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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

In Barcelona

The fourth of six cross-curricular lesson plans on Songs of the Skies & Holidays for Primary or Elementary School children using songs and animations, poetry analysis and writing, music analysis, instrument making, art projects and play ideas.

In Barcelona
Animation by Paula Downes, music by Andrew Downes, poetry by primary school children coached by Julie Boden.

If you want to perform the songs, they can be accompanied by the animations, a CD of synthesised sounds (available here), or a chamber orchestra (parts available here). There is also a conductor version of the video for multimedia live performances.

The Poem
In Barcelona we will be
singing Spanish by the sea.
In Madrid we'll stamp our feet,
dance flamenco down the street,
clap our hands then clap again
sing our songs of sunny Spain.

Here we sit upon a plane
Saying words again, again,
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro,
gato, perro, conejo.
Spanish is fantastico
Spain is estupendo

In Barcelona we will be
singing Spanish by the sea.
In Madrid we'll stamp our feet,
dance flamenco down the street,
clap our hands then clap again
sing our songs of sunny Spain.

Poetry Discussion
Show the children where Spain, Barcelona and Madrid are on googlemaps.

Watch the following travel guides:

Learn about Flamenco Dancing:

Poetry Analysis
Search for rhyming words, nouns, adjectives, verbs.
Translate the Spanish:
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, One, two, three, four,
gato, perro, conejo. Cat, dog, rabbit.
Spanish is fantastico  Spanish is fantastic
Spain is estupendo Spain is amazing

Poetry Writing
Brainstorm all the words, nouns, adjectives, verbs to do with Spain, Barcelona, and Madrid.

Ask the children to select words that rhyme from the brainstorm.

Ask them them to write a poem with the same rhyming structure as the poem in the song. 

Music Analysis
The song begins with the castanets. Watch this video to learn about how they are made and how they are played:

Now watch these videos to help you recognise the other instruments in the song.

String Section:

Plucked Strings:

Tremolo on strings:

Woodwind:

Brass:

Now listen to the song again and notice the repetitive castanets rhythm stopping and starting; the trumpet melody; plucked, bowed and tremolo strings accompaniment; and countermelodies on brass and woodwind. Also listen out for the voice starting each verse in head voice and going into chest voice at the end of each verse to reflect the passionate nature of Spanish Flamenco music. 

Art Projects
Draw a flamenco dancer and/or castanets.

Move on to Où est Lyon?


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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

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