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Continuing our work on pulse, Year 2 have been using the claves to mark the pulse as part of a team. Sitting in a circle they passed a single clave around placing it on the floor in front of the person next to them to mark each beat of the song ’Apple Tree’. It required a lot of concentration to be able to sing and pass the clave at the correct time and in the correct direction! We discussed the importance of team work in this activity and it took us a few attempts to ensure everyone was moving in time to the beat. One child compared the movement to rowing. I was impressed by this observation and it led us to discuss how rowers also need to stay in time and work as a team in order to move the boat. We also spoke about sailors using ‘Sea Shanties’ to keep in time with each other when hoisting the sails. It is always a pleasure when the children guide the lesson in a different direction and see things you wouldn’t necessarily expect.
In our Reception task time the children have been exploring different percussion instruments and deciding whether they can hit, shake or scrape them. They have enjoyed playing with the different timbres and discovering how they can stop the vibrations of the instrument and therefore the sound.