I know it's been forever since I wrote a blog post, but I'm finally back! Over the summer, I went from being a long-term substitute at one school to an official elementary music teacher -- and I couldn't be more thrilled! I am so thankful and grateful to all of the parents and staff at my new school for allowing me the opportunity to show what we can do, together! That being said, I would like to share with my new school an opportunity for 4th and 5th graders. In music class, we will be learning several songs that will help the students develop in their learning. However, if they have the desire, the students can go above and beyond what we do in class and participate in Recorder Karate! Recorder Karate includes three degrees of belts students can earn, with seven belts per level. Every morning during the week (except for half-days or other exceptional days) my music room is completely open from 7:45am-8:15am. During the first 15 minutes, students can come in and play recorders with their friends, experimenting with their own improvisations or practicing what we have learned in class. For the duration of the half hour, I go through the Recorder Karate songs (right now we are working on the first degree white belt) and help them learn how to study the music. This will improve musicianship and prepare them for middle school band/orchestra, if they so choose.
- Roll mouse over tab that says "1st Degree Belts". A drop down menu will appear where you can choose the color of the belt you are currently trying to test out of.
This week, the children celebrate St. Patrick's Day! In honor of that holiday, we of course needed to do something extra special!
I began each class by asking them what they know about St. Patrick's Day. The majority of children say a little bit about shamrocks, leprechauns, and wearing green, but only one or two know even a little bit about the holiday or traditions that come along with it!
I then tell the class we are going to learn about how St. Patrick's Day came to be, and show them a video made by the History Channel called "Bet You Didn't Know: St. Patrick's Day."
The kids really enjoy this video, and have a great time learning at the same time! Immediately after the video, I ask them questions about what they watched:
(1.) So was St. Patrick really Irish? Where was he originally from?
(2.) How did he end up in Ireland?
(3.) How old was he when he was taken to Ireland?
(4.) How long was he in Ireland under captivity?
(5.) Did he go back to Ireland? What did he go back to be?
(6.) Why do we wear green on St. Patrick's day?
(7.) Are Shamrocks real?
(8.) Where in the world did our St. Patrick's tradition of a big parade start?
I make sure to repeat these questions again, both in the middle of the class and then at the end before their teacher comes to get them to reinforce what they learned and to ensure memorization of facts!
The BIG project is getting my kids to dance to Irish music! We had two songs we danced to: "The Irish Washerwoman" by the Celtic Legends and "Tell Me Ma" by Sham Rock. This is a big undertaking, especially for K-2 because the children don't have full control of their bodies and they have very short attention spans!
My Process
All the children make a large circle in the middle of the room, holding hands. I then have the children count to four and take four steps in place. We do this two or three times until everyone is on beat and understands the concept! I then tell them we are simply going to take four steps forward into the circle instead of stepping in place, being sure to show them what not to do (like running forward in front of people, pulling people over, etc.). We take four steps forward together, while counting. After that, we do the same thing but go backwards. I then challenge them to do this two times without stopping (walk in for four counts, walk out for four counts, and repeat one more time).
At this point, the children get very excited! It's important that I repeat they are to take small steps towards the middle and keep a close eye on the children as it is easy to get hyper and get out of control.
Next, I go and count them off as either a "1" or a "2" (grades 3-5). Generally, K-2 can't remember what numbers they are and have a difficult time maintaining success in the rest of the dance, so I move the kids around and put them in alternating boy/girl order. I then explain that we are going to do the exact same thing we did before, but we will take turns. I explain that the "1" or "girl" group will walk in for four steps and our for four steps while clapping, and the "2" or "boy" group walks in place while counting and clapping. After the first group has successfully accomplished this, we reverse groups so that the next group has a chance to walk into the middle of the circle. We practice just the alternating groups a few times until everyone has a good understanding of what is happening, and then I add the first part of holding hands and walking in and out of the circle twice.
The last part of the dance consists of the children holding hands and walking clockwise in their circle for 3 sets of four counts, and then walking in place for another four counts. For the younger children (K-2), I usually have them count to 12 and stop walking around the circle at that point to walk in place.
When we have learned all the parts of the dance, I have them count, clap, and perform the dance anywhere from 3-5 times all in a row without music. The important thing for me is to see what students are able to maintain a steady beat and show it with their bodies and with their words!
