Young Children - March 2008 - (Page 22) as more and one-toone correspondence. Toddlers may not know number, but they understand more. For example, if you clap once and then say, “Can you clap more than I clapped?” toddlers will most likely clap two or more times. A steady beat is essential to any music experience. Also, keeping a steady beat while teaching adds a visual and auditory structure to the experience by promoting prolonged and higher quality attention to a task. (See “Tips for Incorporating a Steady Beat in Activities.”)” A Steady Beat Experience Consider the tune of “Daisy Bell” (written by Harry Dacre in 1892): “Daisy Daisy, give me your answer, do. I’m half crazy all for the love of you. It won’t be a stylish marriage. I can’t afford a carriage. But you’ll look sweet, upon the seat, of a bicycle built for two.” 1. Hum, sing, or chant the song. (You can even sing it in your head.) 2. Tap your toes, slap your knees, or clap your hands to the heartbeat of the song (its steady beat). 3. Refer to the numbers in the following table that fall directly below the bolded syllable of the words. They represent the steady beat of the song. Dai1 I’m 1 It won’t be a 1 But you’ll look 1 sy 2 half 2 stylish 2 sweet 2 Dai1 cra1 marriage 1 up- on the 1 2 seat of a 2 sy 2 zy 2 give me your 1 all for the 1 I can’t 1 bicycle 1 answer 2 love of 2 af- ford a 2 built for 2 do 1 you 1 carriage 1 two 1 2 2 2 2 Rhythm Tips for Incorporating a Steady Beat in Activities 1. Announce the activity by tapping a steady beat (at least four times) on your knees or thighs or on a table. 2. Give verbal instructions as you continue tapping, emphasizing the steady beat. For example, say, “Put the red blocks in the red bowl,” keeping the beat on the italicized words. 3. Encourage the children to tap their knees to the steady beat along with you. For example, “Wash your hands and get some snack. One, two, ready, go.” The predictability of the beat helps focus the children’s attention on the twostep directions. 4. Overemphasize the syllables that are stronger steady beats. For example, in the song “Down by the Bay, stress the long sustained beat at the end of each line: “Down by the baaaaaaaaay, where the watermelons grooooooow, back to my hooooooome, I dare not goooooo . . .” The mathematical pattern of the song’s beat is more complex and varied than the earlier examples, making the song more fun to sing along with and more likely to keep children’s interest. Rhythm is not always the same as the steady beat. Using “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” the difference is illustrated in “A Beat and Rhythm Experience.” The rhythm varies while the steady beat is constant, allowing children to notice more complex and distinct patterns. They can hear relationships between the song’s rhythm, beat, and words. The words represent the rhythm, and the clapping represents the beat. Keeping them synchronized, by clapping and singing together, creates a natural one-to-one correspondence experience. Rhythm also helps children develop patterning skills as they repeat, predict, and extend rhythmic patterns. For example in “Old MacDonald,” when the teacher sings “with a moo moo here,” the children follow quickly with “and a moo moo there.” Melody Now let’s discuss the melody of “Old MacDonald,” this time focusing on the repetitive pattern E-I-E-I-O. Notice that the phrase goes from a higher note to a lower note. The first E-I is repeated on a higher note; the second E-I is repeated on a lower note, and O is sung on even a lower note. This moving from one note to another is the melody of the song—in other words, the tune. With an elementary understanding of steady beat, rhythm, and melody, teachers can use music activities to promote emergent mathematics and encourage children to 22 Young Children • March 2008
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