Swat that bus!

If you've ever looked around this blog, you'll know that I love fly swatter games.  They are great for individual assessments - and the kids don't even know you're testing them!  You just split them into teams, and 2 at a time come and try to identify the rhythm that you clap.

Here are all the makings of a great lesson:

We first read the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" by Mo Willems.  You can see that book here:  

After every page, we practiced saying the phrase "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus."  The kids love the pigeon books, and so do I :)

Anyway, after the book was read, we figured out the rhythm together.  We decided it was "ta ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta rest rest rest."  We've been learning about bar lines, and it was a great moment to decide where the bar line was, and how many rests we needed to fill up that measure!

I found these foam buses in the dollar bins at Target.  I love foam manipulatives!  I have drawers and drawers full of them.

For only $1, it came with 10 pieces.  I was able to write different rhythms on them with a sharpie, and the fly swatter game commenced.

Great day!  We were able to incorporate literature, aural dictation, and aural assessments all on one day.

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?  :)

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!

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.