Ideas for Musical Programs

Ideas for Musical Programs

Are you thinking ahead to next year, and wanting to plan your musical programs? In today's post, I'm compiling blog posts--some written by me, and some by others--that detail programs based off of children's literature and themes, so that you can adapt and use if you'd like!

Wangari's Trees of Peace: In this blog post, I detail using this book for a fifth grade program. Wonderful if you're looking to integrate multicultural music with your upper elementary students!

On the Day You Were Born: In this blog post, I write about using this beautiful book as a basis for a fifth grade program.

The Gratitude Tree: In this blog post, I discuss using this fun book--written by my friend Stacey at Expressive Monkey--as the foundation for a third grade program.

You Belong Here: In this blog post, I compile ideas for a third grade program for the heartwarming book, "You belong here."

Olivia's Birds: I loved this fourth grade program, and it was a great way to raise money for a worthy cause!

The Glow Show: My friend Amy Abbott at Music a la Abbott compiled lots of fun ideas for her program, which she entitled, "The Glow Show," using both folk and pop music.

The Day the Crayons Quit: In this blog post, Emily from Emily's Kodaly Music writes about how she created a 2nd grade program based off of the book, "The Day the Crayons Quit." Lots of fun ideas and songs!

Happy planning, and happy summer!

Ukulele Centers in the Music Room

Ukulele Centers in the Music Room

I've been super excited to dive into ukulele this year, as I wrote about in this post. In today's post, I'm writing about something new I've tried recently: centers for ukulele!

If you're wondering about centers in general, and how they should be set up, check out this post, as well as this helpful post by David Row at Make Moments Matter.

I typically set up four centers in my room, around the perimeter, and we rotate every five or so minutes, so that students can go to all of the centers. I like to have my centers all be focused on one concept, or one instrument, so all four of these centers were focused on ukulele!

In the centers I had students do the following:

Center #1: Students practiced several strumming patterns with a PowerPoint from my ukulele lessons set, with the C major chord. They advanced the slides themselves whenever they were ready to move on. Here is a picture of the PowerPoint:

And here is the ukulele lessons set:

Center #2: Students used these cards by David Row from Make Moments Matter, which you can view by clicking on the picture.

The cards were a great way to introduce students to some chords that we didn't have time to learn yet! Students choose a challenge card, then use the other cards to complete the challenge. You could also simply tell students to teach themselves a different chord by using the smaller cards with diagrams.

Center #3: Students finished these worksheets from my No Prep Ukulele worksheets (click the picture to see the worksheets in my store.)

On one side of the worksheet, they colored in all of the C major chords, and on the other side, they wrote silly sentences to match the names of the strings (the one they've learned from me is Aardvarks Eat Cool Grass, for AECG.)

Center #4: Students scanned a QR code on an iPad to be taken to this YouTube video by Bernadette Teaches Music. It's a really effective way to get them comfortable with the C major chord!

After they got done with the video, they could scan another code to be taken to the A minor chord playalong:

Check out Bernadette's YouTube channel; she has a TON of ukulele tutorial videos!

Here are the QR codes; feel free to take a screenshot and use them with your students!

C major:

A minor:

I actually had students watch these videos on something we have in our district called TangyTube, which takes out commercials. If you don't have something like that in your district, I suggest making Chrome the default browser on your devices and using this extension, so students don't have to watch any commercials.

Every 5 or so minutes, I played the wind chimes, and students rotated to the next center. I was able to float and help people one on one as needed! Because the sound of the ukulele is pretty pleasant, and because one of the centers didn't involve playing, it wasn't super noisy in my room. It was also awesome to see kids teaching themselves, teaching each other, and working at a pace comfortable to them.

Have you ever tried ukulele centers? Feel free to comment below, and happy teaching!

Quizizz in the Music Room

Quizizz in the Music Room

Recently, I took a class about different web apps to use in the classroom. During that class, I discovered Quizizz, and was immediately excited about the possibilities! In this post, I'll write about how to use Quizizz, how to create a Quizizz, and how to find quizzes I've made on the platform!

