A primary music class is a very busy place. We are singing, moving, playing games and instruments. I sometimes don’t have time to introduce classical repertoire to my kiddos. (Classical music is also notoriously long winded for 4 to 9 year-olds.) “The Flight of the Bumblebee” is the perfect length and full of creative possibilities.
The Flight of the Bumblebee – Nikolai Rimski- Koraskov
Sparking creativity in kindergarten is always fun when you add props. Bring on the scarves!!
Creative Movement
Process
- Tell a story about watching a little bumblebee flitting from flower to flower. Cross-pollinating so we have healthy food to eat.
- Give a movement scarf to each student.
- 1/2 class are flowers. 1/2 class are bees.
- Bees move from flower to flower. Can they move high? Low? Left? Right?
- At the sound of the finger cymbals (Teacher or student volounteer), students switch roles.
My K to grade 3 students find this super satisfying. And it is a springboard into some vocal exploration.
Vocal Exploration – Creating bumblebee pathways.
Finding your singing voice. It can come naturally or it can take years. But this is where it starts – breaking free of your talking voice. I tell my students about my Mom. She was labelled a crow because she couldn’t match pitch. She believed she couldn’t sing. I explain to my littles that she just didn’t have the right teacher.
We spend all day talking – our voices don’t go super high and they don’t go super low.
We need to find those higher places and lower places and vocal exploration cards are an amazing tool.
I use the poem “Bumblebee” as an A section and we do the vocal exploration card for the B section. They LOVE this.
Bumblebee, Bumblebee
Stung a man upon his knee
Stung a pig upon his snout
I say you are out
Now to the creativity!!!! I give them this little worksheet and they create their own vocal bumblebee pathway. They can work with a partner and they can perform the ABACA pattern together. (A – Poem; B and C – their vocal explorations)
Process
- Intro the poem “Bumblebee” by rote.
- Intro the vocal exploration cards. Trace as students move their voices to match the shape.
- Perform ABACA.
- Pass out the pathway worksheets.
- Students explore their creations with a partner.
Bumblebee Compositions – Rhythm
Composing in kindergarten needs to be scaffolded. I also really enjoy when they collaborate. We begin by exploring rhythms using “Bumble” for 2 sounds and “Bee” for 1 sound.
And yes, I use these 4 beat rhythms as a B section with the poem. I LOVE FORM!!!
Once they are comfortable reading these rhythms, they do group work using the following tools:
In their group of 3, they create a 4 beat rhythm. Then, they can add it to the poem ABACADA. FUN!!!
As always, I have left a PDF of the visuals used in this post on my PDF page at the top of the blog. You can also purchase my new product “All about…”The Flight of the Bumblebee”. Click on the picture below. Let me know what you think. I love receiving feedback and hit that subscribe button.
Take care,
Syndi
