I LOVE BOOKS!!! Yes, the paper kind.. I'm a little anti-digital when it comes to the printed word! I also love using them in the music room; they are a perfect vehicle to teach, review, sing, create, and play around with! Here are a few favorites; each one of these is a picture file you can download, print, and use! *A note about organization; begin to make an excel spreadsheet or word doc that includes grade levels you would use the book with, what skills/concepts can be taught, and when you might use this during the year; for example, when I introduce rests with kindergarten students in the spring after experiencing it, now we're ready to label it, I will put in my Kindergarten sheet, "Wide Mouthed Frog", SPRING, quarter notes, eighth notes, rest, LABEL rest, song, rhythm, Orff instruments. This helps me to keep track of not only what concepts/skills I can work on using that book, but when I might want to use it! Also, print a copy of the lesson, fold it and place it into the front page of the book! Sorry the Mitten in the Snow visual organization page is out of place.. couldn't move it and it's late.. :)
My favorite books for Hispanic Heritage Month in the Music Room! Discover books about folk songs, stories of musicians, Latinx protagonists, and more!
Hi everyone! This is Jamie Parker. I am so excited to post my first entry today! I have already gained a lot of new ideas from the other contributors, and I hope you have, too. I have recently been out of the classroom for a few professional development days, and I had to do what most teachers dread: write sub plans. When I have a substitute in my classroom, I have to assume that he/she has no musical experience. I try to keep my plans as simple as possible. I love to incorporate children’s literature into the music room, and I have found that composer storybooks work great for days when I am gone. Listed below are a few of my favorites. They are all wonderfully written and have beautiful illustrations. If you click on the picture, you will be directed to Amazon where you can view the book more closely. You can certainly use these books as an extension of a listening lesson or with a composer study. I just like to save them for those times when I know I will be out of the classroom. 1. Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan I found this book when I was in the gift shop after a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. I took one look at it and had to buy it. It has beautiful watercolor illustrations and tells the story of creating the ballet, Appalachian Spring. I love how the story shares the importance of collaboration. Aaron Copland (one of my favorite composers), Martha Graham (the choreographer), and Isamu Noguchi (the set designer), had to work together to create their masterpiece. When I was looking at the book online, I also noticed that there is an audio version of the book available. I listened to the sample and noticed that they intertwined the music into the text, which I thought was a fantastic way of presenting the story. 2. I, Vivaldi by Janice Shefelman This biography is told as if written by Antonio Vivaldi himself. He tells how his love of music helps carry him through his struggles. The author and illustrator both do a wonderful job of representing the historical and social atmosphere of the Baroque period. Pair the book with Spring from The Four Seasons for a great listening lesson. 3. Strange Mr. Satie by M.T. Anderson The text and illustrations in this book are just as quirky and entertaining as the music of Erik Satie. Written poetically, the story tells of Satie’s struggle to fit in in a “world of black top hats and stiff, starched collars and gloves and bows and curtsies.” In addition to the great introduction to French culture, I loved how the book mentioned the collaboration of Satie and Picasso during the making of Parade. What a great starting point in discussing the relationship between the arts! 4. What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein This book introduces another one of my favorite composers: Charlies Ives. It is a detailed biography of his entire life, and the author does a fantastic job of explaining how Ives received inspiration for some of his most famous pieces. The illustrations in this book are simply outstanding! Each page is colored from top to bottom with different sound effects. My favorite part is when Charlie hears two marching bands playing different tunes during a parade—perfect opportunity to listen to Country Band March (one of my favorites from Wind Ensemble). Again, this book can be purchased with an audio version containing the music of Charles Ives mixed with the text of the book. 5. When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky by Lauren Stringer I’ve been looking for a good children’s book on Igor Stravinsky for a while, and I was so happy to find this one. Like Ballet for Martha, this book tells of a great collaboration between a composer and choreographer. I just love when books make it easy for me to be cross-curricular! The book is a very tasteful representation of the Rite of Spring, from its creation to the riot that occurred on opening night. I hope you found some new composer books to use in your classroom! Do you have any other favorites? I would love to hear about them. Please share in the comments below.
