Students read books, listened to read-alouds, listened to music, watched videos of dances from around the world related to animals, learned facts about animals and their habitats.  Students played their own versions of songs related to the animal they were learning about.  Students drew, painted, made puppets, and other forms of art related to the animals they were learning about.

Students had the opportunity to use the classroom space in room 151 such as the carpet area to listen to music, watch videos, read-alouds, dance, etc. as well as using the desks to draw, write, do activities with technology and play instruments.

We collaborated with each other by listening to each other’s experiences and sharing the knowledge that we all already had about animals, their habitats, music, dance, art, etc. and established a culture of respect and working together in order to reach the goals we have set for ourselves.

This collaboration helped develop our own teaching practice by allowing us to learn from the students’s experiences and knowledge as well as their energy and thus incorporating the new learned skills into our present and future teaching practice.

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Students at Telpochcalli School had so much fun during our Animals and Music program.   We met on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Each session was 2 hours long.  Our sessions consisted of students grade kindergarten through 3rd grade.  

Our students concentrated on learning about the history of world music through the study of animals in different parts of the world.  We also looked at rhythms used in traditional songs which we learned how to play using our hands and feet, and other instruments such as ukeleles, marimba, recorders, violin and even boomwhackers.  Another aspect we looked at was the the imagery used in the verses of the different songs we studied.   Students were given an opportunity to change the lyrics to the songs thus creating a sense of ownership to these songs.  We delved deeper into the songs by studying the animals mentioned in the songs by reading non-fiction as well as fiction books about the animals through online read-aloud videos using apps such as YouTube,  EPIC and RAZkids.  Students learned about myths, legends, fables from around the world.   Throughout the program we reviewed the differences between these types of stories and how these have been passed on orally for generations.  

OCTOBER/November:  OWLS, BUTTERFLIES, CATS AND BARRILETES

ANIMALS AND THE CELEBRATION OF DIA DE LOS MUERTOS 

STUDENTS LEARNED OF THE DIFFERENT SONES ASSOCIATED WITH MYSTERIOUS ANIMALS TIED TO DIA DE LOS MUERTOS SEEN AS MESSENGERS FROM THIS LIFE TO THE NEXT.  

THE STUDENT BELOW DEMONSTRATES HER PERSONAL PAPALOTE OR BARRILETE (KITE) WITH SPECIAL SYMBOLS THAT REPRESENT A LOVED ONE ON THE OTHER SIDE.  

STUDENTS ALSO WROTE PERSONAL LYRICS TO SON LA BRUJA (THE WITCH), LEARNED TO ACCOMPANY THE SON PLAYING UKELELE AND THE BASIC DANCE STEP TO THE SON DEL TECOLOTE AND LA BRUJA