Miss White: a movement activity

Most of you are probably familiar with the chant "Miss White."  I love this chant and use it every October!

I found a great resource on TpT - not mine - that teaches this chant well and is a great set-up for either introducing or practicing ta ti-ti.  You can find it here.

Anyway, after I introduce the chant, I've always been at a loss as to what to do with it from there.  I've been tweaking this movement plan for a couple of years, and I finally love what I have.

First, I tell the students that my music classroom has become "haunted."  I have laminated pictures of ghosts with numbers, that have different rhythms on the botttom.  Examples:

I spread these ghosts around the floor, and the students travel around the room while saying the chant in a "ghostly" voice.  They have to stop near a ghost and clap the rhythm on it.  We do a couple of group practices ..... then ...... oh no!  Somebody called the Ghostbusters! I pull a number out of a container, and whichever students are at that ghost are eliminated!  They first must clap their rhythm as a solo or in a small group.  We continue playing until only one student or group of students is left.  Basically, it's kind of like musical chairs, but way less dangerous :)

For my eliminated students, I don't like them just sitting out doing nothing, so I send them over to the tubanos, and they play the rhythm of the chant while the others are walking around.  It keeps them engaged the whole time, and they love giving me a drumroll before I announce the next elimination. 

Small and simple, yet so fun!  My kids love this activity.  Hope you all can find a use for it.  Happy October!

Old Roger Is Dead

I'll admit - I feel that I can teach rhythm pretty well, until we get to 6/8 meter.  I've always loved so many songs in 6/8 meter but it has been hard for me to verbalize it.

I found this adorable picture on Pinterest using big lego-type blocks to teach macro beat:

I love that it separates 6/8 into 2 groups of 3 - what a great visual!  All of a sudden, 6/8 time doesn't seem so daunting.  All you have to do is talk about macro beats and micro beats, and you're set!

Last year, I learned the song "Old Roger is Dead" at a workshop.  I had never heard it before.  It is the PERFECT song for Halloween time that is not about Halloween:

It reinforces 6/8 meter, it is a really good one to introduce anacrusis (pick-up notes), and even ti because of the s-l-t-do pattern.  You could also extract high do for 3rd grade from the first couple of measures.  There are several different versions of this song floating out there, but this is my favorite because of the melodic elements.

I loved it so much, I made a whole presentation about it that you can find on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

There's a lot as part of this:  

Steady beat:

Iconic rhythm:

Discussion of macro and micro beats:

Introduction to anacrusis/pick-up notes:

Melodic practice and introduction to ti:

Also on a staff:

But really, the best part is really the game.  Basically, the game is that you dramatize the words.  In my classroom, I call this game "Silent Movie."  This is, without question, my students' absolute favorite game.  They have to act out the lyrics of any given song (or sometimes, just the story line for something instrumental, like "In the Hall of the Mountain King").  Since the lyrics for this song involve a guy dying, a woman picking apples near his grave, and then the dead guy getting up and giving the woman a shock, this song becomes an instant October favorite.  (Zombies!)  You can play by having "Roger" chase the old woman around the circle, a la "Duck Duck Goose," or just getting up and shocking her.  Even when I have talking problems in my class, one mention of the word "Silent Movie" gets every student to shut their mouths and truly listen to the song.

I usually play Silent Movie with a certain group acting out the lyrics, while everybody else is singing, so they can truly appreciate the "silent" part of "silent movie."  Sometimes, we'll take turns with everybody showing off their performance to the rest of the class.

Other student favorites to play "Silent Movie":

• In the Hall of the Mountain King (I have one person creep into the Mountain King's lair, then get chased out by trolls)

• Don Gato (the kids love that the cat falls off the roof, dies, and comes back to life)

• Oh, Susanna! (crazy lyrics will do it every time)

Try it!  I guarantee your students will like it!

Oh, and just so you have the choice, here's another popular version of this song:

Oh, the Wind Blew East

One of the things I actually really enjoy doing is going to music workshops on Saturdays.  Call me crazy - it's really my only day off with work from Monday-Friday and church responsibilities on Sundays - but these workshops get me so energized that I go back to work so excited and I truly believe that they make me a better teacher.  Naturally, I don't go every Saturday - it ends up being maybe once every couple of months or so. :)

Anyway, I went to an Orff workshop last year.  Julie Scott was the presenter, and she was absolutely amazing!  She shared this wonderful song with us:

There are actually several different versions of this song out there.  It originated, as far as I can tell, in the Bahamas, where the lyrics were a little different:

1

Oh, the wind blow east,

The wind blow west,

The wind blow the Sunshine

Right down in town.

2

Oh, the wind blow the China

Right down in town.

Oh, the wind blow the China

Right down in town.

3

Oh, the wind blow east,

The wind blow west,

The wind blow the Settin' Star

Right down in town.

Apparently, the "Sunshine," "China," and "Settin' Star" are sloops that had been blown ashore by hurricane-force winds.  But then, as many folk songs do, it kept getting changed and adapted as time went on.  I also found this version in my research:

And this one:

What a great song to use in October!  I know that many music teachers teach in a Halloween-sensitive environment, where more and more we are asked to not teach songs about witches or ghosts, or things like that, but this one is great for talking about fall leaves blowing into town!

