Year Level Snapshots: A Birds-Eye View of Year 1 with Deb and Debbie | 102

Welcome to “Year Level Snapshots: A Bird’s Eye View of Prep through Year 6” with Deb and Debbie.

In this episode, we’re focusing on Year 1, where we engage with our delightful 5 and 6-year-olds in the music room. We’ll share our favorite activities, the fundamental music concepts we introduce, and the repertoire that gets our young learners excited about music.

Join us as we explore the joys and challenges of teaching music to our youngest students, laying the foundation for a lifelong love of music.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:
Musical Beginnings
Music is for Everyone

Where to find me: 

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity
Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDeb

Introduction

Here is the Crescendo Music Education Podcast – Episode 102.

This podcast is being recorded on the lands of the Turrbal people. I acknowledge them as the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to elder’s past, present and emerging. They were the first music makers on this land.

If you’d prefer to listen to this episode, click here!

About ‘Read the Episode’: Sometimes, we would rather skim visually than listen to a podcast! That’s a great way to learn too!
The transcript of episode 102 of The Crescendo Music Education Podcast is below.

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Debbie O’Shea 

And now for the second in our series where Deb Brydon and I are going to look at each of our year levels and just have a chat about our favourite things from that specific time. So we’re going to talk now about Year One, I shall start.  Alright, I love them. I love Year Ones. They still love you unconditionally like the Preps do. I get a personal thrill out of teaching their first rhythmic and melodic content. I tell them when they learn Ta and TiTi, I get so excited. And in fact when they come in for that lesson, when I’m going to present or make conscious, those of you in the Kodály world know that well, I tell them come in today’s lesson is so exciting.

An overview of Year One

Debbie O’Shea

And I usually race into the staff room and tell the staff, “Guess what, the Grade One’s are doing Ta and TiTi,” and I get really excited. You know, that’s contagious and it’s not pretend. I like the fact that they can read and write and derive and truly understand. I think that goes back to when I couldn’t, even though I basically did, I could play piano and stuff. But I didn’t really understand it, the way we lead Year One’s to understand, it still blows my mind. So I love that. And the other thing to just point out about this level is where we start to differ a little because I have two lessons a week with my younger classes, and Deb, you only have one. So that does make a bit of a difference. I don’t tend to go a lot faster or further up. I just feel like I just place a few more blocks in the foundations. So that’s sort of my overview of Year One. What does yours look like Deb?

Deb Brydon 

Yeah, look, I’m going to be a bit more negative than you. I do, I agree with you. Everything you’ve said I agree with however, I find Year One they can be a little bit more tricky than Prep. Some of the behaviours start to show themselves that didn’t show through in Prep. They’re more used to being at school, they’re not the deer in the headlights anymore and they’ve got a little bit more confidence. And with that can come a little bit more independent thinking that is maybe not the type of independent thinking we’re after.

So their school day is just so much more structured than when they were in Prep. They’re sitting at desks. So their need to wriggle and to do things that are not just sitting is greater, because they just don’t get as many opportunities as you do in Prep. So I think that’s something for us to really focus on in Year One is making sure that we provide some opportunities for that, and in the way that we structure our lessons. But yeah, I do find the behaviour in Year One probably one of the trickier year levels, which is quite funny. I think by Grade Two, they’ve worked it out again, and might even partly through Grade One. But yeah, I certainly think there’s tricky bits in Grade One.

Debbie O’Shea 

Yes, I would agree with that one too. And I think that’s where I’ll use the term high flyers. That’s where the high flyers fly the highest. Interesting thought. But yes, Year One is often that slightly tricky grade. All right. Now before we get into repertoire, just for the people who are listening, Deb and I made the decision that we weren’t going to be writing out and making available all of the songs and rhymes that we talk about, a couple of reasons, sometimes their copyright and we shouldn’t be doing it.