After they have consistently performed the dance well, I then add the music! And they LOVE it! We end up showing their teachers when they come to pick them up, as well as show off by me asking them the questions from the beginning of the class. The teachers are very impressed by the children's knowledge of St. Patrick's Day, and are happy to see their kids to happy! A win-win situation for all and a very happy St. Patrick's week!
How wonderful to see so many young children joined together in song! This is just part of our second combined rehearsal last night with schools from across the county, and it sounds just beautiful!
Since I have come into the school in the middle of the year, making sure that there is discipline, order, and expectations for my children has been extremely important. One of the things I am in the process of doing this week is having all of my children make name tags from large non-lined notecards. This automatically curbs the children acting out because they know that I know who they are.
This week's piece goes hand-in-hand with this activity, because while they are getting a chance to color and decorate their name tag, I will be playing The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a by Tchaikovsky. This piece is beautiful, imaginative, and extremely fun for children (and adults!) of all ages.
Standards Being Met
Kindergarten
MU.K.C.1.2, MU.K.C.1.3
Identify sounds and instruments visually and aurally.
First Grade
MU.1.C.1.1, MU.1.C.1.2, MU.1.C.3.1
Respond to musical ideas to show how it makes one feel and share responses with others.
Second Grade
MU.2.C.1.2, MU.2.C.3.1
Form opinions about music and discuss it with others.
Third Grade
MU.3.C.1.2
Respond to and compare individual interpretations of a musical work.
Fourth Grade
MU.4.C.1.1, MU.4.C.3.1
Develop effective listening strategies to describe the characteristics of a musical work.
Fifth Grade
MU.5.C.1.1, MU.5.O1.1
Listen to and describe various elements when analyzing a musical work using correct vocabulary.
Each week, students spend the last few minutes of class listening to a classical piece of music. They are asked to close their eyes and listen for specific musical elements, and what kind of mood or feeling it evokes within them.
This week, our song was a movement from Antonio Vivaldi's violin concerti, The Four Seasons entitled "Spring."
I asked the students to tell me what instruments they hear in the piece, and why they think this piece is called "Spring" (i.e. it sounds faster, more joyful, et cetera).
Standards Being Met
Kindergarten
MU.K.C.1.2, MU.K.C.1.3
Identify sounds and instruments visually and aurally.
First Grade
MU.1.C.1.1, MU.1.C.1.2, MU.1.C.3.1
Respond to musical ideas to show how it makes one feel and share responses with others.
Second Grade
MU.2.C.1.2, MU.2.C.3.1
Form opinions about music and discuss it with others.
Third Grade
MU.3.C.1.2
Respond to and compare individual interpretations of a musical work.
Fourth Grade
MU.4.C.1.1, MU.4.C.3.1
Develop effective listening strategies to describe the characteristics of a musical work.
Fifth Grade
MU.5.C.1.1, MU.5.O1.1
Listen to and describe various elements when analyzing a musical work using correct vocabulary.
Since March 2nd is the legendary Dr Seuss' birthday, I have created a lesson plan that incorporates reading, singing, and playing instruments with his book, "If I Ran the Zoo."
I definitely cannot take credit for this idea -- I got the idea from Ms. Benson (you can be redirected to her blog by clicking on her name)! She originally did a melody to the book "There's A Wocket In My Pocket!"
Prep for Success -- Internalizing Pitches and Intervals
We did our standard warm-ups from the last class, with rhythm reading two measures in 4/4 time (using only quarter notes and eighth notes). We also sang our intervals from last week (Sol, Mi, Do), and introducing "Re" for this exercise.
Once the children were comfortable with the intervals and hand signs, I had them sing, "Do-Mi-Re-Mi" (dotted eight with sixteenth note rhythm) and "Do" (half note) while using their hand signs. I then added the words "If I Ran the Zoo!"
Big Changes:
I ended up not using this melody at all -- it turned out I made it a little too hard for the kids when they only have one mallet each. Instead, we practiced singing, "Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do" with hand signs on quarter notes, and then added the lyrics "If I Ran the Zoo" to that. They played the same thing on their instruments.
Performance
I had the children move back to the Orff instruments, and we practice playing the same melody while singing. I then read the book to them, and after each page I read, they perform the melody on their instruments while singing.
What I Would Change Next Time:
I think that, like the Kindergarten/First Grade post, I would like for each child to have two mallets next year. I'd also like to make this more challenging, like I wrote about in my Second/Third Grade post, and include a bass line and possibly an ostinato.
