1st Graders Rock Out!

At Madison Elementary our 1st grade class is brushing up on their hand percussion skills. It is the time of year when we spend a large portion of our music class learning to play the beats we have been listening and dancing to since Autumn. We love holding down the beat while singing the classic “Old Dan Tucker” and practicing improvised drum solos to our favorite dance song “Hey, Hey look at Me!”. After becoming proficient with a few basic patterns, students are able to intuitively create many different patterns for dividing a measure into several parts that fit together to form a whole. During our activities the students take on various roles that all work together to turn music class into a mini dance party—some students singing, some playing drums and some taking turns as the dance instructor. Our confident 1st graders love countering the after lunch slump with a heavy portion of kinetic energy!