This is a simple and fun way for students to keep track of their partners in the class. Students meet up with a partner and both write their names down on the same direction. When you call "North" partners, students simply look at the north direction on their paper and meet up with that partner. This file includes a sheet with the 4 primary cardinal directions and a sheet with the 8 primary and secondary directions. Want more great beginning of the year resources? Check out these awesome links! Welcome Back Mini Signs Kindness Matters Compass Partners M&M/Skittles Ice Breakers Get To Know You Bingo I "Like" This Bookmarks Dice Ice Breaker Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase, you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies, and product launches: • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺

Get students of all ages composing with music composition resources and ideas for lower and upper elementary, middle and high school students.

Subscribe to the Sing Play Create Free Resource Library. Music activities, worksheets, songs and games for PreK-6th grades.

PreK music can be a challenge. With these 5 tips in mind, planning and organizing your PreK music lessons becomes more effective, fun, and engaging.

This first grade unit is all about unpitched percussion instruments. This unit gives students a chance to play instruments in all four families of unpitched percussion instruments and helps you teach them the correct procedures for playing each instrument. There are interventions for those who need it. Also included is our lesson plan Snapshot. This is a one page view of a days lesson. It's condensed and quick to look at while you're in front of a class. It's also a Word document, so it can be modified! Newly added is our "Today in Music Class" section. This is a manipulative you can show or give to students each class that need to know what is coming next or struggle to have activities sprung upon them. This is great for students with special needs, students that have anxiety, students that need routine and many others. THIS UNIT INCLUDES: Two Instructional PowerPoints Directions to turn PowerPoints into Google Slides files Two Lessons Lesson Plan Snapshots Interventions This unit is also included in our First Year Orff Exploration. Some resources can not be included due to copyright, but can be easily obtained. TPT tip: You can get TPT credit for future purchases by reviewing our products! Click on My TPT and then My Purchases.  Then click on the Leave a Review button, answer a couple of quick questions, and submit your review.  TPT gives you credits for each review which you can put toward future purchases.  We value your feedback as it helps us understand what works and what we can do to improve our products in the future.  If you need to contact us, please email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.  If you want to know about our new products and sales, click on the green star to follow us!

Sing, sign and play your way to an amazing music education with colorful lessons, songs, activities and curriculum for kids ages 2-12.

Today I'm giving a glance into my first day of school lesson plans, from TK - 5th grade. In the first day of music class, students are arguably the most attentive they will be all year. This puts a unique pressure on the first day's lesson plan to set the tone for the rest of our time together.

One of my favorite things about the Orff Schulwerk philosophy of teaching is the ability to go from something relatively simple to an experience that is complex and exciting. You start with a song, add in movement, add in new layers, add in an ostinato, include a game, move students […]

Music is an effective tool for communicating with others and interacting with the world. Find out how it can change the lives of special needs children.

Using instruments with young students can be a struggle if you aren't prepared. Get some great ideas for using instruments with Preschool and Kindergarten.

We are so excited to introduce ourselves! Come back over the next few weeks to meet everyone! Today, Elizabeth Caldwell from Organized Chaos will take a few moments to introduce herself! os.

A pretty set of folk dance formation posters that will completely change your teaching! I always became so frustrated with trying to teach my younger students folk dances. If I said walk to the right, I'd have someone turn left. Until one day I drew the kids on the board and showed them what I wanted them to do. Game changer! This contains 15 posters with standard folk dance formations. Each poster features kids from a top down view so students can see which way they are supposed to face! Includes: - long ways set - contra dance - open circle - square dance (partners and corners labeled and not labeled options) - circle with partners - double circle with partner - scattered with partners - double circle facing partner - Sicillian circle - Wheel (spokes) - clockwise - counter clockwise - grand right/left I hope you love this as much as I do! This is part of my Folk Dance Bundle Check Out Creative Movement Formation Posters Folk Dance & Movement Word Wall Folk Dance Creation Lesson Freebie More Classroom Decor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺ For more details, visit my blog: Mrs. Stouffer's Blog For information about specials and freebies you can follow me or "like" Facebook Questions? Email me at [email protected]

(teacherspayteachers.com) If your students are like mine, they struggle with powers of 10. With this fast-paced game, students have fun practicing and mastering this tricky concept. Simply form your students into two teams and project this exciting game! The student who says the correct answer first gets the point.

Elementary music teacher blogs, Kodaly Blogs, music sub plans, substitute music plans, music education activities, music resources, music games

Success! The past two weeks I have implemented music centers successfully for the first time in my career. I was determined to succeed this time!

Your kids will absolutely love playing this singing game! This singing game gets your students singing, but it also gets them moving and practicing rhythms! Everything needed to play the game is included in this resource! •Dino-Score (Musical Score to teach the song to students) •15 Dinosaur Card...

Some calming activities for music class to help your students wind down before sending them back to the classroom teacher!

Download free Tideo rhythm cards that you can use to practice barred sixteenth notes, as well as ideas for sequencing movement.