Rusch (Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World) playfully weaves aural imagery throughout this engaging story of how Bartolomeo Cristofori came to invent the piano. Sounds of 17t
Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School ShoesBuy Now We love Pete the Cat! Second graders have read/sung the book and watched Pete's Wheels on the Bus video. In the book Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes Pete does lots of great things at school like reading, writing, singing, painting, adding, playing and more. We brainstormed several things that we could do at school that had two syllables: learning, helping, walking, thinking, etc... We used these ideas to complete a rhythm song. If students finished early they could draw Pete the Cat. Here are some of my favorites! Useful Links: Teachers get a copy of the worksheet here: School Shoes Composing Worksheet Pete the Cat Rockin' in My School Shoes Video Pete the Cat Wheels on the Bus Video Download FREE Pete the Cat MP3s
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I LOVE BOOKS!!! Yes, the paper kind.. I'm a little anti-digital when it comes to the printed word! I also love using them in the music room; they are a perfect vehicle to teach, review, sing, create, and play around with! Here are a few favorites; each one of these is a picture file you can download, print, and use! *A note about organization; begin to make an excel spreadsheet or word doc that includes grade levels you would use the book with, what skills/concepts can be taught, and when you might use this during the year; for example, when I introduce rests with kindergarten students in the spring after experiencing it, now we're ready to label it, I will put in my Kindergarten sheet, "Wide Mouthed Frog", SPRING, quarter notes, eighth notes, rest, LABEL rest, song, rhythm, Orff instruments. This helps me to keep track of not only what concepts/skills I can work on using that book, but when I might want to use it! Also, print a copy of the lesson, fold it and place it into the front page of the book! Sorry the Mitten in the Snow visual organization page is out of place.. couldn't move it and it's late.. :)
I wanted to do something for my choir kids as a thank you for all their hard work this semester. This was a relatively affordable "gift" even though I ended up getting the giant sized Symphony bars (since Walmart didn't have enough of the XL bars stocked....) I conned my sister into helping me cut out the tags and tie up the ribbons. Here is the finished product. I designed the tags in powerpoint. Here is a closer picture and a PDF if you'd like to print your own.
Welcome to the Sing Books with Emily Singable Bookshelf P-S. Click underlined titles in blue for links to posts about the titles that include music, song origin, activity ideas, performer notes, an…
Books Part 2 Wonderful book with great illustrations of the varied ways vegetables grow.. up, down, and around. Explore various ways to move arms, legs, whole body, etc., then teach song: Begin with exploring moving up and down; play slide whistle and have students move up and down, vary playing slowly, quickly, legato, staccato, etc. Then ask them to move one arm ONLY, then elbow only (very funny), hand only, thumb only. It's an interesting thing to observe! Teach song; every time students sing "up" they will move higher, "down", lower, and they can choose HOW to move "'round and round". Perform movements and song with book, then divide into small groups to create rhythms in 6/8 based on words like: seeds, grow, plant, flowers, sunshine, and various names of veggies. Develop first as a class and display. One rhythm possibility: Eat your veggies.. ta, ti, ta, ti. Play around with creating these ostinato, transfer to UPP (unpitched percussion) and add as a "B" section to song. Perform again with book. I LOVE this book!! The pop up version is the best.. truly! I used this to teach and label rest with kindergarteners last year and it worked so very well! My lovely friend and fellow music teacher, Noreen Hofmann wrote this song to Mortimer.. it is my favorite of the many "Mortimer" songs I've heard. Divide class in half once orchestration is learned; half will play/act the characters from the book, other half will play orchestration, switch. Spring Is Here is a cutie patootie book your kids are sure to LOVE! A great lesson from fellow teacher and blogger, Thom Borden! Recorder lesson, too!