Another reason is that I believe that they’re from resources that we should own as music educators and the people who have published these resources, deserve that income, I guess from that, so I just think we should have a professional library. That’s part of our job. And I also think that most things now you can find in some form on the internet, if not in your own collection, if not in a friend’s collection. So we’re deliberately not giving you all of the repertoire in the transcript or the show notes, or in my case, the Read the Episode, which is the combination of transcript and just nice layout for you. So have I covered the main reasons there Deb.

Deb Brydon 

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Deb & Debbie’s Year 1 Song Picks

Debbie O’Shea 

So although we are telling you about repertoire and we’re going to sing little bits of some of the repertoire, I’m sorry guys, it’s up to you to get out there and to find it yourself. Or if you’ve been through the levels courses, like Deb and I have with our Kodály levels you’ve probably got it in your own retrieval system and your song file. All right. So let’s get going and talk about some good repertoire for teaching concepts that we cover in Year One singing. Now in a voice based program we’re always looking for the good repertoire that helps us develop in tune singing and pitch matching. So I just popped into there, the good old Kangaroo, because that little opportunity of singing  (sings) “guess who’s caught you just for fun” at the end is gold. They don’t mind singing by themselves, because it’s part of the game, they want to be up. I just think for singing by themselves it’s beautiful.

And we’ve got the whole group singing at the beginning, building up the confidence and the starting pitch. So it’s just a great game. Lots of fun and wonderful for singing. The other one I love and I know this is a Deb favourite too is Charlie Over the Ocean. Again, they want to be up. It’s a lot more difficult individual singing wise, because the individual sings the call and the class sings the response. So it’s much more difficult but it’s a very good extension for singing by yourself and great for learning to match pitch. And I think there’s lots of things you can do with Charlie as well. Go fishing with cardboard fish and what creature did you catch? And all sorts of things. So they’re probably my two favourites if we’re talking specifically about singing, what about you?,

Deb Brydon 

Look, you stole my favourite Charlie. Charlie is my ultimate favourite. But yeah, I’m happy to choose other ones. Hey Hey Look at Me. It’s just a simple song. But I really love this for individual singing and creating an action on the beat and performing actions on the beat. So, so simple. Hey, hey, look at me, I am smiling, dancing, kicking whatever, can you see? And it’s just so, so easy and they’re happy to come out and sing that.

And everyone else just sings it back and does their action. I actually use that for assessment as well. So it’s such a super short song. Perfect because it’s only got two notes. I just love it. And my other favourite is Doggy Doggy, Where’s Your Bone? And once again it’s got that little bit of individual singing, but it’s gamified as well. So yeah, I love that one too. What about comparatives? We talked a lot about comparatives in Prep and that’s where they really take on their own. However, we do need to continue it in Grade One and continue that language. One that I use is Heads and Shoulders. Simple song that they know (sings) “Heads and shoulders, knees and toes”. I had to think about which version I’d do?

Debbie O’Shea 

I know, I know, there’s two.

Deb Brydon 

Yeah, I know, I liked that version better because it’s a bit slower in fitting the words in, I just prefer it but really it doesn’t matter. And I like to use that one and we sing it faster, we sing it slower, we sing it louder, we sing it softer. We don’t really do high and low with that one as much, because it’s got a little bit of a range already. But also, inner hearing with that one, skip out the word shoulders and keep singing the rest. Good fun for comparative. What’s your comparative favourite?

Inner Hearing

Debbie O’Shea 

Well, before I say that you just touched on inner hearing. This is the sort of podcast that we could just keep talking for years. But inner hearing is such an important skill. It’s so important that we do it at this year level. I actually start it with Prep, but not really early Prep. So Roly Poly, the rhyme, is my favourite for comparatives, but I do it in Prep as well, but I make sure I do it. I continue doing it in Year One because the rhyme itself, with up up and you get higher, down, down. So it’s got higher, lower, louder and softer and then if you wish you can do the faster at the end if you want to add that bit. So it’s just got all the comparatives covered. So I like that one. You want a quick revision, up you hop and do Roly Poly, it also gets them moving a little bit and gets their wiggles down. Because like you’ve said, we so need to keep these little people moving don’t we?

