Paint Chips and Pins=Rhythm fun!

Good beat keeping and rhythm skills come through repeated practice.  Its fun to find new ways to practice reading and performing rhythms.  In this activity students use clothes pins with notes on them and paint chips (don't you think they look like a four beat measure too?). 

I explain that every rectangle on the paint chip is a beat.  Some beats have one sound, others have two.  What note makes one sound per beat?  A quarter note (or ta).  What notes do we use when we want two sounds on a beat?  Barred eighth notes (titi).  Later these students will use the pins for half notes and whole notes as well.  

1st Graders Sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Can music training help you become better at language and reading?

Researchers are finding strong connections between good musicians and good readers.  Read more at these links:
Got Rhythm? You can learn language and reading better.
Study Ties Beat Keep with Language and Reading Skills
Brainvolts at Northwestern University

A great video from the Bearytones' performance at Busch Stadium.

Where the Wild (Musical) Things Are

One of my favorite books of all time is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  This month in first grade music we used this story as a way to practice our listening and playing skills.  After reading the book, we discussed some ways to add sound effects to the story.  "What instrument makes the sound of an ocean sailing by?"  "Which instrument would make the best sound for 'roar their terrible roar? A wood instrument? A metal instrument? A drum?"  Students used their problem solving skills to match classroom instruments with words and phrases from the book.  Next we read and played the story again.  Our favorite part was "Let the wild rumpus begin!"  Boy, do these first graders know how to have a wild instrument rumpus!

It's Limeades for Learning Time!

Hey everyone, SONIC and DonorsChoose.org want to help our class, but they need your help.
Go to LimeadesForLearning.com to vote once a day from Sept. 24 - Oct. 29 for our project. SONIC
will donate more than half a million dollars to the projects that receive the most votes.

You can vote once every day with every email account you have.  You can also collect codes from your receipts and drinks at Sonic!  If you don't want to take the time to enter your limeade codes, please send them in and Mrs. King will do it for you.

Thanks for support our project on DonorsChoose!

Bearytones Perform at Busch Stadium

Congratulations to the Greenville Bearytones on their performance of the national anthem at Busch Stadium today.  If you have any pictures of video to share, please email them to Mrs. King and she'll post them for others to see as well.  See the current web album of pictures HERE.

Beat Buddies Help Keep the Steady Beat

I found some brand new Beanie Babies at a yard sale a few weeks ago and immediately knew what I wanted to do with them.  Introducing BEAT BUDDIES!  These cuddly critters help Kindergarteners find the steady beat.  We bounce them on our laps, our head, our shoulders and our hands to keep the beat together.

Beat Buddies are fun to use and help learning a skill with repetition more interesting!  

If you have new or like new Beanie Babies that need a new home we would love to use them as Beat Buddies.  Contact Mrs. King or drop them by one of the elementary buildings.

Teachers:  You might be interested in my Steady Beat Bulletin Board.