As part of our Conversational Solfege curriculum, students in grades 2-5 have been studying Yankee Doodle. The A section of this song uses only our Unit 1 duple rhythm patterns so it has been a great song for us to use to familiarize ourselves with these patterns.
Students listened and learned this song through a whole song approach - hearing the song sung to them several times and then singing it themselves.
Yankee Doodle went to town,
Riding on a pony.
Stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni.
Hear Mrs. Baker's second grade class singing this song in the video below:
After singing the song, students danced to a recording of it, learning motions that reflected the form of the song while further solidifying our rhythm patterns.
When we were very familiar with the song, students were able to decode the rhythm patterns, singing the song using rhythm syllables instead of the words. Soon, we will be able to read the rhythms of this song and notate it for ourselves.
