Let's go fishing!

I recently came across this really cute Guatemalan folk song:

If anybody knows me, I love all things Latin American - except beans.  For some reason, I just hate those!

Anyway, this is a great song for teaching ta rest for your 1st graders, or bringing it back later on to practice low so.  I wouldn't really use it to present that, because the interval is always re-so, but it would help enforce I-V accompaniment, and is really good for practicing that interval.

Latin American folk songs often have an uneven feel to them, because a lot of the time, their phrases are a little uneven - just different from what we're used to here in the good old U.S.A.  This song has that uneven phrase thing - sort of.  It has 4 equal-in-length phrases, but each phrase is 6 beats long.  That's a little unusual - but cool.  Something that you can point out to your kiddos!  The form is ABA'B - so it's great for pointing that out as well.

The words are:

1. Vamos a la mar, tum, tum,

A comer pescado, tum, tum.

Boca colorada, tum, tum,

Fritito ya asado, tum, tum.

2. Vamos a la mar, tum, tum,

A comer pescado, tum, tum.

Fritito y asado, tum, tum,

En sarten de palo, tum, tum.

The meaning is (not an exact translation, but this way it can also be sung in English)

1. Let's go to the sea

To get fish to eat.

Mouth as red as ruby,

Grilled and fried and crispy.

2. Let's go to the sea

To get fish to eat.

Grilled and fried and crispy

In a wooden skillet.

There is not a game that I can find, but you could have the kids create their own (mine love doing this).

I found a cute little video of some kids adding body percussion to this song.  They do it a little differently - they add an extra measure of rests to make the phrases even.  Find that video here.

Also, since this song is so great for practicing/presenting ta rest, I came up with a little game I call "Fishing for Rhythms."  Basically, you print off a set of these cards:

Cut them out, laminate them, etc.  Then, you can spread them around the "pond," face down.  A student has to "fish" for a rhythm and either you can do individual assessment - that student performs it by themselves, or you can have their team perform it.  Either way, if it is performed correctly, they get a point.  If it is incorrect, have them throw it back in the "pond," and continue playing.

You can also use these cards for games like "Post Office" or the fly swatter game - you know how much I love that one :)  I've provided a set of these cards (12 in total, practicing ta, ti-ti and ta rest) in both color and black and white.  You can get my whole file on this song (and support my adoption savings) here.

OR, you can wait until next week, when I'm throwing a big Cinco de Mayo sale and get this for 20% off, as well as all of my other Spanish language files :)

Wind Up the Apple Tree

While I was looking through my school's music textbooks (We have the Making Music series), I found this lovely song in the 1st grade curriculum:

What a great fall song!  You could use this in September/October (paired with Apple Tree and other apple-themed songs).  You could also change the type of fruit to meet the season:  how about "Christmas Tree" for December, or "cherry tree" for spring?  So many choices!

What a great song for 1st graders!  It uses exclusively so, mi and la - which is my focus in 1st grade, and is also a great song to use for ta rest.  PLUS, it has a cute game that my students really enjoyed.

Now, there is one thing that is slightly confusing about this song if you use it to teach rhythm:  If you look at measures 3 and 5, there is a paired eighth note, even though there is only one word underneath.  I feel that if this is confusing for your students, you could change it to a ta and use so-so-so.  Otherwise, the rhythm is very accessible.

The melody in this song is great for reviewing so, mi, la, or even presenting la.  I made a little presentation for this song - you can find it on my Teachers Pay Teachers page here:  Wind Up the Apple Tree

Here's a preview:

I have beat slides:

I have rhythmic icons:

I have rhythmic notation:

I even have stick notation:

I have melodic preparation:

And the melody on a 3-line staff:

But, best of all is the game:

My kids really enjoyed this game!  I found it would be really nice to attach it to the end of your regular "Apple Tree" game.  (Read about it here if you don't know it)  Your kids are all holding hands in a circle anyway - it's a nice little add-on :)

Here are a couple of videos of kids playing this game:

I just love finding new repertoire, don't you?  :)

Engine Train game

I blogged a few days ago about "Engine Engine Number Nine."  Last year, I found this great resource for FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers:

Find it here:  Engine Engine Number Nine

Lindsay Jervis, a fellow Kodaly teacher here in Kansas (but 3 hours away in Wichita - I'm near Kansas City) has mapped this out perfectly for the Kodaly classroom.  Even if you're not Kodaly trained, you can totally benefit from this.  It has beat charts, iconic rhythmic notation, and is just very, very cute.

Anyway, I'm working with my 1st graders on ta and ti-ti, and getting them to clap them correctly.  So I decided to take a different direction with this.  I made 2 versions of this game - one to play with the whole group, and the other to play at centers or with smaller groups.

