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!  

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Don't you just love Spring?  It's my absolute favorite season of the year.  The birds are singing a sweet song, the flowers are blooming in bright colors, and the students are climbing up the walls.  Hold on!  That last statement is NOT actually one of the many reasons I love Spring.  In fact, I'm going bananas at the current moment.  The kids and I have Spring fever.  The only cure I can think of to give me some sanity is a shopping spree to Teachers Pay Teachers.  You heard me right!  A shopping spree!  Would you like to join in on the fun?  I hope your wishlist is full, because I'm teaming up with some fabulous music teachers to host an AWESOME GIVEAWAY!  Two lucky winners will each receive a $50 gift certificate to TpT.  Who wouldn't enjoy some free resources?  All you have to do is enter the raffle below.  Visit some of my friends on their blog, Facebook, or TpT stores for more entries.  Good luck to you and Happy Spring :)  

Want to see what's on my wishlist?  Take a look at my shopping cart below...  

Dance Josey....

     This is one of my favorite songs to teach.  All ages enjoy singing and playing this fun tune.  I definitely want this resource for my students to have a visual.

Favorite Folks Songs - Leading Ladies!....

       Frankly, I don't teach enough folk songs.  I'm looking forward to this resource simply to educate the students about the background, and we'll have some fun, new movement activities too.

Stars and Stripes Forever Listening Activity....

      This is one of my Music Memory pieces for 4th-6th grade students.   It will be nice to have some new listening activities for my students to make connections with the music.

What's on your wishlist?

     

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Free Resources

Posters / Printables / Bulletin Boards:

 

Games and Small Group Activities:

March Madness

Where has the time gone?  Apparently March flew by so fast that I didn't have time to blog.  Ugh....and I thought I was getting better :)   Oh well.  Spring Break was much welcomed this month.  While I had high hopes of getting a lot accomplished, productivity was at an all time low....and that's o.k.

 With school resuming, so has the busyness.  Programs are on the horizon, testing is grueling, and end-of-the-year crunches are in full swing.   Life has become a little more stressful recently.  As for now, I'm holding my breath until the end of May when I can relax again.   Glancing back at my March happenings, 2nd graders were introduced to W. A. Mozart. After much explanation about "composers" vs. "presidents," they enjoyed making their scarves dance around to some of Mozart's pieces.  Eyes got bright when they recognized "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" from the cartoon, Little Einsteins.  Following our movement activity, we created a Mozart Fact Flipbook (made by Jena Hudson.)   The kids enjoyed learning all about Mozart and having something to take home and share with their families.  It was a really fun project for us to do together :)
 

 In 1st grade, students have been working on MSL for a while.  Though already familiar with "Twenty-Four Robbers" from our curriculum CDs, the 

 kids were recently introduced to the song on the staff.   Practicing our solfege and rhythms, I used a fun assessment worksheet to check for understanding.  This was a great resource to send home as well.  Many times, parents don't realize what their children are actually learning in music class.  I believe sending things home occasionally can help solidify the importance of music in the curriculum AND help families understand music isn't just a blow off class. 

As with many of our songs and games,
children joined along on Orff instruments.  Twenty-Four Robbers has an Orff arrangement included that can be modified depending on the level of your students.

Older students (grades 4-6) have just began working on recorder.  They've been looking forward to it all year long.  I use the Recorder Karate program, and my kids LOVE it!  The thrill of earning a belt for their instrument makes this a successful system for my students.  I converted one of my magnetic chalkboards into our progress board on a Friday afternoon so when the kids came in on the following Monday, they were eager to begin learning recorder.  I use the current girl and boy clipart to add each student's name on front, and a magnet on back.  When they play off each song, they are able to easily move their "person" to the corresponding color on the board.  It's the highlight of their year, and exciting for me to see their note reading confidence.

What's happening in your music room this month?   I'd love to hear about your programs and ideas.

Some New Favorite Things!

I love good deals.  If you're like me, on a teacher's budget, we're always trying to find the next best thing for our classrooms at a great price.   Here are a few of my recent finds!

When I'm on a mission for new things, one of the first stops I make is the famous dollar bins at Target.  My heart skips a few beats just looking at all the little treasures to be found in all that chaos :)

  

Manipulatives are always needed for staff and rhythm activities.  I generally use these with 1st-3rd, but sometimes my 4th and 5th graders enjoy them  too.  This time I grabbed some cupcakes, owls, and robots (for the boys!)  Usually I work out my storage issues with something back in the classroom I already have, but then I stumbled upon these cool plastic boxes.  I love them because they stack nicely on top of each other, and I can actually see what's in them.

 My next trip led me to the Dollar Tree-a teacher's playground when it comes to plastic containers.  So, I found these cute little drawer boxes.  To keep my crayons and pencil erasers in an orderly fashion, this will be perfect for the kids to go grab what they need, then simply slide the drawer back in.  Glue sticks would work well in there too, for those fun music projects we do every once in a while.  Teacher desk organizers?  Oh yes....perfect.

 Another Dollar Tree find.  I hand out tickets for positive behavior in class, then draw for pencils every two weeks.  I was using some large buckets that were taking up too much space and weren't really that cute.  These little things were the perfect size for my shelving and the kids enjoy seeing their tickets inside.  Speaking of tickets.  Did you know Dollar Tree sold tickets?  I didn't until I found these.  I think there were 250 for $1.  I usually order the big rolls at the beginning of the year and pay much more, but these will get me through until school is out in June.  A great quick fix!

 Last, but not least.  These are some of my fave new munchies.  Nature Valley has these new nut crisp bars.  YUM!  My lunch is really late this year, so I grab one mid-morning to get my energy level back up.  They are scrum-diddly-umtious and packed with all kinds of nuts, including sunflower seeds.  Mmmmm.  My all time favorite is the dark chocolate pomegranate candies.  If you haven't tried them yet, then you just haven't lived.  These are my "go to" snack right after lunch.  About six or seven of them make me very, very happy:)  Let me know what you think!

What kind of bargains are you finding lately?