
Students
at
Covington-Harper
Elementary
School
were
in
the
Valentine's
Day
spirit
last
week.
While
learning
various
music
concepts
they
created
musical
valentines
for
each
other.
Jennifer
Nichols,
music
teacher
at
Covington-Harper
Elementary,
used
the
unique
lesson
to
teach
musical
notation,
music
literacy,
music
composition,
and
music
performance.
Students
learned
that
the
heartbeat
of
music
is
called
the
steady
beat.
To
learn
the
difference
between
a
steady
beat
and
rhythm,
four
heart
shapes
were
displayed
on
the
Smart
Board
to
represent
the
beats.
Next,
the
class
thought
of
one-syllable
and
two-syllable
words
using
a
Valentine's
Day
theme.
"I
introduced
students
to
music
symbols
including
quarter
notes
(paired
with
our
one-
syllable
words
that
we
refer
to
as
"ta"),
paired
eighth
notes
(referred
to
it
as
"ti-ti"),
and
quarter
rest
(known
as
"sh")
using
simplified
notation,"
Nichols
explained.
To
compose
their
own
musical
valentines,
students
used
small
Popsicle
sticks
arranged
on
laminated
heart
shaped
cut-outs
which
represented
the
four
steady
beats.
They
wrote
one-and-two
syllable
words
below
the
accompanying
musical
notes
to
create
their
song.
When
delivered
to
fellow
classmates,
students
also
performed
the
musical
valentines.
Singing
the
book
"There
was
an
Old
Lady
Who
Swallowed
Some
Roses"
by
Lucille
Colandro
and
learning
the
lyrics
and
melody
to
Woody
Guthrie's
song
"Mail
Myself
to
You,"
were
also
tied
to
the
Valentine's
Day
themed
music
lessons.
"The
students
all
walked
out
of
class
singing
'Mail
Myself
to
You'
and
enjoyed
composing
and
receiving
"mail"/musical
valentines
from
one
another,"
Nichols
shared.