So what is Quizizz?

Quizizz is a website that allows students to take quizzes. It is similar to Kahoot (which I wrote about in this blog post) but you are allowed to give the quiz as homework, instead of having all students take it live. Additionally, the quiz doesn't have to be timed, and students can move onto the next question at their own pace instead of having to wait for all students to answer. Even better...students see a funny meme after they answer each question, like this one:

How do students take Quizizz?

I had students use iPads to take the quiz, but they can also use Chromebooks or smart phones. If you have limited technology in your room, you could have the students work in small groups and use as a formative assessment, or you could have them work in centers. My fifth graders were studying theme and variations, so I had two groups creating a variation with instruments, one group respond in writing to a theme and variations recording in writing, and the last group play the theme and variations Quizizz on iPads. Since I only have 8 iPads, this worked perfectly! I've also created band quizzes and have given them out as homework over Schoology.

How do you see the results?

Simply click on "reports," and you can see how accurate each student was, and how many points they had (which is partly based on their speed, if you had timed questions.) You can also email the quiz results to parents, which is a pretty neat feature! It was really interesting for me to see the results for my theme and variations quizizz...because the kids didn't do nearly as well as I thought they would! It can give you some great data about what students need review with, what they understand well, etc.

How do you find music Quizizz?

Click "find a quiz" on the left, then type into the search bar. I recommend being more specific than "music," because the quizzes I found with that search had everything from naming pop songs to naming notes on the treble clef staff.

I will warn you that there aren't a ton of music quizziz at this point. I have created one for theme and variations, one for musical symbols, and several for different band instruments. To see my elementary music quizziz, click here, and to see my elementary band quizziz, click here.

Creating a Quizziz

Here is a helpful tutorial about creating and/or duplicating and then editing a Quizziz:

I hope this has been helpful! My students have loved using Quizizz...I hope yours do too! Please comment below if you have created a Quizizz, so we can use it too! Happy creating, and happy teaching!

What I've learned about teaching ukulele

What I've learned about teaching ukulele

This year, I've embarked on a new journey: teaching ukulele! I've really enjoyed it, so in today's post, I'm sharing what I've learned my first year of ukulele.

You don't have to spend a ton of money on ukuleles

Initially, I thought about purchasing ukuleles for every single student in my classroom. Once I realized the amount I had to work with, though, I decided I could buy for half of the class and have students work in pairs. This has worked pretty well for my students--more on that in a bit--and it helped me start ukulele without a ton of money!
I bought the Kala Waterman ukuleles for my classroom. I heard lots of great things about them, and was very pleased with the purchase. The ukuleles (which you can purchase here) are currently only $39.99 each. I did have to tune them consistently every day for a few weeks before the tuning stuck; after that, I still had to tune them but not as often.

You don't have to spend a ton of money on ukulele storage

I've seen many creative ways to store ukuleles (see this blog post by Shelley from Pitch Publications with many ideas.) The storage idea I came up with was effective and cheap: magazine boxes from IKEA! Here is what they look like in my room:

If you want students to have a specific ukulele, you could add numbers to the boxes.

You don't have to teach tuning right away

I struggled at first with how I would teach tuning, but then I decided that I could think of it like a band instrument: we don't need to teach tuning immediately to a beginning trumpet player, so the same could hold true for ukulele. Once the students are more familiar, then we can dig into tuning. In the meantime, I've been telling students to not touch the tuning pegs. To tune, I've been using this ukulele tuner (click the picture to see it on Amazon):

I lucked out that Amazon accidentally sent 15 ukulele tuners to the PTO at my school a few years ago...so they gave them to me for free! (It was like Christmas!) Next year, I plan on teaching my 5th graders (who have been playing in 4th grade) how to tune, using the tuners.

