Max Makes Music

At our Shabbat party this week, we enjoyed the musical selection "Mississippi Hot Dog" performed on the violin by our classmate Max Zurkovsky. He was amazing! Gan Daled enjoyed the book Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss which Tamara Zurkovsky, Max's mother, read to us.
We examined other string instruments in order to extend our knowledge of musical instruments.

Gan Aleph Turns the Beat Around!

Gan Aleph discussed the patterns that Native Americans used in regard to music. We used a big drum to practice different rhythms and beats and listened to how the drum sounds can repeat themselves to create a pattern. We used the drums to listen to the different beats in the children's names and discussed how words have a rhythm: syllables!

We brainstormed Thanksgiving words (Mayflower, pie, turkey etc.) and sorted them onto a chart based on the amount of syllables that were in each word. We even found a 5 syllable word...cornucopia! The children were presented with a syllable suitcase in which they had to unpack different items into the correct syllable drawer. After working collaboratively to complete this task, the children worked independently to sort pictures onto a "clap and chart" paper. This activity truly helped Gan Aleph feel the rhythm of Thanksgiving!