Deb Brydon 

Yeah, we so do.

Debbie O’Shea 

We both get to So and Mi and before the end of Year One in our system and our situation, I have, in the past, not got to So and Mi me if I’m on a half an hour a week. I’ve sometimes elected to just do it early in Year Two. My default is I’d rather do it later and be more certain, but I think two lessons a week definitely. And I have them two lessons a week in Prep. They are ready for So and Mi, they can hear high and low at a minor third quite well.

So probably my two favourites is good old Bee Bee Bumble Bee. (sings) “Bee bee bumble bee can you sing your name to me?” I have had that song ruined by kids coming from Kindy. And they’ve learned it with a La. So therefore I cannot use it as a So Mi.  I guess I could use the first half as a So Mi, but it’s just a very useful little song for So and Mi for tuning it up. Oh, you could even use it in your present session section. You could certainly use it in your practice. But I find it a really useful song in so many ways. (sings) “Bee Bee Bumble Bee, can you spell this word for me?” And they have to tell you the letters, or can you do this sum for me, you can actually turn it into anything by changing that last phrase.

So I love it and it’s so good for that So Mi tuning up. And the game Ducks and Geese. Which if you’ve never played this one, just warning it’s like wild. I’ve really got to be in the mood to play Ducks and Geese. They will play it all day. I love it because it’s longer, it starts like this (sings) “Go home all my ducks and geese. No we won’t. Why not? ‘Cause not” it’s really quite long. And I’m the farm are calling to them. Then they have to waddle across the room and I have someone chosen as a wolf hiding somewhere. And they come and tap one of the ducks on the head. Then we have two wolves. So I play it cumulatively. They squeal with delight.

They’re supposed to waddle so therefore no one should escape because they can’t run. But it is a bit wild but I just love it for singing So and Mi, the whole thing. There’s a line in there that goes (sings) “by the lit – tle riv – er”.  It’s so good. I mean there’s not many songs you have that have So So So So So Mi. I saw I just love Ducks and Geese. So they’re my two favourite So Mi.

Deb Brydon 

Mine is Hey, Hey, I know I mentioned it before, but super for So Mi as well. And of course Seesaw which I didn’t put in because we put that down for Ta and TiTi, you have it down for Ta and TiTi.  Look Seesaw it’s a pretty boring song, but happy and they love singing it. And look, it’s just there. Just use it. It’s great.

Keep The Beat

Debbie O’Shea 

Yes and as you just pointed out Deb I skipped Ta and TiTi, I was going to do Ta and TiTi first before So and Mi. We will we will circle back because in our sequence we do teach Ta and TiTi before So and Mi because it is easier to teach. They’re readier. And also at the beginning of Year One we need to make sure they know beat and rhythm really well. Yeah, it’s so important pointing to beat icons, keeping the beat in your feet, keeping the beat on an instrument. Really important to have a strong sense of beat. If you can’t feel the beat how on earth can you tell how many sounds are on the beat? Yeah, so it’s so important.

Deb Brydon 

I love Engine Engine for that, for walking the beat, it’s a really good tempo for walking the beat. But then you can also change to walking the rhythm with that one as well and you know a bit of fun with the faster feet. So Engine Engine is is a great rhyme to use for Ta and TiTi off a beaten rhythm because it’s taking out that pitch element and you can isolate those rhythms there. I also really like Starlight Starbright for Ta and TiTi, not for your first lesson about Ta and TiTi but for just down the track a little bit, because it’s got phrases that are all different. And so I really like that because we get in a little bit of the trap of the Ta Ta TiTi Ta TiTi TiTi TiTi Ta.

And so I like that it’s got four phrases, and they’re all different. And then my third one, I had to put in three for Ta and TiTi, is I Had a Little Pig which is a lovely little rhyme, and not the rhyme itself for Ta and TiTi, but just after the rhyme, you just say “And this is how I hammered my tail”.  And then you clap a rhythm and they clap it back. I liked that for practicing Ta and TiTi, because you can scaffold that to start with just echo clapping. But then smart echo clapping after a while, where you clap the rhythm and they clap the rhythm and say it back as well using their rhythm names. So yeah, I had to pop that one in there with Ta and TiTi too.

