Five fun egg shaker activities you can use with Preschool and Kindergarten music classes for Halloween or any time of year!!
My district is one that is implementing Student Learning Objectives...which are basically large-scale goals for each student in class based on their ability levels. Teachers have to set target scores/learning outcomes for lower level learners to higher level learners. That means there has to be some sort of pre-assessment in order to determine the level of the students. I really have struggled in attempting to create pre-assessments for orchestra. It has been hard to wrap my head around giving a test to see what I know students don't know yet...since I haven't taught the skill, yet. Anyway, I am focusing my learning objective on rhythm. I want to be sure my students are fluent note-readers and rhythm readers. For my pre-test, I will use the 'I Got Rhythm' form that I created. This can be used many different ways and can be a useful tool in a variety of rhythm exercises. For my pre-assessment, I will perform the rhythm from one box on each line...and I will have students circle the rhythm that they think I played. This will help me see if students are already recognizing these rhythms. The rhythms get progressively more difficult as you move down the page, so I will be able to set some learning targets for individual students. Eventually of course, students will demonstrate the ability to perform these rhythms on their own - by the end of year 1. I can also use this form as a rhythm exercise...students can perform the rhythms across and down each line. They can cut them up to make flashcards. You can use the different rhythms for warm-ups and scales.
Elementary music teacher blogs, Kodaly Blogs, music sub plans, substitute music plans, music education activities, music resources, music games
Come listen to this collection of 25 pieces of classical music for kids. Classical music is not just for adults. Kids will love them!
Teaching music with fun, tried & tested lessons, DIY classroom projects & ideas your students will love with Tracy King, the Bulletin Board Lady.
Sometimes our plans go awry, and we just need a list of go-to ideas for unexpected sick days. So, here are my top two easy sub plans.
Looking for a fun way to teach children about form? This is one of my favorite lessons! Manipulatives and movement, what could be better?
Welcome to Mrs. Stucki’s Music Room! Children love scarf play and enjoy them using them in the music room. Here are some exciting scarf ideas you can use with your music class. 1. Play classical music and call out different animal names. Let the class act out being a certain animal as they move to the music. You can also use music from Carnival of the Animals for this activity. 2. Play High and Low games by having the class demonstrate high and low notes as they listen to the Chinese Dance, from the Nutcracker or any other classical music that has high and low notes. 3. Play the game Simon Says with scarfs as you sing different ways for the class to move their scarves. I use this game at the beginning of the year with kindergarten and first graders to help them learn how to follow directions. 4. You can play the song, Shake My Sillies Out from Share the Music using scarfs with the different movements throughout the song. Fun Scarf Routine by 2nd Graders 5. You can also play folk music and teach a dance routine with scarfs. 6. Have the class play freeze dance to any music. 7. Practice Rhythms with 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders by calling out a rhythm like whole notes. The class demonstrates whole notes by letting their scarf float in the air for 4 beats before they touch the scarf again. They continue the whole note pattern until you call out another rhythm like half notes. 8. Use scarfs as props to Classical music. Have the class place a scarf in their back pocket. They can pretend to have a horse tail and gallop like a horse to music like the William Tell Overture or The Wild Horseman. Have the class pretend to float like a butterfly as you play the music by Chopin. Pretend the scarf is a cape and tell them to be a super hero as you play Prelude to Act 1, from Carmen (Theme 1). You can have the class pretend to fly like a bee as you play Flight of the Bumblebee. Want more fun activities and ideas for your class? Be sure to Sign-up by email on my side bar to claim a monthly freebie, teacher tips & tricks. I would love to hear what tricks you use or other thoughts you might have in the comments below. Enjoy! Check out some of my favorite games and activities! Contact me via email: [email protected]
Carnival of the Animals activities that you can use to teach The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens with movement, listening maps
It happens at every level, at every school I’ve ever taught in. A student asks, “can we play freeze dance today?” I’m always torn. I want my students to have fun and …
