Hanukkah

Hello everyone!  I wanted to share this Hanukkah idea for older students - just in case you're looking to diversify your holiday season.

Here's a nice minor melody (I don't recall where it is from and it might not be Israeli, shh!  If you happen to know, please illuminate me) that would be great for older students. Beforehand, talk about Israeli/Hebrew music and circle dancing (check youtube - lots of good video clips to show) so students have a cultural reference.  This activity is fairly simple and is a good way to cover the content/concept without taking too much class time (as I'm sure your older students are preparing for performances, sing-a-longs, etc).

I like this song because it doesn't have words, that I know of at least, so the students get to experience creating and moving to instrumental music.  Those on instruments realize that the dancers are relying on them to create the music.

MELODY
I would tackle the melody first, since the other parts are really structured around it (and you can identify which students can play it and which need a simpler part to avoid prolonged frustration).  In my powerpoint, I can have the pitches labeled for those who need it, or I can simply click and the pitches are removed.  Depending on the level of your students/time restraints, you may choose to have the soprano xylophones play the blue (A) phrase while the altos play the yellow (B) phrase - that way the students are learning very small chunk of the melody.  Of course, both instruments could play the complete melody, as could recorder - just add what you'd like.

ACCOMPANIMENT
The drum (I like a hand drum played with a mallet), tambourine, and glock parts are fairly simple.  You (or a student) could play the melody while the others pat on the circles (transfer to drum), snap on the squares (transfer to glock), and clap on the "Hey" (transfer to tambourine).

The bass part is a little tricky - but students can usually figure it out if they listen and watch you play the bass part while you sing the melody.  Have them identify where in the song the chord changes (moves to C and G) and also discuss the differences between the two lines (first line ends on A, second line ends on B).  Be sure to tell them "if you're playing something on the "Hey" - you made a mistake" so that they don't just barrel through.

MOVEMENT
You may choose to record your students playing in order to have something to practice dancing with (if you'd like to teach the movement to all the students) or you can have a few continue to play while a few learn the movements.  Ideally, about half the class would be playing and half would be moving at the same time.

You can see the movement suggestions (in blue and yellow) next to each phrase - simply follow those.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDENT LEARNING
My students have gotten to the point where they hardly raise their hand when I say, "I need a helper" or "I need someone to play this part" etc because they know I'm going to ask a question.  Here's a few good ones to keep in mind:

1. What do the blue phrases have in common?

2. How are the yellow phrases similar? How are they different?  Why does the first yellow phrase end on "A" while the second ends on "D"?

3. What is the form of this melody?

4.  Is this melody in a major or minor key?  Which key is it?

5. How is moving to live music different then dancing to recorded music?  How does this activity feel compared to you say, dancing to Taylor Swift in your living room?

On Her Broomstick

We all have those songs where we can't quite remember their source ("Wait, which book was this in?") and for me, this is totally one of those songs (feel free to comment if you know where it is from).  I've taught this song every year, usually with younger grades when we learn "Witch, Witch" although this year I'm going to try it with my older students as well.

Here's the tune:

The range is pretty large for younger kiddos but is still accessible.  I enjoy hearing  pretty "ooohs" from them.  We even discuss that this song is minor (when music is centered around "la" and sounds spooky, sad, or serious).  Older students can work on their 6/8 rhythms.

We use this slide to add instrumentation (please note that the glocks play E-B, E-B to match the pitch of the song).  It is important to have a lot of kiddos on instruments so that the movement (see instructions below) doesn't get too crazy.

I am currently learning the guitar - I mean, really, how have I not done this already?!  I'm nothing amazing AT ALL but I can play a few chords.  I am enjoying the freedom of moving the guitar wherever I need it (to our circle, on the floor, next to the rest of the instruments, etc) instead of being behind a piano.  Kiddos love singing with the guitar - there is something very "campfire sing-a-long" about it.  Here are the chords that I play.  If you have older students or just want to challenge some of your younger kiddos - they can play the chord root only (notice the circles around them match boomwhacker colors - hint hint ;) ).  You can discuss chords and accompaniment with older kiddos at this point as well.

