5 Books for Elementary General Music Class

I KNOW A SHY FELLOW WHO SWALLOWED A CELLO 
by Barbara S. Garriel, John O'Brien.

A great introduction to a few orchestral instruments.

coloring page (not sure who gets credit for this artwork):  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ce/b9/e5/ceb9e51dc3f9388f02b3f322f82ec6b6.jpg





THE RUNAWAY PANCAKE  by John Lithgow

This is a great sing-a-long book.  The class will love singing the main theme by the Runaway Pancake every time... including the volume needed at the end of the story.




HIP CAT by Jonathan London

It's all about Jazz.  Here is a Reading Rainbow link for the story read by Ann Duquesnay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcdPvkL9duI



MAMA DON'T ALLOW by Thacher Hurd

There is a copy of the sheet music at the back of the book. It is a fun story.




ABIYOYO by Pete Seeger

This is a story about a giant named Abiyoyo and the creative battle of the father and son to win.

7-Minute Journal

Music in Middle School is always a challenge, and a joy!  Pre-teens are ready to experience music through writing and drawing; as well as develop a unique opinion and get cre~a~tive.

As soon as the class walks through the door, notebooks are out, ready to write down the title of the composition and the composer that will be played.

  

For 7 minutes, they are to listen -  draw, write or both whatever the composition reminds them of:  

a picture, 

a memory 

or a story.  

It's their choice to journal however they want to.  

Before report cards are due, I look through their notebooks to see if they are putting effort into this assignment.  (Grammar and artistic work are not graded, just thought and effort.)

I use a variety of pieces throughout the year.  All styles of music are used; pieces that relate to the history we are learning about, or just any music will due. 

Mix up the music styles from week to week.
If you have time, share information about the piece.
There will always be a few kids who want to share what they thought about the music with the whole class.

Too many ideas to list, but here are a  few:

The Four Seasons

Mendelssohn:  The Wedding March, March of the Fairies (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

John Williams movie themes: Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Jaws, etc..

Bela Bartok Romanian Folk Dances

Pink Panther

Scott Joplin Maple Leaf Rag

Jimi Hendrix Star Spangled Banner

YES -especially songs with lots of instrumental and time signatures

Puccini:  Madama Butterfly, La Boheme

70's Billy Joel, Pink Floyd

Broadway 

The Beatles

African drumming

Native American music- flute, drums

60's - Mamas and Papas, Turtles, Elvis, Moody Blues

50's Fats Domino, Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry

40's -Big Bands, Swing, Judy Garland

Roaring 20's

African American Songs of the South

Blues- BB King, Charlie Parker

Jazz - Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, 

War Songs- Over There, Pack All Your Troubles, Yellow Rose of Texas

American Songs - Battle Hymn, America, the Beautiful, God Bless America

Dance music 80's

Ballet - The Nutcracker, Swan Lake

Asian music

Egyptian music

Ancient music

Classical artists from all eras.

guitar - classical and rock

Piano Guys

Lord of the Rings

Scavenger Hunt for the Classroom

Scavenger Hunt:  To do in the computer lab at school.


Here is one example I found:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/hunt/images/sh_ws_soundmusic-download.pdf



So many ideas going through my head for this idea.   I am going to use the scavenger idea for my middle schooler's.  This is a great research idea.  Several different worksheets could be passed out in one class as a research project and it could be done in small groups.

Web searches for the students to use:

New York Philharmonic:  http://www.nyphilkids.org/games/main.phtml
SFSKids:   http://www.sfskids.org/
DSOKids: http://www.dsokids.com/
Classics for Kids:  http://www.classicsforkids.com/

Vocal Warm-up

Love this!
https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/buzzing-flea-vocal-warm-up-6181031
The Buzzing Flea Warm-up.

Vocal Warm-Ups

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Love these warm-ups...  from http://tuesdaymusic.wordpress.com/
“Mama made me mash my m&ms.”  Memo
“Red leather, yellow leather”Memo
“A proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee cup.”Memo
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have incorporated vocal warm-ups in my classroom.  Draw long or short lines, squiggles, mountains, swirls... I have my middle school students warm up their voices by following the line shape on the board.  It also helps them understand how their voice works, as some of them have not had much singing experience.
They like to take turns drawing and directing the class,... and they all get very silly performing them. 

STOMP Projects in the Classroom

STOMP!

First...

Bring your recycling to the classroom. 

Cans, plastic, boxes, bottles... anything that makes a sound. 

Have the kids pick through the recycling and find items for their 'stomp' song. 

Have them explore and find 3 sounds that each of the recyclable items can make.  For example, swirling sound, drum sound, crushing, crunching, rattling, etc...

