My 3rd graders have been excited and inquisitive as we have been learning to identify the notes on the music staff. To review in a m...

I have previous posts on how I use centers in my music room. You may click this link to read those posts. I recently planned ...

No prep music worksheets that ask your students to use their critical listening skills are all that you’ll find in this set, What Do You Hear. Use the worksheets to help students identify rhythms that you perform by clapping or playing an instrument of your choice. Included in this set are 15 worksheets that cover a variety of notes. Each worksheet comes with directions and without. The directions read: Listen as your teacher performs one of the examples from each set below. Circle the pattern that you hear. The worksheets are set up in common time in single and multiple measures. Rhythms are notated with note heads. Stick rhythms are not included. Included are: 3 worksheets – quarter note, barred eighths, quarter rest (ta, titi, sh) 2 worksheets –quarter note, barred eighths, quarter rest, half note (ta, titi, sh, ta-a) 1 worksheet- quarter note, barred eighths, quarter rest, half note, dotted half note (ta, titi, sh, ta-a, ta-a-a) 2 worksheets –quarter note, barred eighths, four 16th notes, quarter rest (ta, titi, tika tika, sh) 1 worksheet –quarter note, barred eighths, four 16th notes, half note (ta, titi, tika tika, half note) 1 worksheet –quarter note, barred eighth, quarter rest, eight note (ta, titi, sh, ti) 1 worksheet - quarter note, barred eighth, quarter rest, eight note, half note (ta, titi, sh, ti, ta-a) 1 worksheet –half note, quarter note, barred eighth, 16th notes, 16th and 8th note combinations (ta-a, ti, titi, tikatika, ti tika, tika ti) 1 worksheet –quarter note, barred eighth, 16th notes, 16th and 8th note combinations (ti, titi, tikatika, ti tika, tika ti) 1 worksheet –quarter note, quarter rest, barred eighths, four 16th notes, eighth note triplets (ta, sh, titi, tikatika, triple-ti) 1 worksheet –all notes listed above This set is perfect for the K-12 teacher. The wide variety in the set makes it useful for students in seond grade through high school. Check out the preview for suggestions for using this set in your classroom. This worksheet set is part of the No Prep Music Worksheets ENDLESS GROWING Bundle You might also like: Jazz Musicians Research Pages Dabber Activities for Music Class BUNDLE Color by Note: Far Away Galaxy

Hello friends! So today is the first day of summer! I may be a bit more weathered and beat down then the beginning of the year, but I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce my favorite summer learning tool- the BEACH BALL! A few years ago I randomly purchased 3 beach balls...Read More

Music education blog, K-8, teaching ideas & resources, advocacy, quotes, Kodaly, Orff, bells, Boomwhackers, integration, & home-made instruments.

5 Ways to teach the steady beat in elementary music class. At the beginning of the school year. I start with Steady Beat activities.

If you're starting elementary music centers, that's great! But there are some things you'll need to do before music centers ever start.

Music education blog, K-8, teaching ideas & resources, advocacy, quotes, Kodaly, Orff, bells, Boomwhackers, integration, & home-made instruments.

