182 | What’s the Point of Movement Props? - HD 1080p
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[00:00:00] Bryson Tarbet: Hello and welcome back to that music podcast. Today we are gonna be talking about movement props, what they are, what the whole point is, and why it took me so long to finally cave in and get some scarves from my classroom. You are listening to that music podcast with Bryon Tar, the curriculum designer and educational consultant.
[00:00:23] Bryson Tarbet: Behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit. Each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be [email protected].
[00:00:49] Bryson Tarbet: Welcome back. I am really excited to talk about this today because. It, I, you know, I love movement. If you, if you've been, if you've been in my world at all or listened to my podcast or heard me present, you likely [00:01:00] know that I am someone who absolutely loves movement, especially when we can put it into our lessons in a meaningful way.
[00:01:07] Bryson Tarbet: Uh, not only does it help add, you know, musical context, but it just gets, gets, get, gets kids moving and gets them. It's just, it's so beneficial. So, I. Have kind of this tricky relationship with movement props and honestly, I don't know where it came from. It was, I was years into teaching and I realized that I had never once thought about doing anything with scarves.
[00:01:31] Bryson Tarbet: I. I didn't have scarfs when I came into my classroom, and I never, I never really started. I never really, I never bought any, never tried it. And then I met Lean O'Brien. If you haven't caught Leanna's episode, you're gonna wanna listen to that one. She's amazing. But she is the queen of scarfs. She's actually quite literally the CEO of the Soaring Scarfs Academy.
[00:01:51] Bryson Tarbet: So why did Leanna. Changed my mind. And first of all, if you've ever heard her talk, you know how she changed my mind because she's just one of the best [00:02:00] speakers that I've ever heard. Um, but she was talking about the whole point of that mo music is movement and I think that is so. True. Quite. I really do.
[00:02:09] Bryson Tarbet: And I think, you know, the more that I got to understand about how she used scarfs rather, you know, not as this way to replace anything, but as a way to enhance, that's really where things changed. And it's not just scarves. You know, in my classroom I had a parachute, but I really didn't use that much. I had a stretchy band, but I, I really didn't use that much.
[00:02:28] Bryson Tarbet: I even have some like ribbons with bells on them that I stole from my cousin's wedding at the end of the night because they were like. 50 of these, like dow rods with a ribbon at the end that we like waved them goodbye. And I'm like, I need these for my classroom, even though I had no idea what I was gonna use 'em for.
[00:02:43] Bryson Tarbet: Um, but I didn't use a lot because I don't know if, if part of it was just I didn't want to distract them or I didn't wanna give them something in their hands that they could, you know, cause me to distract me. So it took me a while. So let's talk a little bit about the what, what kind of. Benefits I [00:03:00] saw once I started using 'em.
[00:03:01] Bryson Tarbet: And first of all, I think giving that sensory exploration is really helpful. I mean, think about a stretching band, right? You're, you're being able to pull, you're, you're pushing, you're having that, you know, the, the tactile feedback, the scarfs you have, uh, you know, the different ways that you can feel it, the different ways that you can move it around and show that you.
[00:03:17] Bryson Tarbet: Go fast. And so having that, you know, the different textures and, and the visual tracking, all of that is really just great from a, a sensory side of things. And again, if you know anything about me, you know, I'm really into the sensory integration. Um, and I like this as well because I've noticed that my students that tend to get a little bit more.
[00:03:36] Bryson Tarbet: Anxious, maybe, especially when I'm asking 'em to do something, if I give them a prop, it's, it kind of allows a little point of distraction, right? It's not, it's kind of like when you give, uh, a reluctant singer a puppet and have them sing through the puppet. They're not singing a puppet's singing. It's kind of the same thing.
[00:03:51] Bryson Tarbet: Beyond that, the, the motor skill development of being able to do that I think is really helpful. You know, especially, you know, a scarf can be gross motor, it can be fine motor, [00:04:00] it can be a combination of the two. And I love being able to create. These overarching learning environments for my students, right?
[00:04:07] Bryson Tarbet: We're not just learning music. We're not just, you know, singing or playing dance, playing games or dancing. We're, we're doing this huge, all these different things are coming into place, and so whenever we can have some sort of motor skill application, that is really helpful, especially at the early ages.
[00:04:20] Bryson Tarbet: But quite frankly, even at the upper ages, we still need to give students opportunities to develop both refine and their gross motor skills, especially in a way that doesn't. Feel like we're doing it, that on purpose. Um, I have a lot of students that have had, you know, they had really, um, gross motor or fine motor deficits.
[00:04:40] Bryson Tarbet: And when we get to that older grade, the difference, you start to see more of, of a divide. So by giving them a way that it's new for everyone, it's not, you know, we're not just holding a pencil in writing. We're, we're doing this brand new thing with this brand new prop. It kind of creates a little bit more of a leveling field and gives them an opportunity to, to put themselves out there a little bit more.
[00:04:58] Bryson Tarbet: Because everyone else is learning it new, you [00:05:00] know, it's new too, or it's just, it's not something we typically go around doing all the time. Um, so it kind of gives a little bit more of novelty and, and new to it. Um, but let's not forget about the musical concepts. Like this is a podcast called That Music Podcast.
