Yep. It's been a great year and now summer break! I hope all of my students have a great summer!!!
For my teacher friends and follower I'll still blog this summer, but it won't be so much about what's going on in my classroom. Instead I think I'll post about some projects I'm working on, some products I think you might like and my plans for next year.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
For My Teacher Friends
Teachers Pay Teachers in an open marketplace where teachers share projects, lesson plans, bulletin boards, SmartBoard files, etc... that they have created. Today and tomorrow they are having a SITE wide sale! Many sellers (including me) are having an additional sale on top of that so you could save up to 28%. They also take purchase orders! Anyway...just wanted to share the news. Go here to learn more. Use the code TAD13 (for teacher appreciation days) when you check out.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Soundtrack of My Life
My 6th graders are preparing to move to JH. They have just a few days of 6th grade left. This week we reflected on life events and how music has played a role in them. We discussed the purpose of music in commercials, movies, ceremonies and ballgames. Then I asked students to write about music in their lives by creating a playlist of life events and songs that go with them. I LOVE how thoughtful and funny they were. Here are a few samples:
The time my dog died: “My Heart Will Go On”
My 1st Cardinal’s Game: “Take Me Out to the
Ballgame”
My Birthday: “Born to Be Wild”
My First Bath: “Splish
Splash”
My 1st Sleepover: “Party in the U.S.A.”
The 3rd Time I Moved: “Life is a Highway”
I Was Born: “Celebrate!”
My 1st Birthday: “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive”
3rd Grade Sleepover: “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
My 1st Bike Wreck: “Another One Bites the Dust”
My 1st Cell Phone: “Call Me Maybe”
Mom and Dad’s Divorce: “Mockingbird”
First Day of School: “I’m Sexy and I Know It”
Teachers: Get the worksheet here.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Saddle Up for Success
Our theme for testing week is "Saddle Up for Success". We did western type dress up days and planned a fun pep assembly with noodle pony races, a lasso contest and "Stick 'em Up". Stick 'em Up was a reward for students that scored advanced or proficient on the MAP last year. They got to duck tape up the counselor and principal.
Learn to make the noodle ponies HERE.
Get a Saddle Up for Success Bulletin Board HERE.
Learn about the MAP HERE.
Visit our school website HERE.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Noodle Notes
Introducing *drum roll please* NOODLE NOTES! You may remember that I purchased a bunch of pool noodles at the beginning of the school year to make noodle ponies. Well, the noodles are out again! This time I created a way for students to compose with rhythms.
In the activity below, first graders were asked to group notes in sets of 4 beats. We introduce the term "bar lines" and used the small yellow noodles to represent them. Today we used only notes that fit in one beat like a quarter note (ta), barred eighth notes (titi) and a quarter rest (sh). Each noodle note has a note on one side and the corresponding rest on the other side.
In future lessons we'll use half notes and whole notes. The half notes are twice as long as the blue note pieces because they get two counts instead of one. The whole notes are four times longer than the blue note pieces because they get four counts.
Don't Blow it This Summer!
The people I work with are so fun! I needed a few models for my end of the year bulletin board. It reads "Don't Blow it This Summer! Keep Making Music!" I took pictures of them pretending to blow up a balloon and then added REAL balloons to their picture.
Some places to check out for summer music awesomeness:
The Muny-St. Louis Be sure to see Mary Poppins!
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