What's that smell?!

This is one of my favorite activities to do with my Kindergarteners when we are beginning to notate long and short rhythms. First we learn several simple songs or poems, then we discover how many sounds there are on each beat, one or two. Then I get out my giant beats strips and we use shoes to notate the number of sounds on each beat. I have 4 riser groups so if we notate a 4 measure song it works out perfectly for each riser to be in charge of notating a measure. In the picture below, we were notating the poem "2-4-6-8". The kids love working together and problem solving how many shoes they will need and where they should go. However, even in kindergarten, it does get a bit stinky!

Two, four, six, eight

Meet me at the garden gate.

If I'm late, do not wait.

Two, four, six, eight.

 



Steps, Skips, and Repeats

The 1st graders have been talking about how notes can move by step, skip, or repeat. On large staff paper, we used felt notes to notate these different patterns. It really helped the kids see the movement of the notes.

Skips