As I am planning our Winter concert, I am realizing how little time I really have ~ how little time we all have. We need to cover standards, while providing a range of repertoire, while working on the present holiday music (Halloween etc.…), while making it fun…. No problem!! LOL!

Solution: Build on what you have done with your kids thus far and build it into the concert!

How?

EXAMPLE 1:

For the last few weeks, the 6^th graders have been composing short rhythmic pieces. We could have combined them to create a longer piece to stand alone, but instead I wanted to play them with a Music K-8 recorder piece “Santa’s Back in Town” (Volume 32 No. 2) because it is so festive!!

PROCEDURE:

• Get out your Note Knacks! (Manipulatives are always good to have as a reference, even for the older kids!)
• Divide students into groups
• Have them compose a short rhythmic piece. The number of measures will depend on the instrumental music you have chosen.
  • If there are 30 measures and you have 25 kids, divide class into 5 groups and have them compose 6 measures each.
• Give each group a set of instruments including pitched and non-pitched percussion. (NOTE: To make it easier, have kids only use the notes in the pentatonic scale of the key that the instrumental piece is in)
• Each group’s TASK ~ add orchestration to your rhythmic piece.
• When done, combine all of the pieces and together decide on the order.
• Play with instrumental piece.
• Edit as needed!

EXAMPLE 2:

In 1^st grade, kids created a Halloween piece by brainstorming spooky words, sorting them into 1 or 2 syllables, and matching either a quarter note or 2 eighths to each word, then putting them together to create a composition. The kids LOVED it!!!

We can use this same technique for a Winter themed piece:

• As a stand-alone rhythmic composition
• To be played with an instrumental piece
• To replace a sung verse

PROCEDURE:

• Use same procedure for Halloween Compositions, but brainstorm winter themed words instead ~ Simple Halloween Compositions – Note Knacks
• Have kids create 2 measures each instead of one.
• When done, combine all of the pieces and together decide on the order.
• Practice and edit as needed!

Time is and always will be an issue, but we can “teach smarter”! It makes so much sense to build on what we are already doing, as it will create continuity for the kids and nothing is sacrificed for the concert!! Of course, any time the students are involved in the planning, they will be more invested, and their enthusiasm will show through!! What could be better than that?  

I love giving students activities that require them to explore and analyze a problem! When they come to the answer themselves, they are more likely to remember it.

A couple of weeks ago my first and second graders started asking questions and making guesses about the relationships between notes:

• “If 2 yellows = 1 red, then how many yellows = a blue?” I asked them to estimate the answer first before we figured it out with Note Knacks.
• “If a whole note = 4 beats, then a half note must = 2”.

…and so on.

I wanted them to continue this inquiry, but in a way that required them to work together. My solution? Rhythm Investigation 1. I sent them off into small groups with a set of Note Knacks, a pencil and 5 questions.

All the questions used conventional notation and all the answers were whole numbers. The purpose of using conventional notation was for kids to start noticing the differences in notation. (This isn’t to say that I will only use conventional notation from now on, but I like to have kids work with it once in a while to prepare them for what is ahead.) I was so thrilled that they did a great job and enjoyed figuring out the answers, as it felt like a game (you could absolutely turn this into a game for 2 teams).

This kind of activity is the whole reason why I created Note Knacks! Kids can find the answers to their questions without having to remember what we tell them. THEY work with the materials, THEY figure it out using trial and error, THEY come to the conclusions either on their own or within the group. This helps to build self confidence in a discipline that often is considered beyond one’s reach unless he/ she has IT ~ whatever that is!!

Next step possibilities:

• Change the time signature for older kids and have an eighth = 1 beat.
• Have answers be fractions (you’re welcome math teachers!!!).
• Have kids make up their own questions to give to the group.

As we all get ready for school to start ~ some of us have already started while others have a whole month before they start ~ here are the BIG 4 MUST HAVES:

1. Standards: we all have them, but they don’t necessarily work for us! I don’t love the layout, so I reorganized them to make it easier for me to plan. I created 9 categories and put each standard in the one I thought made the most sense. The categories are:
   1. Pitch/ Melody
   2. Rhythm
   3. Texture
   4. Timbre
   5. Expressive Elements
   6. Form/ Format
   7. Experience
   8. Creation
   9. Connection

Here is a copy of my layout~ of course I changed the rhythm section a bit and added more specific guidelines for the  composition thread!

2. A planbook that doesn’t require any additional printing on your part and can accommodate any and all classroom situations.
   1. I have tried all kinds of planners for both my personal and professional life ~ I have even created some for printing (SEE HERE), but in the end we need simple and cheap. (I bought the Music Teacher Plan-It from Amazon, but was not impressed, unfortunately! It allowed only 1 small square to write all of your lessons for each class. This does not help me!!) SOOOO I ended up with a Carson Dellosa standard planbook. It isn’t anything fancy, but I can make it work so that it includes everything I need! (…and yes, the cover is a bit hokey, but that was the store had 😊)
   2. For each week’s layout I put a grade level in each subject section across the top (I teach K-6 this year for elementary grades. For the Preschool I will need a different method. I will explore that in later posts.) and down the left-hand side, I put Intro, Singing, Movement, Instruments, and Creating. I chose those because I want every class to include these items.
   3. Here is a photo ~
      1. as you can see, I have only planned Kindergarten for the first week!! I wanted to nail down the method before I went full blown forward! (Next week I will let you know what my first week of classes will look like!)
      2. I also wrote out the theme for each month (next item on the list) so that I could keep track.

