A thorough look at how Zeezok Music Appreciation Curriculum teaches many subjects at once, as well as fun tips for using it to explore math through music.
May 23, 2012 This was not my idea, but rather something I saw on my good friend Katy Tannert's blog. It is based off of the work of Stephan Bucher and the daily monster he does. My students absolutely loved his concepts. Using india ink we set out on our way to whole new creation. Check out what developed! April 15, 2012 Biographical Artist Board Games Let the games begin! Da Vinci Run, VanGopoly, and more! Students gained incredible art knowledge by working in partners to create these board games based off of the lives of famous artists. Friday was their last day in art class this session and so they were able to rotate around the room and spend time playing eachothers' games while learning about the life of the artist and his or her work! March 19, 2012 Printing with Miss Flegal This is our student teacher's second session with fourth grade this spring and she once again did a very wonderful job with her problem and solution printing lesson she developed in February. Today students wrapped them up and used potatoes for an organic printing approach to add borders to the outsides of their diptychs. February 27, 2012 Now that they have been fired, students are adding paint to their timelines they completed in previous weeks in our class. For more details on this autobiographical approach to art, read below... February 16, 2012 Printmaking! Students in fourth grade are learning under the instruction of our fabulous student teacher, Miss Flegal from Kent State University. She recently taught them about printmaking, specifically-- silkscreen, intaglio, woodcut, collagraph and monoprint. Next, she introduced them to the concept of two part art, also known as a diptych. In correlation with the idea of creating a diptych they developed a problem and then a solution in our world today. Some of the themes addressed in their art are pollution, endangered species, oil spills, natural disasters and physical fitness. February 1, 2012 Landmark Timelines Students in my fourth grade class are experiencing the great privilege of being taught my Miss Flegal our student teacher from Kent State University. Currently, they are using our slab roller to construct these timelines of their lives. For inspiration they looked are major memorials that mark timelines in U.S. history. They also viewed The Map of My Day by Sara Fanelli. We are delighted to have her in our classroom and her expertise in three dimensional art creation! This six week session I will be repeating the projects I just completed throughout the previous six weeks due in part to the fact that I want to keep all of my fourth grade students working in the same art media and walking away from my classroom with a similar experience and comparative art knowledge about artists and art styles. I feel this is advantageous to the art program I am fostering here at The Falcon Academy of Creative Arts. Please stay tuned for new projects in January at the start of the new semester. Until then please enjoy what my current students are creating! Thank you! December 19, 2011 Don Drumm Plaster Sun Faces in progress... Third session Jazz Instruments! December 2, 2011 November 15, 2011 November 11, 2011 Fourth Grade Jazz Instruments Fourth grade concentrated on art and music this week and the way music has appeared in art throughout history. For example we discussed the mood of Picasso’s Old Guitarist versus the piece shown above. After utilizing the knowledge of our music teacher, Mrs. Goldman, we looked at the five main instruments of jazz. We decided that while listening to jazz, it typically evokes the feeling of energy and should be painted with vibrant colors. Line and a sense of movement were also incorporated as students painted their way through this very exciting project. Inspiration for this project came from another fabulous art blog: SmArt Class. Check it out! November 4, 2011 Finalized Glazed Leaf Fossil Bowls and Zig Zag Self Portraits in progress... October 24, 2011 Plaster Suns in progress... October 17, 2011 Metal Rainforest Animals To raise awareness about some of our endangered animals living in the rainforest, students created these vibrant metal relief projects. My explanations are getting shorter and shorter, I am sorry, due to the fact that these six week sessions are going by so fast! October 6, 2011 The end of our six week session is tomorrow!! We are wrapping things up and having a great time doing it! Here are some of our final leaf bowls... October 5, 2011 Finalized Instruments! October 1, 2011 Fourth grade concentrated on art and music this week and the way music has appeared in art throughout history. For example we discussed the mood of Picasso’s Old Guitarist versus the piece shown above. After utilizing the knowledge of our music teacher, Mrs. Goldman, we looked at the five main instruments of jazz. We decided that while listening to