Music Math Centers

2nd graders are working on music and math and completed a rotation of Music Math Centers to help them. The main goal of this unit is to help students understand the amount of beats that each note receives. Through 6th grade I will still have students tell me that a pair of eighth notes is 2 beats and a quarter rest is 0 beats! Ugh! So we spend a little time each year really drilling note values. Here are the Music Math Stations that I use.

Station 1: Pot O' Gold
I found this game Pot of Gold Game on Pinterest. Students answer a music math flashcard, and the number of your answer is how many coins (Bingo chips in my case) you get to place in your pot of gold. The first student to fill his/her pot wins. I found free, printable flashcards online one year that have worked great. Sorry, I don't remember exactly where they came from though!

Station 2: Mad Minute
I have 3 different levels of worksheets all taken from www.makingmusicfun.net. Students select a worksheet that fits their ability level and then race to complete the sheet with the fewest mistakes. I laminated each of the worksheets so that students could erase and try again to beat their previous scores. It also cut down on a lot of wasted paper.

Station 3: Cup Stack Attack!
I know, almost all of my centers have this game, but the kids absolutely love it! On the bottom of each cup is a math problem and inside of the cup is the correct answer. Students must correctly answer a cup before it can be used in the tower.

Station 4: Noodle Notes
This station was a new one for me this year, and was a bit confusing for the students at first. I cut pool noodles into 3 different sizes (quarter notes or pairs of eighth notes, half notes, and whole notes). Students had to work to create 4 measures in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time. Each measure had to be different. They put the noodles on jump ropes to create a long strand. They then had to write their answers on the included worksheet. This was a great way for me to check that they understood the project.

A strand in 2/4 time

Station 5: Dueling Dice

This was a game I found at www.notablemusicstudio.com. Each member gets a "Dueling Dice" card. Before beginning, they role the dice to get numbers for their first four boxes. Then, they race to come up with notes that equal the number in the box.


Each station has a folder to keep all of the worksheets and directions in it. I also included a cheat sheet on the inside cover of each folder that tells how many beats each note and rest receives. Everything is laminated. Here are the directions that go on the outside cover of each folder.