Darla Hanley's Music Room
Creative Teaching for Students of Today (& Tomorrow) PK-8
Today’s Teaching Strategy: Ice Cream Soup
(Fast and Slow with Scarves)
Lower Elementary (PK-1)
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
This teaching strategy is all about fast and slow. It includes an original song I wrote for students to sing and explore tempi—and a playlist of fast/slow music (including Johann Sebastian Bach, Count Basie, Dan Crary, Billy Hicks Trio, Hiromi, Joachim Horsley, Thelonious Monk, and others).
All of the tracks on the playlist are available on multiple streaming audio platforms. (Like many of my teaching strategies, you should feel free to find other audio tracks to anchor the learning experience using music that works in your setting or new tracks to simply “mix it up.”)
Pedagogical Foundations
Fast and slow are opposites and contrasts that are perfect for young students to learn. These concepts apply to music and to things in life—and there are SO many examples we can use to illustrate tempi!
Musically, fast and slow can be found in just about every style and genre. So what should we look for when selecting fast/slow examples for young students? Consider this:
Choose 2 examples that are consistently fast and slow (i.e., no variations in tempo within the track) to allow for ease of comparison;
Identify high level contrasts (e.g., Adagio and Presto rather than Adagio and Andante or Moderato) so the tempo differences are extreme;
Select music that is good quality (always, lol), but when pairing fast and slow stay in one style or with the same instrumentation or instrument family (e.g., 2 Classical examples; 2 Americana examples; 2 piano examples) at first, so students are not potentially confusing a style or instrumental timbre with tempo; and
Play both examples at the same volume (to avoid young students potentially confusing loud/soft with tempo).
Today’s teaching strategy “Ice Cream Soup” includes singing, moving, and scarves—of course, all within the context of fast and slow! I hope you give it a try with your students. But first, let me remind you who I am:
Hi! I’m Darla, an experienced PK-12 music educator, college professor, and former Berklee College of Music Dean looking to connect with teachers, parents/caregivers, and others seeking to advance creative music making for today’s students—and their teachers. In Darla Hanley’s Music Room you will find teaching strategies, advice and teaching tips, playlists, and more.
Today we are going to sing a song about ice cream! Who has had ice cream before? (Raise hands) What happens to ice cream if we eat it too slowly—especially on a hot day? (It melts, drips)
ProTIP: Ask students to share their favorite ice cream flavor(s) if time permits to connect preferences and prior (life) experience to music class.
Listen to my song and tell me what the words in the song are telling us to do! Sing the song for the students and guide them to the idea that we need to eat ice cream (relatively) fast to avoid it melting and turning into a bowl of “Ice Cream Soup!” (lol).
Distribute scarves (1 or 2 per student, your choice) and invite them to move their scarves as you sing the song. Move your scarves like I am doing—and sing with me!
ProTIP: Lead students to move scarves in a variety of ways. The goal here is to have them sing and move scarves in a contrasting fast/slow manner.
ProTIP: Guide students to experience singing the whole song at a slow tempo AND the whole song at a fast tempo to prepare them for the alternating tempo contrast (as noted in the score).
ProTIP: Measures 5 and 6 are all about reinforcing the resting tone in this song! My teacher, Dr. Edwin Gordon, taught me about the importance of having students isolate the tonic/resting tone to internalize a key center.
Let’s sing our song and move our scarves slowly—taking our time and going SO slow that our ice cream would surely melt (lol). Lead students to sing the “Ice Cream Soup” song and move their scarves at a slow tempo.
Now let’s sing and move our scarves fast so there is NO time for our ice cream to melt (lol)! Lead students to sing the “Ice Cream Soup” song and move their scarves at a fast tempo.
And now I’m going to mix it up! Follow me to sing and move sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
ProTIP: Lead students to perform the song using the Presto and Adagio tempo markings in the score.
ProTIP: Use “shaking scarves” for fast and “sweeping scarves” for slow… It works!
Materials/Set Up
Scarves
Ice Cream Soup
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
EXTEND the Learning:
Guide students to explore new ways to move their scarves using prompts like: bounce, flick, paint, stir, and wiggle.
🎵 DHMR Fast/Slow Playlist Link to Track on Spotify
Learning Targets
Sing, Move, Connect
Learning Outcomes
Respond with singing and movement to show contrasting tempi
Create new ways to move a manipulative*
Perform a song using singing voices
*This learning outcome is only addressed in the EXTEND the Learning part of this teaching strategy.
Assessment
Informal Observation/Formative Assessment
Thanks for checking this out. If you use this teaching strategy, be sure to leave a comment to let me know how it resonates with your students!