Standards Being Met
Fourth Grade
MU.4.H.3.1, MU.4.F.3.1
Identify connections between music class and other academic areas.
Fifth Grade
MU.5.S.1.4, MU.5.S.3.4
Sing melodies learned by ear.
Play melodies and accompaniments learned by ear.
MU.5.S.3.2
Play melodies and accompaniments.
Since March 2nd is the legendary Dr Seuss' birthday, I have created a lesson plan that incorporates reading, singing, and playing instruments with his book, "Horton Hatches the Egg."
I definitely cannot take credit for this idea -- I got the idea from Ms. Benson (you can be redirected to her blog by clicking on her name)! She originally did a melody to the book "There's A Wocket In My Pocket!"
Prep for Success -- Internalizing Pitches and Intervals
We did our standard warm-ups from the last class, with rhythm reading two measures in 4/4 time (using only quarter notes and eighth notes). We also sang our intervals from last week (Sol, Mi, Do), and introducing "Re" for this exercise.
Once the children were comfortable with the intervals and hand signs, I had them sing, "Sol-Mi-Sol-Mi-Mi-Mi-Re-Do" on half notes (Sol-Mi-Sol-Mi) and quarter notes (Mi-Mi), another half note (Re) and finally a whole note (Do) while using their hand signs. I then added the words "Hor-ton, Hor-ton, Faithful and True."
Performance
I had the children move back to the Orff instruments, and we practice playing the same melody while singing. I then read the book to them, and after each page I read, they perform the melody on their instruments while singing.
What I Would Change Next Time:
I think that it would be really great to add an ostinato to this melody, and perhaps a bass line for my more advanced students. An ostinato, or just playing two notes back and forth, would be great for my kids who are having a harder time keeping up with the melody, and adding different parts would challenge my more advanced children. Like I said for the Kindergarten class, I'd love to have enough mallets for the kids to have two each.
Standards Being Met
Second Grade
MU.2.S.2.1
Sings songs from memory.
MU.2.S.2.1, MU.2.S.3.2
Play songs from memory.
MU.2.S.3.1
Sing age-appropriate songs using proper vocal technique.
Third Grade
MU.3.F.1.1
Bring a story or poem to life with music and/or movement.
Since March 2nd is the legendary Dr Seuss' birthday, I have created a lesson plan that incorporates reading, singing, and playing instruments with his book, "There's A Wocket In My Pocket!"
I definitely cannot take credit for this idea -- I got the idea from Ms. Benson (you can be redirected to her blog by clicking on her name)!
I did change the melody from what she originally used to incorporate Mi, Sol, and La (intervals I think are easiest for children at this young age).
Before my Kindergarten and First Grade class arrived, I was sure to remove all the bars from our xylophones so that only E (Mi), G (Sol), and A (La) were available for them to play.
Prep for Success -- Internalizing Pitches and Intervals
We did our standard warm-ups from the last class, with rhythm reading two measures in 4/4 time (using only quarter notes and eighth notes). We also sang our intervals from last week, leaving out "Do" and introducing "La" for this exercise.
Once the children were comfortable with the intervals and hand signs, I had them sing, "Sol-Mi-Sol-Mi-Sol-La-Sol-Mi" on half notes, while using their hand signs. I then added the words "There's a wocket in my pocket."
***I actually changed the piece to only include "Sol" and "Mi" -- I think adding "La" was a little ambitious of me to have K/1 play!
Performance
I have the children move back to the Orff instruments, and we practice playing the same melody while singing. I then read the book to them, and after each page I read, they perform the melody on their instruments while singing. The first grade was, for the most part, able to keep up with what I wanted them to do.
In Kindergarten, there were a small number of children understood and were able to play correctly, a few who were confused and played E to G instead of the other way around, and then a large percentage of children who were not able to move from G to E with just one mallet and fell behind.
During the last few days that I tried this, I ended up just having all the children in Kindergarten play a G over and over again while singing the original melody (although many children were intuitive and added a "La" to the song!).
What I Would Change Next Time:
For next year, I would definitely go ahead and buy more mallets so that each child can have two. In this way, the Kindergarten classes would be able to play two notes without becoming overly confused and have more success on their instruments.
Here is video of one of my first grade classes performing!
Standards Being Met
Kindergarten
MU.K.S.3.1, MU.K.S.3.3
Sing age-appropriate songs using proper vocal technique.
