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Creature Cantata |
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Welcome
Introducing our collection of creature songs and assorted potpourri for the pleasure and delectation of all those interested in singing songs, playing games and having music-related fun. Children and young people are fascinated by facts, delight in remembering unusual snippets of information and love to be able to reveal something new or different. This collection will help singers to develop their confidence in learning and inspire them to want to share their learning with others. Creature Collective will appeal to all who engage in its materials and there is something for all. Amongst original songs and games can also be found familiar tunes and associated activities to stimulate the mind and there are poems galore: vignettes, snapshots, reflections and rhymes.
Introducing our collection of creature songs and assorted potpourri for the pleasure and delectation of all those interested in singing songs, playing games and having music-related fun. Children and young people are fascinated by facts, delight in remembering unusual snippets of information and love to be able to reveal something new or different. This collection will help singers to develop their confidence in learning and inspire them to want to share their learning with others. Creature Collective will appeal to all who engage in its materials and there is something for all. Amongst original songs and games can also be found familiar tunes and associated activities to stimulate the mind and there are poems galore: vignettes, snapshots, reflections and rhymes.
Intention
Our intention is to lead you in your learning and to transport you to new avenues of enquiry by exploring ideas, engaging in/with music and language, singing and moving. Along the way, we hope you will discover how enjoyable learning can be and will want to involve your friends, parents and teachers in the process.
Sharing learning is a collective endeavour, a cooperative enterprise, and, in this collection of materials based on creatures from our amazing animal kingdom, there is an emphasis and focus on the transformative power of working together. Singing is one conduit to help bring together this learning and help us make sense of our experiences; performing poetry is another, enabling us to respond to the rhythms and patterns of words. Reading poetry aloud enables the power of language to be explored and realised.
You are engaging with a resource that provides information and entertainment, sparking provocation, amusement, mystery or joy to develop your thinking. So please laugh, ponder and make mistakes, reflect and solve problems as you develop your learning styles, hone your musicianship skills and unlock yourself artistically. Music and poetry are essential to life and should permeate the lives of young people, shaping their futures in whichever way. For maximum impact, musical seeds need to be sown early, when young minds are most receptive. The fruits of these seeds will then be reaped later in life, so let us be aware of and enjoy the process from the beginning.
Our intention is to lead you in your learning and to transport you to new avenues of enquiry by exploring ideas, engaging in/with music and language, singing and moving. Along the way, we hope you will discover how enjoyable learning can be and will want to involve your friends, parents and teachers in the process.
Sharing learning is a collective endeavour, a cooperative enterprise, and, in this collection of materials based on creatures from our amazing animal kingdom, there is an emphasis and focus on the transformative power of working together. Singing is one conduit to help bring together this learning and help us make sense of our experiences; performing poetry is another, enabling us to respond to the rhythms and patterns of words. Reading poetry aloud enables the power of language to be explored and realised.
You are engaging with a resource that provides information and entertainment, sparking provocation, amusement, mystery or joy to develop your thinking. So please laugh, ponder and make mistakes, reflect and solve problems as you develop your learning styles, hone your musicianship skills and unlock yourself artistically. Music and poetry are essential to life and should permeate the lives of young people, shaping their futures in whichever way. For maximum impact, musical seeds need to be sown early, when young minds are most receptive. The fruits of these seeds will then be reaped later in life, so let us be aware of and enjoy the process from the beginning.
Contents
Your journey into and through the materials will vary according to the age and experience of the singers, the number of children in a class or choir, the space and time available and the regularity of the session.
Learning materials and activities in Creature Collective are designed to stimulate broad cross-curriculum work.
Creature Songs based on Collective Nouns 1-10
Prologue: Back on track: Three part voices with additional harmony parts
Section 2:
Animal potpourri 11-12
Resources
1: Creature caricatures; 2: Song lyrics; 3: Glossary; 4: Makaton; 5: Instrumental parts; 6: Artwork
Your journey into and through the materials will vary according to the age and experience of the singers, the number of children in a class or choir, the space and time available and the regularity of the session.
