Good day bloggers!

I hope that you are all doing well mentally and physically. This has been a great week for me because I managed to cope with all the assignments and tests that were due for this week!

On Friday I got some good news! I will be starting a new job at a local primary school teaching Grade 2 learners and I am so excited to start this new journey and share with the learners what I am learning in LSKM!

While working through Study Unit 2 - I became aware of: The basic elements of music:

• duration (of tone) – including music concepts of beat, meter, rhythm and tempo
• pitch (of tone)
• intensity (of tone)
• quality (of tone) texture

Concepts such as beat, accent, note values, meter, rhythm and tempo involved duration was most significant for me in this study unit.

Individual reflection

1. As a Foundation Phase teacher you have to choose between utilizing indigenous African music, Western Art music or contemporary commercial music (including popular music and film music) in your classes. Which would you choose? Please motivate your answer.

I would say it depends on the age, cultural group and interests of the learners. If I had to choose for the Foundation Phase I would choose contemporary commercial music which include: music theatre, jazz, rock, pop, gospel, R&B, country, folk, rap and alternative (and maybe other styles). I think the learners would prefer this music and it would be more familiar with them. Learners will also be more eager to participate if they know the music and they will be able to follow a beat and to sing along. I believe that using familiar (contemporary commercial music) will help the class to recognize the different music elements as well.

2. Do you think that the examples and content offered in SU 2 are inclusive? Please motivate your answer.

Yes, I do believe that the content offered in Study Unit 2 is inclusive because it included all of the content that we need to understand this unit. Enough examples of music  were provided in contemporary commercial and Western-Art, however I feel that more examples could be included of the different elements of indigenous African music. I loved how the different languages in South-Africa were included because it allows learners to learn new words in different languages.

3. What suggestions do you have for making the content more inclusive? Please provide examples of how the content and activities presented in SU 2 could be changed or adapted to be more inclusive.

It doesn’t come to mind at first because it took me such a long time to work through the content and activities. My personal opinion is that it was well put together, but I was still struggling to get a better understanding of what “found instruments” are. I am not sure if it is self-made instruments that can be found in the class like pencils (to tap together), or if it is instruments that you will usually find in a foundation phase class like: drums, triangle and shakers. This made it a little harder for me to get clarity on how to do Assignment 2. And maybe another language could also be included such as traditional Afrikaans “boeremusiek”. Over all I am happy with the new knowledge I gained. I am starting to feel like a “pro”.

That is all from me today.

Enjoy your week and stay safe!

Hello Melissa

Congratulations with your new job! I am sure that you will enjoy it and learn a lot!
I also hope that your dog is fully recovered and as happy as a dog with two tails!

Wilmarie :)