"Sign"mon Says--A Quick Solfege Attention Grabber

 Ever looking for a quick game to get your students' attention?  I randomly came up with this game while teaching this year and my students love it!
      My 4th graders finally learned all of the solfege for a full major scale--wohoo!  It seemed like there needed to be a bit more of a celebration than, "Yay, you just learned a scale."  So, I had them all stand up and told them we were going to play Simon Says, but a new way--"Sign"mon Says!

Rules for "Sign"mon Says:

1.  All students stand.

2.  The teacher either says or sings a solfege syllable.

3.  Students show the symbol for it.  If they are incorrect, they sit down (most students did this honestly!).

4.  The game increases in speed as it goes on, forcing students to respond more quickly.  I let my students use the visuals hung up in my room as we began, but I warned them it would get faster and that it wouldn't help them eventually.

5.  The last one standing wins!

     My students LOVED this!  Such a simple game, and I'm sure someone else has done something like it before.  I just enjoyed how motivated my students were to get every sign correct.  I was also surprised by who won!  It wasn't always who I always expected...

     I'm already formulating ways to differentiate this in the future:
Sing the note without saying the syllable, do a longer pattern, etc.  What ideas do you have?

     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

     P.S.  I'm posting this blog entry as part of a linky party, if you want to see more ideas, click the picture above!!

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!