Summer's A-Coming!

Busy, busy, busy!  That's the story of my my musical life over the last few weeks.  My students have successfully put on two musical programs (Lights! Camera! Action! and Hats!), celebrated Cinco de Mayo, advanced on recorders, learned about Peter and the Wolf, and began an introduction to piano.  Whew!  We're tired, but not finished yet.  We've got two more weeks to have fun together before school is out for the summer.  My plan....to pull out some popular activities that the students have enjoyed throughout the year.  We've got just enough time to revisit and reinforce.   You too can enjoy some of my best sellers, now on sale through Wednesday 5/27, at The Bates Clef.

Students were up and moving as they learned a new dance, La Raspa as part of their Cinco de Mayo unit.  From young to old(er), all grade levels had a blast partnering up for this activity.

 My "littles" enjoyed learning the song, Los Pollitos.  They sang, tapped the beat, read the rhythms, then played on the Orff instruments as an extension.

 This is one of my fave times of the year with recorders.  Not because I thoroughly LOVE listening to recorders day in and day out, but because I enjoy seeing student accomplishments.  This before and after picture is worth a million words.  As of Friday (no pic to show), three students earned their Black Belt.  They worked so hard and were very proud of how far they had come.  Not that it's a competition against others, but the non-black belts find a little more motivation to keep pressing forward once our first wave of black belts is awarded.

 This last week, first grade learned about Peter and the Wolf as an introduction to the orchestra.  I found these really cute activities through Tracy King's Teachers Pay Teachers store.  The students really enjoyed the reinforcement practice and making connections between character and instrument.

 

 Finally, 6th graders were introduced to basic piano with these super cool keyboards I received from Donor's Choose.  This was the second project through the program that I requested.  If you haven't checked out that site, hit the link above.  It's amazing!

  How are you spending your last days/weeks of school? I'd love to hear what's happening in YOUR music world!  

Fabulous February

February came and went fast it seems.  The kids and I have been so busy, I haven't had time to sit and blog until now.  This week, I missed school on Monday and Tuesday due to ice.  It was back to school again on Wednesday and Thursday, then the snow and ice came back on Friday giving us an unexpected early dismissal.  "Snow days" are the best.  I love sitting in the warmth of my home to get caught up (with my blog) and regenerated.  With that being said, here's a peak into some of my February happenings.

At the beginning of the February, I put up this cool set of Black Musicians for Black History Month.  I found them on Teachers Pay Teachers from David Row @ Make Moments Matter.   The students really enjoyed browsing through the different artists while in the hallway.  The set is colorful and engaging.  Thanks, David!

One of First grade's new songs this month was 

"A Tisket, A Tasket." We learned the song to review rhythm and prep for La, then used a green and yellow basket to play a rhythm game. The student in the center walked around the circle as the children sang the song. At the end, the middle child "drops" his basket in front of someone else. At that point, a "love letter" is drawn from the basket and read out loud. The kids loved this activity. Check out the "A Tisket, A Tasket" rhythm cards on TpT.

For added practice, my fabulous firsties transferred "A Tisket, A Tasket" to our orff instruments.

Fourth through Sixth graders learned Cedar Swamp to review 4 sixteenths.  After singing this fun song, we added a clapping/movement activity and instruments.

        

As February ends, stay tuned for some of my favorite things coming up in March, and exciting news for The Music-Go-Round!

 

Who is Sasha?

I bought a new toy (of sorts.)  After reading about the fun other

 music teachers have with folk dancing, I decided to plunge into unfamiliar territory.  I had never thought about, nor had an interest in, teaching dances to my students, until now.  Purchasing my new "toy", a.k.a Alabama Gal folk dance collection was my happiest moment this week.  And let's admit it....we ALL need a little happy in our lives :)  I introduced Sasha (dance #1 in the book) to 4th - 6th grade early in the week, then 3rd grade toward the end.  Not only did the kids have a blast, but also, they were asking to do it again for the next class. There were none of those awkward moments that we typically experience.  You know what they are.... when the cooties come out and none of the children want to come within six inches of each other, much less touch hands or link elbows.  Participation was at 100% and that made this teacher smile:)  I can't wait to introduce more of the Alabama Gal collection of dances this year.  Woo Hoo! 

This week, my itty-bitties were still working on steady beat and ta/titi icons.  Using stones (our fave class manipulative because they are sooooo pretty), I would recite one phrase from a song and have them add stones to their beat sheet to match the way the words go.  For instance, "Queen Queen Caroline" would be one stone in the first two hearts, two stones in the third, and again one stone in the fourth heart.  We repeated the activity with several of the songs we have learned since day 1.  It was great practice for the students to visualize and create their own icons for "the way the words go" in the songs.  

As a checkpoint, I would put magnets on my hearts so students could compare their rhythms with mine.  When all were on track, we would touch our stones while saying the corresponding phrase in the song. 

And so it goes, on The Music-Go-Round!