I wanted to share a fun music lesson that I did with my older students. Every year I teach patriotic music to my music classes. I was very excited to find a great YouTube video with a class using tennis balls to practice working on rhythms together. So I decided to use this fun music activity along with my patriotic lesson this year. My class was totally engaged and it was a big hit with my 5th and 6th graders. They loved learning about the composer John Phillip Sousa while working on rhythms with tennis balls. This activity helped my class to understand that they needed to perform rhythms exactly together when they are counting their music. I loved this activity because the class can visually see if they are together with the beat of the music and I can quickly assess their understanding of how to count rhythms together. This fun activity Click on the picture. Here is the power point I used for our Patriotic Sing-A-Long Lesson. was done by playing the music "Stars and Stripes Forever" and performing whole notes with balls going in a full circle around your body. Half notes were done by bouncing the ball on the floor on count 1 and catching the ball on count 2. Quarter notes we done by tossing the ball up in the air with one hand on each beat. Eighth notes were passed from hand-to-hand in front of your body. Start the music and then the teacher will call out a rhythm such as (whole notes ready go) and the class would begin demonstrating whole notes around their body. Throughout the music the teacher will switch to an new rhythm (half notes, quarter notes or eighth notes. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Please take a moment to leave a comment below about what works well with your older students. Want more fun activities and ideas for your class? Be sure to Sign-up by email on my side bar to claim a monthly freebie, teacher tips & tricks. I would love to hear what tricks you use or other thoughts you might have in the comments below. Enjoy! You Might Also Like:
Have you ever read the book, "The Listening Book" by Paul Showers? It is a terrific book that will get your students outside using their listening ears as they take a listening walk with this fun listening walk checklist. The children were each given a little clipboard and checklist to use as they took
What's Missing? is a simple listening game that's easy to set up because all you need to play is a selection of contrasting percussion instruments.
In my district we have a specific “Guided Listening” component which is usually a pretty awesome part of our curriculum. This allows us to teach kids to not just hear music, but to listen in specific and thoughtful ways. They are taught to listen for patterns, form, signpost cues, and […]
Peter & the Wolf Listening Quiz by TrinityMusic from peter and the wolf worksheet , image source: www.teacherspayteachers.com
Classical music to teach emotions, to be used alongside for imaginative movement, background to imaginative play or simply to listen to.
Love to use scarves and movement in your elementary music room? Here is a scarf routine to Bizet's Les Toreadores No. 1. Your kids will love it!
Inside: A fun & easy activity to learn Spanish with songs in class, only using a piece of paper. One of my favorite things about teaching textbook-free is that authentic songs in Spanish are central to class now. If you’re not sure how to start, read how to teach Spanish with authentic songs, and then browse my suggestions for Songs
This charming set of coloring pages will introduce your students to 12 famous composers. Composers included in this set are: Johann Sebastian Bach Ludwig van Beethoven Johannes Brahms Benjamin Britten Frederic Chopin Aaron Copland George Frideric Handel Franz Liszt Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Franz Schubert Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky Richard Wagner Each composer's page features their name, the years of their life, what period of music history in which they composed and another interesting fact. There's lots of white space because we LOVE to color in music class! Have students color these sheets while listening to the composer you are focusing on. Use these sheets as part of a composer research project. These look great on a bulletin board! Included in this kit are 12 composer color sheets in both full sheet and half sheet formats. Also included is a title sheet that reads "My Book of Composers" in both a full sheet and half sheet format. This book coordinates with the Meet the Composers Bulletin Board Kit. Save 25 percent off of this product by getting it in a bundle! NEW: Composer Coloring Sheets 2 More Composer Resources: Composer of the Month Amy Beach Composer of the Month Bach Composer of the Month Beethoven Composer of the Month Benjamin Britten Composer of the Month Brahms Composer of the Month Chopin Composer of the Month Copland Composer of the Month Elgar Composer of the Month Gershwin Composer of the Month Grieg Composer of the Month Handel Composer of the Month Haydn Composer of the Month John Williams Composer of the Month Leonard Bernstein Composer of the Month Leroy Anderson Composer of the Month Liszt Composer of the Month Mozart Composer of the Month Prokofiev Composer of the Month Richard Wagner Composer of the Month Rossini Composer of the Month Saint-Saens Composer of the Month Scott Joplin Composer of the Month Sousa Composer of the Month Tchaikovsky Composer of the Month-Schubert (November) Composer Quotes Posters facespace Composers and Social Media John Williams Listening Glyphs Mystery Callers Composer Bulletin Board You might also like: Easter Color by Music Symbol Color by Dynamics I LOVE Robots Instrument Coloring Sheets Winter Color by Note Summer Color by Note
What do you like to do when you listen to music? Practice writing sentences by answering this question and more about music in this creative writing worksheet.