Kids can teach each other

As I stated above, my students are currently paired up when learning ukulele. Although it's taken me longer to get through my ukulele curriculum--since they have to switch--I have enjoyed having students teach each other. For example, when the first student in the pair is learning the C major chord, I'll circulate the room to make sure all students are putting their finger down on the correct finger and fret, but when the second child gets a turn, I tell the first child to help their partner. This cuts down on the time I need to circulate, and I love that the students are helping and teaching each other!

You can be just a few steps ahead of your students

When I first decided to teach ukulele, I maybe knew one chord, so I knew I had some work to do! Just like when I've taught band instruments that aren't my main instrument or when I taught strings, I've been keeping a few steps ahead of the students. As long as you can model a good sound and know your chords well, you don't need to be amazing at it. I would like to spend more time this summer so that I can be even further ahead of students, but for now, it has worked well. What's really nice about teaching myself, then turning around and teaching them, is that I understand the common mistakes they will make because I've made them too!

The kids LOVE them...and so do I!

I've been teaching recorders for years, and as a trumpet player, I do love how well recorder can train students to learn fingerings and tonguing, as well as read from the treble clef staff. However, in an effort to gain relevance to their lives and to the music they hear every day, I wanted to try ukulele. I have loved the experience, and so have they! The instrument is accessible--small enough for their hands (and for mine!) With only four strings instead of six like on the guitar, it's easier, yet if kids wanted to learn guitar later, they would have gained many skills on ukulele that will help them be successful on guitar. The kids are so excited to play, and I am too!

If you're wanting to teach ukulele but would like a curriculum to guide you, I have this set in my store which has been very helpful not only to teach my students but to learn how to play myself!

What have you learned about ukulele? Feel free to comment below, and happy playing and teaching!

Hogs in the Cornfield

Hogs in the Cornfield

Today, I'm sharing one of favorite songs for upper elementary: "Hogs in the cornfield."

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 An American Methodology.

The song is great for several concepts. It's great for tika-ti, especially since it has some unique patterns in it. Melodically, it works really well for high do! 

As far as games go, I originally learned this game for it:

Students stand in two lines, facing partners; you can name one line “1” and one line “2.” After they sing the song, they play tug of war by holding hands in a crossed position and pulling. The first person to step over the line loses and stands behind the winner. The game continues until all students who wanted turn have had one, and then you declare a winning team based on which side has more students. 

 A few years ago, I learned this game from Jenna Mabee, my former colleague, which is now the game I play:

Students find a group of four and face a partner. At the end of the song, students pound their fist as saying "rock, paper, scissors." On "shoot," they either show rock, paper, or scissors. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. Whoever wins finds a new person to play, and whoever loses sits down. If there is a tie, students keep going until the tie is broken. The game keeps going with students singing, then playing, until one person wins!

The students LOVE this game, and the song is a fun way to practice tika-ti and high do!

Pin this if you want to refer to this post later:

Looking for more ideas for tika-ti or high do? Check out these sets:

     

     

Happy teaching!

2, 4, 6, 8: A fun chant for your first and second graders!

2, 4, 6, 8: A fun chant for your first and second graders!

Today I'm writing with one of my favorite chants for the music room, "2, 4, 6, 8."

You may have heard of the chant: "2, 4, 6, 8/ Who do we appreciate?" This one is a bit different! It goes like this:

Now you may be thinking...okay, great...but what's the game? This is one of the few that I have in my music room that I don't have a game for. Now, I could do some research to find one (and feel free to comment below if you do a game with it) or I could make a game up...but I like to have a few songs and chants that just don't have a game. ("Miss White" and "Kookaburra," for example, are two that I'm fine not playing a game for!) Kids need to know that not EVERY single piece of music has a game, and besides, this one can be used to improve partwork skills!

Years ago, I made up these two ostinati to go with the chant:

To teach the ostinati, I first make sure that students know the chant well. Then, I have them say the chant while I say the first ostinato. They figure out that I'm saying something different, and they identify the words and motions, then they try! At this point, you can also teach/ review the term "ostinato," which I simply define as "a repeated pattern."

