HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Note Values with Tennis Balls

This week, I stole borrowed an idea from Kristin Lukow (Musical Musings with Mrs. Lukow) that uses tennis balls to practice note values.  Basically, there is a different action for each note: whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes.  Choose a song with a comfortable tempo, and call out the note for kids to demonstrate.  Change every 16 beats or so.  It's much easier to understand when you see it, so I'll let Kristin's kids show you how it's done:

 Isn't that fun? My 3rd and 4th graders are loving it--you should have seen their faces when I said we would all be using tennis balls in class.  Immediate, 100% student engagement! Awesome!

Halloween Fun!

Last week was Red Ribbon Week, full of fun dress-up days, a DEA Helicopter landing, and a K-9 Unit demonstration.  SO exciting for little people!  Plus, it's almost Halloween!  Aaaaaah!  The excitement is reaching a feverish height! 

When life gives you excited little kiddies, you have to figure out how to go with it.  These are some fun things we did this week to work out those wiggles and keep them focused.

1.  Copycat to special songs - This is just a movement activity to keep the beat in your body.  I move the beat to a different movement every 8 beats, so they have to keep watching or they'll get left behind!  When they are good at following quickly, try letting students lead.  I go around the circle, with each student leading a movement for 8 beats.  When I say "switch!", the next student leads with their movment.  This weeks fun songs were: 

• Monster Mash
• Purple People Eater
• Witch Doctor
• Scooby Doo Theme Song (kinders go nuts for this one!)
• I Want Candy

2.  "Witch Doctor" is fun to sing!  I taught the kids to sing the chorus ("ooh-ee-ooh-ah-ah, ting-tang, wadda wadda bing bang!")  It's great for phonemic awareness with younger students, and good articulation practice for older kids.

3.  Listening Lesson:  J.S. Bach, "Toccata and Fugue in d minor" - Did you know that many kids have never seen or heard of a pipe organ these days?  I made a slideshow with pics of the pipe organ from our church a few years ago.  We talk about how the organ works, how kids used to pump the air into the organ for Bach and other greats, and how MANY pipes there are.  Then we listen to the music.  I tell them that Bach was writing for church....so why does it sound scary?  Great discussions in 3rd and 4th grade!

4.  Spooky Walk - a LONG time ago, I had a record (yes, vinyl record!) with this speech activity on it.  It's like the "Bear Hunt" we've all done, but instead they hear spooky sounds along the way.  At the end, we go into a cave with dripping water in the background and echoing sounds.  They LOVE it!  (I have since managed to record the album with an mp3 recorder so I can use it again. It's not the greatest quality, but that makes it even spookier!)

5.  "Grickler Grackle" - I can't remember which book I got this one from, but it's a speech piece that I use in 2nd grade.  We learn the rhyme, then match the rhythms with the correct line.  Then I divide them into small groups, where they write their own answer to the final question.

•  Listen!  Listen!  Listen to the witch!
• Grickle, grackle, chip, chop, crunch!
• Grickle, grackle, gooble, gooble, munch, munch, munch!
• Whatever in the world is she having for lunch?

She's had everything from chips and crackers to bones, eyes, and spider stew!  You can also let the groups use instruments to add sounds to their final performance of the piece (including their original ending). 


So that's what we've been doing at my school!  If you like these and would like more info, or a copy of a ppt., leave your email in a comment below and I'll be happy to share!  Now, what are your favorite October activities?  

A Music Word Wall

Our school is really focusing on improving writing skills in our students this year.  As a music teacher, I don't do a lot of writing, but I did think of a way to encourage the thinking skills needed to write well.  Enter the Listening Board: 

When we listen to music, there are so many things to listen to, and comment on, it can be hard to put into words.  Heck, when you only come to music once a week, it's hard to remember the words to use!  So I made this display, dividing the descriptors into six categories:  Tempo, Dynamics, Articulation, Melody, Mood, and Timbre.  For elementary school, that's quite a bit!  In each section I put up different words to describe that aspect of the music.  My plan is to refer to it every time we listen to a new piece, and ask students to tell me -- in complete sentences -- what they hear.  I'm sure they will come up with new words to add, too.  That will make it even better! 

Those who do the work, do the learning

That's a truth I totally believe, but I'm not always good at living it.  I mean, it's just so much easier to do things myself, rather than try to explain to someone one else how to do them.  I am really working on giving my students more responsibility for their learning, starting with the little(ish) things. 

I am kinda funny about organization.  Everything has a place, and a correct way to fit into that place.  Trusting 8-year-olds to get out and put away instruments safely and neatly is REALLY hard for me.  Enter the colored dots:



Sticker Dots sold in office supply stores.



These marvelous little dots have made my life so much easier!  Here's how it works:  each mallet instrument has a colored dot on the side. (Soprano=blue, Alto=yellow, Bass=red, Glocks and specialty mallets=green) There is a dot of the same color on the mallets for those instruments.  There is another dot on the shelf where that instrument is stored.  The mallet cans are also color coded in the same way.  Students know which mallets go with their instrument, which can to put them in, and where to put away the instrument at the end of class.  I can see at a glance what is missing or misplaced and make adjustments as needed.  I'm still tweaking the system for weaknesses, but so far I'm excited!  No more setting up and taking down by myself!  And yes, this is a great lesson for kids.  They feel more responsible, and it shows in their class participation as well.

