Let's face it, nothing can replace a classroom full of music making. Singing, dancing and playing instruments joyfully together must be experienced authentically in person. When that isn't possible, what should we do? I'm afraid I don't have a perfect answer, but I'd like to share a few ideas with you and I hope that you can use them or find that they are a springboard for your own creativity.
Make Music
Incredibox (free on PCs, paid app for tablets and phone) Students can create loops using many different sounds and then share them with you. Assign THIS free project to have students create music for different movie scenes and email you their mixes through Incredibox.
Isle of Tune - I try not to play with this very often because I lose huge chunks of my life to it. Free on PC. Build a town with a musical twist. Elements like light posts, houses and trees are the sounds and cars drive down the road and "play" the composition.
Play Boomwhackers - Encourage students to notate melodies with crayons or markers. Write a rhythm using Boomwhacker colors and perform on these digital Boomwhackers.
SING! Mrs. Miracle has some fabulous suggestions to keep your kids singing.
Music Theory
Staff Wars (free on PCs, $ .99 for tablets and phones) Practice pitch names in a seriously cool game.
Music Tech Teacher - games, worksheets and quizzes
Music Games from Plank Road Publishing -high/low, pitch names and more
Compose Your Own Music (Classics for Kids) -drag notes to compose, students can share their composition by emailing you a link.
The Rhythm Trainer - rhythmic dictation. You pick what note values to use.
Music Games
PBS Music Games
Music Symbols Matching Game
Music History
Learn About Composers (Classics for Kids) - Have students read about a composer of their choosing and write a 5-7 sentence paragraph to summarize what they have learned. I use THIS template for paragraph writing.
Composer of the Month - A great website with composer biographies and links to biography videos.
YouTube Awesomeness
Carnival of the Animals - Use with this set of listening worksheets.
TVO Music Videos -not YouTube, but a great collection of videos for kids
Short Composer Biographies by Five Minute Mozart
Music Concepts Videos by Music K-8 - I LOVE these videos and so do my students. They are great for introducing or reinforcing a concept and could be used before a worksheet or assignment. Concepts include forte/piano, presto/largo, major/minor, etc.. Try this free interactive game about musical opposites from Linda McPherson or these free high/low worksheets by Sara Bibee.
Learn About Instruments
New York Philharmonic KidZone (requires Flash)
Classics for Kids - a variety of fun and engaging activities
Projects
Star Spangled Banner Evaulations -Links and free worksheet.
Build an Instrument -resources from Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Rubber Band Harmonica -It's not a beautiful sound, but it works!
DIY Music Instruments - Several ideas for crafting instruments at home.
Musicals
Netflix, Vudu, Hulu and other streaming services have several musicals that your students might love. Try out some of the worksheets in this free musicals sampler. There are complete sets for many musicals in this bundle.
Remember that when posting worksheets for students that you must protect the property of the copyright owner by placing the worksheets in a secure environment. That means that the files must not be available for the whole Internet to download if they want. Secure them on your school website with a password or a file service like Dropbox. Send parents the link and the password. You can also send the files via email or Google Classroom too. Students must login to access them this way.
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