Feedback!

Teachers, we love getting feedback from you. It helps us serve you better. It helps us know if we are on the right track in what we have to offer you, or if we need to change things up to be more applicable to your needs. 

I created a google form to make our monthly training feedback easier for you to submit. **click here to fill it out** (You're still welcome to submit it in hard copy, in an email, in comments on the blog, if that is easiest for you.) 

We'd love to hear from you, and we appreciate the time and effort you put into communicating with us!

October Training packet

Here are jpegs of the training packet from the October training. If you'd like a pdf, comment or shoot me and email and I can send you a pdf of the packet. 

Halloween Ideas

On Monday, I dropped by to visit Wendy Fischer at Muir Elementary. Her classroom is on the stage. The lights were dimmed with just some colored stage lights on, spooky sounds playing, and a fabulously decorated Halloween backdrop. (I should have taken a picture, but she decorated her white board with a Halloween theme.) Wendy was wearing Halloween colors, earrings, a headband: she looked like Halloween. How fun for those students!
I asked Wendy if I could take video of some of the fun things she was doing. (She didn't know I was going to show up ahead; she was really just prepared and loves what she does.) She obliged, so here are some video clips. I also want to note, Halloween is a great time to teach so many concepts masked as simply having fun. For example, many of our students don't hear minor songs very often, and what better time to teach minor v. major than Halloween?

I believe this is a Shel Silverstein poem. What a great idea.
A few musical concepts that can be extraced:
-steady beat
-strong and weak beats/meter
-crescendo 

Management Tip: use the music as your management tool. Quickly start the song after it ends to prevent children from talking or getting distracted.

This last one I wasn't able to share a video clip of, but here is the music.

This song is in harmonic minor.

Riddle Riddle Ree

Yesterday at the training I did Riddle Riddle Ree as an attention getter. I didn't plan that, so it wasn't in your packets. (I learned this from Susan Kenney, and she attributes it to Grace Nash.)

Here are the words and actions:

Riddle riddle riddle ree
Do what I do after me.

Stamp clap stamp clap
Sway sway (hands overhead swaying to the right, then left)

Touch your toes touch your nose
Round in a circle each one goes

Bow nice bow twice
Bend down low and plant some rice

Lift your arms up to the sky
Shake them out as moonbeams die

Clap your hands stamp your feet
Cymbal crash and that's complete.

I'd like to point out a few things about how I taught Riddle Ree yesterday. It was ~4pm, and many of you were visiting or coming in still. I don't have a loud voice, so attention getters like this are great for me. 

To start riddle ree, I didn't give any prior directions, I just began the poem. I expected that it might take half of the poem to get your attention. I expected that initially one or two might join in, and as you heard what was happening the rest of you would gradually join in. I expected that you might be confused and not know what to do right away. I trusted that what I was doing would be interesting enough that your brains would figure it out, and that you would join in my "game" over continuing your conversation.

When we teach music without a lot of verbal instruction, we lose management problems. Instead of struggling to wait for children to stop talking, we are all engaged and in a positive learning experience. We can cover more material in less time if we can learn to talk less as teachers, and if we use the music itself as our management tool. 

I would introduce Riddle Riddle Ree to children the exact same way. So often we think we need to explain everything before we do it. One of the great beauties of music is that music is inherently organized. We'll feel a bit confused initially, but it's a good confusion, and our brains will learn and grow from working through the confusion to create order. 

I did quickly go into the "round" version of Riddle Ree. I would not have done that so quickly with children, but I wanted you to get to the experience.

Give it a try, and let us know how it went!

Max Found Two Sticks Lesson

            Many of you have asked for the lesson plan to accompany

this fun book!  Here is the lesson I wrote up for it.  This lesson

is intended to be taught mainly to upper grades.  You are

welcome to make any adaptations to the lesson you would like.

Have fun and enjoy this one!                             

Max Found Two Sticks

By Shannon Elmer

 

This lesson is intended to be taught to grades 3-6

 

Standards:  Playing

Objectives:

• Practice the skills of beat accuracy while playing.
• Practice playing rhythmic patterns simultaneously against beat or rhythmic patterns played by others.
• Build skill in playing rhythm patterns using a variety of classroom instruments.

Supplies:  Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney, a classroom set of drum sticks or rhythm sticks, drums, buckets or the floor can be used to drum on (preferably starting with the floor)

Process: 

Read Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney to the class.  Ask the students to listen for non-sense words that might represent rhythmic playing.  Ask them to also listen for the different objects Max plays on.

As you read the book, emphasize the non-sense words and read them rhythmically.  Often 3 dots…represent a pause of a rest, longer words represent ta’s and shorter words ti-ti’s or ti-ri-ti-ri’s.

 

For Grades 3, 4, and 5…

Once the story has been read have the students answer the questions you asked them.  Pull out some of the non-sense rhythm words.

• Pat…pat-tat
• Pitter-putter…pat-tat
• Tap-tap-tap
• Tippy-tip…tat-tat
• Dum…dum-de-dum
• Di-di-di-di-…dum-dum
• Dong…dang…dung…
• Ding…dong…ding
• Cling…clang…da-BANG!
• A-cling-clang…DA-BANGGG!
• Thump-di-di-thump…

1.  Model the appropriate way to say the rhythms for the students
2. Have the students say it back to you.
3. Model the appropriate way to play it by patting or clapping.
4. Have the students play it back to you by patting or clapping.
5. Pass out rhythm sticks
6. Model the appropriate way to play with the rhythm sticks
7. Have the students play it back to you with the rhythm sticks.

 

For 6^th Grade only (you can try with the other grades but this is really difficult)

After following the above lesson outline, pair two rhythms together having half the class play one and half the class play the other.  (I highlighted the pairs for you) For example:

• Pat…pat-tat        and        pitter-putter…pat-tat

Make sure you switch jobs so every has a turn trying each rhythm.  Also, it works well to have the kids say the words that match the rhythm when playing.  It helps with retention and accuracy.

Pair remaining rhythms together.  The only ones that don’t work are the ding, dong ones because they are the same, And the final one Thump-di-di-thump…I would have one half do it first and the other half echo them. 

Leaf Man, Part 1...Music and the Refrain

Here are some clips from the Leaf Man Lesson that was briefly taught at the September Training.  Thanks to Marci Low for allowing me to play with her cute kiddos!

Singing Sol and Mi