May 11: International Strange Music Festival

image from strangemusicinc.com

What is “strange” music? Each person has his or her own tastes and what sounds wonderful some may seem strange to others. This is a great opportunity to teach youth about different kinds of music.

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What Genre Is It?

Materials:

• Music player or radio
• Various kinds of music

Directions:

1. Gather up a variety of music or simply tune in to various music radio stations.
2. Ask kids to determine what musical genre different songs belong to (rock, rap, R&B, country, jazz, orchestra, etc.).
3. When kids categorize the songs, ask them why they think that song belongs to that particular genre. What sounds or instruments do they hear? What voices? Are some genres easier than others to identify?

Source(s): 100 Music Activities for Kids (activity B3)

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Check out the full May calendar. It includes floating holidays, specialty weeks, and specialty months.

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September 1: Mary Had a Little Lamb

image from nurseryrhymesonline.com

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” was published on this date in 1830. School-age children can use the tune as the basis for writing a brand new song.

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Old Songs, New Words

Materials:

• Tape recorder (optional)
• Blank cassette (optional)

Directions:

1. Pick a familiar tune children will know – like “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. Other possibilities include “Old MacDonald”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, or “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”.
2. Determine a subject or topic for the new song.
3. Work with the group to get contributions to the new song.
4. You may even want to print the original lyrics for the song so that kids can study the number of syllables used in each line. Find the words for “Mary Had a Little Lamb” here.
5. Try out the new words in the song frequently to see if they fit.
6. When the song is perfected, write the words down or even record the song if possible.

Source(s): Toolbox Training’s book 100 Music Activities for Kids (activity D2)

Check out the full September calendar to see the month at a glance as well as floating holidays, specialty weeks, and themes for the month.

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