UPDATE:  Love it!  Everything has ended up back in the right place, and I didn't have to put everything away myself.  This is HUGE, especially since my schedule this year does not allow time in between classes to rearrange everything.  The older kids have to set up/take down during class time, and now I can relax and let them do it. Why didn't I do this sooner?



Whew!

Last week I got a message from a high school friend who is also an elementary music teacher.  He and his colleagues were looking for a classroom to visit during their inservice day, and asked if they could come see me.  My immediate answer to that question is always, "sure! come on!"  Until that day.  Then I am as nervous as a first year teacher.  I question my lesson plan.  I question my classroom management.  I question my sanity. 

In my defense, today was our first early release day, before a long weekend, and the weather changed. Oh, and it's Friday.  See what I mean?  Any veteran teacher will tell you, that is a recipe for craziness.  Brace yourself, and have a backup plan. 

So I'm teaching my lesson (Hispanic Heritage, music and dance) when my new friends come in. They sit down on the risers (away from the class) and immediately start whispering and pointing.  Great for the old self-esteem, ya'll.  And the kids..........were GREAT.  They loved the lesson, and after we finished dancing I heard several "that was fun!" comments during the transition back to their seats.  They sang well, they learned a new song and game, and we all had a fantastic time.  Whew!  I hope my visitors enjoyed it, but I am pleased no matter what.

Once again I am reminded of how much I enjoy my job.  Happy Friday!

HHM la segunda parte (Part 2)-- La Raspa

"La Raspa" is a traditional dance from Mexico, often taught to school children.  (It is sometimes referred to as the Mexican Hat Dance, but this is incorrect.  The Mexican Hat Dance is a more complicated, flirtatious dance performed by adult dancers.)  I like to show the students a video of children dancing, to give them an idea of the final product we are aiming towards.  They really enjoyed this one:

This is just a home video of someone's school program, but it shows the steps well, along with the traditional costumes and some pretty good little dancers. 

We discuss the form of the piece (rondo), then learn the steps for each section.  I list ABACA on the board, with steps for each, to help them remember.   We partner up, and dance! Sometimes I have kinder and first dance in a circle instead of with partners - it depends on the class. :)

La Raspa is great exercise!  Get extra PE minutes, learn Rondo form, and learn multicultural music all in one fun activity.  It's a great way to start class for a few weeks.   Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

It's Hispanic Heritage Month!

National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 - October 15. (I find it odd that it is not an actual calendar month, but whatever.)  I love HHM--we have so much fun in music!  Over the next three weeks I will be posting some of my favorite lessons and activities for this month. The first is a book that I read in Kinder and First Grade classes: The Best Mariachi in the World by J.D. Smith.

It's about a little boy who wants to be a mariachi, but he's too little.  Until one morning when the village hears him singing.  Awwwww! Happy endings, spanish words, and mariachi music.  :)

In Kinder, we learn the names of the instruments in the mariachi band and color a picture while listening to mariachi music (click here for coloring page).  In first grade, we study the differences between the instruments (guitarron vs. guitar, vihuela vs. violin) and enjoy the same music.  The kids love it! 



The Timer is My Friend

Okay, so this is more of a mom post than a teacher post, but it made my morning so much better I had to share! 

My 10yo son is a dawdler.  Big time.  He can cram a 2 minute task into 15, easy peasy.  This makes mornings at our house a bit frustrating.  Since I drop him off at school on my way to work, he has to be ready to go on time, or mom will be late. Lately I have found myself stressing out every morning, hurrying him out the door, and still getting to his school just in time to get stuck in drop-off traffic. Not cool.  So this morning, I had a brainstorm.  The online stopwatch timer.

I used the Wii in our living room to go online and show the timer--full screen--as it counted down the seconds until time to go.  I didn't even say anything to him, just let it run.  Guess what?  He was ready 5 minutes early!  AWESOME!  I'm thinking Mr. Timer will be our new morning helper.

BTW, this is also a great tool to use in the classroom.  Give students a set amount of time for a task (centers, putting things away, share time, etc.) and let the timer be the bad guy.  There's also a Bomb Countdown that blows up when it gets to zero!

A Beary Special Friend

I have a special friend who visits my kinder classes each year.  His name is Mr. Bear (creative, I know).  He loves to hear children sing, especially his favorite song......."Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" of course!   He even directs the song, showing the kids the tempo he wants to use before we start.  Sometimes he gets mischevious and gives us really FAST tempos, or really S-L-O-W tempos.  You never know what he'll do next!  When we finish his favorite song, he likes to watch the class from the sidelines.  If he's really impressed with their work, he will give everyone a hug or handshake when they line up.  But noisy, rowdy classes make him nervous.  We have to be careful not to scare him!

I had one class this week who could not get enough of Mr. Bear.  They thought he was so funny!  His arms/paws move, and every time he started to conduct the music, they would bust out laughing!  They nearly died when he touched his toes!  LOL!  Gotta love kinder babies.