Why Teach Music
I am linking up today with Elizabeth from Organized Chaos. We're hoping... and wishing... and dreaming of snow here in North Carolina! I am from the snowy state of Maine and living here in NC for the past 18 years I can honestly say I don't miss Maine in the winter. But, ah, the summer!!! LOVE it and miss my ocean terribly! Good thing I get to visit there almost every summer! Here is a snowflake song for younger students. I actually planned it to use with kindergarten and re-wrote it today to use with my kindies. We use the song with snowflakes (white feathers) and ice skates (paper plates.. yup- they work GREAT).! Process: Teach song, half the class at the glockenspiels with F's and B's (franks and beans or burgers and fries or buffalo's and flamingo's, however you say these bars) removed, practice singing and playing in the appropriate places. Other half of class performs the skating on paper plates while singing, each holds a white feather and when the song is over students blow feathers into the air while glocks improvise (as quietly as a snowflake!) as long as the "snowflake" (feather) is in the air. Once the "snowflake" is on the ground they stop improvising. I award "snowflake kisses" (extra feathers) to each student who stops as soon as the feather touches the ground. That way they get more than one feather to blow into the air when it is their turn. It's so funny to see them try to stop at the exact moment of "touchdown"! Switch jobs and perform again! Enjoy!
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
Loch Lomond
My favorite Advent resources.
I teach Junior Kindergarten, which means I have 4 and 5 year olds who are in a half-day program at my school. They are L.I.T.T.L.E! Cuties, for sure! Their classes leave me wrung out; exhausted! And after only 30 minutes per class. But things are BUSY with them and I always over plan just in case something doesn't work out during a lesson or we move too quickly through a particular song or concept. Right now my littles are learning about dinosaurs! ROAR! Although I have lots of songs that are about dinosaurs, I wanted a song that helped them with a musical concept. This morning while wandering through my stash, I came across some plastic bones I have used before (mainly at Halloween). The kids love to play them like rhythm sticks, although we have to be a little more careful as they are plastic and not wood. I got these at Dollar Tree several years ago but you could also use rhythm sticks and call these the bones! I did find some here for sale and these are about 3-4" long. These are from partycity.com and look to be about the same, also about 3-4" long. I keep everything in my room labeled like this with how many I have so I know I can have 12 children playing these (2 per child) and my students will need to have partners. It makes it easier to label everything with the quantity! So this morning after I found the bones I wrote a quickie to go with it. You will get the general idea from the song; I will be using Garage Band to play along with them using a growly electric guitar on Smart Guitar (love that feature) and will hold my dinosaur bones to demonstrate what to do with them as I find this works better than me at an instrument for these littles; one class in particular has to have the assistant stay as she is a wiggly, wily, willful child who becomes angry very easily! Yikes! I will have the children learn the song first and play with our "human bones" (hands), then partner up, one student will get dinosaur bones and the other child will sit behind them. We will practice playing our bones in different ways, maybe even make some letters out of them, then sing and play with our "dinosaur bones". The rhythms included are just suggested. After I wrote the song (of course I printed it, too!) I thought of a second verse, "Dinosaur eggs..". We will break out the "dinosaur eggs" (shakers) and play and sing that one, too! If you want a cleaner copy, email me at [email protected] and I will send you a jpeg or pdf file of the song. Happy Bone Playing! (oops, does that sound weird).. ha ha! Aimee
Song Index
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
Do you love to teach kids about opera! My students really enjoyed all of the opera stories that we did. They love opera now!
