The story of times that passed

Music without words

By Yehuda Poliker

A lesson for the age of 4-6

Written by Efrat Srebro

Yehuda Poliker

The activities with this music have 2 parts:

1. Musical activities.

2. "The story of the times that passed" from a personal and family perspective focusing on Zionism

Please activate the following video and listen to the music

getting to know the music

The teacher preparation for the lesson

This music is played by the Accordion, the Bouzouki and the Guitar

For printing the pictures please clock on

the paper clip.

In this music there is a repeating part which we call part A. In this part the children who plays by the score, play their instruments. in the other parts they dance or keep quite. Please watch the score tutoring video and try to identify part A.

The structure of the music is A,A,B,A,B,A

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היכרות עם המוסיקה

First and second listening

Please use the following Yehuda's live performance video in which you can hear the audience clapping.

1. Ask the children to listen to the music and find out what the music is asking us to do?

Listen to the children different ideas without stopping the music until one of the children will say "this music asks us to clap our hands".

2. Ask the children to listen and to join the clapping which they hear in the music.

After a while, stop the music and ask the children if they can play other body percussion with those clapping.

Continue doing it until the end of the music.

3.Choose one child by turns, who will be the"king of body percussion" and will show the class which body percussion to play with the clapping that we hear in the music.

Let's learn about the musical instruments of this music

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Introduce the Bouzouki picture to the children and say that this instrument leads the orchestra that plays this music. Ask the children if it is a percussion instrument, a wind instrument or a string instrument?
The Bouzouki is a string instrument with 4 pairs of strings which is very popular in the Greek and Middle East music.
The name Bouzouki comes from the Greek word Bozuk which means long neck ! This instrument has a long neck!!
Introduce the pictures of the Accordion and the Guitar that also play this music.
Show the video of the music to your class and ask them to choose an instrument and play that instrument by pantomime.
If you can't show the video, show the pictures of the musical instruments and explaine how the player make their sounds. Ask the children to choose one of those instrument and pLay it by pantomime with the music.

math and music

קצת חשבון

The meaning of the music's name and working with it's beats

The name of this music is:"The story of times that passed"-Explain this name to the children and tell them that the Bouzouki is telling us a musical story about the past .
Ask the children to tell about something that happened to them in the past. Explain that even countries has stories from the past. Israel has stories about how it was established, how did people learn to save water and live in the desert etc.

When we tell a story, we stop from time to time in order to breath. We can not talk without stopping.The Bouzouki which tells the story of the past in the musical language, chose to stop from time to time. The Bouzouki divided the beats of the music to groups of 4 and stops its story from time to time in the forth beat (after 3 clapping.)

Put the music on and after the opening of the Accordion, ask your children to count 3 beats and raise their hand in the forth beat.Help your class at the beginning.

After a while, stop the music and explain that we divided the music beats to groups of 4 beats and we raised our hand in the forth beat.The Bouzouki divided the beats to groups of 4 beats and chose to be silent in the 4th beat from time to time.

Ask your children for ideas as for what to do in the forth beat? jump, walk one step, turn around etc.

Third, forth and fifth listening activities

Sit in a circle , after the opening of the Accordion, count the beats in groups of 4 and pass the ball from child to child only in the forth beat.Later on, you can count 8 beats and decide that the ball will pass from child to child only at the eight beat etc.

Stripes and statues

Give the children stripes and ask them to stand like a statue , decorated with a stripe.In each forth beat, they will have to change their statue.

Moments from the past

Tell your class that we can tell a story in many ways:with word, with music,with pictures, with movements etc.
Invite kids to tell something in pantomime , while moving and ask the class to guess what was the story about.

Put the music on and ask your children to clap with the beat in the A part.

(You will tell them when to stop and you can practice finding the A part with the score video - the children play at the A part and dance in the other parts)

In the other parts of the music invite children that will move while telling a story about something that happened to them in the past.

At the end of the music talk about the story that the children showed while moving.

playing with the music

לנגינה

Playing and dancing with the music

For printing the score, click the paper clip

Please watch the tutoring video for playing the score

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Practice with your children reading the score without music.
Clap one of the rhythm patterns from the score and ask the children to find where it is written.
Ask in which line there are more Hus?
How many lines in this score?etc.
Practice playing the score with clapping
Divide your class into 3 groups: rhythm sticks players, drums players and dancers.
Ask each group to play their part without music in the background.
Put the music on and play with the music

If you read Hebrew, you can use the words that I wrote for part A.

If not, you may write your own words.

My words say this things: the Bouzouki playing , takes us to the past.In the past Jews from all around the world came to Israel , the mission was hard but every one prayed and asked to build together a home and a state, and that is what the Bouzouki tells us

מילים לחלק א' של המנגינה/אפרת סרברו:

הבוזוקי מנגן

אל העבר אותנו מכוון

אז לארץ ישראל

הגיעו יהודים מכל תבל

המשימה הייתה מאוד קשה

אך בפיהם הייתה רק בקשה

לבנות ביחד בית ומדינה

ועל זה שומעים פה במנגינה

ללל

Drawing in pairs

When the children will know how to play the music, you can ask them to draw in pairs:One will draw in the A part and the other in the other parts. ask your children to draw things from their past

The object story

סיפורו של חפץ

Zionist family stories

Every family in Israel and in the world has history and stories from the past

Following Poliker music, I suggest to ask the children to bring to the class an object that has a Zionist and Israeli significance from the family point of view.

