Song Index
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October 12, 2013 In second grade classes we have started a Native American Indian music and dance unit. This week, students had the opp...
I love having children create art to inspire or represent creative movement. Last week I shared a fun autumn song that I am doing with my grade 2 classes. I thought it would be fun to create autumn leaves to serve as inspiration for movement. The movement ideas will be used in conjunction with a student created soundscape in order to create a B section for "Autumn Leaves". First, students came up with a list of autumn colours. Next, they came up with different examples of line. After the two lists were compiled, I demonstrated and explained our art project. The kids loved this activity and were really excited to see how it related to Music! The next class we talked about and explored different ways to move the lines on our leaves. The kids demonstrated ideas for each other and then came up with a movement that represented their leaf. We had so much fun and the movement looked beautiful!
An update to everything happening in the world of Musicplay, MusicplayOnline, and Themes & Variations directly from Denise Gagne!
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
Hello everyone! I recently updated the freebie, Mrs. White, in a major way. You'll find: 1) slides for teaching the song, 2) printables (worksheets, steady beat tracking pages, etc), 3) 3 explicit mini-lesson plans. Please take advantage of this wonderful poem during the Halloween-season. Don't forget to pick up your ghost erasers from Target. They are just too cute! *****This file is also included in my Fall into Music set.*****
Check out my top 5 Welcome Songs for your Pre-k through 2nd grade classrooms!
Let's talk math! Let's share ideas and thoughts! With a new common core curriculum there is so much to discover. I will share lesson plans, activities, power points, flip charts, worksheets, etc..
*** $5.00***Overview: This product is a curriculum integration tool incorporating music, history, math and writing for 2-5th. The lesson is built around students learning some facts about Rossini, identifying and singing a musical theme with original fun lyrics and writing creative narratives. Mus...
Two weeks ago, 2nd graders earned enough behavior stars to get to have a special Music Centers day. During our centers day, there were 4 different centers set up throughout the room and everyone got to spend time at each center. The 4 centers were... Keyboard Center: we got to wear headphones and play and make up songs on our class keyboards. This was, by far, the favorite center. Music Library Center: we got to read stories and books about music. "Jazz Fly," "Pete the Cat" and "Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon" were definite favorites. Glockenspiel Center: we got to play glockenspiels and try and figure out how to play different songs by following along with song sheets. Music Game Center: we got to play musical "Go Fish" with different notes, and played a music memory game. Overall, it was a really fun day. Already looking forward to our next music centers day!
Spread the loveA teacher librarian shares her best practices for tuneful teaching By Shannon McClintock Miller “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ~Plato One of the most important gifts we can give to our young children is a healthy foundation for lifelong learning. We want to capture their excitement, bottle their enthusiasm, and give life to their imagination. As educators, we look for resources that support and enhance these magical learning experiences. As shown in the Learning With Music infographic above, music stimulates and connects the different […]
Budding Beethovens and Mozarts-in-the-making can ease themselves into reading by looking for words they already know in this music word search.
I've been looking for a few new ideas for the first weeks of school. I'm at a new school, so we'll be playing lots of name games up front for both the kids' sake and my own. In the 1st grade Spotlight on Music series, I came across this: I decided to incorporate it into my lesson for my 1st and 2nd graders. Here's what we'll do: Instrument Needs: Bell Tree or Chimes, Bass Xylophone 1. The students should be seated in a circle. Perform the piece for the students while keeping a pat-clap pattern (pats on beat 1, claps on beat 2). Invite students to keep the beat like you are (review the term "steady beat" - at this point I would discuss that it is the steady, constant pulse of the music and show the students the corresponding vocabulary card - we also practice tapping over our hearts as we chant again). I've changed the final words to "tell us your name when you hear this sound" while we are sitting. 2. When the children are confident with the lyrics and the pat-clap pattern, walk around the circle with the steady beat in your feet. At the end of the song, stand behind a child and ring the bell tree/chimes (at this point you would discuss what the instrument is called, what type of sound it is, and what family of Orff instruments it is in). The child you are standing behind say their name and the class repeats it four times. 3. Continue this until 1/3 to 1/2 of the class has said their name. You can give your role of walking to the beat/ringing the bells to a student. 4. Bring over the bass xylophone. Label the instrument and have the students listen to the sound. Then, establish a four beat ostinato (C-E-C-G) and chant the original lyrics (ask students to describe what words changed). Have the students stand and keep your beat in their feet in place. Once the beat is established, have the students add in the words of the original version. 5. Have the students keep the beat in their feet but use these motions (they can do this all around the room but be sure to set your expectations first - great way to get them used to "using the space in the music room correctly"): Hey children who's in town? - Look side to side as if using binoculars. (Turn right, left, right, left - keeping feet going) Everybody stop and look around. - Stop and march in place, turning side to side Hey children who's in town? - Look side to side as if using binoculars. (Turn right, left, right, left - keeping feet going) Tell us your name and then sit down. - Students say this in a louder voice, march in place, and then on "down" they freeze and listen closely for the name you call. If their name is called, the student sits down where they are - they become "hot lava" and cannot be stepped on by other students as the game continues. "Hot lave" doesn't have hands, so the student must keep their hands in their laps (to avoid them tripping or touching others who are still playing the game). 6. To extend this game, you could: 1) Choose a student to call names at the end of the piece 2) Allow a student who is "hot lava" to play an unpitched instrument on the steady beat a they sit 3) Allow a student to play the C-E-C-G ostinato on the bass xylophone - If you are playing this with older students, you could have them create ostinatos using student names to perform with body percussion during the song (such as E-mil-y - "ti-ti ta" - "pat-pat clap").