Learning materials and activities in Creature Collective are designed to stimulate broad cross-curriculum work.
- Carefully crafted songs are tailored to encourage teachers to adopt a flexible approach to learning and teaching in music across years 3-6 bridging lower KS2 > upper KS2.
- Songs may still appeal/be relevant/have currency into KS3, particularly the instrumental parts, and may be revisited as part of a recursive learning process.
- Order of songs provides a guide to the level of musical challenge.
- Incremental challenges are presented within songs as well as across the collection.
- Scores may be interpreted flexibly: o Teach songs as they appear, omitting any optional parts.
o Assign small groups to sing sections or verses.
o Develop songs and performances creatively - use your imagination.
Creature Songs based on Collective Nouns 1-10
Prologue: Back on track: Three part voices with additional harmony parts
- Butterflies and ladybirds: Unison voices with glockenspiel
- Gorillas and monkeys: Two part voices with optional percussion
- Rattlesnake rumba!: Two part voices with cabasa
- Crocs basking: Two part voices with optional percussion
- Flambo of flamingos: Unison voices with percussion
- Giraffes and lions: Two part voices with glockenspiel
- Iguanas in a mess; Rap with body percussion
- Hummingbirds and parrots: Two part voices with a five part finale
- Spiders!: Unison voices with optional percussion
- Shiver of sharks: Two part voices with percussion
Section 2:
Animal potpourri 11-12
- A to Z of Collective Nouns with suggestions for games
- Creature poems
Resources
1: Creature caricatures; 2: Song lyrics; 3: Glossary; 4: Makaton; 5: Instrumental parts; 6: Artwork
Creature Songs based on Collective Nouns
This collection of songs based on Collective Nouns grew out of a fascination for the weird and wonderful world of animal nomenclature and here we celebrate the sometimes random but mostly apposite names given to groups of creatures.
Our aim is to continue to expand and develop this repertoire as we find further inspiration amongst the wonderful world of words that describe and categorise the world around us.
Ask yourself which creatures would you associate with the following modes of self-transportation?
Hop, skip, jump, run, slither, slide, glide, fly, swim, burrow, climb, soar, hover, creep, crawl, wiggle.
How many do you not know? Probably very few, if any! Yet, if asked to match creatures to their respective collective nouns, listed here, how would you fare? Answers and more in section 11.
A Ambush B Business C Caravan D Drove
E Exaltation F Farrow G Gaggle H Hedge
I Implausibility J Jitter K Kindle L Labour
M Mob N Nursery O Ostentation P Prickle
Q Quiver R Rhumba S Stench T Thunder
U Unkindness V Venue W Waddle X X-ray
Y Yap Z Zeal
You could adopt a step-by-step approach to getting to know a song, e.g. Flambo or Spiders! Why not learn it first as a poem to enable the reader to feel its rhythms, then chant it, then get some movement going and then add the tune? Another approach might be to introduce a song as a whole e.g Butterflies and ladybirds where the opening unfolds and develops naturally and sequentially, such that it is unnecessary to unpick its component rhythm, melody and words.
For each song you will see the original poem, followed by supporting information - Fascinations, Musicking and Learning moves - followed by the Music score and an example Demo track and a Backing track. All Song lyrics may be found together in Resource No 2.
Fascinations
To ‘fascinate’ derives from the Latin ‘to charm or spellbind’ and here you will find information and facts of an unusual nature about our featured creatures to interest and entice you, to stimulate and provoke you to explore more. Healthy learning habits are developed as you are encouraged to think and use your collective imaginations, individually and collectively, following your instincts.
Musicking
‘To music,’ is to take part in collaborative everyday music-making activities in all their various and wonderful forms: performing, listening, rehearsing or practising, composing or songwriting, dancing and moving. Musicking might be considered to be everything we do through music that is driven by a musical imperative; as we practise and develop our musical activity (our musicking) then so it becomes the melting pot for wider learning and transformative experience. Musicking, according to Small (1998), is a ‘communal and functional human activity which affords people a means to explore, affirm, and celebrate their identities’.