Debbie O’Shea 

It is gold, I Had a Little Pig and I have a little pig that I use for that too and he’s cute. Many of you would have him. He’s an Ikea pig. So sometimes I bring him out and kids say Oh, I’ve got one of those. Yeah, you probably have, your parents probably bought it at Ikea. So yeah, they’re gold. And that’s one of the reasons too that Engine Engine is so good for the earlier practice, because it’s got four phrases with the same rhythm on each line which is nice and useful in the early days. And the only one I sort of added to that really is good old Seesaw.

Now, those of you who aren’t trained in Kodály philosophy may be mistakenly under the impression that being a Kodály  teacher is all about singing Seesaw and singing two note songs. That is not what it’s about. So I think that Seesaw and songs like that get a bad rap. But they’re just really useful tools. And again you’ve got that Ta Ta TiTi Ta one, I will never do that, behaviour echo. That’s theTa Ta TiTi Ta it just drives me nuts. But it is a very useful Ta and TiTi song also useful for So and Mi. So it’s great to have those little songs that pull a double duty, you can actually derive the whole thing in stick notation, you can put the whole thing on the staff. It’s short, it’s quick, it’s useful.

Deb Brydon 

Yeah. And, you know, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, you know, just keep using it, it’s good. And they’re not sick of it, even if you are.

Debbie O’Shea 

Exactly. Now by the end of Year One, I do get to do rest. Now I do find I need to reteach in Year Two after the big break. I don’t feel I get rest nice and firm by the end of Year One, but I have covered it. And if you are interested, if you go into the read the episode, I will put in a picture of just a snip of the Year One, my year program in terms of Year One. So if you wanted to have a look at when I aim to do things, however, like I’ve said and I will keep saying, If I feel they’re not ready I will delay it, you are much better off delaying it and doing it well.

So for rest, I mean, I tend to sort of fall back on Hot Cross Buns because it’s pretty useful. There’s a few other rest songs, but I quite like Hot Cross Buns because we can blow on the bun when we’ve got time. So you know (sings) “Hot cross buns”. And that blowing doesn’t make a sound and it reinforces there’s a bit of a gap there, which we will realise is a whole beat. So Hot Cross Buns is useful when you’re teaching rest.

Games, Games, Games!!

Deb Brydon 

I love Icka Backa because it’s a fun game of elimination. So they stand in a circle and I’m the pointer and I point to each child on a beat. And if I point to them on a beat that has no sound, then they sit down in the circle. So I get two kids out for each round of the song which means that we can get through the whole class and get to a winner pretty quickly. And I use that just before we’ve learnt rest as we’re preparing to learn it. And so I don’t say the word rest I say when there’s a beat that’s got no sound so it’s just that moment before we’ve learnt rest. And look they love it. It’s so much fun, such a useful song and the rest is just Ta’s and TiTi’s so it’s pretty useful. I love it.

Debbie O’Shea 

I am moving it down the school for that reason. But Year Three was where I always taught that because there’s a fabulous second part written by Mark O’Leary. As the children get out, they start singing the second part. It’s magic. So it’s worth bringing back later on when they sing in two parts. So yes, I’ve bought it down mainly through talking to you Deb, I’ve bought it down, lower down in the school, but definitely it’s going to stay in Grade Three and Four, as well for me, so that I can do that second part. Thanks Mark O’Leary if you’re listening. Okay, other favourites. Okay, well I’ve put in Hey Hey.

Deb Brydon 

And I’ve mentioned it twice, there you go.

