.
Community and participation Joining in all activities and working collaboratively to make up new music soundscapes and/ or movement sequences.
Care for the environment Considering how natural materials can be used to create sounds and the importance of respecting protocols of gathering these materials.
Integrity Acting responsibly and supporting others, respecting cultural knowledge.
Key Competencies highlighted in this unit How will these competencies be encouraged?
Managing self Following instructions clearly, listening to others’ ideas. Completing tasks.
Relating to others Interacting sensibly with other children, being prepared to listen and accept others’ ideas.
Participating and contributing Active participation in all activities. Contributing ideas confidently.
Thinking Making sense of information provided and drawing on previous learning. Thinking creatively.
Using language, symbols and texts The use of notation, either graphic or conventional to record their ideas. Understanding the language of music.
Achievement Objectives highlighted in this unit:
  • Understanding Music - Sound Arts in Context (UC)
  • Developing Practical Knowledge in Music - Sound Arts (PK)
  • Communicating and Interpreting in Music - Sound Arts (CI)
  • Developing Ideas in Music - Sound Arts (DI)
Learning Outcomes

In this unit the children will develop the ability to:

  • Identify, describe and respond to musical elements in a piece of electronic music. (PK)
  • Identify the many different ways sounds can be made and combined to create music. (PK, CI)
  • Share personal responses to recorded music. (UC, PK, CI)
  • Create soundscapes in response to a source of motivation using software or sounds around them. (UC, PK, DI, CI)
Information
  • This is an electronic piece that has been put together in a sound studio. The sounds have been layered to achieve the final effect. Children’s voices (as train conductors) have also been recorded and added to the texture. The piece has a driving rhythm and a simple, repetitive melody. It provides opportunities for the children to identify sounds and musical elements and to share their personal responses to the music.
Resources
Games and Starters

Movie music

Watch parts of a movie with and without the music. Discuss whether the music is as exciting, sad, happy, scary or funny without the music. How does the music help to tell the story?

Mystery sounds from nature

The children close their eyes and try to identify mystery sounds from nature (for example, stones rubbing together, water swishing, flax sticks being tapped, leaves crunching). They can take turns to identify and imitate the mystery sound and to create a mystery sound for the others to guess.

Sound code

Up to four children each select a different instrument to play. Each child demonstrates his/her sound. The other children explore movement to match the sound, deciding as a group, on one action for each sound (e.g. guiro - wobble like a jelly, woodblock - hop, triangle - turn on the spot, drum - do giant steps around the room). A child then conducts the players, choosing which one will play and indicating fast or slow playing, stopping and starting. The class performs the chosen actions in response to the different instrumental sounds.

Hidden instruments

Put a selection of up to six instruments behind a screen. Choose someone to go behind the screen and make a sound (a ting, scrape, rattle or bang)on one of the instruments. Then choose someone else to go and play the first person’s sound and add a sound of his/her own on a different instrument. The next person must play the first two sounds and add another, and so it continues.

Learning experiences

Preparation for listening

  • Discuss the children’s experiences of travel. Have you travelled by car?...by bus?...by plane?...by train? If you’ve been on a train, what did you like or not like about train travel? Have you seen trains on television or in a movie? Is train travel fast or slow?…loud or quiet?...smooth or bumpy?
  • Read a train poem to the children and discuss the sights and sounds at a train station. Make a list of the sounds you might hear at the station and then on the train. See if the children can think of ways to re-create some of these sounds using voices, body percussion and found sounds around the classroom.
  • Sing some favourite songs about trains.

Ideas for activities

  • Tell the children they are going to hear a piece of music called “Trains” and that they are to listen carefully for all the different sounds they can hear. Listen to the piece all together. Then, as a class, make a list of all the sounds they particularly noticed.
  • Listen to it for a second time. Discuss the ways that the composer has evoked the sounds, movement, and feeling of travelling in a train. Encourage the children to use the language of the elements of music
  • Talk about electronic music with the children. This piece features samples of voice and instrument sounds that have been recorded and arranged in particular sequences to achieve various effects. Listen to some other examples of electronic music suitable for children .
  • Children could then create their own soundtracks, choosing a theme or a poem. You may have access to some very simple software (see Resources above) or they could just record sounds they create themselves using voices, body percussion and found sounds . A clip, which the children will relate to, is the Cadbury Share the Joy advertisement, which uses voices and sounds of New Zealand to create a soundtrack.
  • Some children may like to create some movement sequences to express the rhythm and tempo of the piece.
Assessment

Discussing music with the children and observing their responses to it is likely to provide the most useful assessment information.

Identify, describe and respond to musical elements in a piece of electronic music (PK)

  • How well can the children identify and talk about the elements of music using appropriate music vocabulary?
  • Does their creative work reflect an understanding of the elements of music?

Identify the many different ways sounds can be made and combined to create music (PK, DI)

  • Can the children show you different ways to create sounds using voices, body percussion, found sounds or simple software?
  • Can they talk about why they like or dislike certain combinations?

Share personal responses to recorded music (UC)

  • How well can the children use appropriate music vocabulary to discuss their responses to the different styles of music?
  • Can they make observations about the playing techniques of the musicians and other performance aspects?

Create soundscapes in response to a source of motivation using software or sounds around them (DI)

  • Do the children show innovation and imagination in their compositions?
  • Are they able to talk about and justify their creative decisions?
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