jazz, it typically evokes the feeling of energy and should be painted with vibrant colors. Line and a sense of movement were also incorporated as students painted their way through this very exciting project. Inspiration for this project came from another fabulous art blog: SmArt Class. Check it out! September 21, 2011 Zig Zag Self Portraits in progress... September 14, 2011 Zig Zag Self Portraits I did this project last year and absolutely loved it! I thought we would tackle it again this year with some tweaking of course! Here they are in the beginning stages. More to follow... September 6, 2011 Don Drumm Inspired Sculptural Sun Faces Because the Ohio state standards require us to study specifically an Ohio artist, we have been looking extensively at the life and work of Don Drumm (www.dondrummstudios.com). Don Drumm works in metal and create large suns with human qualities. The students love this creative twist on an everyday object, and it gave us the opportunity to integrate their science curriculum by looking deeper into all the useful qualities of the sun. Unlike his metal medium, we chose to work with plaster. Plaster is a medium that is giving my children the opportunity to finely sculpt intricate details among their sun faces. Below you can see we started with the inside surface of a bowl before flipping them to construct the face on the reverse side. Also, because we changed our schedule at school this year, I am able to see my students everyday for six weeks, twice a year, as opposed to every three days all year long like last year. I love this new schedule because the possibilities are endless in having my children in my room everyday! See their works in progress below... And now the real construction... _______________________________________________ June 8, 2011 Finalized Frank Stella Pieces Read on below.... It has been a great year! June 1, 2011 FRANK STELLA INSPIRED SCULPTURES! Students in fourth grade recently analyzed the work of Frank Stella. Using the elements and principles of art they had to find various properties such as color, line, texture, space, movement, balance, contrast and more! Next, using cardboard, students integrated math by cutting shapes that met certain criteria (parallel lines, five edges, four corners, etc.). Lastly, they painted their shapes using the color wheel for guidance to incorporate many basic color combinations we have mastered this school year (primary, secondary, color, warm, monochromatic, metallic, etc.). For more information about this lesson. Feel free to email me at [email protected]. April 20, 2011 Self Portraits with a twist... It has been awhile since I have posted on my blog because we recently had our Art Rocks show that was consuming every spare minute of my time! All the while, students have still been working hard on various fabulous projects. Below we embarked on self portraits with a different approach. After an extensive self portrait sketching unit, students finalized their drawings with thin sharpie marker. Next, I ran their drawings through the copy machine giving them the exact same piece of art, twice. Below students have used technical skill (tints and shades) to create various value to make their portraits look very realistic. After creating a realistic version of themselves, students then went on to create a similar portrait with unconventional colors. Eventually these paintings will be cut up and zig zagged to create alternating realistic/unrealistic portraits! March 13, 2011 PRINTING!! Because the Ohio state standards require us to study specifically an Ohio artist, we have been looking extensively at the life and work of Don Drumm (www.dondrummstudios.com). Don Drumm works in metal and create large suns with human qualities. The students love this creative twist on an everyday object, and it gave us the opportunity to integrate their science curriculum by looking deeper into all the useful qualities of the sun. Unlike his metal medium, we chose to work with printing inks. Printing is an art form that allows the artist to change and repeat his work all at the same time. Below are a few of our first prints! March 2, 2011 Making music by making art! Students in fourth grade explored the origination of maracas from South America and their impact on the musical world by creating one out of clay. This intricate process required them to create two pinch pots, that they filled with 32 small clays beads wrapped in a tissue before placing it into the kiln. The scientific process of this allowed the tissue to burn out, leaving behind the clay beads that now rattle and make various noises. Students learned and practices 2/3 rhythm by watching a youtube video in class. They also added texture to their maracas by using random surfaces from around the art room. Once they were fired, they were able to add color through various bright and beautiful paint colors. February 8, 2011 Klimt inspired trees! January 31, 2011 Students recently became acquainted with the work of artist Gustav