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 […]

Routines in the Music Room-- keep your classroom management in check by installing all of these routines in your music class!

You may be feeling great, or you may be exhausted. with a rhythmic composition activity that is easy to execute, versatile, and fun!

Now, aside from looking pretty and making my administrators happy, posting a visual music schedule has helped my students. Not only do my ELL and special needs students have an idea of what will happen next, but also I've basically eliminated the question, "Are we playing a game today?" in my classroom.

Children's Literature in Elementary Music Lessons. Organized Chaos. Over 10 full elementary music lesson plans based on children's books.

In this blog post I'm going to talk about what I think are the five best activities you can use in your learning centers rotations!

Here's a list of fun activities you can do with preschool and kindergarten using tambourines!

This movement pack for music features comparatives for your younger students. Perfect for assessing your students understanding of concepts while they play freeze dance! Colorful and black & white options Also works as a fun game while students have free movement time. Comparatives featured: •High/Low •Quiet/Loud •Fast/Slow •Long/Short •Smoothy/Jumpy More ComparativesMrs. Stouffer's Blog Kodaly, Kindergarten, movement, opposites, comparatives

A few years ago, I was feeling SUPER frustrated with my recorder curriculum. I didn’t see the retention I wanted, left hands were everywhere but on top even with reminders, students memorizing and forgetting, and memorizing those songs for belt tests… WHY? “Belt” Resource issues: Kids focused on the prize but didn’t retain note names. Music was […]

Learn how to incorporate awesome and easy creative movement activities into your music class. Read this post for tips and ideas!

These worksheets are meant to accompany the Kodály-Aspiring Recorder Method. However, these worksheets also work well for people who start with an E-G recorder method. 15 pages of worksheets and activities for Sol/Mi and Ta/TiTi (or E-G if you prefer!) Perfect for assessments! Worksheets for 5 Sol/Mi songs (Lemonade, No Robbers Out Today, Quaker Quaker, See Saw, Starlight Star Bright) 5 pages of Task Cards with Sol/Mi patterns and ideas for use. Name it sheets (with and without letter name directions) Solfege recognition page on staff Compose it! How this recorder method works: It seems like there is always one. There is that one student that can’t play the recorder pieces because they can’t hear how it is ‘supposed to sound’. They are frustrated, and you are frustrated for them. This method uses what they already know: solfege and rhythm syllables. Focusing on introduction of the fingering instead of the note name helps students understand by using a known concept instead of the idea of note names which can be very abstract for some kids. 
 This system lends itself well to a ‘belt’ system too if you wish. Each belt would be at the completion of a concept/set of concepts. Some concepts are grouped together, others appear separate. The rhythmic concepts are not emphasized in this system, however the first few are introduced with the solfege to review. Some rhythmic elements are not introduced in sequence to ensure that folk songs deal with only the solfege elements that have been introduced already. All solfege elements are practiced with 5 songs, rhythmic elements do not always have 5. Before students play each song, make sure they have been introduced to every concept in the song. I’ve included other musical elements such as repeats, anacrusis, ties, rounds, and time signature changes. Many of these do not happen until the later concepts when the children are more comfortable with the mechanics. In addition to being relatable concepts, this system also relies on widely known folk songs. This is also to help those kids that just need to hear it to play it as a beginner. Students can still practice at home once they have sung the songs in class but this must occur before they bring it home to practice. This method doesn’t deal with moveable do, or key signatures so that students can truly relate the solfege they know to the notes they are playing. Due to Do being fixed at C, low la and low sol do not appear but will be introduced in level 2 of the series when key changes and chromatics are introduced. If you’ve prepped them that do moves with other activities, it won’t be an issue later on if you don’t get to level 2. Also, if you work in district that utilizes fixed do in upper choral classes, they’ll have an advantage! Resources for the Kodály-Aspiring Recorder Method All Kodaly-Aspiring Recorder Files ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright © Melissa Stouffer, Mrs. Stouffer's Music Room Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product. ___________________________________________________________________ Love the Kodaly recorder? Kodaly Method Folk Song Files ___________________________________________________________________ Check out some of my bestsellers Music Or Not 32 Weeks of Listening Kodaly Aspiring Recorder Method Mt. Solfege Composition Bundle Rhythm Manipulatives ___________________________________________________________________ Customer Tips: Love this? Get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. For every dollar you spend on TpT, you can earn 1 TpT credit by leaving feedback! ☺ Have a problem? • Send me an email! [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺ ___________________________________________________________________ Connect with Me! Mrs. Stouffer's Blog

Teach your kids about Charlie Parker and Jazz> You will get: ♦Pages about the artist ♦Links to 4 different songs by Charlie to play in the classroom via safeshare ♦Overview of jazz music and a little about it ♦2 worksheets (one with and without word bank) and answer keys about Charlie Parker For more details, visit my blog: Mrs. Stouffer's Blog For information about specials and freebies you can follow me or "like" Facebook Please rate my download to earn credits you can apply to future purchases on any TpT store! Your feedback matters! Let me know what you like, and what I can improve for you and your students! Questions? Email me at [email protected]

