Composing with Classroom Instruments-First Grade

When composing in first grade with use a grid with 16 "beats".  Each box equals one beat.  Instead of using notation or words, we created symbols for the instruments in our group and drew one for ta (quarter note) or two for titi (two eighth notes).

After composing individual rhythm songs in groups, students performed them together.  What glorious sounds!  What amazing music readers!

I also love to use a Rhythm Stick Reading Station and an Instrument Reading Station with students.  This allows them to read icons for instruments and rests and play together.  This is great for workstations, small groups or large groups (my favorite!)  Check them out:

Cup Game

Sixth Graders (and some Fifth Graders) are preparing for our upcoming Pop Concert by learning the Cups song.  In these pictures students are working on perfecting the rhythmic accompaniment to this song by learning the cup game.

 

clap clap bumble bee |  clap up down (rest)

clap grab pop tap | left smack down (rest)

Whew! What a fabulous four weeks!

It is hard to believe that it is already progress report time.  It has been a fabulous four weeks.

The Bearytones are preparing for their performance at Busch Stadium next week.  We will be performing the national anthem for Cardinal Nation and the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Washington Nationals.

Look for pictures and posts soon about all of the great things going on in music class:  Star Spangled Banner, pinning rhythms, beat buddies and more!

Partner With Us!

Partner with our music classroom by making a donation to our Donor's Choose project.  Click THIS LINK and then choose "Project Requests".  Thanks for helping us!

Classroom Tour 2013

Welcome back!  Let's take a virtual tour of the music room at GES.

This is the view from the back corner near the door.  I'm loving the new word wall and still love the awesome rug we got through Donors Choose.  Click the Donors Choose link to make a donation to our current project.

Fish Groups making music together. I've been looking for a good place to leave this up all year and I think I've found it.  Teachers: Get it HERE.

The reading workstation.  This is one of the students' favorite centers.  The books are rhyming books, books about instruments and composers, songs made into books, etc...  The posters are new this year.  They are music genre posters.  They come in a set of 8.  Teachers: Get them HERE.

The view from my desk area.  The vertical folders are labeled with the days of the week.  I'll put copies of worksheets, lyrics, notes to go home, etc... in those folders by day.  The wooden cabinet against the back wall is going to serve as a listening workstation once I find a fabulous headphone solution.

My desk area.  Can you tell that I like rainbows and black/white designs? :-)  The book shelf holds books that I use frequent, binders for various things, stickers and the goody box.  Between the file cabinets is a pile of stuff to take to my other school.

The file cabinets were part of my duct tape madness day last week.  I think they turned out fabulous and since then several teachers have duct taped their furniture too! :-)  I like turning them sideways and using the side as another way to organize the mountain of papers that come across my desk. I've added magnetic clips to hold folders of frequently used forms (PBS, nurse forms, etc..)

Props, games, manipulatives and lots of awesome things to work with in the music room.

I don't have the certificates copied for this year, but this is how I organize my Tiny Awards.  I give these out during regular class times to recognize awesome student behavior.

Music MOOOves Me bulletin board.  The pictures say things like ",,,to be more creative", "...to learn about other cultures." and "to get ready for the big game."  Teachers can find it HERE.

August's Song of the Month is the Star Spangled Banner.  I really enjoy starting the year off with patriotic music.  This bulletin board kit has students match up lyrics with song titles of famous patriotic tunes.  Teachers: This is an older version of THIS bulletin board.

The piano.  I've got a lot of black and white polka dots going on this year. :-)  The Music Burger is the first prototype for THIS bulletin board/writing kit.

I ♥ my SmartBoard.  Everything is easier. Trees don't have to die.  *sigh* So nice.  Below it is a black and white polka dot set of word wall words.  Above it are listen, play and sing rubrics.  I'll use these to help students critique their own listening, playing and singing.  The letter sized version of these posters can be found HERE.  I sent them to shortrunposters.com for VERY affordable printing. 

I decided not to do songs of the week this year and instead will do Songs of the Month.  This bulletin board is how I'll display those.  If you look reeeeally close you'll see that August's song, the "Star Spangled Banner" is already written on them.  They are laminated so I can use them for something else next year.

Rhythm instrument storage.  The boomwhackers and the instrument containers have polka dot labels.

Close up of our groovy instruments.

On the music room door.  I have a thing for plates.  I have two boxes of paper plates in all colors, sizes and lots ZooPal plates too. :-)

This is the writing station.  Here students can get their folders from the mailboxes (although not every grade gets folders), pencils, markers, paper, crayons, scissors, glue, etc...  Under the table there is a box of clipboards.  We use those when we write as there are no desks in the music room.  Love this setup.  Students learn quickly the routine for getting supplies and getting started on whatever creative endeavor we're embarking on.  The bulletin board above the shelf says "Musicians are Writers".

 

There aren't many new things in the music room this year.  More fabric, a slight change in setup to allow for easier movement between music workstations, a new word wall and some new posters.  Check out last year's tour to see some of the things in the classroom not discussed here.

Noodle Ponies Make an Appearance on the PBS Website

Our stable of noodle ponies has made an appearance on the parents' site for PBS.  Check it out!

Noodle Ponies

School's out! School's out!

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.

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 1^st Cardinal’s Game: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”

My Birthday: “Born to Be Wild”

My First Bath:  “Splish Splash”

My 1^st Sleepover: “Party in the U.S.A.”

The 3^rd Time I Moved: “Life is a Highway”

I Was Born: “Celebrate!”

My 1^st Birthday: “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive”

3^rd Grade Sleepover: “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

My 1^st Bike Wreck: “Another One Bites the Dust”

My 1^st 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.