Here at Out of the Ark we believe that singing and music-making have the potential to nourish every area of school life, and when using Sparkyard it can all start with a single song.

Sparkyard is our intuitive, easy-to-use subscription service jam-packed with songs, assemblies, resources, a flexible music curriculum and other resources. Every song on Sparkyard has its own song page designed to support not only your class’s musical education, but also other curriculum learning, wellbeing and more. With teaching tips, creative ideas, curriculum links, SEND resources and music activities, there are endless ways to unpack a song with your class! Let’s take a look at Wake Up! from the e-songbook Songs For EVERY Assembly and see what Sparkyard has to offer.

RIGHT AT THE TOP 

At the top of every song page, on the left, you’ll find a play button – hit this to play the song using Words On Screen™ or to listen to the song as you look through the activities. In the top-right corner you’ll see a Downloads & About tab that provides all the basic information for the song – here you’ll find a music score and lyrics as well as musical information such as starting key, time signature and vocal range. You can often find other helpful bits here such as worksheets and resources to accompany activities – the Wake Up! song page has some printable action cards attached that can be used as a visual aid when practising different movements along to the song.

SONG SUMMARY & TEACHING TIPS 

At the top of the page you’ll find a summary that will give you a quick idea of what the song’s about. You’ll also find some teaching tips here – Wake Up!, for example, is a song with short phrases and syncopated rhythms and the song page provides some useful tips on practising these with your class. On that note, our song pages can also help with musical terminology – hover over a word such as ‘syncopated’ or ‘rhythm’ to see its definition without leaving the page! 

At Out of the Ark we love a chance to get up on our feet and moving and we know this can be hugely beneficial in breaking up a school day for restless children. Our Wake Up! song page features an easy-to-follow dance video, and you can find similar resources featured in many of our e-songbooks to help you bring some joyful movement to your school day.

 

LINKED ASSEMBLIES

Looking for assembly content? We’ve got you covered! You may have noticed the dedicated ‘Assemblies’ or ‘Collective Worship’ sections on the Sparkyard home page, but did you know that you can also find relevant assembly plans linked to many of our songs via their song pages? Wake Up!, for example, can be sung as part of many of our assemblies, such as ‘EXTRA ENERGY’ and ‘FEELING GOOD’, and by clicking on the names of the assembly plans you’ll be redirected to a full plan featuring a warm-up, discussion points, activities, a prayer and a collection of songs linked to the topic. 

 

SEND RESOURCE

Many of our song pages feature Makaton or BSL signing videos. Makaton is widely used for young children who aren’t yet speaking and can be a fantastic tool to support school-aged children with speech, language and learning difficulties. BSL is a sign language used by people who are Deaf or hearing impaired in the UK and using it when singing together is a great way to promote inclusivity and celebrate diversity with your class.

 

CURRICULUM LINKS

Singing can be a fun and engaging way to support learning in other areas of school life. In this section of the song page, you’ll find ideas about how to build on what you have learnt through singing, with activities and discussion points linked to the rest of the school curriculum. You’ll find handy labels at the top of each activity telling you which subjects are covered. Wake Up! features a couple of maths activities: a fun ‘Breakfast Graph’ activity for older children as well as a ‘Morning Activities Chart’ activity for younger learners, which also focuses on wellbeing and understanding the world.

 

MUSIC ACTIVITY

Here you’ll find music activities that will support your class in gaining and developing new musical skills, and understanding the inter-related dimensions of music such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo and timbre. Singing together is in itself a brilliant way to develop musical skills. This section provides different ways to extend this learning by incorporating listening activities, composition opportunities, instrumental exploration and more. Check out the Wake Up Soundscape activity from the Wake Up! song page below.

Music activities often feature fun ways to extend your musical learning in sections, such as the Branch Out and Listen sections on the Wake Up! page.

By now you should have a better idea of what each song page can offer, but why not sign up for a FREE, 30-day Sparkyard trial and check it out for yourself? The Wake Up! song page is a great place to start, but there are thousands of songs on Sparkyard, so there’s bound to be something for every school, class or topic. Have fun exploring!;