What i have learned in this module is that music improves and develops language, math and life skills in learners. Music stimulates the brain, and with its varied sounds and lyrics, learners are exposed to large amount of vocabulary and solving problems. Music doesn't only teach learners about music or playing an instrument but it's also teaching them life long skills and training learners in other areas and this is just another reason why music is important and this module has taught me that.

When planning a lesson the teacher should know who her learners are. They must know the learners ability level, background, interest levels, attention spans, ability to work together in a group, prior knowledge and learning experiences, special needs and learning preferences. This is the first key in successful teaching and learning. Teachers must also know the content of their work, it is important for teachers to research the subject matter that they will be teaching.

The value of utilizing arts integration in foundation phase lessons.

Art integration helps learners with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision making and inventiveness. Integrating arts into the lesson builds social and emotional skills. Teaching through arts encourages active play, which provides many benefits like learning to express and identify emotions, gaining feelings of confidence and control and forming strong relationships. It encourages healthy risk taking, helps learners recognize new skills in themselves and others, provides a way to differentiate instruction, builds collaboration among both learners and teacher.

Arts integration is an approach to teaching and learning which is based on learning through the arts and with the arts; learners construct and demonstrate understanding through art form and they engage in a creative process which connects an art from and other subjects areas and meets evolving objectives in both.

What did you find interesting?

What i found interesting is that art integration helps learners with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making and inventiveness. It helps learners to connect with the world they live in. It brings focus to the whole child and embraces the notion that leaners are different. Arts integration engages learners and offers a variety of ways to construct and demonstrate understanding. Arts integration helps teachers rethink the roles they play and their relationships with learners.

What possibly made some learners uncomfortable during these activities?

The teacher focusing on playing the game and teaching that song to learners made some of the learners uncomfortable because their religion, culture and home language were not considered while introducing the game and song. It's different for other learners to pronounce and understand the song taught in Zulu because its not their home language and it is unfair for them. 

Why were some learners uncomfortable?

Some learners were uncomfortable because the teacher didn't accommodate them by teaching in Zulu whereas they don't understand the language. Some were also required to dance in front of boys and in their religion or cultural that is not acceptable, so it was difficult for them to participate because they were uncomfortable.

Can you think of ways to address these issues in the future? What will you change?

The teacher has to be considerate and make sure that she accommodates and cater for all learners in her classroom. This implies that the teacher must accommodate every learners culture, religion and language in relation to songs and game activities for the learners. To accommodate all her learners the teacher must use the common language being English as a minimum language that is stipulated in the curriculum for all learners.

How can we accommodate diverse learners profile in our classroom?

We have to incorporate diversity in our classroom by providing for different languages of all learners by ensuring that all learners understand the language that is used in the classroom. The teacher must ensure that they are sensitive to every learners culture, religion and language they use, in addition the teacher can use a minimum language to cater for all her learners so they all feel involved and considered.

In study unit 2 we learned about music and their elements. Music elements are the building blocks in music. The basic music elements of music are; duration, pitch, intensity, quality and texture. Through combing all these different elements, we can create music.

We also got to learn about the music concepts namely; the pulse which is the beat, the rhythm which is the way music is divided into beats, the melody which is the collection of musical tones that are grouped together as a single entity, the dynamics which is how quietly or loudly a piece of music should be played, the tempo which is the speed which the music should be plays, the timber which is the sound quality of a note played on a particular musical instrument and lastly the form which is the structure of a musical composition or performance.

We also learned how music concepts relate to mathematics, life skills and language education. These three subjects are related because they have the same music elements and concepts to perform music activities. In mathematics they relate because both music and math use pattern, in life skills music bring emotional factors together making personal expressions, introspection and emotional development and in language they enhance grammar and vocabulary which are introduced by means of music.

In this study unit 1, I have learned that music is the art of combining sounds through the elements of rhythm and melody. Music also produce harmony and expression of emotions.

The importance of music in foundation phase is that it can improve vocabulary through nursery rhythms, help learners to remember and recognize repeated sounds and sound patterns. Gives learners the desire to learn and improves their creativity. It helps children's mind and body tp cooperate as they will be singing and dancing at the same time. Music helps improve children's coordination movements since they respond to sound and they get to explore what their bodies can and cannot do. Lastly music ignites all areas in a child.

The three learning theories that were mentioned in this unit are psychosocial development theory by Erikson, cognitive development theory by Piaget and development theory by Vygotsky. These learning theories offer frameworks that help understand how information is used, how knowledge is created and how learning takes place.

I've learned about the 5 holistic developments namely; physical, emotional, social, spiritual and mental. The holistic developments instills curiosity and develop communication and social skills in children.