Write it down on a chart.

Draw the recyclable piece, write down it's sound and how to make it.  Do they use their hand to make the sound, or a pencil, or other object?
Use a line to show it's sound.  Swirly line for a swirling sound.  Up and down lines for a tom-tom drum sound, etc..


Have them find a few more pieces at home. 
The garage or the toy box is a great place to look.










Second...
Organize the sounds into a song.


Have the kids form groups of 3 - 4. 


Each person selects a recyclable item to play.  They need to come up with a rhythm, or you could give them a rhythm (depending on the age group).


Have each group write 8 measures of rhythm.  I have them write 8 and repeat it when they perform the song.  Some kids will feel comfortable writing more measures. 
You could have them write it with ABA, ABC form in mind??




Third...



After much time and practice, comes the Performance!
Video tape the groups playing.  The kids love to watch the show later.

Popcorn: A Rhythmic Game

\

This is a game I made up and tested out on my 2nd and 5th graders.  With the 2nd grade, I did not add the alphabet part.

Directions:
Sit in a circle- go around the room with each student saying POPCORN.  On "pop"- pat legs (quarter note) on "corn" (quarter note)- hands clap.  Each student says "Popcorn" going around the circle while pat-clapping to the syllables.   At any time, one student may then decide to say, "ding", (like a microwave oven). This causes a reverse action.  Going around in the other direction now, each student says, "pop", as quickly as they can and jumps up (then sits back down) while they say it.  (eighth notes).  Important- They must stay in the tempo that is set at the beginning.  Saying, "Pop-corn" is spoken slower then, "pop" on the popping up part... if a student is too slow to react to the pop-pop-pop part, they are out.

A student can only say "Ding" once in the whole game.  And you may only say "Ding" after 5 or more people have said "popcorn".

During the "pop-pop-pop...." part, the game changes when someone says, "pop and".  Then, the game goes in reverse again, and right away, the next student says, a food that starts with "A" (apple-clapping the syllables) and the next student, a food that begins with the letter "B".  It keeps going around the circle with the next letter in the alphabet until someone trips up and they are out.  Then the game begins all over again.

A student is out at anytime during the game when they take too long because for "music-sake", please try to keep a tempo when playing.   The student 'out' must either sit on the floor or turn their chair around because they are now out of the game.

I am always looking for games.  Please let me know any of your ideas.

Foam Rhythm Stick Notation

Rhythm sticks made out of foam.
 I used the sticky-back foam (leaving the 'sticky' on, which makes them a bit firmer),
I cut out eighth-notes, quarter notes and quarter rests (stems only)

I have used them for my 2nd graders - passing out a bunch and letting them compose a rhythm and then clapping (or use percussion instruments) the rhythm for the class. 

I reused a pizza box to store these foam rhythms. 

Ti-Ti,    Ti-Ti,    rest,     Ta

Sound Songs

Fourth grade class wrote some terrific "sound songs".
I got this idea from another music teacher.  Thank you!
It was a hit.

The Magic Penny

The Magic Penny is an old tune.  But I like to use it around Valentine's Day and Lincoln's birthday. 

It depends on your students, but in my case it works well with fourth graders and younger.
It begins:  "Love is something if you give it away..."
I made a penny about 6-8 inches in diameter out of foam core.  To use it with the song, I have the children stand in a line with their hands behind them.  They have to stand close and this might be a problem for some...stick them on the ends.   They pass the penny behind their backs until the song stops.  The song can pause anywhere you decide.  The person that is "it" ("it" faces the group, and observes the line as they pass the penny, of course "it" won't see much, but maybe?) has to guess who is holding the penny when the music stops.

Above is the first verse to the song.  This preview is from sheetmusicplus.com

Dry Erase Once Again...

I must try this.  What a great idea.  I get tired of always using paper; copying worksheets.
 This is fabulous!  Thank you.

2/13/13 update: 
So, I tried this...and it worked fine with some dry erase markers. Others were permanent. I guess you need to check each marker before passing them out....

The kids did like using the plates and markers to practice drawing different music symbols.  But I don't think I will use them again. 

I also use sheet protectors over a worksheet -this idea works better.  More on that later.

Music Mash

A take off from Fruit Basket Upset.  Did you ever play that game?  Or did I just age myself.  I remember playing that game in youth group as a kid. 