Klimt for inspiration for their metal relief projects. After looking at his abstract Tree of Life, they were challenged to draw an abstract tree with their own twist, including hidden images. They are still in various stages of creation at this point, but so far, I am amazed! January 14, 2011 If you could live anywhere, in any type of house, what would that look like? This was the challenge for this week's students in fourth grade. Using exact drawing tools students learned a variety of techniques to create three dimensional buildings as true architects do. Fourth grade students integrated art with other major subject areas including science, language arts and social studies through this paper making unit. By placing paper scraps into old blenders with water, we were able to turn the paper back into its previous state of pulp. Through this we discussed the different physical forms of matter, and also the significance of recycling to our planet. Next, we incorporated the Native American culture by discussing how they were forced to make many things that they needed rather than purchase them at a store. Lastly, these handmade papers with their design concepts included will serve as front and back covers to language arts journals that they will be using in Mrs. Walker's class. November 29, 2010 Ceramic Leaf Bowls Opening the kiln this past week to see our glazed creations was such as surprise! This is always a favorite part of my job when I get to see how pottery has fired in the kiln. The children were thrilled with the end results. Stop by and see all leaf ceramic bowls in the front hallway showcase at our school. Art and Science Integration November 15, 2010 Students integrated art and science using clay to create leaf fossil bowls. I posted this amazing project a few weeks back on my homepage. Currently they are working on adding glaze to their greenware pieces. We can't wait to see what will happen once they are done firing in the kiln! "Footprints worth Following" Inspired Art October 12, 2010 Students in fourth grade are on their way to making an amazing piece of they art. They started by discussing out district wide motto "Footprints worth following." Next, they took a very close look at their shoes. We discussed how we take everyday items like our shoes for granted and how many people in the world do not have shoes. We are training our eyes to see minuscule details for these fantastic drawings. Underwater Chalk Creations October 11, 2010 Students in fourth grade created these vibrant chalk resist art works while I was away on maternity leave. This was a great beginning of the year lesson because it allowed them the freedom of expression throughout their composition, but also tied in their science curriculum and the habitats of underwater life.
These are my favorite ways for integrating music into math ideas for elementary students. Music helps kids memorize math facts, with math problems, learn patterns, and so much more.
I had a realization recently. While the kids can play pieces on the piano, they cannot read music! So, the plan is to slowly but surely make sure they learn and build on those skills. I hope they learn at least two octaves of notes and their corresponding location on the piano/keyboard. I also want them to learn some of the basic music symbols and music notation. I gathered a...
Integrating music into the elementary school curriculum occurs at varying degrees. At the very basic level students perform or respond to a piece of music. This is the kind of music integration that occurs in the classroom when we sing welcome songs as our students enter the classroom or play a simp
Explore a huge selection of project based learning lesson plans, articles and ideas. Bring arts integration to your classroom with these PBL resources.
Write for the NAfME Blog SEARCH & FILTER Search Category Subscribe to NAfME Notes Subscribe to NAfME Notes, our biweekly e-newsletter, to receive highlights from the blog and other NAfME news in your inbox. Subscribe Now Write for the NAfME Blog Interested in sharing your experience with the music education…
My desire with this music education podcast is to talk about all things music education in a humorous way. I am passionate about providing you with many ideas that you can use in your classroom, because I want you to be able to focus on being the amazing music teacher you are.
The Yellow Brick Road Blog is a website dedicated to providing music teachers with fun education resources for serious music literacy.
Use these tips and strategies to successfully integrate music education into the core subjects (language arts, math, science, social studies).
Integrating drama in the classroom gives students a chance to collaborate with each other creatively, but where do we even begin?
Music for the Classroom: Here are some suggestions for music to play in the elementary classroom, and some reasons to play different kinds of music.
Free egg shaker music class spring activities for the elementary classroom.
