October is a fun month - even if you don't have Halloween at your school. If a song in Musicplay talks about Halloween, options are always given to adapt it so that all students can participate. Pumpkin Stew is a simple chant that you can use to create a rondo, and create ostinato accompaniment. BATS is a kids favorite song, with cool sound effects created on balloons.
Pumpkin Stew - from Musicplay 2
Teaching Purpose/Suggestions: Teach the chant.
If you are in a school that doesn’t talk about witches, substitute the word “pumpkin”. “Black and blue, full of goo, what do you put in the pumpkin stew?”
Music Reading and Writing: How you organize music is called its form. Create a performance organizing Witch’s Stew like this:
A Question
B Answer 1
A Question
C Answer 2
A Question
D Answer 3
A Question
This is rondo form: ABACAD
Playing and Creating: Create rhythmic ostinatos to accompany the chant.
You could use words as the basis of the ostinato, or rhythms. F
or example:
yucky yucky pumpkins yucky
Spiders legs and mushy worms
Transfer the ostinato to instruments.
Ask the students, “What instruments could you use to accompany this chant?” “Why would you choose them?” “How could changing the instrument you choose change the mood of the piece.” Demonstrate how to play the rhythm instruments so that students are aware of the proper playing technique
Teaching Purpose/Suggestions:Teach the song by rote OR if your students are able to, read the song using solfege. Here's the fun part!!!
Add sound effects to the song by having students let the air out of balloons. (Stretch the opening of the balloon so that it squeals.) Give two or three students balloons each time you sing. To ensure student safety, blow up the balloons for them.
Playing and Creating: Teach the Orff arrangement for “Bats”. This arrangement is from The Orff Source. Create sound effects to accompany the song with balloons and with other found sounds.
Curriculum Connections: Science: Learn some interesting facts about bats. Have students create power point projects
about bats that could be projected as you sing the song.
Standards: 1, 2, 3, 8
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