MU.K.F.1.1
Enhance stories and/or poems through music.
First Grade
MU.1.S.2.1, MU.1.S.3.1
Sing age-appropriate songs using proper vocal technique from memory.
MU.1.H.3.1
Enhance stories, poems, chants, and songs through music.
For new music teachers, I highly recommend Aspiring to Excel: Leadership Initiatives for Music Educators by Kenneth R. Raessler. It was a required reading for me at the University of Florida, and I am so glad it was -- every music teacher needs to read this book! Thank you, Dr. Russell Robinson!
This book is an incredible resource on how to start and build your music program, be it at the elementary, middle, high school, or even college level! He also gives wonderful insight on why it is important to recognize your role as a leader within the education system and how you can use your role to make a difference in your schools and communities.
You can get the book on Amazon by hovering over the link here.
These wonderful "I Can" posters were taken from Ms. Benson's website, So La Mi: Music Elementary Class! She has a lot of wonderful sources for music teachers so I highly recommend her blog!
These wonderful "I Can" posters were taken from Ms. Benson's website, So La Mi: Music Elementary Class! She has a lot of wonderful sources for music teachers so I highly recommend her blog!
These wonderful "I Can" posters were taken from Ms. Benson's website, So La Mi: Music Elementary Class! She has a lot of wonderful sources for music teachers so I highly recommend her blog!
I showed all of my students a music clip from the movie classic, The Sound of Music, called "Do-Re-Mi" -- can you tell it's one of my all-time favorite movies?
Solfeggio
In this clip, it introduces the concept of naming pitches in a major scale "non-sensical" words to create different melodies.
I have a poster of the solfeggio with hand-signs in my classroom, for reference.
I focused on this lesson on only Do, Mi- and Sol. I did not really explain what I was doing, but instead just said "sol" with the hand signal and asked the children to copy me. After a few repetitions, I added in "mi," then finally "do" -- all in speaking voices, no singing yet! I mixed up the hand signals, saying it with the children a few times before dropping out and simply showing the hand signals while they did and said the solfeggio. Once I felt they had a grasp on the hand signs and names, I went to the piano and played a D major triad (this seems to be a very good key for children to sing in). I started with "Sol" on A4, singing down to "Mi" on F#4. I changed between those notes a few times until the children seemed to get the minor third before adding in "Do" on D4. I was careful only to do the exercise for a few minutes -- if I drill something too much it no longer becomes challenging and fun, but instead tiresome. After successfully completing this exercise, I made sure to use Kagan praise strategies to reward the children!
Instruments
I had the children transition to Orff instruments and had them find C, E, and G. They practiced transitioning from one note to another, and when I felt they had a basic idea of where to find the bars, I challenged them to follow my hand signs -- whenever I did a "Do" hand sign, they would play C, for "Mi" they would play E, and for "Sol" they would play G. I proceeded to show them the hand signs in a variety of orders and they all, for the most part, were successfully able to follow my direction and play the notes according to the hand signs I showed them! This helped to reinforce the sound of a major triad, and I could see many of the children having an "a-ha!" moment as they recognized that this is what they had been singing earlier, albeit in a different key.
Here is one of my third grade classes!
Amazing for the very first time being introduced to solfeggio AND for playing on the Orff instruments! I could not be more proud.
Standards Being Met
Kindergarten
MU.K.S.3.1, MU.K.S.3.3
Sing age-appropriate songs using proper vocal technique.
First Grade
MU.1.S.3.2
Play three-to-five note melodies on classroom instruments.
MU.1.S.3.3, MU.1.S.3.5
Respond to la-sol-mi patterns by singing and representing them visually.
Second Grade
MU.2.S.3.1
Sing age-appropriate songs using proper vocal technique.
MU.2.S.3.3
Sight-sing simple melodies.
I was blessed and fortunate enough to be selected as the brand new music teacher for an elementary school a few weeks ago, after their previous educator retired. Obviously as a new person coming in during the middle of the school year, I had many challenges and for the first two weeks spent much of my time focused on classroom organization and management. With that out of the way, I can now begin the fun stuff!
None of my children know what solfeggio is yet, nor have they ever truly sight-read, which is actually wonderful for me! Now I can teach them something brand new and exciting!
