Halloween Picture Books for the Music Room

Halloween Picture Books for the Music Room

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I'm blogging today with four of my favorite picture books for the music room during Halloween!Two of the four books I'm blogging about aren't specifically Halloween books, but because of their theme, can work really well during this time of the year! Here goes!Go Away, Big Green MonsterA few years ago, I saw this book being read at my daughter's daycare and...

Beat passing games

Beat passing games

I've been posting lately about great games and hand jives for upper elementary, and in today's post, I'm writing about beat passing games, which are also a favorite of upper elementary students!So what are beat passing games? They are games in which the beat is passed from one person to the next. Typically, at the end, the last person to be hit is "out."  They are GREAT for reinforcing steady...

Liza Jane: A great song for upper elementary

Liza Jane: A great song for upper elementary

Today, I'm sharing another one of my favorite songs for fourth and fifth grade...an old standard called "Liza Jane."I learned this song while in Kodály Level II at Capital University, with Bruce Swank. Here's the notation; it can also be found in 150 American Folk Songs.Additional verses:I’ve got a house in Baltimore, Lil’ Liza Jane.Street car runs right by my door, Lil’ Liza Jane.(Chorus)I’ve got...

Sandy's Mill: A fun song for upper elementary

Sandy's Mill: A fun song for upper elementary

Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite songs for fourth and fifth grade...a fun song called "Sandy's Mill."I learned this song while in Kodaly Level III at Capital University, with Joan Litman.  Here's the notation:The song is great for several concepts. Typically, I would only pull out the hardest rhythmic concept from a song to teach it, which in this case would be ti-tam, or eighth/ dotted...