Debbie O’Shea 

So obviously it’s come out as our favourite, favourite, favourite. I love Hey Hey, again I use it for assessment like you do as well. Strange that since we work out what we’re doing together (laughs). But I like doing different things with it like I have, in fact I’ve just made some new ones, little stick figure cards, and we’ll change. So the standard one I sing goes (sings) “Hey hey, look at me, I am singing, you can see”. I know there’s lots of different little endings but I like changing it to, when they know it well, Hey hey, look at me, can you make the shape you see, and then you either, I start off with my own body, I’ll do something, and they copy the way I’m standing.

Then I’ve got the little cards with stick figures. And you can show them that and they try and copy the stick figures. I remember lovely Debbie Wilson. Hello, Debbie Wilson, she made some cards where she took photos of her students in different poses and then they worked through there and they copied the pictures of the children, I could imagine that electronically, they would really love that. So I just find it’s a good little song to have some fun with and be creative. So it’s one of my favourites. I’ve already mentioned that. That’s my favourite. And Ickle Ockle, games are so so important. I think that we really should have a game sequence for over all of the years that we teach, so that we make sure we’ve got a logical sequence of games. We need circle games, partner games, all of those, elimination games. And if you look at doing that, like we would do a strategy for how we teach anything, have a sequence.

But Ickle Ockle I just love it, finding a partner. And there’s so many learnings, like you have to. So the game by the way, we walk into circle (sings) “Ickle Ockle Blue Bottle fishes in the sea. If you want a partner, please choose me”. That’s the way I sing it, then you drop hands, find a partner and hold both their hands. But every time you play, you need to get a different partner. And that’s so difficult for the Year Ones. Firstly, they want the kids just right next to them, then they want their friends and then there are girls that don’t want boys or someone doesn’t want that person because they don’t like them. I go, No guys, we are all members of this class and we are all to be respected. Grab someone. I just think there’s so many messages that are positive about getting along with everyone. So it’s one of my all time favourite songs because of all those messages.

Deb Brydon 

Yes, I love it. One of mine is a longer song Down by the Bay, which an echo song (sings) “Down by the bay, down by the bay where the watermelons grow”. It’s a different song and it’s got different little tonalities in it. But it’s funny as well. Have you ever seen a llama wearing pajamas? I just have a little PowerPoint to show the kids so they know what verse is coming up. They love it. They really love playing this game, singing this song. Well, it’s not really a game, but it’s just got actions.

Debbie O’Shea 

Oh. Okay. Do they create different actions for each of your endings.

Deb Brydon 

Look you could, you could, and I have in the past, but you don’t get time for everything.

Highlights of Year One

Debbie O’Shea 

Sure don’t. You sure don’t. Look that’s given us a little bit of an overview. Then like I said, there will be a little snippet of where we teach things and we haven’t covered everything. I mean, this is where we start looking at Presto, Largo and Pianoforte and we talk about patterns and there’s all sorts of little bits and pieces, instruments, we haven’t really talked about instruments and how we teach. So we’re not saying to all those listeners out there, we’ve just told you everything about our Grade One program. But hopefully there’s a few highlights. Yeah, the highlights of Year One. So anything else to add, Deb? Or will we leave Year One and then I’ll be back to chat to you about Year Two.

Deb Brydon 

The only thing I thought about is also this is where I start doing some actual writing with paper and pen as well. Some more booklet work. When you’re learning Ta and TiTi it’s great to practice it in 1000 different ways with paddle pop sticks, and with drawing on whiteboards and all sorts of things. But I think it’s also important to get out the real physical pencil and paper and draw it and when you’re doing So and Mi to actually draw it on a staff as well. I think that’s important to get some actual writing in there. Just super short things that take five minutes. Building up those those skills that we want later.

Debbie O’Shea 

I could not agree more. Deb it’s been so lovely talking to you about Year One. I will talk to you again soon about Year Two. Bye.

Deb Brydon 

Thanks. Bye.

Sign-Off

Thank you for joining me for this podcast. Don’t forget, you’ll find the show notes and transcript and all sorts of information on crescendo.com.au. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast or found it valuable, you might like to rate it on your podcast player and leave a review. I’d really appreciate it if you did. All I can be as the best version of me. All you can do is be the best you. Until next time, bye.

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