People
on the go, rushing everywhere – in the city!
Meet the Busy Places and Friendly Faces of Cities!,
the Imagine That! unit in which we will create a city
that’s familiar, yet like no other. Imagine
a city of music and imagination, where ordinary sounds
and sights on the street make a musical ensemble.
People shuffle their feet to a 4/4 beat. Street musicians
serenade and sing. Clock towers boom, bellow and ring.
While 3 and 4 year old children build this city of
imagination, they explore a mini-city of skills developing
so rapidly in their minds and bodies. The games, music,
and pretend play were written specifically to expand
this age groups’ learning in the following areas:
pre-ensemble development, mathematics, music, social
interactions and critical listening.
There’s
a city of music—based in songs, recorded works
and city sounds. There’s a city of the imagination—of
three and four year olds being whoever they imagine
themselves to be today, perhaps a broom man today
or an opera singer tomorrow. There’s a city
of stories—of lost dogs and found dogs and of
a globe-trotting photographer. Everyone involved will
enjoy rolling all these cities up into one musical,
grand adventure.
Along
the way, we’ll explore movement-sweeping movement,
up and down the elevator movement, dance and freeze
like a statue movement. We’ll make music with
our Kindermusik Resonator Bars, steadily playing along
to the Israeli song, “Zum Gali Gali,”
and learning new musical terms and using mallets to
create ringing and damped sounds. We’ll build
a city out of handcrafted “buildings”
brought from home. Then dance around your city together
– being careful not to step on skyscrapers!
Check the mail and “write” a real letter
to share with parents. Play games: a shoe passing
game; a street vendor game, and a movement and matching
game involving three artists, math, a drum and the
Puerto Rican children’s game song, “San
Sereni.” We’ll walk down “sidewalks”
made of masking tape and freezer paper. We’ll
stop and draw our footprints. We’ll take pictures
of all that we “see!” We’ll read
two Kindermusik literature books, one about a “snappy,
zippy” photographer and the other about rhythmically
busy shopkeepers.
Enjoy
jazz, opera, barbershop quartets, Irish jigs, and
Indian recordings by bamboo flutist Shashank in class
and on your Home CD. The Home CD also includes a Chinese
folk song, “Kang Ding City”; and “Bonjour,
mes amis”; and “Sorida,” a greeting
song in the Shona language of Zimbabwe; and finally,
storytelling and dramatic play in “The Tales
of Eddie and Bandit.”
Musical highlights of this unit include learning about
the musical terms of glissando, dynamics, tempo and
accelerando. Some favorite songs are “I Got
a Letter This Morning,” “Walk All Around,”
“1,2,3 Click” and “Pretzels for
Sale.”
Best
of all, in “Cities! Busy Places ~ Friendly Faces,”
children from all kinds of communities will find commonalities
with their life. We at Kindermusik of The Woodlands,
hope that you and your child will join families all
over the world in turning off the television, turning
on the music and welcoming the many adventures that
Cities! Can bring to your days together.
Cities
Home Materials
In the home materials, each child will receive:
