Study Unit   4

Hi everyone!

Well, this week has been better than in previous weeks.  Assignments that I have been working on for weeks have all come together nicely and most are submitted.  The relief and weight off my shoulders is a welcome feeling.

The weather has been confusing.  It's hot then it's cold then there’s thunder then it rains and then it's hot again.  We finally have a break coming up and we have our pool ready. I am looking forward to spending some quality time cooling off.

Here’s hoping everyone has a COOL break

Some people might say that arts integration is a waste of time in Foundation Phase education. Please explain how you would respond to such a statement by explaining your view on arts integration in the Foundation Phase.

• Students benefit from music not only because it helps them develop emotionally and cognitively, but also because it can be a new way of expressing and exploring themselves and their school work.

• Arts offer teachers a means of expressing their creativity and a way of engaging students. Teaching content material to a child should include tapping into their creativity and humanity.

• The study of music sparks both intellectual and social-emotional development, motor development, communication skills, and overall literacy development in children.

• Music engages both the body and the mind. Children who dance to music develop and practice their motor skills as well as their self-expression.

• In young children, music is directly associated with learning words, speaking them correctly, and processing many new sounds they hear.

• A key component of music education is memorization. To succeed in music studies, students must be able to read music by sight, play their instrument correctly, and remember lyrics.

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Which aspects of study unit 4 did you find the most interesting and challenging?  Please use the following prompts to reflect on your experience:

• What did you find interesting? Please explain why.

I found the strategies for including music in the classroom very interesting.  I never knew that a teacher was allowed to play music softly in class while the learners are working individually.  I can see why it would relax and calm the children while they are working.

There are activities in our study unit for incorporating music into other subjects’ lessons.  Create a pattern of 4 beats… yes!  This will totally work and what an amazing way to get the class excited and boost participation and making learning fun!

The YouTube videos were interesting and I enjoyed watching them.

• What did you find challenging? Please explain why.

I found everything challenging at first, as music in education is really new to me.  Whenever I read something new, I get overwhelmed first with big words and terminology and really have to spend ample time working through the study unit and I am proud to say that I did it and I understand so much more than I did before and I cannot wait to use my new knowledge in my classroom.

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Well, that is me for this week.  I see some students are struggling to load their blogs on eFundi and I am hoping mine goes through.  Here’s holding thumbs xx

Stay  ​