Hey-O friends! How do you manage changing classes (my class doesn’t but I’m curious), or even moving from subject to subject within your own classroom? I teach in a self-contained classroom and it’s easy to shift subjects down the schedule a little when things don’t go as planned. #WhoopsWritingWasSupposedToStart20MinutesAgo? ahahahaha #NoShame When it’s time to check morning work, I play a song When it’s time to come to the carpet for a lesson I play a song. Subject change & it’s time to get out a different interactive notebook and folder— YES, I have a song for that! I keep a slew of songs on my iTunes and iPhone/iPad and I just click depending on what I need! It’s easy to say that it’s time to start something new and kids take that task as, “Okay I can chat with my friend now for 1049813582305 minutes”. If they’re singing—they’re on task and still able to talk–but they’re singing to a tune. When the music stops they must be ready! Beginning of the year I introduce a song for a new subject/idea slowly. I want the kids to get used to it and understand the rules that follow when the song […]
Music, the Brain, and the Seven Continents: This post makes the connection between music and memory, and has a song to help the children remember the names of the seven continents.
Create optical illusion art inspired by M.C. Escher to demonstrate content knowledge of the properties of 2-D shapes- a math and art integration project.
Music in the classroom is a powerful tool and it should be more than just having music as a special once a week. Learn why music is important and different ways you can integrate music into your lesson plans seamlessly. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.
Do you play music in the classroom? Here's our classroom playlist of first grade greatest hits!
integrating arts in the classroom doesn't have to be hard! Here's a variety of ways that art can be integrated into all content areas.
I just love March! Not only is March music in our schools month, it’s my birthday month, it’s my first born child’s birthday month, my grandson and grand daughters birthday too. So there’s a lot of reasons to celebrate along with Music in our School’s Month (MIOSM). If you’ve read my other blog posts about March […]
***$2.00***The WORKSHEETS have been revised.This product is an easy, effective way to teach metaphors along with integrating music into the curriculum. Comparisons are made using specific music symbols. Students have a fun time with this activity. They use their creativity! It's a wonderful curri...
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!
FREE brain breaks for the classroom! These elementary brain break videos are FREE through GoNoodle. Try these videos in your next class!
Trying to incorporate math and reading into the elementary music room-- without sacrificing the musical concepts? This Five Little Monkeys lesson is perfect for that!
Learn how to incorporate awesome and easy creative movement activities into your music class. Read this post for tips and ideas!
Write for the NAfME Blog SEARCH & FILTER Search Category Subscribe to NAfME Notes Subscribe to NAfME Notes, our biweekly e-newsletter, to receive highlights from the blog and other NAfME news in your inbox. Subscribe Now Write for the NAfME Blog Interested in sharing your experience with the music education…
Combine music and math in a composing activity for kids.
In honor of Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's recent birthday, art and music held some classes in the media center today - very exciting t...
Distance learning stressing you out? Learn about some FUN Zoom music lessons that you can do tomorrow for your elementary music students.
The Yellow Brick Road Blog is a website dedicated to providing music teachers with fun education resources for serious music literacy.
The Yellow Brick Road Blog is a website dedicated to providing music teachers with fun education resources for serious music literacy.
