On a Thursday in early October, Lower School Music Teacher Hallie Stotler shared the plan for the morning: “We’re going to make tortillas!”
Her Class 1 students glanced around the airy, fifth-floor classroom. There was no cooking equipment in sight, and this was Music after all, so what exactly did their teacher have in mind?
An interactive warm-up offered a hint. “Say hola and buenos dias to your partner,” Ms. Stotler instructed them, strumming her ukulele. The students sang the Spanish words, their excitement growing. Soon, it became clear that this lesson, part of Chapin’s Hispanic/Latinx/e Heritage Month celebrations, was going to be fast-moving, imaginative and fortified with plenty of content.
Soon, the students would build “rhythm tortillas,” filled with unique word patterns and body percussion phrases. To whet their appetites, Ms. Stotler led a discussion about the edible variety of tortillas, ubiquitous in Latin American cuisine. She taught the girls about masa, a traditional corn flour found in tortillas, tamales and other dishes, and asked them to name other foods that begin with dough (they suggested cookies, cake and pizza).
A fascinating video that depicted the process of grinding corn kernels into masa flowed easily into a read-aloud of a masa-centered story. Finally, the girls learned a catchy song, whose components would form the backbone of the next segment. It went like this:
Let’s make some tortillas! ¡Hagamos unas tortillas!
What a great idea! ¡Que buena idea!
Put on your apron! ¡Ponte tu mandil!
And grind up the maize! ¡Y muele el maíz!
They sang the song together several times before a document was projected on the classroom white board illuminating these words and more. “Let’s pick the parts of the song to include and in which order,” their teacher said. She demonstrated how a selection of speech patterns and rhythmic phrases could be arranged and rearranged with a simple drag and drop motion.
Creating the perfect song became a collaboration the students greatly enjoyed. As Ms. Stotler used a giant pointer to indicate the blocks of words and notes at their disposal, the students reorganized the lyrics and rhythm in real time. Many voices were heard during this innovative activity as the students decided, collectively, which patterns to use, repeat or disregard.
For the last few minutes, the class expanded upon what they had just discovered. In small groups of three or four, they worked diligently to craft a fresh version of the song. With the help of individual squares of paper on which the patterns and rhythm had been printed, they debated the merits of a particular order, purposely shifted the squares around on the floor before arriving at a consensus.
To add even more interest, each group was tasked with enhancing their musical number with body percussion accents. As they invented, Ms. Stotler circulated, giving feedback and encouragement. “That is awesome,” she said to one group stationed by the door. “Can you practice three more times?”
Finally, each group had the chance to perform their tortilla-making song for their peers. Sitting tall with their paper squares in front of them, the students sang proudly while variously snapping their fingers, stomping their feet, clapping their hands and patting their legs. The Music room buzzed with all kinds of sound.
Before they dashed off to recess, Ms. Stotler asked the first graders to tell her one thing they learned today. “I learned about masa,” one said. Another commented, “I learned how to turn words into a song.” These reflections echoed what many expressed during this memorable and mouth-watering lesson in Lower School Music.
