Trouble with Treble Clefs and Silly Staves!

It seems like the treble clef is one of the hardest music symbols for students to draw. It still scares some of my 6th graders when I ask them to put a treble clef at the beginning of their compositions!

The 1st graders are working on identifying the staff and the treble clef this week. We had a scavenger hunt in my classroom and everybody had to find and stand by a treble clef that was somewhere in my room. Between my borders, posters, and student art works, I have over 20 of them scattered around my classroom. It was fun to see the kids discover more and more around the room.

For our treble clef activity, I had them practice drawing treble clefs. I found a tracing worksheet on-line and each of the kids practiced tracing the clef with a crayon, then with a pencil, and finally they could try to draw one on their own. The kids that were able to draw them on their own were so excited!!

All by himself!!

I also did a staff activity. I split the class into 5 groups and gave them each a pile of items. Using those items they had to create some sort of a staff. When they had created one way, I asked them to find a different way...and another way...and another way! Some of the groups were able to get really creative! And it definitely drove home the lesson that a staff has 5 lines and can be short or very long. Here are some of the creations they came up with.