Singing With a Silent Voice!?

In parent conferences, many of you mentioned your child loving to sing worship songs and other school songs at home. 

We were excited to welcome Mrs. Mauldin back to our classroom after the recent break. Although we sing every day with our teachers, singing with Mrs. Mauldin is a treat. Mrs. Mauldin is teaching us many skills at the same time as singing. 

She introduced us to the idea of using a silent voice. This is when you sing the song inside your head without using your actual voice. Doing the actions to a song can help keep the whole class on track and following along when using our silent voice. 

Mrs. Mauldin sings many of her songs using different tones and volumes; whisper, talk, sing, silent. The challenge is to always sound beautiful.

We are using our bodies in music class. In the song Oliver Twist, Mrs. Mauldin challenges us with the motions singing, "Oliver Twist, you can't do this, so what's the use in trying?"

We also practice using our faces to show the emotions of the characters in the songs. In Five Little Ducks, the Mama Duck is sad when her ducklings don't come waddling back. 

At the end of the song, all five return and we show Mama Duck's happiness by smiling joyfully. These songs teach children how to recognize, and name, the emotions shown by their classmates.

In some songs there is a pause and the class has to wait for Mrs. Mauldin to start singing again. We are building our patience and self-control as we wait for the next note. This is especially hard when the next note signals a jump.

At the end of our class, we sing our goodbyes using solfege hand signs. These are signs that signify different notes and show us how the tune goes up and down.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Mauldin." Until we see you again next Friday.