Easter Egg Listening Game

I have to say, this is not my idea at all, but I saw it on the Music Teacher board on Facebook and had to share it! 

Rosemarie Gates Speich is the person who posted the game below (give credit where it is due!):

"Easter Egg Game - with Easter coming up, I'd thought I'd share a cute game that I play with grades 2+3 each year at this time. ( My 4th graders ask for it too!).
* Purchase the large size plastic easter eggs in solid colors.
*Fill pairs of eggs with identical objects. I've used macaroni, pennies, bobby pins, paper clips, pebbles, thumb tacks etc.
*Tape the eggs shut.
*Use a wide sharpie to number the eggs on the bottom. (no two eggs should have the same number). *Make a list for yourself of which eggs are matched pairs.
*To play the game: Give each child an egg. When the game begins, the kids must wander and try to find their match based on the sound their egg makes when they shake it. Hint: Tell the kids they can NOT use their voices. They must nod their heads to communicate with their friends. When they find their match, they sit down with their partner. When the class is seated, they announce their egg #'s and teacher checks to see if they have found their match. If correct, I ask them to shake their eggs for the class and the kids try to guess what's inside. Those who do not match correctly the first time get a second chance. The kids love this game. It's a great listening activity. Enjoy!"

Catch you next time I have something Noteworthy!

FREE Instrument Family iPad Activity

     I'm really excited to do this activity with my students!  We just recently got iPads and were checking out some of the great education apps when I ran across Chatterpix Kids.

     Chatterpix Kids is a FREE app for iPads and iPhones that allows your students to take pictures of anything they want, add a mouth to it, and make it speak!  Even the teachers had fun with it when we had our professional development.  I made a really funny video of my principal, but since I value my job, I won't post it here :)  Anyway, here is the instrument activity!

Step-by-Step Chatterpix Kids Instrument Activity:

1.  Have your students choose an instrument of the orchestra to focus on.  You could give them a cheat sheet with some info, or have them look on the web (be careful with that!).

2.  Have them write a short script about the instrument that includes some of the following:
Name of the instrument.
Family it is in and why.
How it is played.
Something special about the instrument.
How to tell it apart from other instruments in it's family.

They only get 30 seconds to record, so they have to keep it short!

3.  Have students open Chatterpix.  Choose "take photo." 

4.  Have your students take a picture of their instrument.  You don't actually have to own the instrument, they can just take a picture of a picture :)  

5.  Then you will see this flash across the screen:

This hand is showing students how to draw a "mouth" on their picture.  Let them pick where they think the mouth is most appropriate!  They can always go back a step and do it again if they don't like how it turned out the first time.

6.  Next they push the record button and record their speech.  It's really easy to re-record if needed, and there's a timer showing them how much time they have left.

 
7.  Add fun stuff!!  Students can add filters, stickers, frames, and text to their picture.  I put a few things on, but you may want to limit it so they can still see the instrument!
Filter:

Stickers:

 Frame:

 Text:

 8.  Students will get a kick out of their final product.  Have them set their iPads up around the room and rotate to hear what other students have learned and created!
Here's mine:

Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

Motivation During Movement: Special Scarves

     So, I have the privilege of teaching my kindergarten students every day!  One day is music class and the next is musical movement class.  This means I have to come up with A LOT of activities for them.  It can be challenging to make sure I keep the movement activities fresh.
     As part of their movement curriculum, I decided to focus on one classical song every two weeks.  So they hear the same classical song every movement class for two weeks.  This worked well for awhile, but several students were lacking enthusiasm when we were doing scarf movement to go with the songs.  
     Enter my hanger of "special scarves."  

     My mom had given me some of her old scarves since she retired from teaching last year, and I just had them hanging around my classroom doing nothing when I got the idea.  We will do the song two times every class and I will pick the best movers to come pick a special scarf for the second time through.  Boy did it work like a charm.  Everyone had their eyes on me and were following me intently!!  Still works even a couple of months later :)
     So, if you don't have some extra scarves hanging around your house, send a letter out to your students to see if their parents have some they can donate to your classroom.  It's so fun to watch their faces light up as they use the special scarf.  It really helps bring the music to life!!
     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

Instrument Scavenger Hunt!

If you are looking for a fun activity to do with iPads or just an interactive way to get your students interested in the instrument families, check out my latest product!  On sale for $2.00 the next 48 hours!

Up, Down, Same Activity

     So, as usual, I caught myself doing what I have learned is called "shorffing"--a.k.a.  shopping with Orff ideas in mind . . . and I found a Valentine's Day mailbox.  Now what to do with it? 
     Well, my 1st graders need to work on reading Sol, La, and Mi as well as learn if what they are hearing is going up, going down, or staying the same.  So here's the activity I came up with:

 Up, Down, or Same?