How to Teach Fractions to 3rd, 4th and 5th Grade Students Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to our V.I.P. exclusive newsletter for SECRET SALES and FREE printables. Note: This blog post contains resources from our TpT store and our Amazon Associate store. --------------------------------------------- Students love learning through music. The video below is about 6 minutes long and teaches students fractions with music in a cartoon format. Fraction activities can be fun! Let the students get up and move. Research shows movement in the classroom increases achievement. Click below to watch the video: ------------------------ This next video shows real life application of fractions by sharing a pizza. This is a simple yet effective video on how to use pizza to teach about fractions! ------------------------ I know you have seen paper plate crafts showing fractions, but this one is worth watching. Click below to watch this demonstration: ------------------------ Do you have fraction cubes? This set from our Amazon Associate store works well for your hands-on fraction activities. Watch the video on how to teach with these cubes, a number line, and dry erase markers. Learning Resources Fraction Tower Cubes ------------------------ So you can't afford pizzas for your entire classroom? This Pizza Fractions Deluxe game from our Amazon Associate store is a great substitute. Learning Resources Pizza Fractions Deluxe ------------------------ You may also like these printable fraction activities from our TpT store: #1 Best Seller Fractions Activity Packet These activities work well as morning work, homework, test prep, math review or as extra practice for special education. Students will identify fractions, learn vocabulary, use anchor charts, compare fractions, write fractions, color fractions, analyze number lines, complete fraction walls, determine equivalent fractions, solve word problems and more. 3rd Grade Common Core Math Standards: CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.1 CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.2 CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.3 This packet may also be found in this money-saving bundle: Grade 3 Fractions Mega Bundle with 320 Task Cards and 2 Activity Packets ------------------------ Click HERE for FREE printable fraction activities. --------------------------------------------- Click HERE to view our Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting Success store. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for SECRET SALES and FREE printables. Click HERE to follow us on Instagram. Click HERE to follow us on Pinterest. Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find great resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!
I found this cute book called My Very Silly Monster Book of Shapes. I read this book to my Kindergartners and then we did a shape monster art project similar to the shape monsters seen on this blog. After reading the book, the kindergarteners were given the choice of several different shape templates: rectangles, ovals, stars, hexagons, squares, etc. They traced the template onto construction paper. Then, I demonstrated how to make eyes by cutting circles from white squares, then … Read more... →
These toolkits have been helping us to make the most of our music time! No more time spent waiting for everyone to get their rhythm sticks, more opportunities for participation and for responses. I love being able to ask a question and have students quickly write down an answer to show me on their whiteboard. No major setup involved- these kits are ready to go! I put them on a shelf at the end of the day to clear the room for vacuuming, and pop them back on the floor the next morning. Easy peasy! My kits are color-coded at the suggestion of a third grader. Each student is assigned a certain kit to pull supplies from, and she noticed that students were fighting over certain supplies when there was a variety. So, for example, the red kit has all red egg shakers, red bean bags, red markers, red erasers, and I put a red mark on the rhythm sticks so I can keep track of which kit they're from.
My list of fantastic elementary music lesson ideas that are easy to implement as you finish off the end of the year.
I'm a huge advocate for bringing music and the arts into the classroom wherever possible. I think there is a significant benefit to students as well as making the classroom a more welcoming and enjoyable space. My personal favourite is to have classical music playing quietly in the background. Students respond differently to music. One year playing music in the morning might be a great way to welcome students and get them excited for the day, while with a different group of students it could wire them up and be a distraction. Teachers know their students and what works for them. Here is a list of ten ways you can bring music into your classroom: 1. Atmosphere: Play classical music during quiet reading time or seat work. 2. Discover: Feature a different genre or style of music each week for students. Incorporate writing practice by having them write a listening review. 3. Remember: Have students create songs to remember definitions, acronyms, or order of operations. 4. Dance: Use music to have a minute or two of activity as a brain break to get the wiggles out of antsy students. 5. Explore: Bring music into the history or geography classroom by playing musical selections from a particular time period or location. 6. Think: Play different styles of music and have students write about which emotions they associate with each. 7. Motivate: have a selection of inspirational music clips on hand. Play them when students are handing in work. The right soundtrack can make handing in a simple quiz feel like finishing a marathon. 8. Stimulate: have some upbeat music playing when students enter the classroom on a sleepy rainy morning to wake them up and get them ready for a fun day of learning. 9. Attention: use rhythmic clapping beats or call and response songs to get students attention and bring them to active listening prior to making an announcement or giving directions. 10. Create: encourage students to bring music into their own work. Whether it be a drama performance, presentation, or study group, music can be a great addition to many projects. This list is also available in info graphic format in my TpT store. Download it for free here. How do you use music in your classroom? Do you notice a difference in your students? Let me know in the comments below or send me an email at [email protected]
