Caroling

Every year before Christmas break, the 6th graders walk around the school caroling to spread a little Christmas cheer. They may sing, play a mallet instrument, or play the recorder. One student even played her invented instrument! They have 30 minutes to wander the building and perform for as many classes and people as they can. The larger instruments set up in the lobby and perform for anyone passing in and out of the building or the office area. It has become a great tradition everyone in the building looks forward to!

Invented Instruments

I had an epiphany this year with our Invented Instruments project. Each year, the 6th graders invent their own instruments and compose a sound piece to be played on their instrument. Normally, I have them perform their sound piece in class and then I display their instruments in the hallway for a few weeks. This year, there was so much interest in the project from other classes and teachers, that I decided we needed to show them off a bit more! We took one class period and moved down to the lunchroom where each student set up with their instrument and sound piece and then we invited the entire school to come listen. Teachers were able to bring their classes to the lunchroom if they had time and students walked around listening to each of the instruments perform. This was a great way for them to get to hear what they sounded like and also gave the 6th graders a chance to explain what their instrument was made of and how it worked. Each student got to perform roughly 10-20 times! 

Invented Instruments

Here are the invented instruments from this year's 6th graders. Once again I was blown away by the creativity of some of my students! They are sorted into aerophones, idiophones, chordophones, and membranophones. Instruments are required to be homemade, make 3 or more pitches, and be sturdy, decorated, and "finished" looking. Students also composed a sound piece to be performed on their instrument using iconic notation.

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

Every December on their last day of music class before Christmas break, the 6th graders carol around the school entering as many classrooms as they can to spread a little Christmas joy! They spend several class periods preparing a carol to sing or play. In the past I had always had students sing, but this year I gave them the option of performing a Christmas song on a recorder or the barred instruments as well. Every single group did an amazing job!


This year I used the new NAfME Model Cornerstone Assessment for performing to guide their learning( Performing MCA). It was a bit lengthy and got to be a lot of paperwork, but I do think it helped the students grow and become aware of what they were doing. I think it's very important for all of the students to get used to picking and preparing a piece on their own and then performing it in front of an audience. Singing for younger kids is a great place to start. Most of the kids said they were nervous in the first couple of rooms, but by the end they were racing to get to just "one more room" before we finished.

Singing for the librarian.

Singing for the Kindergarteners

The secretarys

The lunchroom

The gym!

The instruments were too big to carry around, so they played for every person that walked through the entry!

2nd graders

Some even wore elf hats!

And if they had been to all of the rooms, they stopped people in the hallways!

Robot and Inventor

I had the wonderful opportunity to receive my Level I Orff training this summer at NDSU. I have been having a blast incorporating all of the wonderful things that I learned. One of my favorite activities is called "Robot and Inventor" and the purpose of it is to help students explore ways they can move their body parts, helping them gain body/kinesthetic awareness. It also helps them become comfortable creating on their own in a non-threatening environment.

Here's how it works: Partners choose one person to be the robot. The robot stands in the "off" position. When the music starts, the inventor may tap a joint on the robot and the robot must begin moving this body part to the beat. To stop the body part, the inventor must tap that part again. We started off with only one body part at a time, then slowly added more. Eventually, the robots were able to travel! The kids had a blast with this and it was really fun to watch even my most reserved students get into the activity.

Music in Film and Garage Band Stories

Last year I used Garage Band in my classroom for the first time and had students compose their own music to accompany a story that they had written. Here is the post about that project: Musique Concrete


This year I varied the project slightly. Instead of studying Musique Concrete, we studied Music In Film. I found a bunch of great lesson ideas online and kind of combined them to make one big project. We started by learning that there are 4 main uses of music in movies: to set the time and place, to convey/describe characters and ideas, to create a mood or atmosphere, or to express emotions. We also learned about Mickey-Mousing (creating sound effects). Then we talked about the different elements of music (instrumentation, timbre, rhythm, etc.) and how we can vary them to create different ideas. We watched several YouTube clips to show the importance of music and how it can demonstrate the 5 main uses listed above. After we were comfortable with all of these elements, we used Garage Band to record a story and then create music to accompany it. The stories we used were all short children's books. I was completely blown away with some of the finished projects. The students went above and beyond even what I could do. Here is the assignment they were given to fill out and I've also attached one of the completed stories.

Check this out!!   The Pied Piper





Halftime Bouncers!

The 6th graders just completed another halftime performance and totally rocked it! The song we used was "Twilight Zone" by 2Unlimited from the original Jock Jams CD. I can't take credit for creating this routine. It was purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers and was created by the wonderful Kristin Lukow. Enjoy!!

Surround the State in Song

"Surround the State in Song" was a great event again this year! I've posted about this every year, but if you don't know what "Surround the State" is, it is a 5th and 6th grade honor choir hosted by the ND ACDA chapter. Students from all over the state attend a day-long rehearsal at 5 different locations around North Dakota. They rehearse the same songs and perform a concert at exactly the same time, 4:00. This way, the students are literally surrounding the state in song! What a cool concept!

I took 7 students from my 5th and 6th grade chorus. We also have choir members from a private Catholic school and some of those students attended as well. Here are some pictures from our day.

A little break between rehearsals!

Don't they look good?!

The members from our choir! So proud of these young people!! :)

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is the study of music and instruments of the world. I mentioned in an earlier post that the 6th graders were using Google Classroom to create world instrument reports. I was amazed at the amount of work each of the students put in to their projects! I know that I learned more by reading their reports than I ever learned teaching the lesson by myself. After they were done with their reports, they chose one instrument to present to the class. Here are a few of the completed reports.

Ethnomusicology Report
Ethnomusicology Report

Ethnomusicology Report

Ethnomusicology Report

Ethnomusicology Report

Ethnomusicology Report

Welcome to Google Classroom!

Our 6th graders are one-to-one again this year, meaning each student has their own Chromebook. Every year my 6th graders do an instrument building project. I usually preface the project by doing a very brief introduction of Ethnomusicology, the study of music and instruments of the world. We usually don't do more than learn the four families (aerophone, chordophone, membranophone, and idiophone). This year I decided to go a bit more in depth. My original plan was to have them do an instrument report on one world instrument and create a poster for the hallway. However, I started thinking it would be really cool if they could use their Chromebooks. It was then that I was introduced to Google Classroom.

All of the 6th graders are using it in their classrooms already to complete assignments, so I thought I would try it. I have created an assignment using Google Slides and now my students are going to create a slideshow presentation of four different world instruments, one from each of the four families. They must include the instrument's name, country of origin, how it's played, what it's made of, a picture, other interesting facts, and an optional video of one being played. All sources must be cited on the last slide. We just started working on them today, but so far it seems really cool! The best part is I have access to every project through my Google Classroom account so I can see how far students are, leave comments for them, and grade them online.

Who would have ever thought you would walk by the music room and see this!!

Party Time Cup Creations!

Each class has the chance to earn a party in music class. When they do, I vary the activities between a class game, student choice, or bringing something from home. This party was student choice, and the students basically had free time in my room to play whatever they wanted. Cup stacking is always a huge hit, and the boys asked that I take a picture of their latest cup stacking creation. I have to say, I was quite impressed!

Can you tell what it is?......A dotted half note!!

And a treble clef!