Vital Role of Songs in Pre-primary Classrooms

Rhythms occupy space just as air does. Songs have twice the impact in the development of children as compared to any other mode of learning.

The workshop conducted for pre-primary teachers on 20 December 2018, focussed on the perspective and pedagogy of singing songs. The participants were introduced to the context of a song before it was sung. It was suggested that the meaning of the lyrics would be understood better if the context was set for every song. Pre-primary classes can be made vibrant if children sing joyfully having a full understanding of the song.

SONG 1:

The facilitator narrated a story:

Once upon a time, there lived a very good-natured girl named Nina. One day when she came back from school, she found that the pages of her drawing notebook were torn into pieces and thrown around on the floor by her baby brother. Initially, she became furious. But, since the whole thing was her brother’s fault, who was very young, she became pacified. She instructed her brother on how waste papers are to be put in the bin. And, both the siblings went ahead to pick the papers lying on the floor and put it in the dustbin. At the end of the story, the teachers recognized that the facilitator was going to sing the ‘Bits of paper’ song. The song was sung along with actions with all the teachers.

Song 2:

Next, the facilitator narrated a story about a small boy and his baby goat. Both of them, wanted to play in the rain. But the young boy was afraid that his mother would scold him, and he came inside his house. However, the goat did not do so. The young boy kept calling the goat to come inside the house. The facilitator then posed a question to the audience (imagining them to be children): “Do you like to play in the rain? When will there be heavy rains? In the month of Diwali?” (The facilitator specified that the month of Diwali is called Ippasi in Tamil). Following this, the facilitator sang a song:

Ippasiyum vandhadhu, Adai Mazhaiyum Peithathu… The song was sung along with actions, and the teachers joined in as well.

After performing the songs, the facilitator concluded that children would be able to learn and understand things better this way, as compared to the method, in which the teacher explains the meaning of the song word-by-word and the children sing songs by repeating after the teacher. Children will be able to learn more if they are able to relate to the situation than by mechanically learning the meaning of words. Through the workshop, the teachers were made aware how a song could be taught by setting up a context. This method would make children understand the purpose or the value behind a song before singing the song. The teachers understood the different developmental factors that can take place by learning rhymes with their context, which are as follows: physical, emotional, initiation, social, language, cognitive, and concept-based learning.

ACTIVITY:

The teacher groups were divided into four. Each group was asked to make a list of songs having the theme of seasons or values. Two groups worked on theme of value, while the other two groups worked on the theme of seasons. All the groups presented a few songs with actions and gestures. Every group prepared a list of about 10 songs, and each group performed a few songs.

Kuthadi Kuthadi Kannamma is a folk song that is popular in Tamil Nadu, and it so catchy that the children like to learn it. In the song, the bitter gourd is compared to the jhumkas of girls. The concepts of comparison and imagination will be introduced to the children through this song and its beautiful rhythm. Group 2 came out with a song about the rain, which described the thunder and the sky in the rainy season. Group 3 sang a song about traffic rules, which had a nice tune. Group 4 sang a joyful song about the father of the nation, Gandhi ji, about whom the students would certainly learn in the future. Overall, the workshop was an engaging and interesting one loaded with useful information.