In the next lesson, you could review the chant and the first ostinato, then teach the second ostinato, much like you taught the first ostinato! I love how the second ostinato is just a little different than the third line of the chant...it really makes them listen!

Wondering what all of this might sound like together? Here they are, starting with the chant, then adding in each ostinato.

The first time I teach all three parts with my students, their eyes light up with excitement! It's such a great way to work on partwork skills and get them ready to eventually sing and/or play in harmony!

You could also have the students:

• Try in a round
• Make up their own ostinato
• Add instruments to the ostinati

And of course, I love to use it to prepare or practice ta and ti-ti. It has some common ta and ti-ti patterns in it, but then the rhythm of the third phrase is a bit uncommon (ti-ti ta ta ta), so it's great for practice!

Looking for more materials for ta and ti-ti? I just posted these set of lesson plans, which includes four 35-minute lesson plans and 11 mini-lessons, for a total of 15 lessons, all focused on ta and ti-ti. The set is editable, and also includes materials, songs and chants, and overview, and more!

Hope your students enjoy this fun chant as much as mine do! Happy teaching!

Six ways to end music class

Six ways to end music class

Pondering the best way to end music class? In this blog post, I wrote about great ways to start music class. In today's post, I'll write with my favorite ways to end music class before another class walks through the door!

#1: Closing greetings

A simple but fun way to say goodbye to your students is to sing goodbye to them! If your first graders are working on sol-mi, you could sing "Goodbye first grade," on sol-mi-sol-mi and they could sing back "Goodbye Mr./Mrs. ________." Then you could sing "Have a good day," and they could echo that. You could even sing to individual students and have them sing solos back at you.

#2: Listening

An effective way to end a class is to do a live performance or to sing a book, whether you are playing dulcimer and singing a song tale (like the ones found in this book) or singing a book (check out this post for my 10 favorite books to sing.) You could make this a routine, having it be the way you end all of your lessons, which can be calming because you are singing to students AND because some kids love to know what to expect!

#3: Sing as lining up

Sometimes, I have students sing as they are lining up. I figure, the more they sing, the better! I recently created timers to help students keep on track during transitions, including lining up at the end of the day. Here's a sample of the PowerPoint:

You can purchase the timer slides by clicking below; they come in PowerPoint and Google Slides versions.  Note: only the bell timer is included in the Powerpoint, not the music.

#4: Review of lesson

A great way to get students thinking about what they just did in music class is simply to ask them, "What did we do today?" or "What did we learn today?" You might get simple answers, such as "We played 'Bee Bee'" or "We sang 'Apple Tree,'" but sometimes you can get deeper answers, such as "We created patterns with ta and ti-ti," or "We played instruments to the beat." This can be a wonderful way to have students really think about their learning, which can make it "stick"! This can also be a great time to review your "I can" statements or ask Essential Questions.

#5: Exit slips

Another great way to have students review what they've learned is to have them fill out exit slips. These can ask a question about their learning from the music class, and can give you an idea of where they are at with that concept. You could write a question from the lesson on a piece of paper and hand it out to all of your students, or if you want ready-made exit tickets, my friend Tracy King (AKA The Bulletin Board Lady) has made this great set of exit slips for the music room.

#6: Star student

I choose two star students at the end of every music class, and that child gets to come up to my SMART board and roll a die for a reward. Those students have to have shown great behavior during music class; I keep track of star students and try to choose every student before cycling through a second time...but if a child isn't showing great behavior, they'll have to wait until they do until I choose them! Here is a video of my SMART notebook file; you can create easily with the interactive die in the software.

You can download the file for free here; if you don't have SMART Notebook, you can view the file for free at express.smarttech.com. You can easily edit the rewards for your own classroom! Note: The text and die might get jumbled when you download it, but you can drag them back to where you want them to be.

You can use just one of these ideas at the end of your music class, or combine them. For example, at the end of music class, you could sing a book to them, then choose a star student, then have them sing as lining up! These strategies can also work well as time fillers, if you get through a lesson a bit quicker than expected.