I label each child in class with a musical note.  I simply use:  whole note, dotted half note, half note, quarter note, eighth note and quarter rest.  I draw the note on the back of their hand with a dry erase marker.  The class sits in chairs that are formed in a circle.  One child and their chair is brought to the middle of the circle.  The child that is in the middle is "it".  "It" calls out a musical note.  Those children with that note on their hand, get up and switch chairs with another child that has that same musical note.  "It" also tries to take someone's chair.  The object is to NOT be "it" in the chair in the middle of the circle. 
(Of course, most want to be "it" and they will find a way to fake that they just weren't fast enough to find another chair and they will end up in the middle being "it"  :0)

By the way, this is a loud game.

The Fifth through Eighth Graders at one of my schools were assigned a project. 
The project:  Make Your Own Instrument. 

The assignment was pretty simple.  Simply find objects from around your home or be extravagant and purchase items designing and building an instrument.  They had to give a demonstration in class of how to play it, and what instrument family it would belong to.

 

 

I was very impressed!

Guitar Teaching

In teaching 7 - 8th graders guitar, it is important they have a folder with a guitar chord list and a bunch of folk songs and popular songs to enjoy. Making sure these songs go in order of the chords you are introducing.   Many songs can be played with just 3 chords.

I like to introduce the 'easiest to play' chords first.  Such as E and A.

I also introduce melody on the guitar.  It's not all about chords.  Chords can be difficult and uncomfortable and frustrating for some.  So, I like to balance it with learning the notes/steps on each string.  Alfred series has a good book. 
http://www.alfred.com/Products/ProductListing.aspx?q=@SKU=(35041,28374,28227,33304,28375,28228)


For printing a chord chart, check out this site:  www.chordguide.com  It lets you select the chords you want to print. 
Print out the chords you will need on one sheet... Add a small box next to each chord.  As you teach the chords and the students learn them, check off the box.  You could also make up an incentive sheet that would motivate the students to learn their chords.

You will be surprised at the singing that happens.  They are so focused on the playing, singing just enters in. 

(c) 2003 ChordGuide.com All Rights Reserved

Boomwhackers: Classroom App

I have to try this.  A music interactive...download and create.
http://themusicinteractive.com/TMI/The_Music_Interactive_-_Classroom_Apps_%282%29.html

Attention, please!

What's this?


This looks interesting.  With the way media is today and video games and everything flashing at kids.... I sometimes feel I need to move quickly.  And I do. 

Here are a couple ideas from www.minds-in-bloom.com.  They sound fun!

Desk Switch: Students have ten seconds (count down from ten) to find another desk to sit in that is in a different part of the room than his or her normal desk. Students stay in that desk for the rest of the lesson. Why? Two reasons, first switching desks gets them up and moving. Second, sitting in a different place in the classroom will give them a different perspective and wake up their brains a bit.

Position Switch: Have students turn their chairs around and sit straddling the chair with their hands resting on the back (girls in dresses can sit side-saddle). While good sitting is important, a few minutes of sitting differently can keep kids alert. Another idea is to let kids sit on their desks with their feet on their chairs (which they will love!)

Throw students a foam ball when calling on them to answer a question. 

Have students explain something they just learned in partners. 

I'm going to try it. 

Boomwhackers

I finally ordered some about two months ago.  I bought the C Scale.  I have used them with ages K - 6 and I have to say the older of the group enjoy them the most.  Now, I will create some laminated song cards and rhythm activities to go with them.
You can buy them on Amazon.  I bought mine on www.musiciansfriend.com.

Meet the Orchestra: Great books, Printables

Books for teaching/introducing the Orchestra.


Don't forget the loved stories:  Peter and the Wolf and The Carnival of the Animals.

Sites for exploring the Orchestra.  Kids wander through the site playing games and listening to the instruments. 
http://www.dsokids.com/listen/instrumentlist.aspx?  http://www.nyphilkids.org/lockerroom/main.phtml?
There are many more to search.


Printables/Lapbooks    Make lapbooks in class.  Here are some different sites for printables.
(If you haven't made a lapbook, here is a youtube video to learn how:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojolEi9VSJ8&feature=related

Here are a couple of worksheets to get you started.  Or you can create your own.
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/mus.htm

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=31073&affiliate_id=9272

Music K - 8 Magazine

I was looking in my filing cabinet and came across one of these K-8 Music magazines.  This is a great resource. I will be subscribing again.

Music Floor Mat For Preschoolers and Elementary

My dog decided to join in for the picture.

I bought the fabric years ago, so I don't know the name, but it is the kind of material that would go on your ironing board for an ironing cover.  It has a soft back and a silver front.  The soft back keeps it from slipping on a rug, but not a wood or vinyl floor.  I painted shapes on it first for a preschool- find the shape song game, then I revamped it with the music notes for the elementary age group.  In the pic it is folded up.  It is about 7 feet long.