1.  Students sit in a circle and sing this song while one child, the "beat keeper," stands on the inside pointing to classmates on the beat (going counter-clockwise). 

2.  On the word "name" the "beat keeper" freezes on who they are pointing to.  That child is now "the singer" and goes to the mailbox to pick a letter.  

Here's the mailbox:

 

 The letters look like this on the outside:

3.  "The singer" identifies the solfege syllables notated and sings them if they are able (or the teacher can help the child sing after they identify the notes). 

4.  The rest of the class is listening to see if the notes are going up, down, or staying the same.  "The singer" calls on a student to give an answer.  If the answer is correct, "the singer" gets to open the envelope and see who wrote the song.  For example:

5.  The child who gave the correct answer goes to the middle to be the "beat keeper," and the game starts over again. 

     If you'd like the files to try this in your own classroom, you can get them here and here.  Let me know if you can't get to them and I can email them to you!

The graphics used to make the files were KB Fonts and Glitter Meets Glue Designs along with Finale.
 Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

The Joys of An After-Christmas Sale!

     So, I was scrounging in the clearance sections of the after-Christmas sales and found this beauty:

     I have learned that some of my best ideas come from going down random aisles at craft stores asking myself, "What could I do with that?"  So, when I saw this, I had to have it!  Here's what I've decided to do next year:
     Each day of music class, I am going to have my kindergarten students learn one of the songs from The Nutcracker with a movement activity (great for teaching same and different).  Here comes the fun part:  just like the Elf on the Shelf, our Nutcracker will be magical!  If the students master the song and bring "magic" to the music, something special will begin happening to our Nutcracker each night.  Perhaps the next day, he will have painted boots!  And the day after that, a red jacket, followed by buttons, eyes, a belt, etc. until the final day when his hair appears!  Then I will draw the name of one lucky kindergarten student who gets to keep the Nutcracker and take it home.
     When we make our classroom seem magical, students WANT to be there and they WANT to learn and even more importantly, they are engaged in what we are teaching them.  That's the beauty of an unpainted nutcracker doll on clearance--it has all of the potential in the world, just like the students we teach every day.
     What have you found on clearance or at the craft store that has inspired you?
     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

My New Year's Resolutions

I'm teaming up with Aileen Miracle for a New Year's Resolution Linky Party!
Here are my resolutions for this year:  (truth be told, I've never really made resolutions, so we'll see what happens!)

Personal:
My faith is very important to me, but somehow between having two babies in the last three years, working full-time, being a wife, volunteering at church, starting a TPT store, blog, and Facebook page, I haven't really squeezed time in for my relationship with God (gee, I wonder why . . . ).  My plan this year is to take some time for myself each day (or at least every other day), away from all of the busyness, to focus on growing in my relationship with Christ.

Professional:
I became really interested in the Kodaly method when I started seeing some of the products teachers put on TPT.  I wanted to know where they were getting their ideas from, and they all had one thing in common--Kodaly training.  Problem is, I live in Michigan, where there are literally NO Kodaly levels or workshops close by.  So, I may travel the globe to try to sneak one in, but that's super expensive!  The good news is I also live right next to Michigan State University, so I can take a Music Learning Theory course pretty easily and they have one I'm interested in coming up.  But, I don't agree with everything in their method, so globe traveling it may be!  I could always go for Level 2 Orff training too :)

Classroom:
I would really like to start a small music club for students who love music.  I think it would give my program even more momentum and encourage students to continue in music when they leave elementary school.  I'm thinking a recorder club or upper-elementary music club that would meet maybe 1-2x per month.  This year I have 25 students who have made it into the Elementary Honors Choir in the area, so I think our after-school practices will count for that!  Anyone who has had a music club, I'd love to hear what you've done!

Blog/TPT:
I just started both of these in the last 6 months.  It can be overwhelming when you look at the blogs and TPT stores of other teachers who have been doing this much longer than me!  They seem to have it all together and have a huge following, and I'm just getting started!!  But, I also have 10 YEARS of teaching experience that I have to offer to people through my blog posts and products.  I have always had the ability to come up with unique songs and chants, but have never really tried to put them "out there" because I second guess myself.  This year, my goal is to be ME and not try to be anyone else.  And to know that there is a lot of value in what I have learned in the last 10 years of teaching!!

Just for me: 
I'm one of those people who needs 8-10 hours of sleep each night--not kidding at all, just ask my co-workers!  For a long time I got much less sleep than that because other people could survive on less sleep, why couldn't I?  Well, let's just say I'm a much more pleasant and healthy person when I get enough sleep :)  So, healthy sleep habits it is!  Also, I have some small nagging health issues I need to take care of to feel my best.  Time to be proactive to feel the best I can!!

Those are my resolutions for this year, what are yours?  Take some time to reflect on the upcoming year.  It feels good to set goals :)

Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!