BUSY LITTLE FINGERS: MUSIC

Eva and I Chat 12x12 Challenge, Our Origin Stories as Writers, Music, Opportunities, and More!

Pop in on our in-progress conversation where we discuss how we became writers in the first place, our mutual benefit from the 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge with Julie Hedlund, and all about her precious picture book all about musical genres.  It's a great introduction for littles to learn 10 basic musical genres..  Eva is charming and so much fun to chat with! Pull up a chair!

BUSY LITTLE FINGERS: MUSIC

BUSY LITTLE FINGERS: MUSIC by Eva Wong Nava and illustrated by Eleonora Marton and published by Big Picture Press is a musical gem for teachers and young people who enjoy music. Check out this fabulous nonfiction book that introduces littles to 10 different genres of music: classical, opera, jazz, soul, blues, folk, country, rock, pop, and hip-hop. Lyrical text, rich vocabulary, fun interactive elements, and bright colorful illustrations characterize this  one-of-a-kind book that is so full of musical content it belongs on every music teacher's shelf, and in every musical home.  It's a great introduction for students to get a little glimpse of these ten musical genres. Used in conjunction with the resources we share below, kids will receive ten little gifts of music as they learn vital musical concepts in a fun and engaging way.

A Little Jam. . .(The Music Kind)

In the YouTube playlist (in the links section) there are LOTS of songs and videos about different genres of music that would be great companions to this episode's book. I really like this one because it allows the students to hear the various genres, but it also asks them to clap along in appropriate ways. It's a wonderful way to keep children engaged, and it works on genres and rhythm simultaneously!  Win-win!

Teacher Tips, Tricks and Topics
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• The very first thing that comes to mind is features of text.  The text is used very artistically, but purposefully in this book. Often when we teach features of text, with headings and bold text and highlights, it is in magazine style format with business fonts, etc.  This, still a NF book, but it really takes artistic license with subject headings (each genre) and uses features of text in creative ways that would be fabulous to expose your students to. Here is a Pinterest board with lots of ideas for teaching nonfiction books and features of text.
• Onomatopoeia is sprinkled throughout the text. Here's a Pinterest board for Onomatopoeia.
  
  • Do a scavenger hunt for these fun sound words in the text. 
  • Find the onomatopoeia together and discuss
    
  • Ask them before opening the book, "If you had to write this sound (play or sing a sound for them), how would you write it down?"  Discuss and THEN go into the book and talk about how the author chose to spell out those sounds.
• Adjectives are prolific in this book, and are often in a different size font/separate from the main text. 
  • Do a scavenger hunt for adjectives. Discuss
  • Check the Pinterest board for activities with the adjectives
  • Charades
  • Pictionary/Win, Lose, or Draw activities
  • Find synonyms for the adjectives in the book. What other adjectives could the author have used?
• Types of sentences **Note: When teaching the types of sentences, there are at least 5 things you need to teach: 1. Identifying 2. Differentiating 3. Punctuating 4. Reading with correct inflection/expression 5. Writing each type. Obviously you can choose ONE of those to work with in this book, but sometimes teachers leave out one or more components, so please at some point in your teaching, make sure you teach students how to read and write these sentences -- not just sort and punctuate. Here's a Pinterest board to help.
  • The author has included both declarative (telling) sentences and interrogative (asking) sentences, as well as excited (exclamatory) sentences.
  • Write/type out a few examples and play a game using a 3 column chart with  each type of sentence as a column head. Discuss. How do you know it's ___. What were the clues. Read it aloud.
  • There are also some commands (imperative sentences).  How do you distinguish those?
  • After reading, highlighting various sentence types, have students write their own examples -- or challenge level:  write a paragraph using at least one of each kind.
• Vocabulary!!! Here's a Pinterest board with lots of ideas for teaching vocabulary.
  • This book is full of rich vocabulary!  Music words, robust adjectives, and more!  Don't let the excellent verbage of this book pass you by!  It's a great opportunity to enhance students' vocabulary.

Of course, there's also a ton of Social Studies you could teach using this book, specifically geography, music/culture and history, but other opportunities are sprinkled throughout the book, too. Pay attention to the countries/regions that are mentioned, plot them on a map or point them out on a globe. (Each student could have their own paper copy as you read and discuss the book.)

Tips and Topics for Music Teachers

The obvious connections here are styles/genres of music. Of course, there are many ways you could do it.  

1. Use the book as a guide for a 12-week unit. Week 1 as an intro to musical genres and read the intro in the book.  Then for 10 weeks, tackle each genre, reading that section of the book, sharing examples of that genre, maybe talking about the key artists or time periods, etc. and then week 12, do a wrap-up: read the conclusion, do some genre reviews/games/quizzes, etc.
2. Use the book as one component of your lessons for 12 weeks, using the same basic format as above, but just as a little "genre segment" of your class so you can keep the other pieces of your lessons following whatever scope and sequence you need to follow.
3. Read the book in 2-5 class periods, dividing up the genres, with limited examples of each genre/style.

Of course, all of this depends on how your music classes are set up, how much time, what grades, etc. and how your grading periods are designed.  I have 6 classes a day with 45-minute class periods, and I teach K-2 students.   I would probably use option 1 or 2 for first and second grades, but probably more the second way with kindergarten.  Also, with kindergarten I would choose songs they are familiar with that have been done in many of these styles (Think Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Old MacDonald.) and focus on that way and give them lots of interaction. 

