The second grade learned a traditional folk dance from Sweden called Fjaskern. Translated into English, the name means "Hurry Scurry." For fun, I asked the students to tell me if they could figure out why the song was called "Hurry Scurry" after I taught them the dance steps and the performed the dance.
Below is a video. See if you can tell how the dance got its name!
If you guessed that the dance got its name because the tempo (speed) of the music gets faster, you are correct!
This was a great exercise for maintaining a sense of the steady beat internally which is fundamental in developing young musicians. It also helped encourage large motor skills and self-control, with both the increasing tempo, and the quick changes in direction based on counting the number of beats and the musical form cue. Finally, students had to rely on their active listening skills in order to be able to follow the musical form and keep up with the tempo.
Ask your second grader to teach you the Fjaskern. You can find the music here.
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