Letting your students be creative is one of the best parts of being a music educator. This is a great way to get them started with melodic composing! I love when my students get to compose but starting can be a little difficult. Giving students parameters makes things so much easier for them! Check out the preview to see the whole file! This fun file is great for letting students get a chance to be creative! - Compose with solfege syllables - Compose with notes on the staff (1st ledger line below the staff to top of staff chromatic included as well as a blank page of staff cards) - Broken down into rhythm and solfege/melodic elements for younger students - Pattern writing - 3 and 5 line staff options for youngest students. Let students compose by placing notes in a grid, OR by writing rhythmic patterns and adding solfege to the patterns before writing on the staff. Teachers - there is a little prep work involved to use this! This is included in my Composing Bundle Rubric included! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺ For more details, visit my blog: Mrs. Stouffer's Blog For information about specials and freebies you can follow me or "like" Facebook Questions? Email me at [email protected]

Name games for the first day in elementary music. Includes songs such as Hickety Tickety Bumblebee, Telephone Song, and Bounce High.

There are so many questions right now, and very few answers. The one that melts my brain the most right now, though, is how to teach elementary music class without anyone being able to sing (and I know I'm not the only one struggling with this)! If we are teaching in-person in some way, shape, or form, there is a good chance that singing won't be safe to do. I don't have many answers but here are some of the thoughts and ideas I've come up with so far. 1. Non-singing participation So much music involves singing, but we can have other people do the singing on a recording (or pre-record ourselves singing) and join in with the music in other ways: Play an ostinato on instruments or body percussion Show melodic contour, steady beat, dynamics, or mood through movement Dance Use props- cups, bean bags, scarves Play along with the melody on a pitched instrument (boomwhackers, xylophones, virtual instruments like Song Maker) Show solfege pitches with hand signs 2. Non-singing vocal performance How much of this we can and cannot safely do will depend on ongoing research findings, but it seems likely that we will be able to use our voices in ways that don't project as much, whether that's humming, whistling, or speaking. Depending on what I'm trying to teach through the song, I can adjust the activity: humming for melodic elements and speaking for rhythmic elements. We could even switch back and forth between the two to get a little bit of both! This would actually be a great way to really focus on what we're trying to practice. 3. Singing outside the classroom This option depends on what our school model looks like, but I could potentially have students learn how to do something vocally while they're in class, then have them practice doing it themselves at home and even record themselves (via something like Flipgrid). Those recordings could potentially be used in the next class period, or individual recordings could be combined to create a "group singing" experience that we all watch together. 4. Approaching concepts through non-singing My primary solution that I keep coming back to as we try to completely reinvent ourselves is to go back to the concepts I'm trying to teach and come up with different ways to "get there". So if the concept I want to teach is singing in canon, I can have students perform in canon with movement, instruments, or body percussion. If the concept is 4 voices, we can listen and identify recordings of the different voices instead of performing them all ourselves. If the concept is showing high and low, we can do that with our bodies, on instruments, or with online notation (like Song Maker mentioned above). The thought of music class without singing is depressing and terrifying. It seems completely ridiculous. We may find in a few weeks that we're all back to distance teaching and all of this will be a moot point. Or we may somehow find out that there are, in fact, safe ways for us to sing in groups in school. But for now, I think it's important for us to at least think through our options in case we're presented with this situation, whether it's at the beginning of this school year or later on when buildings start to reopen. We are all being stretched in ways we never even dreamed, and it's critical that we collaborate as a profession and support each other! If you have other ideas you've come up with for in-person music teaching without singing, please leave a comment. I will be continuing to update the Distance Learning Resources page to include ideas for social distancing and modified teaching through covid- don't forget to look there for all my posts related to these unusual times we're living through.

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Pop toys are all the rage right now! What musical activities can we do with a pop it? Here are 7 ideas for you to use with your students.

These are the top 3 things I would tell my first year music teacher self. Mostly, I would tell myself to stop trying to be the "perfect music teacher".

Name games for the first day in elementary music. Includes songs such as Hickety Tickety Bumblebee, Telephone Song, and Bounce High.

Use these basketball slides as a transition from vocal exploration to traditional vocal warm-ups! As a vocal exploration, students follow the animated lines and basketballs with appropriate vocal sirens. As a traditional vocal warm-up, the basketballs and bounces may be thought of as iconic representation for specific pitches. The warm-up patterns may be raised by half-steps and repeated as needed for your singers. Also includes a blank slide for student-created pathways and a student worksheet. More vocal explorations: Soccer Kids Animated Vocal Explorations PowerPoint and Worksheets Falling Leaves Animated Vocal Explorations PowerPoints and Worksheets Ghostly Animated Vocal Explorations Vocal Warm-Ups Snowball Splats - Animated Vocal Warm-Ups How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: • Look for the green star near the top of any page within my store and click it to become a follower. You will now receive customized email updates about this store. ☺ • You can also Like me on Facebook