I hope this has been helpful for you! What are your favorite ways to end a music class? Feel free to comment below, and happy teaching!

Folk Songs for Fourth Grade

Folk Songs for Fourth Grade

Today, I'm linking up with Amy Abbott to write about some of my favorite folk songs for fourth grade! Whether you are "on track" with your curriculum or a little behind, I've got great singing games that fourth graders absolutely love!

#1: Big Fat Biscuit

Here's the notation, which I first learned from An American Methodology:

For the game, three students are chosen, and they stand in a line. On the first “chewbelew,” the first student does a standing long jump. On the second “chewbelew,” the second student jumps, and on the third “chewbelew,” the third student jumps. The student who jumps the farthest wins, and challenges two more students in the next round. If any of the children touch the ground with their hands, fall, or jump one-footed, they are disqualified.

This game is great for preparing or practicing low la, and for teaching tam-ti, or dotted quarter/ eighth. You could also use it with "older beginners," or students who are learning basic musical concepts in upper elementary; you could use it for do-re-mi if you extract the first measure. (Click here for more materials for older beginners.)

#2: Hogs in the cornfield

I also learned this gem from An American Methodology (which is a GREAT resource!)

 For the game (which I learned from my former colleague Jenna), students find a group of four. Students stand in a square. After singing the song, everyone says “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” and the students standing across from each other in the square play until there is a winner (rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock.) The students who lose sit down, and the remaining students play each other. The game keeps going until there is a winner! (If you need to pull another student back into the game, you can do that so that everyone has someone to play.)    

The song can be used to practice tika-ti, or to prepare or practice ti-tika if you focus on anything but measures 3-4. It's also great for high do! It would also be great for older beginners, just to get them singing! The game is so fun that you can encourage students that they will only play the game if they sing!

#3: Sandy's Mill

This is one of my favorites, that I learned about from Joan Litman in my Kodaly Level III class! I have a whole blog post just about this song; click here to read all about it!

#4: Our Old Sow

I learned this song from my Level II teacher Bruce Swank. The notation is:

For the game, one child is chosen to be a sow, while another is chosen to be the farmer. The rest of the students stand in rows, with arms stretched out, touching their neighbor’s shoulders. These are the “cornfields.” The sow hides in the cornfields and the farmer stands in front of the cornfields. The song is sung, with the farmer chasing after the sow, and at the end of each phrase, students switch the direction of their bodies and arms. For example, if they are facing north at the beginning, at the end of the phrase, they turn so they are facing east. Because the cornfields change, the path the farmer takes in chasing the sow has to change! He/she has to be careful not to be “clotheslined”! At the end of the song, a new farmer and sow are chosen.

Here's a video of the game:

The game is SO fun and different than any other game I've taught them! The song could be used to teach low sol, and to teach tam-ti, or dotted quarter/ eighth. You could also use it with older beginners--I'd focus on the second and fourth phrases for do-re-mi.

#5: Oboshinotentoten

I learned this African-American song from Sue Leithold Bowcock. The notation not on the staff is spoken. 

For the game, students stand in a circle with hands facing up, their left hands under their neighbor’s hand and their right hands above their neighbor’s hand. When the song begins, one student crosses their right hand over their body to tap the hand of their neighbor on their left. The beat continues around the circle until “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” If someone gets their hand tapped on “5,” they are out; if they pull their hand away in time, the person who was trying to tap their hand on “5” is out. The person who is “out” goes to the middle of the circle until more people join him/her, and two games can occur at the same time. 

Here is a video of the game (taken with my Level I class at DePaul when I taught at the Kodály program there):

This song is great for syncopa and for practicing re or the do pentatonic scale. Older beginners could use it to distinguish between singing and speaking voices.

There you have it...my five favorite folk songs for fourth grade!

If you are looking for more materials for fourth grade, I've just posted these two sets: one set with lesson plans for the second semester of fourth grade, and one for the entire year. Both are growing bundles, and have tons of lessons, materials, visuals, and more!

    

Happy teaching!