Tonight, my 200 kindergarteners performed a music program I titled, "Oceans of Fun." It was filled with songs, singing games, instruments, and movement. This was the first kindergarten program in my new position, and I do have to say, it was a hit! From the props to the costumes, everything came together for a night that brought tears to my eyes. Here are all the details. The Stage As you can see from the above picture, my colleagues and I went all out in creating this amazing backdrop. We wanted to create an underwater picture, and I think we did just that. To begin our decorating, I purchased dark blue and light blue plastic table cloths from the Dollar Store. We simply bunched them up and created a wave texture to give the effect of water and waves. I then cut out 100 neon rainbow fish using my Silhouette Cameo machine. I taped them to the plastic cloth to create a rainbow school of fish. To create bubbles, we used clear latex balloons and attached them to fishing line. No need to blow them up with helium because they are hanging down. This was a money saver for sure! I also created really long strands of bubbles for the front of the stage. Next came the coral! I have to give all the credit for the amazing coral to the very artistic and talent PE teacher in our school. She hand-painted a large orange and pink coral onto poster boards that were taped together. We attached dowel rods to the back and stuck them in a weighted box. Then with the help of Pinterest, we created an abundance of coral with Dollar Store pool noodles. Each noodle was cut in a spiral and then pulled apart. We stuck them in a box to make them stand up. Another version of coral consisted of slicing the end of the noodle and placing spiraled pipe cleaners inside of them. To bring the coral reef all together, we crumpled bulletin board paper and taped it on the boxes and at the bottom of the main background. We also added mesh sponges, or loofas, around the coral to give texture and color. Lastly, on the very front of the stage we also added more rock, fish, and coral. Using Dollar Tree crepe paper, we twisted the paper to give a textured effect. The Music Since I am in a primary school, I have 8 different classes of kindergarten students. Therefore, during a program, each class gets on the stage for one song to be featured. All the other remaining students stand on our Flipform risers that are angled out from the stage. All students perform the motions and sing the songs while the one class is on the stage. Sometimes the featured class will have something a little different than the other students in regards to movements. Throughout the program, I came up with a script to tie all the songs together. Typically three to four students will speak between each song as one class is leaving from one side of the stage and the next class is entering the stage from the other side. These parts were also spoken during transitions to reduce the audience's urge to talk. In my past teaching position, the transitions were always the worst because the audience wanted to talk. I hate to start a song unless it is silent, and the talking drove me nuts. In my new position, the audience is definitely more respectful and understand audience etiquette as we live in a music/arts driven community. The small amounts of speaking from the students drastically decreases the amount of talking during the program and allowed the program to flow smoothly. Here are the 8 songs I used for my ocean-themed program: 1. Oceans of Fun by Jill and Michael Gallina 2. Commotion in the Ocean by John Jacobson 3. Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals 4. Charlie Over the Ocean, traditional folk song 5. Going Over the Sea, Canadian folk song 6. A Sailor went to Sea, Sea, Sea, traditional folk song 7. Roundup Under the Sea, by John Jacobson 8. Shark Cage by M.C. Handel and Paul Jennings The Costumes 1. Oceans of Fun: During this song, my students wore solid color yellow shirts and a variety of ocean creature masks. I simply purchased a downloadable file off of Etsy for the masks. I printed, laminated, hole-punched, and added elastic to each mask. 2. Commotion in the Ocean: This song was definitely my most challenging piece due to the accelerando at the end. I was very nervous we would fall apart with the large amount of students I have singing at one time. BUT, they did it PERFECT for our performance. It probably is intended for upper elementary but I knew my kinders could handle it. This song is about clownfish. I used the same file from above to print a class set of clown fish masks. They also wore solid orange shirts to match the theme. 3. Aquarium: During this performance, my students created a movement routine to show the highs and lows in the music using scarves. They wore blue shirts and jellyfish hats made out of shower caps and curling ribbon. They were absolutely adorable and the movement was breathtaking. I found the idea for the jellyfish hats on Pinterest. Below is the image and link. 4. Charlie Over the Ocean: For this performance, the students played the singing game while singing the song. The game is similar to duck, duck, goose. A handful of students also played a chord bordun accompaniment on the xylophones. A student also played maracas while the students were chasing during the game. The students wore blue shirts and large fish hats. Here was my inspiration for the hats. I cut out the fish from large bulletin board paper and stapled two together. The kindergarten teacher was amazing and took time during her day to let her class paint their fish hats, too! They turned out beautiful! I then hole punched them and added an elastic strap to keep them on. 5. Going Over the Sea: When searching for this traditional Canadian folk song, there are a variety of lyrics. I wanted to incorporate pirates into my program so I combined some of the versions to create this refrain: When I was one, I swallowed a bun, Going over the sea. I jumped aboard a pirate ship, And the captain said to me. We go this way, we go that way. We go forward, we go backward, With a 1, 2, 3. Each time the first line changes with the next number. I had 10 soloists for this song. Each soloist sang one of the numbers. Here are the lines I used for the rest of the song: When I was two, I tied my shoe... When I was three, I skinned my knee... When I was four, I mopped the floor... When I was five, I learned to dive... When I was six, I picked up sticks... When I was seven, I met a friend, Kevin... When I was eight, I learned to skate... When I was nine, I climbed a vine... When I was ten, I started again... For costumes, my students wore red shirts, a pirate eye patch, and a pirate hat. 6. A Sailor went to Sea, Sea, Sea: During this song, the class that was on stage performed the traditional hand clapping game. They also wore sailor hats and a sailor collar. Luckily, the previous music teacher already had a class set in our costume closet so we didn't have to make or purchase costumes for this class. They also wore white shirts. 7. Roundup Under the Sea: This song, even though ocean-themed, has a western flare. My students wore plaid/flannel shirts with blue jeans and a cowboy hat. We performed a simple square dance during the dance section in the music. 8. Shark Cage: This piece of music is originally written for recorders; however, I decided to use Boomwhackers for my kindergarten students. It only uses four pitches, so I had 4 students on each pitch. The remaining students created a shark routine dance. The students wore gray shirts and shark fins on their heads. To make the shark fins, we used bulletin border and gray card stock. This one was definitely a crowd pleaser! We wrapped up our evening by singing "Oceans of Fun" again. The students did a fantastic job and the audience seemed to really enjoy their performance. Overall the program lasted 25 minutes. 200 kindergarteners performing was a daunting task, but with the hard work, preparation, and help from colleagues, this kindergarten program was a HUGE success! I couldn't be more proud of them.