The large group game starts with this menu screen:

I've uploaded this to Teachers Pay Teachers as a PowerPoint, so you just click on one of the numbers, and it takes you to a rhythmic slide, like this one:

After they have tried, click on the train in the lower right-hand corner to bring you back to the menu screen.

Each slide is worth 1 or 2 points, so you just split the class in half, keep track of points, and the winner is the one with the most points at the end, or the first team to 10 points, depending on what you want.  I like to use this version first, before I split into smaller groups/centers, to give the kids a chance to learn how to play.

Now, for the small-group version, I actually made it a board game.  It's kind of on the same level as Candyland, so I practiced playing with my 4-year-old daughter.  Granted, she knew what ta and ti-ti were when she was 2, but still......

Here's the game board:

You can print out these differently-colored trains and laminate them to use as tokens:

Or, you can do what I did and use those cute little train whistles from Oriental Trading as game tokens:

 Choose a player to go first (I usually settle arguments with rock, paper, scissors), and they draw a card.  The cards have the same rhythms as the group game, but are smaller.  You can print this part out for the back if you'd like.  I actually just glued all the smaller cards on red construction paper, then laminated them:

And here's a view of the fronts:

The first player draws a card and claps it.  If they clap it correctly, they can move forward 1 space for 1 point, and 2 spaces for 2 points.  Here's a picture of my daughter clapping the rhythm:

And here she is moving her train:

Simple, but effective!  My favorite kinds of things!

You can get the whole train game here:  Engine Engine Number 9 Train Game.  It's not free, but hey, I'm trying to save up for adopting another child and adoption is expensive :)

Engine Engine Number Nine

Engine, engine number nine

Going down Chicago Line.

If the train falls off the track,

Will I get my money back?

 

That's the way I learned it - there are so many versions, all of them good but a little different.

 

Such a great chant for teaching ta, ti-ti, steady beat, and so much more!  I also like using it to get the students to improvise a so-mi melody.  So many uses!

 



A couple of years ago, I found these really cute mini train whistles on Oriental Trading. 

 

I just checked, and they don't carry these exact ones anymore, but they have other cute train stuff, including some cute wind-up trains I'm really tempted to buy.

 

Like many of you, I love using this chant to prepare/present/practice steady beat, quarter notes and eighth notes.  My kids really like it too, because I always have them form little trains and walk around the room to either the beat or the rhythm, depending on what we are working on.

 

Then, I came across these adorable train track beat charts on bethsmusicnotes.blogspot.com.  (I just adore her blog - she's got so many great songs and resources)

 

I thought it would be great to actually give each student a train whistle so they could visually move it across the chart as the song progresses, like this: 

Instant success!  Some of my (1st grade) kiddos were having a hard time pointing at regular beat from left to right, but the little manipulative really helped them.  Love it so much!



Doggie, Doggie

I am actively practicing notating sol, la, and mi on a 3-line staff with my 1st graders right now.  We have recently used the song "Doggie, Doggie," which I'm sure most of you are familiar with.  If not, here it is:

  I recently made a PowerPoint presentation of this song, which teaches rhythm and solfa, which you can find here:  Doggie Doggie presentation

This song is great to review staff notation. I usually use a 3-line staff with my 1st graders, and get to a 5-line staff in 2nd grade when I introduce "do."  We do a lot of activities where the students read staff notation, write staff notation, and improvise staff notation.  With this song, I created a simple game where I made 4 different cards with the staff notation.  The students received these cards and had to sort them in the right order:

Afterwards, we practiced singing them in a different order.  The kids got a kick out of this - they thought it sounded so funny!

This song has a very simple guessing game that goes with it that helps the students practice "solo" singing:  

It is a great, non-scary way to get your kids to sing by themselves.  It helps me assess whether or not they can match pitch.  However, sometimes my kids get restless and I added a part to this game that keeps them playing it longer, so I can assess more kids :)  If the "doggie" guesses the "thief" correctly, they get to chase them around the circle to try to get the bone back!  Just that one little addition that gets the students moving a little bit makes the game so much more fun, and my kids just beg and beg to play it.

Happy playing!

5 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers and an extended flash freebie!

I just sold my first product on Teachers Pay Teachers yesterday!  And I now have 5 whole followers.  Now, I know that's not a lot, but you've got to start somewhere.  Time to celebrate!  And, to celebrate, I'm loading a free file to my Teachers Pay Teachers store:  Little Sally Water.

I use this song in 1st grade to practice ta and ti-ti, as well as to present "la."  Here is a preview:

Rhythmic presentation slides:

Melodic presentation slides:

Game ideas:  

A copy of the song:

And even a worksheet you could leave for a sub - or do yourself :)

The whole thing is free only until April 5, 2014 - so go get your copy now.  And don't forget to leave me a rating so I can get better and better at doing this stuff :)  You can find it here: Little Sally Water song file 

More Buttons!