Small, C (1998) Musicking: the meanings of performing and listening, Wesleyan Univ. Press.
Learning moves
These are suggestions for developing songs in interesting ways and extending activities beyond the realms of the regular sitting/setting. Our guidance may literally be about movement, or there may be suggestions regarding proven and effective strategies to employ in the space.
Music score
Demo track
Have a listen to these to get an idea of how the songs might sound but please remember to leave room for performers' interpretations.
Backing track
Use these when you are needing musical support to enable a performance but remember an unaccompanied performance is great fun, just as rewarding and maybe more challenging.
This collection of songs based on Collective Nouns grew out of a fascination for the weird and wonderful world of animal nomenclature and here we celebrate the sometimes random but mostly apposite names given to groups of creatures.
Our aim is to continue to expand and develop this repertoire as we find further inspiration amongst the wonderful world of words that describe and categorise the world around us.
Ask yourself which creatures would you associate with the following modes of self-transportation?
Hop, skip, jump, run, slither, slide, glide, fly, swim, burrow, climb, soar, hover, creep, crawl, wiggle.
How many do you not know? Probably very few, if any! Yet, if asked to match creatures to their respective collective nouns, listed here, how would you fare? Answers and more in section 11.
A Ambush B Business C Caravan D Drove
E Exaltation F Farrow G Gaggle H Hedge
I Implausibility J Jitter K Kindle L Labour
M Mob N Nursery O Ostentation P Prickle
Q Quiver R Rhumba S Stench T Thunder
U Unkindness V Venue W Waddle X X-ray
Y Yap Z Zeal
You could adopt a step-by-step approach to getting to know a song, e.g. Flambo or Spiders! Why not learn it first as a poem to enable the reader to feel its rhythms, then chant it, then get some movement going and then add the tune? Another approach might be to introduce a song as a whole e.g Butterflies and ladybirds where the opening unfolds and develops naturally and sequentially, such that it is unnecessary to unpick its component rhythm, melody and words.
For each song you will see the original poem, followed by supporting information - Fascinations, Musicking and Learning moves - followed by the Music score and an example Demo track and a Backing track. All Song lyrics may be found together in Resource No 2.
Fascinations
To ‘fascinate’ derives from the Latin ‘to charm or spellbind’ and here you will find information and facts of an unusual nature about our featured creatures to interest and entice you, to stimulate and provoke you to explore more. Healthy learning habits are developed as you are encouraged to think and use your collective imaginations, individually and collectively, following your instincts.
Musicking
‘To music,’ is to take part in collaborative everyday music-making activities in all their various and wonderful forms: performing, listening, rehearsing or practising, composing or songwriting, dancing and moving. Musicking might be considered to be everything we do through music that is driven by a musical imperative; as we practise and develop our musical activity (our musicking) then so it becomes the melting pot for wider learning and transformative experience. Musicking, according to Small (1998), is a ‘communal and functional human activity which affords people a means to explore, affirm, and celebrate their identities’.
Small, C (1998) Musicking: the meanings of performing and listening, Wesleyan Univ. Press.
Learning moves
These are suggestions for developing songs in interesting ways and extending activities beyond the realms of the regular sitting/setting. Our guidance may literally be about movement, or there may be suggestions regarding proven and effective strategies to employ in the space.
Music score
- The main melody is always at the top of the music in the treble clef and, when there is more than a single voice, part 1 will be the principal part with the exception of ‘Back on track’.
- When accompanying songs, pianists should always remember that their key role is to support children’s singing. In rehearsal this may necessitate playing the melody louder, or an octave higher. As singers grow in confidence then the melody may be subtly withdrawn as appropriate.
- Guitar chords are included for guitarists and keyboard players.
- Suggestions are offered for suitable classroom instruments but adapt as necessary.
Demo track
Have a listen to these to get an idea of how the songs might sound but please remember to leave room for performers' interpretations.
Backing track
Use these when you are needing musical support to enable a performance but remember an unaccompanied performance is great fun, just as rewarding and maybe more challenging.