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"Here is the land"

"Here is the sky"

"Here are my friends and here am I"

We thank the Wurundjeri people for the land which we learn and play.

Hands up, hands down we are on Wurundjeri ground.

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Watch this video with original sound to feel the senses of this magical place. I have captured all the natural elements in this video. I will explain what I hear, feel and smell in my second video.

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How i felt when i entered this park?

When I entered the park, I saw tall trees, I heard the sound of water coming from the creek.

I saw some ducks swimming in the pond making the sound of quack-quack.

I heard the chirping of birds, gusts of wind and well-tented bright green grass touching my feet.

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“This place”

It’s a mild, sunny spring day in this place, and the wind gently rustles the trees and grass. The creek was full of fresh water which runs through this place hidden from me. When I entered this place, I felt like the tall trees were welcoming me with open hands and trying to hug me. The wind rustles into my ears and I felt like it was telling me some magical stories about this place. I went close to the creek and sat there for a few minutes with my eyes closed. It felt like I was in heaven and all my worries and stress were gone for some time. The calming music coming from the water soothes my ears and soul. Following the flow of water, it took me to the magical lake guarded by a group of friendly ducks who were trying to communicate with me. I heard the sweet melodious voices of birds chirping and resting on the tall trees. From far away I heard the noises of dogs barking and cars’ noises. I have never experienced this calmness of nature like this before. I had never been to this place before, but I felt so connected to this place physically, mentally and emotionally. This place took my breath away and welcomed me in a very special way.

SONG:

“The wind is calling through the open sky”

Whispering in my ears to come and join,

The earth was holding tall trees so strong,

Where the water was coming from soul of earth,

The water was showing me the path to the magical lake,

Where I met some ducks and their friends in the lake,

Ducks were singing their quack-quack song,

And telling me the secret of this magical land,

I heard the melodies of birds in trees, talking to each other and showing some peace.

They find this place that they call home,

That’s my nature song, forever true,

I admire the melodies that live in me and you”.

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In this lake I saw ducks splashing(music) in the water and other ducks were walking towards the lake(movement). It seems like these ducks are playing with each other and they have created their own imaginary play. As you see in this video “movement, sound, play”. The movements of the ducks and dance are similar to each other. Ducks are flapping their wings gracefully and going from one part of the lake to the other part and look like they are playing a tag game. When I was watching them, I felt they were chasing each other. They were using their webbed feet as a paddle in the water in a rhythmic motion(movement). The melodious quack-quack music they were making sounds like they were expressing their emotions through musical language (Neely, 2018). They were playing a secret game where one duck is trying to tell her story to another duck. It reminds me of the childhood game I used to play with my friends where you must guess the name of the movie from the expressions of another person. Same as these ducks, we were using our body movements and secret language to covey our messages.

Music has no particular language it can be created anywhere and in any form like these ducks quack sound they used this to communicate with each other.(Wooten, 2013)

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"If you stay closely united, you are like a tree, standing in the middle of a bushfire sweeping through the timber. The leaves are scorched, and the tough bark is scarred and burnt; but inside the tree the sap is still flowing, and under the ground the roots are still strong. Like that tree, you have endured the flames, and you still have the power to be reborn”. (Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr, 2017) Very well said by Miriam Rose in one of her articles called” Dadirri” same as above picture the trees are standing tall looks like they are watching everyone passing by and telling their secret stories of how they grow from a tiny seedling to a big, tall trees. They have watched so many seasons pass by, they went through thick and thins but they didn’t lose their hope. Their roots are strongly connected to the heart of the earth. Their leaves are rustling in the wind adding melodious sound to the environment. Trees are swinging side to side, and I felt like they were dancing when the gust of wind passed by. Swirly whirly…. Swirly whirly………. Shhhhhh sound of the leaves. These trees are taking me to the magical path.

Critical thinking

I have never felt the trees and their emotions like this before. After I read this unit my thinking and listening towards nature has changed completely. I am now focusing on the things which no one ever thought of. In my childhood me and my siblings used to play imaginary games where we used two tables and some fabric to make ourselves a little home where we use to share our emotions through gestures.

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The water from this creek was flowing from top to bottom making a rhythm of soft music. For other people it was just water but for me this water has uncovered so many secrets through its piano musical rhythms. When this water touches my feet, I feel so calm and relaxed and emotionally attached to this place. The up and down flow of water is co-related to graceful dance (Movement, Sound, Play | Artifact Dance Project | TEDxTucson, n.d.) which was nicely choreographed by nature on its own. I also saw a magical path which was taking me to the other side of this creek.

Future teaching

In my class I will set up make a believe play and let children take the lead. I will set up a water play with some dolls and washer in it and watch how children are experimenting with it. To make it more calm and relaxing I will add soft music of water flowing and some soft lights.

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The birds were chirping and flying around the park. I felt like they were singing their secret song. The wind was helping their voice go far by touching their melodies which are floating so far. The cheerfulness of this place makes me feel welcome and wanted me to join them in singing. I tried to make the sound of bird, and I wanted to fly high in the air like them so I can also join them and match my tunes with their singing. As Victor Wooten said in one of his videos “That music is not about right or wrong its about how you express it”. Music can be learned in your own way. Music is a lifestyle. Victor also mentioned that Music is a language, you don’t even know you are a beginner, you never correct yourself and you learn it on your own way. Music is your inner voice which can come out itself. (Wooten, 2013)

I was deeply connected with this gesture and couldn’t stop myself from singing. So, I closed my eyes and stared singing a nature song with them “The earth was still, and the birds were happy, cool breeze of wind took my worries away, it makes me feel calm and ease my day, I felt the melodies coming my way”. (Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr, 2017).

Critical Thinking: This unit has changed my way of thinking completely and positively. I could never think of myself singing like a bird. I was so touched by all the natural elements and felt them really close to me in a very different way. It’s changed my way of seeing things differently now. Before, when I used to see birds, I thought they were travelling from one tree to another. But now my way of seeing them is completely different, I can feel their emotions, I can understand their chirping, I wanted to be a part of them. (Wilson, 2018).

Future teaching:

We can provide music to children in a variety of different forms like tapping sticks, walking on the dry leaves also makes a soothing sound, plying with pots and pans with spoons creates different types of music and their pitch is high to low. Moving the sticks along with fence can create a rhythm and so on. It will help children develop their imagination and creative thinking and they will be seeing things differently.

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1.Hamm, C. (2015). Walking With Place: Storying Reconciliation Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education. Journal of Childhood Studies, 40(2), 56. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v40i2.15179

2.Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr. (2017). To be listened to in her teaching: Dadirri: Inner Deep Listening and Quiet Still Awareness. EarthSong Journal: Perspectives in Ecology, Spirituality and Education, 3(4), 14.

3. Movement, Sound, Play | Artifact Dance Project | TEDxTucson. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://youtu.be/HrgpeuPbp-I

4.Neely, A. (2018). What does music mean? [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeoDIVVP20M

5.Wilson, R. (2018). Nature and Young Children. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315148533

6.Wooten, V. (2013, May 29). Music as a Language: Victor Wooten at TEDxGabriolaIsland. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2zvjW9arAZ0