So many great things about it - I've used it with my little ones for talking about high and low voices (the first version, on the Whoo-oos!).  I've used it for talking about fast and slow, since there are two tempos for this song.  And best of all is when you dramatize this song!  At the workshop, I learned it this way:  you can have half of your kids act as leaves, and half act as the wind.  The leaves lay on the ground, but as the wind blows them, they roll into town.  Then, you can have the kids switch.  So much fun!

I've also adapted it to where I got little fabric leaves at the dollar store, and the kids try to blow them "into town," or a designated area.  I've split them up into teams to see who could blow their leaves the quickest - rule is that they cannot touch the leaves, only blow.  They absolutely love it!

You could also adapt this song so many different ways:  in winter, you could have the wind blow the snowflakes, in the spring it could blow the raindrops, in summer, it could blow dandelions....you get the picture :)  You could also have your kids improvise whatever the wind is blowing.

Here are a couple of videos with different versions of this song:

Stirring My Brew

My youngest sister is almost 18 years younger than I am.  Crazy!  Anyway, she is amazingly talented and has always loved music (she was recently cast as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" at her school - so proud of her!)  I remember coming home from college during breaks, and she would sing me her latest favorite song.  Around Halloween one year, she sang this song to me over and over (she had learned it at preschool or something):

She sang it so much that it is still stuck in my head around Halloween every year (over a decade later).  This is a great song to use with your younger kids, though.  Perfect for a finger play in preschool, great to use for loud/soft in Kindergarten, and it sounds "spooky."  Kids love it!

There is a great finger play that goes with this:

On the lyrics "stirring..." make stirring motions as if you are stirring a pot of brew.

On the lyrics "oo-oo," sweep hands out forward in a wave-like motion, like a spooky gust of wind.

On "tiptoe," use 2 fingers on one hand, pantomiming a person tip-toeing.

On "BOO!" open hands suddenly as if to startle.

For added fun, whisper on "tip-toe" and say BOO with a very loud voice.

But, you don't have to do this as a finger play.  I found this fun video on YouTube, and I seem to remember my sister doing something similar:

For some reason, I just LOVE Halloween songs.  And, I love that this one doesn't specifically mention witches or anything.  You could change the word to "stew" instead of "brew" if you're worried about that.  Hope you can use it!

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.

"Classical" Music for Halloween

I teach in a school where we need to be careful about celebrating certain holidays, especially Halloween.  In my first few years of teaching, I never encountered a problem teaching the good songs like "Skin and Bones" or "Witch, Witch," but I am now teaching in my second school where I need to be very careful of what I teach in October. 

Having said that, I am a firm believer in giving kids exposure to music of all kinds, but especially orchestral music (what non-musical people call "Classical").  There are so many great "classical" pieces out there that I can use in October that aren't all about Halloween!  I can teach so many musical skills and concepts through these pieces - minor modalities, rhythmic patterns, symphonic poems, incidental music, composer profiles, you name it! 

Here are a list of my favorite "Classical" songs that I use in October, but really can be done any time of year:

1. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg.  There is so much material out there for this piece - lesson plans, listening guides, etc.  This is a fantastic piece for teaching ta and ti-ti (quarter note, paired eighth notes) and tempo!

Some helpful links here:  http://www.makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_printit_free_printable_worksheets/mountain-king-listening-map.htm (printable listening map)

And here: 
http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/lessonplans/pdfs/grieg/Grieg%20Lesson%20Plans%20K-2.pdf (lesson plan and materials for grades K-2)
http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/lessonplans/pdfs/grieg/Grieg%20Lesson%20Plans%203-5.pdf (lesson plan and materials for grades 3-5)

2. "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Seans.  This is really kind of a creepy song, so I really only use it for upper grades. 

Youtube link to creepy 1980s cartoon:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CHqhsMP80E

Here are the slides to a PowerPoint presentation you can use (I don't know who made this to give them credit, but it is very well done.  Good job, whoever!)

 

3. "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach.  This is actually required listening for my 3rd graders, and it's the perfect time of year for it!

 

The kids really enjoy this piece, but I usually only play the first little bit of it.  In the following recording, I usually play until about 2:40.  Supposedly it is the "best version ever" of it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY

This one has the famous "bar graph" score:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o

And there's always Disney's version - but played by an orchestra insead of an organ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj06pRMO9hM

 

4. "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky.  I remember watching the "Fantasia" version of this growing up, and it gave me nightmares, so be careful with this one.  Great for teaching minor though :)  Side note - I was watching "Wizard of Oz" with my daughter the other day, and noticed they used this piece in the background of the Wicked Witch's castle scene.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMmfaaiWMEs

 

5. "Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas.  This is a fun one that I leave in substitute plans sometimes - the kids just really love watching it, especially the Disney version:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHTnJNGvQcA

 

6.  Finally, and this one really isn't Halloweeny, but I love it and it is a bit creepy sounding, "Prelude in C# Minor" by Sergei Rachmoninoff.  This is a piece I am practicing right now and just love the way it sounds:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOx710drHnw