So, Mi, La centers

The 2nd graders have been working on So, Mi, and La sight reading this month. In the past, I've done a lot of flashcards, whole group practice at the board, and echo singing, but I've always felt this falls short when it comes to actually applying the skill of reading notes on the staff. I've always loved centers and think they are a great way for student to work independently on skills. I put together 5 centers for the kids to rotate through that would allow them to read the solfege and then actually play it on an instrument and hear what it sounds like. Some of the centers required them to sing the pitches as well. We rotated through all 5 stations and spent about 6 minutes at each station. 

Station 1: Catch the Ladybug- I created several ladybug cards with SML notation on them and then a KEY card. One student sings a pattern from the key and the others have to find the lady bug with the matching notation. Cards were numbered so that students could easily check their answers with the numbered examples on the key. 

 Station 2: Hand Sign coloring page-Since it's close to Thanksgiving, I thought this Color By Hand Sign page would be a good fit. I found this worksheet on the Internet, but to be honest, I can't find it again to tell you where it came from!

Station 3: Composition-Each student has a bell stand with E,G, and A as well as a heart beat strip and the letters S, M, and L (these are Music-Go-Round manipulatives). They can put one or two pitches in each heart (Quarter notes or two-eighths) and then they play it on the bells. Having the bells on the raised bell stand helps them visually see the step and skip difference between the pitches as well as higher and lower.  

 Station 4: Barrel O' Monkeys-I used bulletin board cut-outs for this activity. On the barrel I wrote SML patterns on the staff (just like the lady bug center) and on the monkeys I wrote the letter notation (ex: SS LL S M). Students matched the correct monkey and barrel. They are numbered on the back so students can check their answers.

Station 5: Instruments-I set out 2-3 xylophones/metallophones and a stack of SML flashcards. The students took turns reading the flashcards and then playing the pattern on their instrument.

National Anthem

The 4th graders learned about the Star Spangled Banner in September. Each year at the end of the unit, we sing the anthem at a home volleyball or basketball game. This year we sang for a packed house at the final home volleyball game. 45 students took part! Way to go!!

Waiting to sing!! 

Surround the State in Song 2018

Congratulations to this year's Surround the State in Song honor choir participants! 

A Soup Opera

Each year in 3rd grade we do an Opera Unit. We spend time learning about the jobs involved in creating an opera such as set designer, lighting technician, choreographer, general director, etc. At the end of our unit, each class designs their own opera to be performed in our room. In the past, we've done "Hansel and Gretel", but this year we did "A Soup Opera". The students get to choose what job they want to have. I let the costume designers pick costumes out from my costume closet, the set designers get to use things in my classroom or bring items from home, and so on. We try to create the entire opera within the classroom. Everyone takes their jobs very seriously! Then, we perform it for classroom teachers and anyone else we can find that wants to watch. Here are some pictures from this year's performances.

Music in Our Schools Month 2018

"Music Connects Us" was the theme for this year's Music In Our Schools Month. I decided each week we would focus on a different area of our lives that music connects us with and we would have activities that highlighted those areas. I also sent home a musical questionnaire sheet with each of the students with questions for them to fill out pertaining to each of the 4 areas. If they turned their sheet in by the end of the month, they would receive a prize (more about those below). 165 students returned their sheets!

Week 1: Music Connects Us to our Friends
I was very brave and decided to let the students pick their spots in music class for the entire month! I always have a seating chart, so this was way out of my comfort zone. However, the students were so happy to sit next to their friends that most of them behaved very well in order to continue picking each day.

Week 2: Music Connects Us to our Family
We held our 2nd Annual Family Folk Dancing Night this year as a way to connect with our family. Students in grades 4-6 were invited to bring their family members to the school one evening and we learned four different folk dances. Over 30 students and parents attended. Dances included Alabama Gal, Heel and Toe Polka, Syncopated Cyril, and a fun arrangement to Cotton Eye Joe.

The younger students connected with their family by having them help fill out their musical questionnaires.