Distance learning on Zoom or teaching music socially distanced? Chants work with both of those! Perfect for teaching music with no singing.

Every year I get these kinds of comments from my teacher friends; “Just do the same concert you did last year,” “don’t reinvent the wheel,” “you work too hard.” I smile when I hear these comments because I […]

Convenient and high quality PDF file of "Recorder Tablature & Fingering Paper" Print as much paper as you like! Save time by writing out melodies / scales / exercises with the fingerings right above. Great for teaching beginners new fingerings or creating worksheets. Check out my store for other great music products and flashcard sets. (Actual pdf file is much higher quality than the image above.) PDF Delivered through etsy's download service right after payment. Educational License and Conditions of use: All PDF files are © Copyright Tristan Durie 2014. These files are for non-commercial use and should not be distributed. The PDF files are solely for the use of the original purchaser and may be reproduced (printed) solely by the purchaser. These files cannot be altered, sold or reproduced for commercial use.

Introduction In today’s post, technology and performance combine in a lesson plan based on one of the most simple (yet […]

As we were working on dynamics for the song we’re doing for the Christmas program I thought of this fun prop for the kids to use. Take an empty wrapping paper roll and cut a set of parallel s…

As soon as I saw these cute graphics for download, I knew that this kit was the perfect thing to create for my students (and yours:-) in the month of November. Included in the kit are three different resources: 1. Thanksgiving Pie Slides: These slides can be imported into power point or shown as PDFS on a screen. Using cute visuals, they help students see how a 4/4 measure is divided into four beats, and how the beats can be broken down. The slides also touch upon the fact that when a measure is 3/4, the measure is broken into only 3 parts. Both rests and notes are demonstrated. 2. Pie Cut Out Practice: These slides allow you to cut out a full blank pie. Then, individual divisions of the pie are included for cut out, with their corresponding rhythms printed on the individual pie pieces. Students can create their own full pie by combining rhythms and experiencing their fractional relationships, adding rhythms to make a full pie. Use only the pie divisions with rhythms that your students have been introduced to. Leave the others out. Students could also use these manipulatives for rhythm dictations or compositions. Suggestions are included. 3. Musical Fractions Worksheet: This set of worksheets lets you choose the level of difficulty that works best for the level of students you are planning for. Simple 2 and 4 beat divisions are included, with harder versions incorporating 8 part measure divisions. Students fill in the pie piece with a rhythm that fits the fractional piece. Hope this is a fun and practical way to review rhythms with your students during Thanksgiving and the holidays.

Are you brainstorming for a colorful summer board? Trying to figure out a creative bulletin board theme for an upcoming underwater science unit? Looking for ways to incorporate a beach-themed encouragement board? Do you just really love the ocean and want to bring in an ocean-themed bulletin board to bring some warmness to these dreary winter days? Well, then these 39 ocean-themed bulletin boards will for sure give you some insight and light up your classroom!

