Dear Teachers:
Music is such a great experience to bring into your classroom!
Whether you are celebrating holidays, exploring new cultures and languages or just having fun, music has a way of opening the ears and the minds of your students. Here are some classroom ideas and projects that you might enjoy!
Class Projects
Build a classroom sized “skin” drum to tie in with Native American studies. Create instruments from recycled materials for Earth Day! Participate in TV Turn-off week with great musical fun for each night of the week! Celebrate MLK Day! Below is a nice long list of fun projects associated with great dates in the school calendar.
Exploring Music Around the World
Discover unusual instruments from around the world, hear what they sound like and make your own versions in class. There are box drums from Latin America (called cajónes), shekeres from Africa, didgeridoos from Australia and much more! Your class can play along with music found in the CD section, color the instruments online or print-out coloring pages for students to take home!
Multi-Cultural Travels
You can see some amazing pictures in Daria's travel section. Then catch the vibe of these great cultures with songs like:
- Caribbean – Do The Limbo
- Africa – Kumbayah (South African Style)
- Australia – You Gotta Didg! (Play the Didgeridoo)
- Native America – We Are The Rainbow People, Ride, Horse, Ride
- The Middle East – Salaam/Shalom
- Appalachia (United States) – Uncle Joe , Akin Drum
- African-American Tradition - Child of God, Down By The Riverside
- American Sing-Along Songs - You Are My Sunshine, This Land Is Your Land
For The Bilingual Classroom
If you are a Spanish/English classroom, you may wish to create a Peruvian box drum (cajón) or a easy guiro from a recycled water bottle. Then, have fun with Daria’s many bilingual songs! Here are some great tunes to check out!
Spanish / English
- Ese Pollito - video | audio & lyrics
- Guantanamera - video | lyrics
- La Cucaracha - audio & lyrics
- La Bamba - audio & lyrics
Learn By Listening
What teacher would not want their students to improve their listening skills? Build any of the percussion instruments, then start your own rhythm circle. Even very young children love to practice “call and response” playing. The teacher or leader plays a pattern and the class must listen and repeat. It’s a great way of combining a game with a musical activity, while practicing the essential skill of learning to listen.
Sheet Music For Daria Songs - Daria's Music For Your Classroom
Sheet music for many of Daria’s songs is available in the store. For many songs, Daria also has sing-along versions that can be sent to you for free. If you’d like to purchase any of Daria’s music, downloads are $9.99 or actual CDs are $14.99 per CD, shipping and handling are free. Feel free to check out the albums and songs here.
Tell Daria About Your Classroom!
Nothing is more important than inspiring our children. If there’s something you’d like to share with DARIA or a way she can be a part of your classroom's fun and learning, contact her here.
Enjoy the Website!
A Year of Great Musical Fun!
January
- Celebrate the Life and Legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Across the country folks use Daria’s song, I Have A Dream, to support learning about the life of this great American who changed the face of our country with his vision. Check out other beautiful spirituals from the African-American tradition such as Down By The Riverside, This Little Light of Mine and Child of God. Do you have a copy of the whole "I Have A Dream" speech? If not, e-mail Daria and she can send it to you!
April
- Celebrate Earth Day – Musically
- Everything in the Instrument section is created from “at home” and “around the house” materials so you can reduce, reuse, recycle and rock! Check out Daria’s song We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands about how kids can make a difference to the earth – everyday!
- TV Turnoff Week - April 20-26, 2009
- Help your students choose fun musical at-home activities in place of watching the “tube”.
May
- Cinco De Mayo
- Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) celebrates Mexico’s Declaration of Independence from Spain. During your celebration, you can check out two traditional songs from Mexico – La Cucaracha (The Little Cockroach) and La Bamba. Also, make guiros or recycled rattles as part of your celebration of “la cultura Mexicana”.
September
- Grandparents Day
- Did you know there is a holiday for Grandparents? Celebrated the first weekend of September, this special day draws attention to strengthening family ties with our elders. Daria’s Grammy-nominated CD, Grandchildren’s Delight, includes a ton of songs that are loved by grandparents and young children alike. On the cd you can hear lots of old time instruments like washboards, spoons and the Appalachian dulcimer. Can you imagine using a Washboard as an instrument? Well, it sure beats doing the laundry on one!
- Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15th - October 15th
- Check out some great musical instruments that bring Latin-American music alive! Make guiros, cajónes and find out more about the countries that they come from.
- TV Turnoff Week - September 20-26, 2009
- Help your students choose fun musical at-home activities in place of watching the “tube”.
November
- Celebrate Native American Heritage
- Check out Daria's song, Ride, Horse, Ride, sung with a Lenape clan mother, or her songs in Quechua and English, Yaw, Yaw, Puka Polleracha/We Are The Rainbow People. Hear an authentic Pow-wow Drum played by the Starfeather Group from the Jemez Pueblo (New Mexico, USA) or make a classroom size pow-wow drum and drum beaters.