3. Monthly Themes: My biggest pet peeve with premade curriculums out there is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to why they pick a song for a certain class beyond to teach a concept. We understand it, but to the kids, it is completely random. This year I wanted to create monthly themes to help keep me on track with repertoire I wanted to cover, to help hook the kids and keep music fun, and to connect music to world cultures, as per our standards. This isn’t to say that every single thing I teach will tie into the theme, but I will link as much as possible to it. Here is what I chose:
   1. August ~ Back to School
   2. September ~ Community
   3. October ~ Halloween
   4. November ~ Thanksgiving
   5. December ~ Winter Holidays Around the World
   6. January ~ Music of the United States
   7. February ~ Black History Month
   8. March ~ MIOSM
   9. April ~ Earth Day
   10. May ~ Wrap Up
4. Weekly Checklist ~ How often am I really covering each standard? We know that children need a lot of practice with concepts before they learn them, so I needed a way to keep track of what I was doing. It makes sense to create a spread sheet for each grade level and each standard (I am sure I will eventually), but in my planbook I have a section for keeping track of attendance. Since I don’t use this section, I put my checklist here:

I hope these MUST HAVES are helpful! Please let us know HERE what you do to get ready for your school year! Happy Planning!!

I am so excited about this week’s blog post!!! I happened to come across a photo of a plastic egg filled with 2 eighths on Facebook and ideas have been popping in my head ever since! …SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!! Here are my 10 best:

THE SET UP

• Create a 4/4 rhythm sheet (or use my Bingo Sheet) and cut each rhythm out. (Rhythms can be duplicated, as it will come in handy for some of the activities!)
• Fill each egg with a rhythm. You need as many eggs as you have students.
• Display eggs and have kids choose 1 OR pass them out
• Kids open their egg to see their rhythm and clap it out quietly to themselves not showing anyone

THE ACTIVITIES

1. Work out their measures in Note Knacks
2. To get ready for phase 3 ~ put out 4 measures of NK rhythms and have kids match their rhythm to the correct measure (mm1, mm 2, mm 3 or mm 4).
3. Scavenger hunt: Instead of writing a whole measure on the paper, only write a note or notes = 1 beat in 4/4 time. Kids will need to locate NK or NKs that have what they have written in conventional notation.
4. Choose a student to come to the front of the room and clap out their rhythm. The student with same rhythm raises his/ her hand, claps out their rhythm and notes that it is the same
5. You clap out a rhythm and those that have it raise their hands
6. Have kids walk around in a large space (for Covid 19 reasons) trying to find the student(s) with the same rhythm. There is NO TALKING, only clapping!!
7. Kids choose a partner (or a group of 4) and clap out each measure. They need to decide the mm order.
8. In eggs ~ write only a note or notes = 2 beats in 4/4 time. Find another student to make a 4/4 rhythm.
9. Have kids create a rhythm in NK and have them write it on a small piece of paper and fill an egg. Collect all of them, mix them up, and hand them back out again randomly. Have each student clap the rhythm they were given in order to practice. Then have kids clap them out consecutively ~ putting a measure of rest in between, if they need it ~ to create a longer piece of music.
10. Kids create a mm in NK and write it out on a piece of paper, they fill the eggs and do one of the other activities!!

I am always thinking of new ways to practice the steady beat with my students. …and in this age of social distancing and virtual learning, it can be difficult. I also like to play the freeze game with my kids, but it gets old quickly!  Two “problems”, one solution ~ The Steady Beat Freeze Game! Kids move to the beat in various ways while a student plays a drum and freezes when he/ she stops! It gets kids moving in a safe way, it is a game that can easily be played virtually, and each student can be assessed throughout! What more could you ask for??

MATERIALS

• Drum

METHODS

1. Tap steady beat to a chosen song to get the feeling of a beat in their bodies
2. Take out a drum ~ when I play the steady beat, you stomp it and when I stop, you freeze
3. Play and stop at random
4. Continue to play, but play:
   1. Loudly
   2. Softly (see if they tip toe)
   3. Quickly
   4. Slowly
5. Have kids take turns being the leader
6. After everyone is finished, highlight loud, soft, fast, and slow playing ~ did they notice?

You can also highlight different techniques for playing. One student played with his elbow because he saw me do it last year. Another student took really long rests, etc.… It was so great to see how various students made this activity their own! I was able to check in with each kid while the rest were having a blast following the leader!!