It can be Menorah that is in the family for generations, it can be something which is connected to the IDF,it can be a Jewish book or any other thing that the family keeps and has connection to Jewish and Zionist life.

Create a class exhibition that will start in Hanukkah and will develop through the schoo;l year

As part of" Israel@70", you can ask a family member to come to the class and explain the history of the object that they chose to put in the class exhibit.

We are going to make this exhibit in Akko's kindergarten so if you want to share pictures fro the exhibits with one of our classes, please write to me.

Here are some examples from an exhibit that Sofi Biarsky , from Parpar Nechmad kindergartn in Akko created in her class, together with Lea Crosbie from Dallas JCC .

musical activities for early childhood

Music without words

By Yehuda Poliker

A lesson for the age of 4-6

Written by Efrat Srebro

​

Yehuda Poliker

The activities with this music have 2 parts:

1. Musical activities.

2. "The story of the times that passed" from a personal and family perspective focusing on Zionism

Please activate the following video and listen to the music

The teacher preparation for the lesson

This music is played by the Accordion, the Bouzouki and the Guitar

For printing the pictures please clock on

the paper clip.

In this music there is a repeating part which we call part A. In this part the children who plays by the score, play their instruments. in the other parts they dance or keep quite. Please watch the score tutoring video and try to identify part A.

The structure of the music is A,A,B,A,B,A

​

​

First and second listening

Please use the following Yehuda's live performance video in which you can hear the audience clapping.

1. Ask the children to listen to the music and find out what the music is asking us to do?

Listen to the children different ideas without stopping the music until one of the children will say "this music asks us to clap our hands".

​​

2. Ask the children to listen and to join the clapping which they hear in the music.

After a while, stop the music and ask the children if they can play other body percussion with those clapping.

Continue doing it until the end of the music.

​

3.Choose one child by turns, who will be the"king of body percussion" and will show the class which body percussion to play with the clapping that we hear in the music.

​​​

Let's learn about the musical instruments of this music

Introduce the Bouzouki picture to the children and say that this instrument leads the orchestra that plays this music. Ask the children if it is a percussion instrument, a wind instrument or a string instrument?

The Bouzouki is a string instrument with 4 pairs of strings which is very popular in the Greek and Middle East music.

The name Bouzouki comes from the Greek word Bozuk which means long neck ! This instrument has a long neck!!

Introduce the pictures of the Accordion and the Guitar that also play this music.

Show the video of the music to your class and ask them to choose an instrument and play that instrument by pantomime.

If you can't show the video, show the pictures of the musical instruments and explaine how the player make their sounds. Ask the children to choose one of those instrument and pLay it by pantomime with the music.

​

The meaning of the music's name and working with it's beats

​

The name of this music is:"The story of times that passed"-Explain this name to the children and tell them that the Bouzouki is telling us a musical story about the past .

Ask the children to tell about something that happened to them in the past. Explain that even countries has stories from the past. Israel has stories about how it was established, how did people learn to save water and live in the desert etc.

​​

​​

Put the music on and after the opening of the Accordion, ask your children to count 3 beats and raise their hand in the forth beat.Help your class at the beginning.

After a while, stop the music and explain that we divided the music beats to groups of 4 beats and we raised our hand in the forth beat.The Bouzouki divided the beats to groups of 4 beats and chose to be silent in the 4th beat from time to time.​

​​

Ask your children for ideas as for what to do in the forth beat? jump, walk one step, turn around etc.​

​

Third, forth and fifth listening activities

Playing with a ball

​

​

​

​

​

​

Stripes and statues

Give the children stripes and ask them to stand like a statue , decorated with a stripe.In each forth beat, they will have to change their statue.

​

Moments from the past

Tell your class that we can tell a story in many ways:with word, with music,with pictures, with movements etc.

Invite kids to tell something in pantomime , while moving and ask the class to guess what was the story about.

​

Put the music on and ask your children to clap with the beat in the A part.

(You will tell them when to stop and you can practice finding the A part with the score video - the children play at the A part and dance in the other parts)

In the other parts of the music invite children that will move while telling a story about something that happened to them in the past.

​

At the end of the music talk about the story that the children showed while moving.

​

​

Playing and dancing with the music

For printing the score, click the paper clip

Please watch the tutoring video for playing the score

​

Practice with your children reading the score without music.

Clap one of the rhythm patterns from the score and ask the children to find where it is written.

Ask in which line there are more Hus?

How many lines in this score?etc.

Practice playing the score with clapping

After a while, stop the music and explain that we divided the music beats to groups of 4 beats and we raised our hand in the forth beat.The Bouzouki divided the beats to groups of 4 beats and chose to be silent in the 4th beat from time to time.

Ask your children for ideas as for what to do in the forth beat? jump, walk one step, turn around etc.

If you read Hebrew, you can use the words that I wrote for part A.

Create a class exhibition that will start in Hanukkah and will develop through the schoo;l year