Jordan Pavlica

380

Observation: Torrey Hill Elementary

Mrs. Solgot is the music teacher for students Kindergarten- fifth grade at Torrey Hill and

West Shore elementary in Lake Fenton. The music classroom was shaped almost like a triangle,

there was a dark blue carpet and dimmed lights which set a warm and welcoming mood. Most of

the walls were covered in lockers that held various instruments, but the front wall had signs with

simple musical ideas, such as different dynamic markings, and a major/minor sign. The walls

with lockers on them had chairs lined up right along them so there was a lot of open space since

everything was pushed back to the walls. Mrs. Solgot meets each class once a week over the

period of six years. The class I observed was a third grade class that met right after lunch.

The students arrived in a single file line a couple minutes late. They were very talkative,

which was understandable because it was the last day before spring break, and it was also pajama

day. Instead of asking her students to quiet down when class started, Mrs. Solgot started singing

and her voice cut above the voices of the children and she quickly gained their attention. She

then asked the students to tap their shoulders fast to the beat. She demonstrated, and she sang the

song again while tapping the eighth notes on her shoulders. The students joined in and she asked

them to stand up and bounce on the macro beat and the students began bouncing on beats one

and three, while continuing to tap eight notes on their shoulders. This seemed like an exercise

that the students were familiar with.

About 10 minutes into class, Mrs. Solgot went on to a new activity. She would sing an

arpeggiated chord and then asked the students if it sounded happy or sad. The students waited
patiently to be called on, and she took a couple answers for each chord before telling them what

it was. Some students said ‘major’ or ‘minor’ during the activity, and some said ‘happy’ and

‘sad.’ After a couple minutes of the major and minor activity, she had the students sit in a circle

on the ground, where she sat as well. One student continued to talk and Mrs. Solgot was very

assertive in dealing with him, but then went right back to singing and being cheerful. She

projected a song on the board with chord changes every measure reading “D D A7 D.” Mrs.

Solgot sang the song while the students sang the root of the chord using solfege on the downbeat

of each measure.

The next activity was using resonator bells, which is like a xylophone, but each bar was

removable and attached to a wooden block. She handed some students bars that were part of the

I chord, and some students got notes that were part of the dominant V chord. They then played

back and forth and were able to make music with no wrong notes. About five minutes after that

they did a dynamic activity. She said things such as “If I want to be really really quiet, what

would I play?” Or “If I wanted to be sort of loud what dynamic would I play?” Most students

pronounced the italian term wrong, but they knew what they were trying to say. Next, they got in

a circle on the ground and Mrs. Solgot read them a children's book about rain. After each phrase

describing the sounds and intensity of rain, she would ask the students what dynamic marking

would go with it. My favorite part was how she dealt with their responses With some phrases

there would be a disagreement, some students would say the rain would be pianissimo, and

others would say it was more of a mezzo forte. Despite the disagreement, Mrs. Solgot would say

“Yeah, it could be mezzo forte” as if no one was wrong.

 I was really impressed with what I saw during my observation. I haven’t been in an

elementary school since I was very little, and so I didn’t know what to expect. I think I also only

had two years of music, whereas these students have six, so I couldn’t even compare it to my

elementary music experience. I really liked how Mrs. Solgot addressed any issues or distractions;

she would be very assertive and let the students know she was in charge, and then immediately

acted like everything was okay. I also really liked how many different things they did in a fifty

minute period, which she explained was because students their age lose interest in something

after about ten minutes. She kept the class a very welcoming and friendly environment and was

teaching third graders things I didn’t know until I got to college (like what a dominant V chord

was). Her method of teaching seemed very effective and I learned a lot just watching one class.