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Original Israeli music
A LESSON FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Written by
Efrat Srebro
About "Mayumana" group
The name Mayumana is based on the
Hebrew word "Meumatut" which means skill and expertise. This group has wonderful musical skills,athletics skills, vocal skills and more.
Mayumana creators believe that the world around us has rhythm and every movement can create a sound.
Mayuman people develop each show for many years while creating different artistic expressions, special musical instruments , technologies and unique musical language.
Working with Opera Phoenix, gives a wonderful opportunity to uses recycled materials and allows creativity and improvisation.
In this music there is a repeating part which we call part א-Alef and parts which are different and we call them, Bet-ב,Gimel-ג etc. This activitiy can also help you teach Hebrew letters
Please watch the following tutoringvideo and pay attention to the repeating parts and the changing parts.
First listening
The teacher will stand in front of the children and will ask them to imitate his/hers movements while listening to the music and trying to find out it's language
For the repeating Alef part, the teacher will choose a repeating pattern of 2 body percussion or movements. In the changing part the teacher will not move .
When the music ends, the teacher will ask the children what was the language that they heard?
Opera Phoenix is performed in the Gibberish language which is a combination of nonsense syllables with movements that express emotion
The second question of the teacher will be: did I repeat my movements while we listen to the music?why?
The teacher will explain that each time the same music repeated, she repeated her movements.In this music we have a repeating part and changing parts
A talk in Gibberish
A talk in Gibberish
The teacher will start talking to different children in Gibberish and ask them to answer in that language and that will make them laugh for sure!
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After that the teacher will invite 2 children to demonstrate a Gibberish talk in 2
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After that ,tell the children that for a better understanding , you need an interpreter for the conversation and you invite an interpreter to each of the 2 talking children
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The interpreter will explain what he/she understands from his friend talking.
move with the music
Let us move with the music
Ask the kids to invent their own dance at the A part and freeze(do not move) at the changing parts
melody structure
For printing the cards, touch the paper clip symbol
Let us find the structure of the melody
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Please print the cards before the activity
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The teacher will introduce to the children the card with the Hebrew letter Alef and say that as Alef is the first letter in Hebrew, she will call the first part of the music which repeats Alef. She will say that whenever she hears the repeating part, she will put down a card wirh Alef.
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The teacher will ask the children if they know what is the second letter in Hebrew?Beit
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The teacher will tell the children that when the second part of the music will be heard, she will put down the letter Beit(The second part of the music is the first changing part)
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The teacher will ask the children if they know what is the third letter in Hebrew? Gimel
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She will say that when she hears the third part of the music(the second repeating part, )she will put Gimel,etc.
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If your children do not know the Hebrew Alef Beit, Use the ABC
The teacher will put the music and put her cards according to the different parts of the music.
At the end it should look like that:
You can repeat this activity later and ask the children to put the cards, according to the music part that they hear. One child will put the Alef cards and another child will get the other cards
If your children do not know letters, you can use cubes- the same cube for the A part and different cubes for the changing parts
Ask the children:
How many times did the Alef part repeat- 9 times
How many changing parts are in the music?10( including introduction and the silent part)
How many parts are not represented with letters- introduction with the G clef and the silent part with Mayumana figure
How many part are in this music all together?19
Decide with your children what to do in the repeating parts and in the changing parts,put the music on and act according to your decision
Here are a few ideas:
The boys dance at the Alef part and the girls at the changing parts
Walking around the hoop in the Alef part and standing inside it in the changing parts
Dancing with a bucket on the head in the repaeting part and dancing in another way in the changing parts
let's see Mayumana
Watching a video of Mayumana group
Introduce the video with Mayumana for kids to your class
After watching Mayumana video, ask the children to suggest different "movement
accessories ", made from recycled materials, in the spirit of the Mayumana group.
When you have your "new" accessories, ask the children to suggest ways to dance with them while listening to Opera Phoenix music.
to the Opera
What is Opera?
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An opera is a story told through words and music. The orchestra plays the music in the pit under the stage. On stage, singers bring the story to life through acting , singing the words and custumes
Opera is a total art form which joins music, singing, drama, poetry, plastic arts and sometimes dance .
Who is Phoenix?
In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn.
Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again. According to some texts, the phoenix could live over 1,400 years before rebirth
Let us make masks for the opera:
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As in the Opera,the singers can use masks, give your class different fabrics , papers ,aluminum foil or newspaper and ask them to decide who they are and make their own mask.
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The children will be allowed to work with the masks only when they hear the repeating part Alef.
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At the changing parts they will stop moving and show with their real face what is going on in the music at that moment
Please watch the following video in which Akko's teachers created masks from newspapers
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As every Opera tells a story, ask your class to invent the story of "Opera Phoenix"
Ask leading questions like:About what tell the repeating parts? Why do we have repeating parts? , What is happening in the changing parts?etc.
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Prepare an illustrated book for the music's story(as your class invented)
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Make your own "Opera Phoenix" with singing,movement and costumes..
To the dance
Dancing with Opera Phoenix
Please watch the video and learn how to dance
Please watch the dancers
View All
playing
Playing with the Opera
Divide your class to 4 groups:
The free style dancers who will dance in the changing parts,
The group with the Rhythm sticks,
The group with the triangles
The group with the drums
You have to play the score(without the first 2 bars) 3 times, until the music ends
For printing the score, touch the paper clip symbol
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