[00:05:13] Bryson Tarbet: So we're gonna talk about it because it's important. I think there are so many ways that you can use movement props, um, to reinforce, introduce, and explore. Musical concepts. I mean, just think about tempo. Give your, give a student a scarf and play them a fast song. And what are they gonna do? They're gonna move it fast.
[00:05:32] Bryson Tarbet: Give the student a scarf and give them a slow play, a slow song. And what are they gonna do? Well, they're still gonna do it fast until you model for them that they can show it slow. Right. And allowing them to make that connection. Especially if you find a song that has, um, dynamic tempos, you know, the different, that's a.
[00:05:50] Bryson Tarbet: Especially if you can find a song that has a lot of of contrast in the tempo. Maybe we're going some from fast to slow or you know, something like, you know, in the Hall of the Mountain King where we're starting slower and we're getting [00:06:00] faster. This is a great way to show the connection of what we can see and what we can move into, what we can hear.
[00:06:08] Bryson Tarbet: And if you notice anything about those words, that is oral, visual, and kinesthetic. It really wraps everything all up in one. Package. And I think that is what I really love about things like, like movement, props. Now it doesn't have to be just scarfs. Scarfs are attainable. They're pretty cheap. Um, you can find them at pretty much every music, ven, you know, elementary music vendor.
[00:06:27] Bryson Tarbet: Uh, anywhere. Um, but it could be as something as simple as, you know, I, I had a parachute in my classroom that was the old gym one that was kind of torn and it was basically stick, like it was very janky, but it worked. It worked for what I wanted to do. It was able to still go up and down and left and right and fast and slow.
[00:06:44] Bryson Tarbet: Um, it just. Didn't look great. And I think when we're able to do something like that, that can be really helpful. I mean, let's be honest, we, we love parachute day. Walking in and there's a parachute on the floor is like the best thing. Um, stretchy bands can be great. I inherited another, like a whole tub of these like [00:07:00] defective ery that you can use.
[00:07:01] Bryson Tarbet: Kind of like the stretchy nylons. And you can use those in different ways, um, to create movement, to show movement, to create more distance. I use these a lot during CO when we wanted to do, um, some sort of activity that would typically be, you know, holding hands, but I. Covid wise, not gonna happen. So instead we're, you know, six feet away from each other, holding onto each other from the other side of nylons.
[00:07:21] Bryson Tarbet: And I think this is a great way where you can use what you have, make a plan for if you wanna get more. Um, but what I love about these movement props is the vast majority of them are not crazy expensive. Yes. If you, you, if you're getting a really big parachute in, in a high quality parachute, it might run you a little bit, um, you know, stretchy bands, they're not the cheapest, but, you know, you could be as simple as.
[00:07:43] Bryson Tarbet: The, the scarves can be pretty cheap. You can just go get some old fabric from a store. Maybe you, you find a clearance section or something, right. Just kind of cut some fabric there. Um, these, the RY that I, that, that I, um, inherited, I'm sure those were by very inexpensively [00:08:00] because they were defective and you can really make what you want with them beyond all of this.
[00:08:07] Bryson Tarbet: What I love about these types of props is that. They change it up, they change up the lesson a little bit. They add a little bit more joy. If you have a kindergarten, you know, if you, if you played in the hall of the Mountain King for a kindergarten class and you had them doing some sort of movement activity, they would enjoy it.
[00:08:28] Bryson Tarbet: They would fly off, they would smile. But if you give them a scarf while you're doing, they're doing it, I promise you there is going to be so much more joy in the room. And I think yes, there's gonna be a little bit more chaos in the room, but for me. The amount of joy that's been added is so worth the nominal amount of chaos that was added by giving kindergartners a scarf.
[00:08:51] Bryson Tarbet: Because what I love about these types of props is worst case scenario, they fall down and they don't break. They're gonna be fine. They're very inexpensive, [00:09:00] they're pretty hefty, they're pretty heavy duty. Um, and you can use them for so many things, so many different grades, so many different activities.
[00:09:07] Bryson Tarbet: You can really make these something that. It, it doesn't have to be just one thing that you hit use, you know, it is not just this one activity and then you put it in your counter, your cabinet for the rest of the year until you get to that activity next year. It really can be something that you can use in so many different ways, um, and which can help with your classroom clutter too.
[00:09:27] Bryson Tarbet: And I think that's, that's pretty important. So did I give you the best examples of. Using movement props? No. Who do I think you should listen to? Lean O'Brien? Um, we'll put the link of our episodes that we've done with her in the past in the show notes here. Um, because she gives a lot more concrete advice.
[00:09:44] Bryson Tarbet: She gives a little bit more. Um, I. She puts it a little bit more eloquently in her wonderful book. I always tell her, or in her voice, I always tell her if I ever read a book, I want her to, um, record my audio book. But putting that out into the universe right now. Um, but with that [00:10:00] being said, I hope you gain a little bit more insight on movement, props, um, ways that you can use them.
[00:10:04] Bryson Tarbet: Why are they important? Um, and with that being said, thank you so much for listening and I hope. You are having a great week, and as always, if nobody has told you lately, thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach.