Love to use scarves and movement in your elementary music room? Here is a scarf routine to Bizet's Les Toreadores No. 1. Your kids will love it!
Students in first and second grade are learning about Rondo Form. A song is in rondo form if it has an A section that is repeated several times, with new sections in between each A section. An ex…
Another: elementary music lesson. Organized Chaos. Music lesson using the book Another by Christian Robinson to create a soundscape. Explore instrument timbres.
This composer study resource list includes websites, living literature, audio books and more that Cindy West has used in her homeschool music studies.
I'm just warning you now, this post is rather lengthy. There are many videos and links to follow - and once you click on them, you might be drifting around in cyberspace, looking at some great resources for awhile. Consider yourself prepared ;) I've been a fan of creating movement for Schumann's "The Wild Horseman" and Rossini's "William Tell Overture" with my younger grade for awhile. Students love these pieces and they are a great way to incorporate some Dalcroze concepts. This year, I'm incorporating some music-reading as well, using the song "Bell Horses". It isn't difficult for students to make the connection between all three pieces. Basically, this is a mini-unit of about three to four lessons (which is about 1.5 to 2 weeks for me). I like to open the class with our usual warm-up (includes movement, our "hello song" which I change periodically throughout the year, rhythm and melodic listening, decoding, and echoing exercises, and vocal exploration and breathing). I then like to review the relationship between Mi-So-La, using my floor staff. The students love moving them around the staff, and then I can use them as a large pitch-ladder (I'll point while I sing and have students match with handsigns, then I'll simply point and the students must sing). Sometimes, I won't sing on the solfa pitches or I'll bring out an instrument and do some ear-training - the students have to label what was sung or played using solfa pitches. For some students, they have the confidence to label and compose with mi-so-la, but they lack the confidence to truly sing them correctly without any assistance (they don't fully understand their aural relationships). Taking time at the beginning of class to have these experiences, as well as weaving them into lessons and games later on, help students truly become sight-singers, and not just sight-readers. Ok, on to the "meat" of the lessons. Mini-lesson one opens with a discussion about Robert Schumann. I project his biography from Classics for Kids which we read and discuss. Remember that these are 1st or 2nd graders, so the reading and discussion incorporates one paragraph at a time. I have students hypothesize how events in the composer's life or background information might affect their music. Then, I have the students listen to the piece. If you are gifted with piano skills, you can download the song here: Wild Horseman Sheet Music and perform it for your class. If not, try this youtube video: Here's the listening/movement plan I have them follow: 1. Listen - describe and discuss with a partner, then as a class (3-4 comments/questions) 2. Listen while patting steady beat - point out minor and major sections (which sound happy? which sound sad?) - if you are watching the video, you can discuss how the hands switch roles (the right starts playing the minor melody while the left accompanies, then the left plays the major melody while the right accompanies) 3. Listen while patting the steady with puppeteer hands (limp wrists) moving to show the melodic contour of the song (moving up and down) and also dynamic level (larger movements for forte, smaller for piano) - discuss what you saw them doing 4. Listen while moving around the room (walking feet only) - students should make larger and smaller movements, or move at higher or lower levels - DO NOT do this with them, see what they can create - then discuss why they moved in certain ways 5. Repeat step four (some students needed to see others do this and have a discussion before they are comfortable truly expressing the music) - tell students that it is ok now to add in more "horselike" movement (so much fun) Tell students that they will now learn to read song that talks