As I said in an earlier post, Maestro Classics inspired me to pull together a mini unit for my kiddos about the music of... ...Peter and the Wolf. *************************************************** Before listening to the CD, I prepared the kiddos by reading to them a short biography page about the composer... ...Sergei Prokofiev. (Click HERE for this composer biography.) (The CD also has a lovely segment about Prokofiev which I plan on using as a review with the kiddos at a later date.) ************************************************** After discussing the composer, we began listening to the CD. First up was the Introduction of the story's characters and the instrument that represent them. After discussing the reasons why we thought certain instruments were used for certain characters, I let the kiddos cut out... ...a set of Peter and the Wolf finger puppets. (Click HERE for the finger puppets.) ***************************************************** Now, I am pretty pumped about the next activity I discovered for the kiddos to work on DURING Peter and the Wolf... It is called a Listening Map. The kiddos went through a series of picture activities which essentially kept their attention drawn to the music. It even had a discussion guide for me to use... Love it, love it, LOVE IT!!! (A big shout out to the Cincinnati Orchestra for putting this material out there- y'all ROCK!!!) (Click HERE for the Listening Guide.) ***************************************************** After completing the Listening Guide and discussing the music, I though it would be fun for the kiddos to watch... ...Walt Disney's version of Peter and the Wolf. (We found it in two parts on You Tube... Click HERE for Part One Click HERE for Part Two You can also see a fun "behind the scenes" clip with Walt Disney and Sergei Prokofiev about the creation of Peter and the Wolf by clicking HERE.) ****************************************************** Some other fun activities I found but didn't get to include: Sequencing Cards Coloring Page Matching Game And THIS site has a ton of lesson plan ideas... ************************************************* I hope to INSPIRE you, too, to get into classical music with YOU kiddos...
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
I am linking up with Aileen Miracle at Mrs. Miracle's Music Room for a linky party in which music teacher bloggers write about three things that have worked in our classrooms. I just got back from Spring Break in Phoenix, Arizona and, wow, love that place! I also have really fallen in love with cacti, especially saguaro cactus, which grow everywhere near where my parents have a winter home. They live in the Sonoran desert, one of the few places these lovely creatures live. They are funny and each one is so incredibly different; it's like they have their own personalities! This is snap I took our last evening.. gorgeous sunset, but I really love black and white, too, and as I was shooting, a cowboy came right into my frame. Lucky for me! 1. Listen to the Rain In Arizona, they have been without rain since January so I think there is a bit of rain dancing going on, which led me to this post about the book, "Listen to the Rain" by Bill Martin and John Archambault. Available here from Amazon.com. My students love this lesson and it's a great one for talking about mood! Enjoy.. and hope you are having a green spring! 2. Spring Bunny and Chick Rhythms Wandering through Target a few weeks ago and I came across the cutest eraser packs with bunnies and chicks. I have a bit of a collection of these as Target puts these out seasonally in their "Dollar Spot". I have pumpkins, Frankensteins, candy corn, flowers, and other seasonal goodies to create word chain rhythms. Yesterday my first graders were loving these little guys! I was in the process of making a printable when I was on one of my facebook pages and Erica S. posted the one pictured! She had such overwhelming response to everyone wanting it that she made it a freebie on TpT and offered an optional Notebook file for purchase. You can get the freebie and file here. Thanks, Erica!!! On the front of the page you notice 5 rhythms the children can write. For the super achievers, on the back there are 10 more! Woohoo!! No, "I'm done, now what?". My students were given about 7 minutes to complete 5 and most everyone got 5 and several went beyond!! Woot Woot!!! They were then figuring out what they could use at home to make more rhythms.. can you say "flower/grass" or "Star Wars/Luke" or "cookie/milk"? They were so funny! We began the 30 minute lesson using the book, "Bling Blang". CUTE! We used the basic outline found here for the activity, prepped students on movement first, sat and looked at book and did hammer and saw movement, then stood with a partner and performed hammer/saw movement with partners, walked to the beat (played softly on drum) during the verses. I whispered "find new partner" a few beats before the chorus began again. One note about partners; my students have many partnering opportunities but I always review the rules; the first person that asks you/that you ask is your partner. We talk about hurt feelings if someone leaves you for a "better opportunity" and to always show respect and kindness. If two people ask at the same time they "rock/paper/scissors shoot, one and done unless it's a tie". We then played Salami (Sol La Mi) game, then I had them find the beat while I played "There's Music in a Hammer" from Grade 1 Gameplan, pg. 83. We sang the song, walked the beat, then hopped the beat like a bunny. Why a bunny? Cats like to chase critters, and bunnies and chicks are cute critters, which led us into the writing activity. Students each picked up 3 bunnies and 3 chicks (no chances for all "Ta's/Ti-Ti's!!". Ha!! The room was so quiet as they were each writing and whispering/tapping their rhythms. GREAT fun! If we had more time I would have had them partner up and create 2 rhythms to perform as a word chain to create alternating "B"sections with the song. Oh, time... such an enemy, isn't it?? 3. Avocado Hand Clapping Game My kids have been obsessed with this game this year; it started when we returned to school in August and one of our students had learned this game from a cousin. It spread like wildfire with crazy lunch time battles of Avocado.. so much that some teachers banned the kids from playing it at lunch!! This will be included in my new book, we are in the editing process right now! My last book was hand clapping games from around the world, available here from Beatin' Path Publications. The new book will be available soon, also from Beatin' Path and will be all North American games and songs, some with Latin American roots, but all in English! Palm Push – Own palms facing each other, thumbs and fingertips touching, quickly flip palms down and out away from body, push palms out towards partner Game continues until someone makes a mistake in the clapping game; the person who made the mistake is either called “avocado” for 10 minutes, or they choose a new name from the letter they made a mistake on; “L”; they could be called “Lily”, “Lucy”, Leon”, etc. for the next 10 minutes. Teacher Tip: It will make more sense with the palm push to think of it as an extension of the “clap own” so that once you clap your own hands you keep the fingertips and thumbs together and push the palm out towards partner. My students can’t get enough of this game and the upper elementary students love it!