I am a HUGE fan of manipulatives.  Maybe it's because I'm a kinesthetic learner myself, but I feel that students learn better when they not only see and hear something, but when they experience it, or create it themselves.

Therefore, because of that belief, my husband can NEVER let me loose in "The Spot" at Target, or in any dollar store.  I am always finding things I can use for school.  Today's manipulative find is very easy - buttons!  You can find them basically anywhere - I found these at Walmart:

I'm using them for the song "Button You Must Wander."  I recently posted a PowerPoint presentation I have made that I'm offering for FREE on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

This activity kind of enhances that presentation.
The main goal of this song is for students to hear, feel, and write quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests.  So, I came up with these beat charts (also for free on TpT):

The students worked together in small groups - each with a beat chart (I did mine without the words because my students can totally handle it) and a pile of buttons.  For each beat with a quarter note (ta), they put one button.  For each beat with 2 eighth notes (ti-ti), they put two smaller buttons.  For the beat with a rest, they left it blank.  They worked together so well while doing this, and it was very nice to hear them clapping the rhythm of the song and pointing to the beat to figure it out:

And here's the finished product (sorry about the glare):

The kids truly enjoyed this activity - and it really helps that they felt so successful at it.

You can find the button beat charts here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Button-beat-charts-1150129

Do any of you use a favorite manipulative?

Teachers Pay Teachers

I am shamelessly putting in a plug for myself - I just set up my own Teachers Pay Teachers store!  I will be posting a lot of free products, but not all.  My husband and I are trying to save up to adopt another child - and adoption is extremely expensive, so visit my store and see if there is anything you like!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jaylene-Scott

One free product that I am currently using is my "Button You Must Wander" presentation.  This song is great for 1st/2nd grade to practice quarter rests, quarter notes, and paired eighth notes.  Here is a preview of the presentation:  

It includes lyrics, steady beat slides, iconic rhythmic notation slides to identify the rest, tas, and ti-tis, as well as stick rhythmic notation and game instructions.

I am currently using this with my first graders to practice rests.  Look for another post soon with pictures on how they are using another product!

My Favorite Halloween "Pins"

If you haven't joined Pinterest yet, you really should.  There are so many great ideas out there for music ed.  Even if all you do is look at music ed stuff, you will never, ever run out of great ideas.

Here are some of my favorite ideas I got from Pinterest this month:

1.  "Missus White."  This is a really fun rhythmic chant using ta and ti-ti.  On a side note, I use "Miss" instead of "Mrs." but either will work - depending on what rhythm you want.  My 3-year-old daughter recently improvised - on her own, might I add - "Snow White had a fright."  She is definitely the child of 2 music teachers :)

  I recently discovered this great pin that leads to a FREE Teachers Pay Teachers product:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mrs-White-Ghostly-Mini-Lessons-356264

2.  "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" - love this for vocal exploration with Kindergarten!  And I love that it incorporates literature in the music classroom:  http://carrie-persichini.blogspot.com/2011/09/childrens-literature-for-music-ed.html?m=1

3.  This sounds like a really fun Halloween rhythm game - transferring to instruments and everything:  http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/halloween-coming-songs-for-halloween/

I just LOVE Pinterest!  :)

Pumpkin Fat

This is a great song to use with your kiddos at Halloween that's not necessarily Halloween-y.  It does mention the word "jack-o-lantern," but that's as bad as it gets :)

When this song was introduced to me, it ended with a "so-mi-so" pattern, but everybody just kept singing "so-mi-do" - not on purpose, and I think that works better.  I made this PowerPoint for my kids, and I can use it for both introducing rests and for introducing "do."  In 1st and 2nd grade, I begin working with a 3-line staff, and don't really start adding more lines until mid-2nd grade or so.

 

I recently went to a district training where we talked about how to incorporate Common Core into the music classroom (this is where this song was introduced to me).  We can talk about personal feelings about Common Core another time, but since my district is implementing it, I'm trying to do this the best I can.  It was suggested for this song to incorporate it with K-3 Common Core Math Standards, defined as:

"Asking students the right questions is an essential part of the learning process.  Questions are the easiest way to incorporate the Common Core State Standards in the area of K-3 Mathematics while teaching music.  Students are more engaged in every moment of the lesson when using questions in the process."

The presenter suggested that we use craft sticks and pipe cleaners to create the rhythms and bar lines.  Students create the rhythms and bar lines (counting, division, etc).  Take turns:  some students pat the beat while the others chant/tap rhythm patterns.  Then, replace patting and tapping with instruments.  Rotate instruments, and count off the rotation.

The training made it easier for me to accept Common Core, because it's not that much different from what we already do as music teachers - all we need to do is ensure we are asking better thought-provoking questions, and most importantly, to have the students be the problem-solvers.