It was surprising for grade 3 students to learn that some special scales in music are called Pentatonic and have 5 tones only! They discovered that it is also possible to create a piece of music with those 5 tones.
So, we started our unit off with some pentatonic improvisations that led us all the way to China. We learned about Chinese New Year and the most used emblem in the art of the Far East – the dragon.
In the parades to celebrate Chinese New Year, its function is to drive away evil spirits. During the parade the dragon dancers weave through the streets and try to catch the cabbages or Chinese leaves which are hung from upstairs windows.
The final piece was called “Chinese Dragon Song”. The class had to work on lyrics and melody. The students were divided into 4 groups and each group performed a line from the song.
Here are some pictures:
