Understanding and Integrating Concepts
Activities and games with music and movement help children learn vocabulary and concepts such as rhythm/beat, tempo, personal space, direction, melody, and harmony. The vocabulary of drama includes terms such as script, role, director, and scene that children learn and apply not just to dramatic play but also to stories and literacy activities.
Magliano and Russo (2011) suggest a word bank, writing words that name body parts, different movements (twist, bend, reach, etc.), dance elements (space, pathway, level), and using terminology to describe what children are doing (e.g., “I see you slithering backward and forward like a snake.”) Similarly, a display of diagrams can prompt children and help them to remember motions and concepts. Games like “paper plate twist”giving each child two paper plates on which to put their feet and moving to Chubby Checkers “Peppermint Twist”reinforce rhythm, balance, spatial orientation, and bilateral movement. Likewise, the teacher can use a song like “Dueling Banjos” to perform a movement for each musical phrase, which the children can then echo/copy for the next phrase (Flynn, 2012). Keeping time comes more naturally to some children than others, and teachers can try using different parts of the body to tap, nod, or clap the childrens names, animal names, or simple rhymes to help them develop awareness of rhythm and musical patterns. Identification games or making up new words to a familiar tune can also focus on a particular element such as melody or rhythm (“name that tune”; Im thinking of a song . . . feel the beat and identify; sing your name, and so on).
Interactive Media
As with visual arts, the Internet provides almost unlimited access to information, interactive experiences with the performing arts, and prerecorded or live performances if they are not readily available in the community. Audio devices such as MP3 players enable teachers to develop a rich and varied library of music, video, and podcasts. Particularly useful are sites such as:
Chapter Summary
- Early learning standards emphasize development in ATL, physical well-being, social-emotional, language, and cognitive development.
- Academic standards for K2 children are included in K12 standards for each subject area of the curriculum and focus on knowledge and skills related to the content ofeach.
- ATL standards focus on the development of executive functioning and promote such dispositions as curiosity, engagement, persistence, and problem solving through play.
- In the early childhood environment, interest areas such as sensory play, construction, and dramatic play promote ATL through open-ended exploration with a variety of materials.
- The 2012 National standards for the arts represent a collaborative effort to actively engage and expose students to cultural experiences and activities across the disciplines of art, music, dance, and drama, and media arts.
- An arts-infused curriculum approach provides early educators with opportunities to support both open-ended exploration and intentional experiences with all dimensions of the creative/performing arts.
- Activities with the visual arts that emphasize experiences with many media, creative expression, and exposure to art and artists also provide an integrated introduction to the visual arts standards for K2.
- Using high-quality childrens picture books can provide teachers with many ideas for arts experiences and connecting to other areas of the curriculum.
- Materials and experiences with music, movement/dance, and drama enable and foster mind/body/aesthetic connections in many ways.
- Music, movement/dance, and drama experiences can be integrated seamlessly into daily activities and routines as well as being provided through intentional activities and exposure to the performing arts.
- An increasing array of technological resources provide access to informational and interactive arts experiences.
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