2015 Term 1 Week 2: Valentine's Day

      Valentine's Day (or Saint Valentine's Day) is February 14th. There are many different stories about the background of Valentine's Day, and here is one of them. Is it true? Well, the facts have been lost or confused over time, but it's  a good story anyway. 

     Valentine is said to have lived in Rome during the third century, when Rome was ruled by an unpopular emperor named Claudius. 

Valentine

    Claudius was having trouble getting men to serve in his army because they did not want to leave their wives and families. He thought that if men were not married, they would join the army. So Claudius passed a new law which did not allow any more marriages.

Claudius II - it was said that he once punched out a horse's teeth!

Rome in the third century

   Valentine, who was a minister, did not support the new law and he kept performing marriage ceremonies secretly. He was caught and thrown in jail and told he would be put to death. 

   Many young people came to visit Valentine. One was the daughter of the prison guard. On the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to the daughter, signed, "Love from your Valentine". This was on February 14, 269 A. D. 

    Some say this started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day.

Here's a short video telling one of the stories about Saint Valentine.

  

One of the greatest love stories is Romeo and Juliet - a play by William Shakespeare who is regarded as one of the most important playwrights in English. Several composers have told the story of Romeo and Juliet through music, including Tchaikovsky.  

This is one of the most well-known pieces of his music from Romeo and Juliet. It's called the Fantasy Overture.  Here's a short part of it. 

- can you identify the sections of the orchestra? 

- what instruments can you name?

- can you hear where it starts to get louder (crescendo - getting louder) and softer (decrescendo or diminuendo)? 

- what are the words we use for loud and soft? 

- how does the conductor communicate with the musicians?

Here's a very short part from the musicians' view of the conductor.

- have a go at copying him.

- what changes does he make in his movements, and how does this show in the way the music is played? 

 Vocabulary:

overture: a piece of music played before the start of a ballet or opera. It usually includes parts of the music of the performance so the audience will know what to listen for. 

crescendo: gradually becoming louder. It uses the abbreviation cresc.  This symbol   means getting louder. 

Decrescendo (decresc.)/diminuendo (dim.) both mean gradually becoming softer.  This symbol means getting louder. 

Here's a short video to help you learn the difference between crescendo and decrescendo.

Learn how to say happy Valentine's Day in Spanish. 

Here's a funny song about love by Kid President, Lennon and Maisy. 

Seniors: 

Here's a funny Valentine's song about a boy who gives a Valentine card to his friend by mistake. 

Here's another song by the same song writer; it's called "I love U". 
 

In Roman mythology, Cupid was the god of love and affection. He carries a bow and arrow, and whoever is hit by one of his arrows falls in love. Cupid is a popular symbol of Valentine's Day. 

 Cupid is also the name of an American singer who holds the Guinness World Record for the most people line dancing his song the Cupid Shuffle. Here's a link to the dance steps.
And another link.   We will work on this over the next few weeks. Here's the official video of the Cupid Shuffle. 
 Here's an animated version with a few  advanced moves to try out. 
And here's a Kid's Bop Shuffle version of the same song.

And just for balance - here's a song called Dumb Love .It's in the key of D if you want to play along on the ukulele. 

 

Some songs and activities for Valentine's Day:

Here's a fun dance called Accidentally in Love from Shrek. 

My Valentine Heart  (echo - tune of Hokey Tokey )

When I say I love you

(Point to lips)

It comes from my heart

(Hand on heart)

You hear it in your ear

(Point to ear)

And it sounds very smart

(Point to head)

I love it when you're proud of me

(Stand very tall)

You say it all day long

(Stretch arms wide)

And when I hear you say it

(Point to ear)

My heart sings a happy song

(Hand on heart)

Ohhhhhhh my  Valentine (make a big heart)

Oh  my Valentine (make a big heart)

Ohhhhhh  my Valentine (make a big heart)

Won’t you be my Valentine  (Clap on the beat)

Be My Valentine
Sung to Mary Had A Little Lamb

You're a special

Friend of mine

Friend of mine

Friend of mine 

You're a special

Friend of mine

Be my valentine!

H-E-A-R-T

Sung to: Bingo

 To show you like your special friends,

Just give them each a red heart. 

H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,

H-E-A-R-T,

Each read heart says I like you!