Looking for a fun music lesson based on a book? My first graders loved playing instruments along with the rhythms from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!
Do Re Mi, a fun song to sing and learn a little about music, too
Song Index
Miss White had a fright In the middle of the night Saw a ghost eating toast Halfway up the lamp post! Here's a fun arrangement to use with your young students, just in time for Halloween!
Looking for a fun music lesson based on a book? My first graders loved playing instruments along with the rhythms from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!
Children can learn just about anything from a beautiful picture book. Following is a list of 15 of our favorite picture books that have music connections. There are SO MANY MORE, but these are 15 that have been used, well-loved, and requested time and again. They are also books that will naturally go along with many of our SQUILT self-directed music appreciation volumes and our SQUILT LIVE! lessons. Let these suggestions provide a springboard for developing a love and appreciation of composers, instruments, and music in general! Picture Books About Performers {The four books in this category spotlight Jazz musicians who have broken racial barriers to become legendary performers, composers, and musical pioneers.}In our SQUILT LIVE! studies this year we will focus on African-Americans and Jazz in February, Black History Month. Trombone Shorty This Caldecott Honor book, written by Troy
So I found out in May that after 13 years of being a traveling teacher I finally get one building. So excited about that. However the t...
Picture Books (Not Necessarily Singable) Which Embrase MUSIC as an Important and Enriching Component of our Lives
Song Index
I'm back with another lesson idea for using literature to introduce and practice music concepts with lower elementary students! Today's post is on a book that is brand new to me this year: a wonderful book by Ann McGovern called "Too Much Noise". *this post contains affiliate links* I just used this book this past week (you can get it on Amazon here) with first grade to review loud and soft, introduce the vocabulary forte and piano, and review classroom instrument names and playing technique. You could use this book with any lower elementary grade to practice or introduce dynamics and/or timbre. The first thing we did was read the story. This book is a wonderful story about a man who thinks the quiet sounds in his house are too loud, who gets a bunch of loud animals at the advice of the town's wise man, and then realizes how quiet his house actually is when he gets rid of all of the animals. The illustrations are wonderful and there are several sound words in the story- the swishing of the wind, the mooing of the cow- which I had the students say with me as I read. At the end of the book, I asked the students to retell the story, and then asked them which sounds were loud and which were quiet (or soft. I know some teachers care deeply about which word you use- I use them both interchangeably but will use "quiet" in this post for consistency's sake). We practiced saying the animal sounds loudly and the house sounds quietly. Since I was using the book to introduce the vocabulary words "forte" and "piano", I introduced those words here, having the students say the words loudly and quietly, respectively. That was the end of the first 30-minute lesson. In the next lesson, we reviewed the basic story line, reviewed the words "forte" and "piano", and I had students sort the sound words into categories of forte and piano. I did this on my interactive whiteboard, but you could also do this on a regular whiteboard and just write the words, or print the words on cards and have them sort as a class or in small groups. Then I told the students that I wanted to use instruments for each of the sounds instead of our voices. We quickly reviewed the classroom instruments we used last year, including small percussion and barred instruments, and for each discussed whether the instrument could produce sounds that are forte, piano, or both (An egg shaker, for example, is hard to play forte, but a cowbell, on the other hand, is difficult to play quietly, although it can be done. A hand drum could easily be used for either forte or piano). Once we reviewed the instruments, the students chose one instrument to represent each sound, and I assigned a few students to each one. Then we read the story again, this time playing the appropriate instrument each time the sound came up in the story. I reminded the students before we started that they should play their instruments at the appropriate dynamic level that we had discussed, but that they should never play over the sound of any other instrument or my reading. This lesson was a great way to review dynamics and instrument names, give the students a chance to play some instruments, and introduce forte and piano. Have you ever used this book in your music classes? I would love to hear your ideas as well- leave a comment! If you want to see some of the other lessons I teach with children's literature, click here.
