Basic principles to keep mind when planning a music lesson or non music lesson with music activities: 

One of the things to keep in mind when planning a music lesson, you should include as many opportunities as possible for your learners to engage with and actively listen to,move to and perform music through out the lesson.

Few suggestions and food for thought when planning music lessons:

1. music must be there at the beginning and at the end of the lesson 

2. Never play music from YouTube or recordings without an aim. Any music used in class must contribute towards reaching the lesson aims

3. Guide your learners in music listening, give them specific criteria, which music they should focus on, movement activities to perform or questions that they need to answer through the misic listening activities 

4. Consider the importance of peer scaffolding 

5. Give a thought about the role of the assessment in your lesson 

Transformation through music education: 

In a country and education system which usual keep product at top over process, music education has an important role to play 

Characteristics of a well planned music lesson: a lesson plan has  three lesson phases, introduction, teaching and learning phase and conclusion 

1. Teacher activities: make explanations to your learners, tell them what are they expected to do during the lesson and give some examples if they need clarity

2. Learner activities: let them follow your instructions, give them work to do , let them engage in group works, perform dance moves, play games. All those instructions must be explained in detail as part of the teacher activities 

3. Assessment: form an assignment for them let them do some research and come up with solutions

Introductory phase:

Always start your day with creative and grabbing attention words. Make your lesson fun as much as possible for your learners not to get bored and end up making your lesson uneasy 

Teaching and learning phase: 

Come up with new knowledge or skills. Both teacher and learners act as facilitators( teacher and peer scaffolding). Facilitate activities, give problems, ask questions before explaining. Therefore learners might discover what you want to teach

 

Conclusion:

Before giving them a home work or asking them if they understand, make sure that they have all the skills and knowledge that they need to know. Therefore you can start to give them a work to do 

 

 

Inclusivity in the foundation phase: music education offers unique opportunities for addressing inclusive goals in education. Although the focus of this module not inclusive education and special needs as such, it is important to be aware that, although you might one day teach mainstream school, your learners will still have diverse needs. Through music,  we can address these unique needs of our learners by encouraging learners to engage with all their senses when engaging with music (hear the sound, feel the instrument or vibration, move to the music,  smell the wood smell of instruments 

Music elements: are the building blocks in music. Through combining the different elements,  we can create music. Tone refers to a specific music its characteristic sound and through which we differentiate between music and noise 

The basic elements of music are as follows:

Duration of tone, including music concepts of beat,meter,rhythm and tempo 

Pitch of tone

Intensity of tone

Texture 

Types of music activities for foundation phase :

Singing 

Moving to music

Instrument playing 

Music listening 

Musical games

Music and dramatization 

Composition 

Conducting 

Body percussion 

Reading music notation, iconic/western

Improvisation 

Music education approaches:

Carl off: believed all learners have an innate musical ability which should be nurtured 

The creative orff processes: an orff lesson typically starts with a theme and rhyme and/or song that suits a specific theme. Words of the rhyme are said in different ways

Body percussion: is added to the spoken words

Use unpitched instruments, playing the rhythm of the words: 

Skins: tambourine, drum

Wood: claves,woodblock

Metal: triangle,finger cymbals 

Shakers: maracas,egg shakers

Found or made instruments

Everyday items: kitchen utensils 

 

 

Play in the foundation phase classroom:

It is prominent in various African cultures and the general African context, where we usually find elements of play when people engage with music and dance activities 

Three types of play in children's culture:

Tradition: here rules are important. This form of play is to be fixed. Lot of children's games are traditional as they have rules which needs to be followed and are seldom broken 

Open: is a form of improvisation. Although open play includes ruled, these rules may be changed according to the needs of children while playing. The construction of the entire setting is important 

Original: a play that is creative and based on curiosity. Original is mostly a one person game where he/she amuses themselves with objects, actions and sound 

Characteristics of play:

Olay is personally motivated: in order for an activity to be called play, the player must choose to participate 

Play is active: all play experiences require some active involvement on the part of the player 

Play is often non literal: children at play can suspend reality,  usually with the magic words like let's pretend 

Play has no extrinsic goals: lets say a child is arranging a set of letters on a magnetic board

Players supply meaning to play: children sometimes explore or use materials in ways specified by others , but when playing,  they provide their own interpretation of materials 

Play has no extrinsic rules: if an activity is to be considered play, the players must be able to alter the rules of the activity as needed 

Levels of play:

We have...

1. Solitary play 

2. Onlooker play

3. Parallel play 

4. Associative play

5. Cooperative play

There are sevel elements of play: 

1. Play involves state of mind and disposition 

2. Play contains elements of surprise and challenge

3. Play involves a process, attitude,  and structure 

4. Play is voluntary and unifying, forming part of the socializing process 

5. Play involves aesthetic quality judgement by participants 

6. Play creates informal space for socio- historical comment

7. Play reinforces societal roles 

Genres of play and games:

Clapping with body action games

Clapping and singing games 

Stone passing game

Dancing play 

Music- drama play 

Examples of games:

Singing games: canon, down by the river 

Circle games/ stone passing: bhombela

Action/ clapping games: bim bum

 

 

 

Arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding  through art form. Learners get to cooperate in a creative process which connects an art form and other subjects area and meets evolving objectives.

It promotes teaching and learning strategies which explain outcomes in various subjects simultaneously while encouraging learners to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and skills through the arts. It is also an approach to teaching which promotes active engagement in teaching and learning activities, experiential learning, authentic learning activities, collaborative learning, problem solving skills and reflection 

.when designing arts integration activities, there should be a seamless integration  of two or more subjects for example, music and visual arts, music and language, music and maths, music and life skills 

The value of arts integration in foundation phase:

The arts integration has been proven to contribute towards higher levels among learners  and supports academic achievement and socialization among learners. Provides teachers with an opportunity to promote and support the developmental needs of learners  while offering learners the opportunity to engage in teaching and learning activities which are fun, foster collaboration and connection and promotes learners innate curiosity.