Remember those clapping games we used to play as kids? Between the silly (or nonsense) lyrics and the fast-paced sequence of claps, taps, snaps, and crosses, clapping games provided hours of entertainment. It might seem like just fun and games, but there's actually more to it than that. Clapping gam

Simple tips for making open house night more relaxing and beneficial for music teachers, students, and parents.

Color Teams in the Music Room. Organized Chaos. The benefits of having small groups assigned by colors for behavior management, classroom management, improving procedures and transitions, incorporating student jobs, fostering positive classroom climate and character, and more.

Looking for a fun song to teach do or quarter rest? Look no further! Ickle Ockle is a fun folk song with lots of potential activities to go with it!

September is the perfect time to begin improvisation activities in the elementary music classroom. Download the free fall music lesson ideas.

My Favorite Lesson for Teaching Sol / Mi. Organized Chaos. Fun lesson for introducing lower elementary students to the notes mi and sol. Identifying the notes aurally, singing the notes with hand signs, and notating the notes.

"When we sing a hymn, we are singing history." - Paul Lusher (source) Hymn-singing is a tradition that spans the centuries, uniting us with believers in the past, present, and future. But I believe hymns are more than historical relics. Here are three primary things I think we can learn from hymns still today:Church HeritageThere's so much history and tradition embedded in hymns. We carry on a piece of that legacy when we come together for worship and sing the same hymns that others have sung for hundreds of years. And at the same time, we're preserving important parts of music history: "Much of the musical heritage of the church is encountered in hymnology: such forms as plainsong, chorale, psalm tune, and gospel hymn." - Hanna Katja Elina Powell (source)

You are WHEELY going to love my newest workstation. *giggle* Sorry. I just couldn't resist! I want to share with you an old center that I've turned into something new and pretty. I haven't updated its name though. I just call it "Little Cars Parking Center" because at this station you...uhm...park little cars. I call the little town that I've created "Music Town". Let's take a look! Here are the things that you'll need to create this center: 1. Little cars -Matchbox, Hotwheels or whatever kind you can find that are about 1 inch wide. I found packs at Dollar Tree that were 3 for $1. I've also found huge buckets full of them at yard sales too. 2. A permanent marker 3. Coloring coding dots or another similar circle sticker. You don't have to use these. You can use a permanent marker or paint pen and draw directly on the cars. I've found that the stickers last a little longer and are easy to remove if I want to switch things up. 4. A container for storage To create the center, I drew 24 symbols on the circle stickers. Then I put them on the little cars I had collected. Next I laid out "Music Town". Each of the parking spaces has the name of a note or symbol. Students drive the matching car to the parking space. Earlier I referred to an older version of this workstation. In that station I used an old cardboard box for this. I broke it down and cut it apart so that it was flat and then drew roads, buildings and parking spots all over it. The kids LOVED it, but it wasn't very sturdy and it was tricky to store. This version fits in a file folder. Hurray! You can download all of these sheets in my Music Town Parking Center set HERE. Here's a closer look at the town: Also included in this set is a Parking Guide. This shows the symbol and its name for students that may need a little bit of help with the names. In the set there are two versions of Music Town. One of the versions is picture above and includes the names of each symbol in the parking spaces. The other version included shows the symbol. This is an easier game for your youngest learners. This station works well just as it is, but I've added a couple of worksheets that ask students to take a look at Music Town and answer a few questions. I think this reinforces the symbol name yet again. You can grab all of this in this set in my store. Do you teach kindergarten or preschool? You might like Alphabet City and Mathville!

Call and response is a musical form based on dialogue - someone sings or plays a phrase of music and someone else (or a group of people) respond in the subsequent phrase. Call and response stems from a variety of musical traditions, including African, Cuban, folk, and even church music (think cantor

Do you want to use musical materials with a proven history of quality? Are you looking to connect your students' musical understanding with their culture…

These ocean themed folk songs, listening selections, and picture books are perfect for your elementary music classroom.

Elementary Music Classroom Tour 2018-2019. Organized Chaos.

I try not to over-plan for the first day of music class, but I like to have several activities at hand if the lesson moves faster...