For 1st and 2nd grade, I am going to attempt combining rhythms, scissors, glue and markers! Here's the premise. I love using word rhythms....
It's easy to let composer study go by the wayside. With this music appreciation program, you won't want to forget this important subject!
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
Organized Chaos: helping music teachers embrace the chaos of creativity through purposeful organization and simple ideas!
This is a fun song that I learned from Christopher Robertson that he used at a ROCKE workshop in 2003. It's a great song for do and practicing the so-do interval. Here's the song: I created a PowerPoint for it that can also be used to prepare and practice quarter rest. Here's the lyric slide: Here the words are compared to the beat: Here the rhythm is represented iconically: Here's a quarter rest preparation slide in which ta and ti-ti have replaces the text: And here's a quarter rest practice slide: Like I mentioned above, I use this song to practice do in the so-do interval. Here are the melodic slides: The next three slides can be used if you are preparing do and you present it in the so-do interval. (I, personally, teach do in the so-mi-do pattern but there's always more then "one way to skin a cat.") The next two slides are presentation slides. . . each line of text is set to animation so they appear individually and allow for the students to respond to the question before seeing the answer: And here's the practice slide. I use this slide in sequential order with the other melodic slides as I use this song for practicing do (that is, I eliminate the three previous slides that prepare and present do): I created solfa ladders that can be used in conjunction with the melodic slides of the PowerPoint or for do-mi-so-la practice: And, finally, here's a quick assessment. I print out these cards, cut them along the dotted lines and the students put the song in order. Finally, here's a slide with the lyric, rhythm and melody from which the students can practice reading either rhythm or solfége. You can download this file at my Teacher Pay Teachers store. Be sure to check my store tomorrow for a free file of "Auld Lang Syne"!
Swing your partner with the Green Grass Grew All Around. This is a GREAT song to use with ELL students and perfect for teaching cumulative form.
If you are struggling with teaching high and low in your elementary music classroom, I have a few tried and true strategies...
Highlights Assess Students Instantly Hang Vertically or Horizontally Easy to Read Measures 12.7"W x 20.6"H Includes 7 pieces Description Dowling Magnets Fist to Five Check Magnets Chart | Helps you instantly assess your students! Simply place the easy-to-read magnet strips on the whiteboard for students to reference at a glance year round. Call out "Fist to Five Check" to the class during any lesson to have students raise their hands to quickly show their levels of understanding! Display vertically or horizontally on your board. Set includes 7 pieces.
This one I found yesterday on the AOSA (American Orff Schulwerk Association) Music Teacher Facebook page. MANY thanks to composers Trilby Jordan and F. Thomas Simpson for sharing and allowing me to share here! I LOVE this song and added a cup game composition using word chains of disliked Thanksgiving foods. Students performed them for their teachers when they came to pick up the class. LOVED it! Definitely going into my "keep" file for years to come!
I have been struggling with 2nd grade recently. I have two 2nd grade classes who are just perfect little angels and I have two other 2nd grade classes who are little demons. It is really hard to plan for them because I can never anticipate what the evil classes are going to do! I was searching through the Music K-8 CD's and I found Pizza Love. I remember singing this song in elementary music and when I listened to it, I remembered all the words. So I decided to create a pizza lesson for 2nd grade. Of course we will sing the song, which I'm sure they will love. Then I am planning a rhythm pattern composition activity that I have adapted from the Music K-8 idea bank. Using pieces of pizza with note values attached, the students will make a pizza. This will be a good way to start teaching the number of beats in a measure, without them knowing it. I've been seeing a lot of activities relating rhythms and syllables of words on Pinterest and I think those are fabulous. I made one specifically for the pizza lesson using pizza toppings. I am pretty confident that 2nd grade will be able to do this because when I talked about syllables and creating lyrics in 1st grade, the students knew exactly what to do.
Free elementary music lesson featuring ta and ti ti! We used movement to learn beat v. rhythm and popsicle sticks to learn how to write them!
5 easy (and free!) sub plans for the music room: Includes great ideas for sub plans, as well as a way to download the sub plans as an editable Word document!
This simple worksheet is suitable for grades 3-7 and can be used with any composer! I suggest reading a book about the composer aloud, showing a PPT or slideshow with information, or having the children research individually. The worksheet can be completed as a class or individually - it's up to yo...
Check out my top 5 Welcome Songs for your Pre-k through 2nd grade classrooms!