Rhythm Reading - Part 1
To begin the introduction of rhythm reading, I had the children keep a steady beat on their laps. While they kept a steady beat, I would start a call and response. I would use the words "cheese" and "pizza" to create rhythms (cheese = quarter note or 1 beat, and pizza = 1/8 note or 1/2 beat):
1. "Cheese, Cheese, Cheese, Cheese" and "Pizza, Pizza, Pizza, Pizza"
2. "Cheese, Pizza, Cheese, Pizza" and "Pizza, Cheese, Pizza, Cheese"
3. "Pizza, Cheese, Cheese, Pizza" and "Cheese, Pizza, Pizza, Cheese"
Obviously you can alternate "pizza" and "cheese to come up with lots of different and fun rhythms using quarter and 1/8 notes.
Rhythm Reading - Part 2
I then asked my children how many times they clapped their laps when I said "cheese" and "pizza." The correct answer is one, but sometimes they will answer four because they misunderstand the question as the exercise is in 4/4 time. I then use an English concept, syllables, to explain that cheese is one syllable, and pizza is two. I say, "Isn't that so interesting, that I can make two sounds: piz-za on one beat?"
I then ask one of the students what their favorite sandwich is. I use their favorite sandwich to incorporate a math concept, fractions, and to help them understand that an 1/8 note is half the value of a quarter note. I say,
T: "Imagine your mom made you this amazing ____________ (insert favorite here) sandwich, but your friend (point to the person next to them) forgot to bring his lunch. Now, since you are such a nice person, you cut your sandwich right down the middle; you keep part of it and give the other part to your friend. Now you each have 1/2 a sandwich. You didn't magically make two big sandwiches from cutting one sandwich in half, did you?"
S: Resounding "no," with laughter.
T: "So if you two put your pieces together, how many sandwiches would you make?"
S: One!
T: "So how much of a sandwich do you think each person has, if we take one sandwich and split it up?"
S: "Half!"
Note: Some students might not fully understand. I drew on the blackboard to give them a visual, but in general, it's nice to just throw the students some pearls, even if they don't quite understand the concepts just yet.
Rhythm Reading - Part 3
I created a large bulletin board with all the grades listed, as well as dry erase staff posters beneath each grade. This has become my new sight-reading board, where the children can practice saying rhythms while keeping a steady beat on their laps. I will change the notation on it each week as we discover more notes and learn about their rhythm values.
For this week, I used quarter notes and 1/8 notes for the rhythm readings. I pointed to the quarter notes, asked what kind of value it had, and then asked the students to say "ta" every time they saw it. I then pointed to the 1/8 notes, asked what value they had, and asked the students to say "ti" every time they saw one. I obviously grouped two 1/8 notes together every time, so they would always say "ti-ti." I then related "ta" to "cheese" and "ti-ti" to "pizza."
The students were able to sight-read the rhythms while keeping a steady beat with very few problems, if any.
Conclusion
Overall, I felt my lesson was highly successful. The children, K-5, were almost all able to keep a steady beat on their laps, recognize "ta" as a quarter note and understand the value, as well as recognizing "ti-ti" as an 1/8 note. The majority of the students were able to effectively rhythm read with very little trouble while staying on the steady beat.
Each week, students spend the last few minutes of class listening to a classical piece of music. They are asked to close their eyes and listen for specific musical elements, and what kind of mood or feeling it evokes within them.
This week, our song was "Canon in D", composed by Johann Pachelbel (I jokingly have told the students they can remember his name by thinking it rhymes with "Taco Bell").
I asked the students to tell me whether this piece was fast, slow, or somewhere in between. I also asked them to use an adjective to describe the piece. The two most popular answers I have gotten so far is "slow" and "sleepy."
Standards Being Met
Kindergarten
MU.K.C.1.2, MU.K.C.1.3
Identify sounds and instruments visually and aurally.
First Grade
MU.1.C.1.1, MU.1.C.1.2, MU.1.C.3.1
Respond to musical ideas to show how it makes one feel and share responses with others.
Second Grade
MU.2.C.1.2, MU.2.C.3.1
Form opinions about music and discuss it with others.
Third Grade
MU.3.C.1.2
Respond to and compare individual interpretations of a musical work.
Fourth Grade
MU.4.C.1.1, MU.4.C.3.1
Develop effective listening strategies to describe the characteristics of a musical work.
Fifth Grade
MU.5.C.1.1, MU.5.O1.1
Listen to and describe various elements when analyzing a musical work using correct vocabulary.
