Steady Beat Review and Practice

 School is into full swing now and my schedule reflects the busyness of not only teaching, but also keeping up with my own children and their activities.  Whew!  I think some time management tweaking is in order.

In the first weeks of school, I've been reviewing/teaching steady beat with the students.  The first grade "babies" have caught on faster than in the previous years.  It seems this group of students has a stronger internal beat than their predecessors.  Yea!

First and Second grades practiced on beat sheets with partners and independently multiple times.  We used strips for "Engine Engine", "Queen Queen Caroline", "Bee Bee Bumblebee",  and "Cobbler Cobbler."  

 








Students enjoyed learning the Cobbler Cobbler game and have asked to play each time they come to class.  We also played Bee Bee Bumblebee in a circle, eliminating one player on the word "out."  When the circle was down to three or four players, students made predictions about who they thought would be out next.

Third grade students learned "Benjamin Franklin" and practiced passing the ball on the steady beat around the circle.


 


As each student was eliminated, they chose a percussion instrument to play and help keep the beat while the others continued passing the ball in the circle.

Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth grades sang the African song, "Obwisana," while passing sticks on the floor.  I introduced/reviewed macrobeat and microbeat, and we practiced both as I called out commands.  The macrobeat was super fun and easy once we got in the groove, but the microbeat was a bit of a challenge as several students weren't able to keep up.  To keep them listening even more, toward the end of our activity, I added a "reverse" call and the students changed directions passing their sticks.  

All in all, we got a lot of laughs and had a great time.

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 and others on a music education link-up!