about mechanical horses. You can get the powerpoint at my TPT store: Bell Horses For the first mini-lesson, guide your students through the first 8 slides (lyrics to rhythm). They will learn about bell horses and carillons. Try this video out (it is lengthy, I only show a bit): Here's the intro slide: And the lyrics slide: And the steady beat slide: I've also included a steady beat chart which you can print out for students to use individually: There's also a slide for adding the time signature, barlines, and measures, a rhythm icon slide and a rhythm icon printable: And finally the rhythm prep then rhythm page: That's it for the first mini-lesson. To extend it, you can add body percussion to each rhythm or add some students performing the steady beat (either with their bodies or an instrument) while others perform the rhythm (again, either with their bodies or an instrument). For the second mini-lesson, I begin with this biography of Rossini which we read and discuss. I love the lessons that Dr. Kay Edwards provides at Classics for Kids (click the link and then download the K-2 lesson) which include the William Tell Overture: Finale. It is VERY extensive and will require lots of prep and reading time on your part. Should you need the recording, you can find it on Classics for Kids or on Youtube (I like to show my students the live performance - how exciting - then use the classics recording for the listening map and movement): You can also discuss the plot of the story (this is also a good time to discuss words such as "opera" and "overture": After discussing the story and listening to the piece, I distribute this listening map (also from Classics for Kids) which the students follow while we listen. We discuss the dynamics, tempo, and style of the music. We also discuss how it fits into the story. Most importantly, we discuss ways to keep the beat it. We try various ways to keep the beat while listening. (Further instructions are included in Dr. Edward's lessons). Then, I have the students stand up and we try these movements around the room (SO MUCH FUN - if a little silly): Introduction: prepare our horses to ride (check hat, check shoes, etc) A: 2 sets of 16 counts: Gallop around the room in a circle - for the ascending leap in the melody (beat 13), we pretend to leap over a hurdle (repeat) B:Pretend to prance around quickly, while waving hands above head to show the shape of the melody - Beats 1 and 2 - hands up and over to the left, Beats 3 and 4 - hands up and over to the right, Beat 5 to the left, Beat 6 to the right, Beat 7 to the left, Beat 8 to the right (repeat 4 times) - during transition, we get our horses ready A: repeat as above To add variety for repetitions: If you have scarves, I love to use those in the A section as our reins and then in the B section we wave them above our heads like flags. If you've made those cute Funoodle horses, those are great too. I only have a hobby horse that I'll let the students take turns using. Close this section by: Reviewing the composer, reviewing vocabulary, reviewing what we did and why, reviewing descriptions of the music, etc. After our listening and movement fun, I seat the students and give them this worksheet: The students have to fill in the correct rhythms for the song "Bell Horses" - this is a great way to review their learning from the previous lesson and transition into teaching the melody. After we've completed and checked their work (using slide 8 from the powerpoint), I move into teaching the melody. Here are some slides for that. Melody Prep Slides: Then adding solfa (prepare for La): Then we sing the song with la added: We put our pitches on the staff: Add in our correct notation: Then look at the whole song: If time allows, we'll add in movement and orff, but usually I save that for Mini-Lesson 3. For mini lesson 3, we begin in a circle. I pass a bag that includes Bell Horse lyric cards, rhythm cards, and solfa cards. Here's and example and how we use them: Rhythm Cards After using the printables, I add in a simple orffestration which is included in the download. Then, we do some creative movement: Afterward, we review the pieces we've moved to previously, then move to them once more, after having a discussion about what we could add or change. Note: This download will also be included in a new set of Mi So La lessons.
