Tarzan Songs

Second graders at YES enjoyed writing their own songs in music the past couple of weeks. In our first activity, students had the opportunity to write a five note song using the pitches do, re and mi. They taught their classmates their songs by singing them first, and then everyone had a chance to echo it back to them.

During the next music class, they learned a poem about Tarzan, taken from "Game Plan 2" by Jeff Kriske and Randy Delelles. They first notated the beat for the poem, finding the places where they needed quarter notes and rests. Then, as a class, they set the words to do, re and mi, by moving quarter notes and quarter rests onto the staff. Each class created their own unique song, with no two classes turning out the same.

On the final music class in this unit, the students learned how to play their Tarzan songs on xylophones and metallophones.

Kindergarten Alphabet

We all know how to sing our ABC's, but nothing is as much fun as making the letters with your body! The Kindergarteners recently completed a set of two lessons that was focused on the alphabet. They learned songs about letters, had a competition to see who could come up with words starting with a given letter, and had to twist and turn into all kinds of shapes to form letters with their bodies.

1st Grade Pretzel Rhythms

During the first semester, 1st graders at YES learned how to read and write rhythms using quarter notes, eighth notes and quarter rests. As a final activity before leaving for Christmas break, we did a pretzel rhythm day. Students listened to four-beat patterns spoken or clapped by the teacher. They then had to notate the rhythms using pretzel sticks. The finale of the activity was, of course, a pretzel eating party.

Stations for Instrument Unit

Every year during my 5th grade music curriculum, I cover an extensive unit on the instrument families. This unit helps get them ready to make some choices about the path they would like to take in middle school. Instead of the same routine of reading about the instruments, listening to examples and watching YouTube performances, I have decided to ramp things up and try out stations. This is the first time I have used center-based learning, and I am excited for the possibilities.

Station 1:

4 Music Rooms

The first station is all on the iPad. Students will be exploring the 4 Music Rooms app. I love that this app lets students see the instruments, tap on them to hear good quality music, and complete activities in basic music theory. Some of the questions are a bit too advanced for my elementary students, but the directions are clear enough that they can muddle through it and learn something along the way.

Other apps that they will be utilizing during this station include GarageBand, Air Harp, Leaf Trombone, and other instrument apps. While I believe nothing replaces the experience of holding and playing a real instrument, the instrument apps for iPad give students the chance to see and play instruments that otherwise would not be available to them. 

Station 2:
At this station students will be playing board games in pairs. I purchased the "Music Centers Kit 1," by Veronica Harper, which includes four games that cover dynamics, tempos, symbols and note names. While I am new to using the kit, I do think that everything is laid out in a way that enables success for both students and teachers.

Station 3:

SFS Kids

The final station will make use of the computer and SMART Board. SFS Kids has an interactive website that introduces kids to the instruments of the orchestra. I also have bookmarked YouTube videos that let students see and hear people playing the various instruments, both professionals and amateurs. They really love this portion of the unit. I have been able to show a beat-boxing flutist, string quartet on a single modified instrument (Stringfever), and "Fireflies" by Owl City performed on harp.

MVHY Stringfever performs "Bolero"

Station 4: 

Station 4 will feature a worksheet that fits in with whatever instrument family we are covering that particular day in music class. While I will be floating around the room to assess learning at all stations, this is the one piece that I will ask students to turn in to me. I have found with worksheets in the past that when they know the teacher will see it, they are more likely to do their best work.

We'll see how it goes this year. I'm excited to try it!