SONGS AND CHANTS

When teaching children, songs and chants are often used because of several reasons such as: making the class more dynamic, catching children's attention easily and making the learning process easier for kids.

However, it is important to know how songs and chants differ from each other and when to use them.

Chants

A series of syllables that are sung or intoned to the same note or a limited range of notes.

Songs

A short piece of music with words that are sung.

When using songs or chants in the classroom, it is important to act according to the music, in other words we need to dance, sing and do mimics as the rythm goes. It is also important to  know in which stage we are to use it and the age of our students. For example, for children between ages 5-6 it is appropriate to use chants because chants do not have extensive lyrics, which makes them easy for children to memorize and repeat. On the other hand, songs can be used for different ages such as 8-11, because children are more likely to sing the whole song.

More importantly, it is necessary to know when to use songs or chants in our class. For example, If we want to review the previous lesson, then we can use it as a warm up activity. If our objective is not to review the previous lesson, then we can just use the song or chant during presentation.

These are some examples of the songs and chants used in class:

To conclude, I must say, the activities we did in class, using songs and chants, relly helped me understant when to implement them in a class. Also, it is important to know that we need to have a clear objective for the use of the song or chant in the class, to make sure our students learn as much as they can.