Week 3: Music Connects Us to our Community
The first step in connecting with our community was one that I took. I called several area businesses asking if they would be willing to donate promotional items to the school to be used as prizes. I wanted the donated items to contain the name of their business so that we could promote their business while they in turn showed their support for music in our schools. I received almost 300 items from 21 local businesses! Prizes included items such as pencils and pens, fidget spinners, chapstick, water bottles, t-shirts, and much more. Here is a picture of most of the donated items. Even more was given after I took this picture!

The second way we connected with our community was by inviting the local string orchestra to our school for a mini-concert. The director talked to the students about the different instruments and had several of the members perform solos or duets so that the students could hear the individual instruments. The youngest member was only 5 years old and played a solo for everyone! His older brother, two older sisters, and his mother are also in the orchestra. Another great example of how music connects us to our family! Our small community is extremely lucky to have such talented musicians.

Week 4: Music Connects Us to the World

This week got cut short due to Easter, so I only saw each of my classes once. We talked about different instruments from around the world and I showed my 4th grade recorder class a video of another 4th grade class from across the world to demonstrate how 4th graders all over the world are learning recorder just like they are. They thought that was pretty neat. 

Also, question four on the questionnaire asked students to contact someone from outside of our community about their favorite childhood song. I had students contact people from all over the United States as well as the following countries: Norway, Kuwait, the Philippines, Germany, Poland, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Denmark, Mexico, and Russia!!! 

Music Trivia

I also featured a trivia question on my door each week. Students could put their answers into the trivia bucket and 10 winners were drawn each week to receive another prize. I had over 100 students answer each week! The questions were: Name this tune (showing the notation for "Happy Birthday), How many strings are on a standard acoustic guitar? What was Elvis Presley's middle name? Where is the didgeridoo from?

And I almost forgot! Staff members got prizes, too! One of the local businesses donated much nicer items such as earrings, homemade chapsticks, handmade bags, and gift cards. I had a bag in the staff lounge for teachers and staff members to put their name in every time they did something to promote music in their classrooms or around the building. This included playing music, wearing a musical t-shirt, talking about their musical experiences in life, or just engaging in a conversation about music. At the end of each week, two winners were drawn from the bag. 

I have to say, this was definitely another successful Music In Our Schools Month!! I can't wait until next year!

Music Olympics!

I love when we have an Olympic year in music class. This is the second one we've celebrated since I began teaching, and we went all out! I started off by selecting 8 countries and then dividing each of my classes into 4 teams (I have 4 risers, so each riser was a team). Students in grades 4-6 participated, so there ended up being one grade level each on every team.

Each day, students competed in a different Olympic event. The events we competed in were the ski jump, speed skating, curling, bobsled, biathlon, and ice hockey. Each event focused on a different musical concept such as rhythm, singing, note reading, rhythmic values, etc. Here are the posters I created for each one.

We listened to the national anthem of the winning country after each event and kept track of each country's medals on the board in the back of the room. The students loved checking the board to see which country was in the lead. Here is the final medal count from the end of the month.

Here are some pictures of the students competing in each event. We used paper plates for ice skates, actual curling brooms for curling, floor hockey sticks and tennis balls for hockey, and laminated tag board for cross-country skis. The difficulty of each event was modified based on the grade level. It was a great month!

Speed Skating

Speed Skating

Curling

Ice Hockey

Instrument Family target for the biathlon

Cross Country skiing to the target in the biatlon

Biathlon

Biathlon: matching the instrument to the correct target

Mr. Music Man

The kindergarten students learned about several of the different classroom instruments we have and how to play them. After naming and demonstrating each instrument, I placed 6 hula hoops around the room and put one of each instrument inside the hoop. I then split the class into groups of 3-4 and had them sit around each hoop. We did an echo activity to allow each student a chance to play every instrument. They started out by picking an instrument from the hoop and then I played a rhythm on the drum and they echoed back. Then, they put that instrument down and picked up another one. I did this very quickly so students didn't have time to argue or play out of turn and also so that they had a chance to play all of the instruments at least once.

After that activity, I let the students create a Music Man out of the instruments. They could make one big one or two small ones, but they had to work together to make it look like a person. Here are some pictures of what they came up with!