Once we've established the song and the instrument accompaniment, it is time to add in the game.  My students are divided into four groups of about six kiddos, so this is usually how it goes:
Group 1: playing chord roots on Alto/Bass xylophones
Group 2: playing the metals (triangle, gong, glock)
Group 3: playing non-metals (quiro and hand drum)
Group 4: acting out the movement
When it comes time to switch, I just re-assign the groups to another job.  Easy!

Movement: The students are in scattered formation (they are the ghosts).  One student is the witch (complete with a hat and mini broomstick).   The witch flies around the ghosts for the first half of the song (the witch is on her broomstick flying very fast) the the ghosts join her in flying around on the second half of the song (ooo-oh, ooo-oh, Halloween is nigh).
No, this is not really a game, however, students usually understand that drama and music go hand in hand ("How strange would a movie be without music?" or "Doesn't music make you want to get up and move?").

Options (extend this song for another lesson - whoot!)
Add in a B section with the metals (Orff instruments tremolo on E, gong and triangle play freely but slowly) in which the witch chases and tries to tag the ghosts (this adds a game element - so fun).

Performance option: Older students can totally play the melody (you'd have to take the first B up the octave) on soprano xylo/metallophones (you only need a few that can play the melody - there are enough other parts for everyone else).  You could structure a form like this:
Introduction: Metal/Orff section instruments play (same as described above with optional B section) while ghosts and witch take their spots
A: Sing song with instrumentation and act out motions
B: Play song without singing or motions
A: Sing song with instrumentation and act out motions
Coda: same as intro, although tremolos slow and ghosts/witch fly out of performance space one by one

Lady in the Graveyard

Hello everyone!

I know we all love this time of year, don't we?!  I'm very excited to be working through my October lessons.  I have so many fun things that I really have to pick and choose between them.

Here's an activity that I'll be trying next week with my 5th graders (would be good for 4th grade too).  My teaching partner is doing a really cool "Skin and Bones" lesson with our 4th graders that totally inspired this.

Please note: While this is a traditional song (I did change a few words), I did borrow this particular soprano xylophone part from D. Gagne's "Music Play" Grade 5 #23.  She also uses the same bass part I do.

Feel free to copy and paste these slides and use them as you need to

First, we'll sing through the lyrics.  I'll ask the students, "What do you notice about the melody?" (It remains the same throughout the entire piece).

 Here is the melody of the song (sorry for the confusion earlier):

At the ghost icon, that's where the "ooo" part (same as below on the recorder) is sung.  I found a cute ghost this year at Dollar Tree (see below - I'm so jealous if you find all of them - I only have the jack-o-lantern, skeleton, and ghost).  I'll be giving him to one student to hold up while we sing the "ooo" (the ghost can totally trace the melodic shape of that line).

Next, I'll teach the recorder part.  Students can then play the "ooo" part on the recorder.

Next, we'll add the unpitched instruments (see lyrics slide above).  They are pretty self-explanatory.  I'll also add some kiddos rubbing on hand drums to create a ghostly-wind sound (they'll play throughout the piece).  I would suggest beginning with the chimes (that way you can pass that job around on repetitions) and adding in each unpitched instrument one at a time.

Then, we'll play the game (some kiddos can stay on instruments while this is done):
Game Instructions
Formation: Circle with small spaces in between students.   One student is the "old lady" and three other students are the "ghosts".
Play: During the singing, the ghosts "float" around in the middle of the circle while the lady paces outside the circle.  On verse three, only the ghosts sing, "Would you like to come inside?" and on verse four only the old lady sings, "Eww, I don't want to go with you!"  Then the "old lady" shouts, "Boo!" and the "scared" ghosts fly out of the circle.  The old lady chases them for eight counts (if they are caught they sit) then all the players freeze so they/the teacher can select new players.  Students should be counting to eight during the playing part using a spooky ghost voice.
Additions: It is totally fun for the "old lady" to be armed with a funoodle (her "walking stick") or a scarf (her "handkerchief") with which to tag the ghosts.

During the next lesson, we'll add the Orff instrumentation to our singing/playing:

This is a great song to discuss low la, ti, and do with older students.

Captain, Go Sidetrack Your Train

Here's a rhythm activity I'm planning to use with my 5th graders (we're working on recorder and syncopa):

The students create their own rhythms and then improvise a melody on E-G-A-B on the recorder.  This creates a "B" section for the orffestration and movement we use with the song:

In this download at my TPT store, you'll find the printables you see above, lots of tempo vocabulary word printables, thorough slides for teaching the song, movement game instructions, full orffestrations, and 3 mini-lessons (with explicit instructions).  Check it out!

