Join Deb and Debbie for an informative, interactive and inspiring look at the responding strand of v9 of the Australian Curriculum and how these aspects of the achievement standard play out in a Kodály-inspired classroom. What does it mean to communicate ideas through our compositions in Year 4? How can 6 year olds express their ideas about where/why and how people make music in an age appropriate and easily teacher-managed way? How do we explore continuing and revitalising cultures in a respectful manner? Participate in discussions and see examples.
Primary Lower
Children were born to move. We know that children benefit from and are aspired most by movement, experience based, creative activities in the classroom that allow for active involvement and self-expression. Movement has a direct effect on development, for it is through physical experience that children come to understand the language that accompanies that experience.
This session will explore age appropriate movement activities that align with the developmental needs, musical skill, coordination and concentration of different age groups throughout the primary school years. We will have a spotlight on folk dance and investigate sound pedagogical techniques to ensure your students are set up for success.
Zoltan Kodály stated: ‘If one were to attempt to express the essence of this education in one word, it could only be singing’.
Kodály inspired teaching has singing at its core whether we are moving, thinking, learning, playing or performing. How can we best inspire our students to sing with beauty in their voices and joy in their hearts? In this interactive workshop we will discover and experience the power of singing together. We will explore a range of repertoire including works by First Nations, female and gender diverse composers as we think deeply about what singing is and what singing does. The workshop will include information about supporting young singers of all ages and examples of repertoire for use in the preschool and primary music classroom as well as choral repertoire for young people in high school choirs.
The workshop will include repertoire from the Dhungala Choral Connection Songbook by Deborah Cheetham and Jessica Hitchcock and ways in which this repertoire can be included in a Kodály inspired program.
I look forward to singing with you and sharing the essence of what makes the Kodály concept powerful and meaningful to our students.
Kodaly is quoted as saying “…that the folk songs of a child’s own culture constitute his musical mother tongue and should be the vehicle for early instruction.” In the primary classroom this philosophical underpinning gives us opportunity for excitement and some trepidation. Our classrooms in Australia are far from representative of one, static, cultural group and, as such, we are encouraged to explore music from a range of cultures. Teachers need their repertoire to fulfill many purposes and be pedagogically rich to allow students to connect with themselves and others through music.
In this workshop, participants will be led through a sequence of activities that explore repertoire that can be used from lower primary and through to upper, using an old favourite and examples of repertoire from different cultures. An explanation of how this repertoire was sourced and chosen will be discussed along with avenues for finding pedagogically rich repertoire to suit the participants own cultural contexts. The key discussion point being, “How could you apply these ideas in your context and develop an effective sequence of activities?” an essential element of the modern primary music classroom.
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