The way I have my classes set up is this:
Entrance (Quiet music playing) 1-2 minutes
Kids enter and sit according to a seating chart (Printed grid and I write their names in pencil so I can move them if it becomes an issue.)
Meditation/Character Education 5-ish minutes
Video of some sort teaching a character education skill  or a meditation video giving them a chance to breathe, concentrate, do a body scan, stretch/do some yoga, etc.
"CopyCat Game" 7-15 minutes
Sometimes these are teacher-directed; sometimes video driven, but it's 7-15 minutes of rhythm practice, body percussion, steady beat,  pitch/vocal exploration, etc.
Mini-lesson 15-ish minutes
This is where I share a big musical conept, read a book, do the big musical focus for the day.
Boogies and Byes 2-10 minutes
A fun dance/work-out video to get all the wiggles out before they go back to class.

Having said that, I could make this my mini-lesson for 10-12 weeks, or I could break it up over the whole class time, where everything relates (our copycat game would be relative to the genre we're focusing on that week and I would try to find a dance/workout video that related if possible as well, and the music playing as they enter could be that genre. It would also depend on if genres/musical styles is something specific in your curriculum. If it's not, probably not something you'd want to devote 12 weeks to. :-/ But I think it's great to give kids a little taste of various musical styles.  That being the case, I might would use it as a short segment each week outside of my main lesson.

That is what would work for me in my schedule, but it could be different for yours.
Check out the YouTube playlist for lots of other genre/musical styles videos that you could use in conjunction. 

I also use these playlists in my classroom for a couple of genres:
Jazz

Rap/HipHop

You can also go back and search for Rock in the PBJamz archive and there are some great playlists embedded there.

Writing Prompts from Tonnye

So many things to write about!

1. What is your favorite genre/style of music and why?
2. Is there one of the styles you don't know much about?  After reading that section, what questions do you have? What else would you like to learn?
3. Write about the genre you DON'T like and why.
4. Has there ever been a piece of music you didn't like the first time you heard it but you later learned to like it? Write about that experience.
5. The author says, "Music is all around you." Do you agree/disagree. Why?
6. When you think about classical music, what comes to your mind?  
7. Write about a classical music experience you had.
8. Listen to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (or part of it) and write a story, poem or song inspired by your listening.
9. Have you ever been to an opera or listened to opera music?  If so, did you like it or not, and why?
10. Practice singing the scale on the opera pages.  Is it easier for you to sing low or high?  How did that exercise feel to you?
11. Listen to some jazz music by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis or John Coltrane and write about the experience. Do you like Jazz? Why or why not?
12. Join with a partner and write a "call and response" song. 
13. What do you think the author means when she says, "The world has soul."?
14. The Blues is made up of songs, often written when people are sad. Write about a time when you were sad OR write a sad story.
15. Folk is "music for the people" and every culture has their own folk music.  What country/group of people would you like to learn more about their culture and their music?  Why?  After you write down what you want to learn and why, look it up online or check out a book and learn!
16. Have you ever listened to country music or attended a barn dance or a hoedown? How did that music make you feel?  
17. Country music is all about everyday life. Write a song about something that happened to you today or this week.
18. If you had a rock and roll band, what would they be called? Describe their costumes/outfits.
19. Pop is short for popular music -- the music playing right now that everyone enjoys.  What is your favorite pop song or who is your favorite pop singer?
20. Have you ever tried rapping or beatboxing?  How did it feel?
21. The author says "Make some noise. Make some music." Do you think music and noise are the same or different?  Why?
22. Write about two friends who like two different kinds of music. What problems could happen?  How would they solve them?
23. Write about someone who only likes ONE kind of music, but finally they try a different kind -- and they LIKE it!
24. Write about a kid who likes different styles of music than their parents.
25. Write about an animal who only likes one genre of music. 

Keep making music and keep writing

​Writing Tips from Eva

1. Write what comes to your mind -- edit later.
2. Don't overthink it. Follow your instincts.
3. There's no new idea, but there's always new ways to write about an old idea.
4. Write from the heart, always! 
5. Think about your audience.

Links, More Fun, Extensions for Families and Everyone!

YouTube playlist with lots of videos, songs, games and activities for musical genres.

Pinterest boardpin.it/37NRuDidw full of teaching activities, facts, graphic organizers, musical pieces, videos, and more to go beautifully with this book.

PBJamz Snack
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I thought since Eva gave us 10 musical genres, I could offer 10 PBJ tips.  While this isn't a recipe per se, Happy Healthy Mama gives 10 tips for making healthier PBJ sandwiches, and if your kid is a PBJ kid, or if you're a PBJ lover yourself, these tips may leave you singing for your supper or breakfast or lunch.  You'll be hitting the high notes of health while satisfying that PBJ craving!  Check out the tips here.

Guest Links and Giveaways

Photo credit: Rebecca Cresta

Check out Eva's links and book-buying options below:

Eva's website

To buy the book: https://evawongnava.com/busy-little-fingers-music/ 
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Eva's Giveaway: a signed copy of the first edition of Busy Little Fingers Music. 
To be entered into the drawing, simply make a comment below by 11:59 PM EST on 7/17/24.