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Gardnertown Leadership Academy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with Music
During their Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle study, Pre-K students in Mrs. Lewis' class at GLA learned the importance of the three R's and designated boxes in their classroom for paper and plastics, so those materials wouldn't end up in the landfill. Mrs. Lewis shared this with GLA's music teacher, Mrs. Linton, who incorporated their Pre-K classroom learning into her music class. Mrs. Lewis’ Pre-K class then used containers that normally would have been thrown out to create wave drums to be used as perfect accompaniments to songs about the sea. Pre-K students were realizing how they could reuse a container as they picked from empty tissue boxes, empty oatmeal containers, leftover boxes, and cylinder shaped chip containers to use to create their wave drums. Once they picked a container, they filled them, and decorated them in preparation to use them to explore ways of creating a variety of ocean sounds such as crashing waves and gentle rolling waves. The collaboration between Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Linton created a more significant learning experience for their Pre-K students which allowed for a deeper understanding of just how to reuse materials that would normally end up in the trash. Below you can find the directions for making your own wave drums at home. Have fun while helping our earth!
MAKING AN OCEAN DRUM
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR CONTAINER
STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR “FILL”
STEP 3: SECURE ALL OPENINGS OF THE CONTAINER
STEP 4: DECORATE IF DESIRED
PRACTICE PLAYING YOUR OCEAN DRUM
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Flowing undercurrent of gentle waves
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Crashing waves
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Rhythmic, repetitive ostinato patterns
HOW TO PLAY YOUR OCEAN DRUM
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Using both hands, hold the instrument level as you would hold your lunch tray.
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To create the sound of flowing gentle waves, tilt the instrument slightly from left to right, forward & backward in a circular motion so the fill rolls or slides around inside the drum.
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To create the sound of crashing waves, tilt the instrument to make the fill slide and then jerk the instrument back quickly to create the crashing sound.
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To create rhythmic sounds, consider tapping your fingers on one side of your instrument.
Photos and story submitted by Jodi Lewis
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