A Jazzy Day is an iOS app aimed at preschoolers with the intention of teaching them about the different instruments that make up a jazz orchestra; the way they look, how they sound and how they all work together.
These easy print staggered books are a great way to review Baroque composers. Each book includes a short composer bio, facts, and a list of famous works. I have included 3 versions of each book: a complete book, fill in the blank, and a blank copy. Composers included: Johann Sebastian Bach Antonio Vivaldi Domenico Scarlatti George Frideric Handel Johann Pachelbel Images in the thumbnails above are of a free Mozart staggered book. Composer books in this set are the same format and design if you would like to see a preview. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ More Fantastic Composer Resources! Famous Composers Mega Bundle Baroque Composers Poster Set Baroque Composers Fact Sheets Baroque Composers Staggered Books Classical Composers Poster Set Classical Composers Fact Sheets Classical Composers Staggered Books Romantic Composers Poster Set Romantic Composers Fact Sheets Romantic Composers Staggered Books More Romantic Composers Poster Set More Romantic Composers Fact Sheets American Composers Poster Set American Composers Fact Sheets FREEBIE American Composers Fact Sheets Set 2 American Composers Staggered Books Set 1 American Composers Staggered Books Set 2 Famous Composers Coloring & Review MiniBooks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Follow me on Facebook for updates and freebies!
I started back to school this past week with my kids on Tuesday. I had such a great first week and I am so excited to be back making music with them. We spent our first few days going over music room rules and procedures (click here to see rules post), emergency drills, and jumped right into making music. Can I just say that I LOVE pinterest! I found so many great ideas for back to school games through Pinterest as well as from Susan during Level 3. I thought I would share some of the really fun ones that the students enjoyed our first few days back: "Up The Ladder" is a great game for learning the names of your new students. "Down, Down Baby" is from the Amidons. SO FUN! Apparently this is a favorite, because it's being sung on the bus! Hickety Pickety Bumblebee is a fun one to use with K/1. In first grade you could review four voices with "can you sing (whisper, call, speak) your name to me". With kindergarten, it might be a bit intimidating to ask them to sing their name to you on day 1 of music, but let's be honest we are still learning all their names several weeks into the school year. Pull this out with them a little bit later (maybe after you have presented the four voices) and do this then. Mamalama: I learned this in Level 3, and we take it a bit faster than in this video, but it is SO FUN! I even had a student get the last part after just a few listenings. CRAZY! What are some of your favorite first day songs and activities? Still looking for ways to set up and decorate your room? This music room decor catalog will give you lots of idea, plus a back to school tip on each page!
Daughter. Sister. Mother. Wife. Writer. Feminist. Filmmaker. Icon. These are only a few of the words that describe Nora Ephron, the beloved individual known for her wit, honesty, and countless movie moments. Whether she was writing about true love, politicians, or Cosmopolitan, Nora just always seemed to get it, a friendly voice that reached out whenever we needed her most. Though she passed away in 2012, she left a hefty collection of work and inspired countless others. Here are some of our favorites in her canon, as well as other Nora-inspired titles to try.