Veni Veni Emmanuel

"Just for fun" this month, my 5th graders are busy working on "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel".  This is a great piece for this time of year and it incorporates rhythms the students can read (such as the dotted half note) and pitches (like low la).  It has also opened up discussion about sacred and Renaissance music.

My kiddos are singing in the original Latin.  We also add in hand-drums (played with a soft mallet) on the half note beat, tambourines (they play the rhythm of "Gaude" only) and recorder (little over-achievers of mine).  These instruments really give our performance an authentic sound.

I made a little page for them to put into their interactive notebook.  See below:

I've been going over this song for about the last 5 or 6 lessons.  We discuss a fact each lesson.  I've created a PowerPoint for that (if you'd like to use these slides, you can copy and paste the pictures or email me at ehinz@lcps.k12.nm.us and I'll send them to you):

The students have also enjoyed watching and listening to other musicians perform this piece.  Our two favorites are:

And of course, Mrs. Fricke LOVES the cello:

We're even planning to do an impromptu performance of this for our teachers!  How exciting!!!!

Interactive Notbooks - Update

 UPDATE: Hello everyone!  I have been at a new school with nearly 3x the students!  Eek!  Interactive notebooks haven't been feasible here, so I haven't been keeping up with them.  I do have some of the things I've use available for free (see the links below) and I'm working on uploading more!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-Interactive-Notebook-Pages-Rhythms-475383
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-Interactive-Notebook-Pages-Dynamics-Tempos-Articulations-424104

I know that a few of you are on the "interactive notebook" journey with me.  I haven't been "journey-ing" very well in October, because, well, Halloween songs and activities are my absolute favorite and my students and have been busy!

However, I'm hoping to get these updates into my students' notebooks ASAP.  Check them out!

This easy foldable can be used for logging "new rhythms".  The rhythm is drawn in the middle.  The flaps read: "real name", "word with same number of sounds", "number of sounds", "number of beats".  You can see below how I answered these for "tika-tika".

Here's another rhythm foldable - this one is cross-curricular.  Check-out how the kiddos have to identify the rhythm and then create a bar-graph:

Isn't it convenient that the lines on the music staff equal the number of fingers on the human hand? :)
I can't wait to add this little picture in as we go over absolute pitch:

The foldables are for basic listening vocabulary words.  I'm thinking about introducing one type (say "tempo") per lesson, paired with interesting listening examples (I love Eric Chapelle's "A Tale of Two Cities" for loud vs. quiet - Half the class is the "loud city" and they stomp around the room with big movements, the other half is the "quiet city" and they tip-toe around with small movements - lots of fun for any age).  After we listen or move to some of the terms, the students can complete their notebook pages (see below).  The students can find the answers on various posters, anchor charts, etc around the room.

Now, anytime we listen to a piece, the students can uses these pages as a reference.  I think this will be very engaging because they'll get to flip into their own work, check out pictures, and read what they wrote as the definition.

I'm literally slapping myself for not thinking of these pages sooner.  My 4th graders are going to an orchestral concert on Thursday, so I've been very busy with them reviewing the instruments of the orchestra.  We used a few charts in our notebooks already to log in notes about each instrument, but, had I had these printables glued in for them to use, I think their work would have been much better organized (and the pictures can't hurt either).  I'll definitely be using these with my 3rd and 5th graders.

I'd suggest teaching one family per lesson (I love to use SFS Kids when teaching the instruments).  Students can take notes under each flap and add extras (such as other family members, playing techniques, etc) around the edges of the foldable.  Supplement their note-taking with discussions and video-clips from Youtube.

Looking for more instruments of the orchestra activities?  Check out these FREEBIES from my TPT store:
Brass Family Matching Game
Woodwind Family Matching Game
Percussion Family Matching Game
String Family Matching Game
Turkey Instrument Family Game


How are your notebooks going?

The Turkey Dance

By the time November rolls around (fingers crossed) I'll be working with my older kiddos (4th and 5th) on low so.

I created this little song for us to have some fun (and extra practice) with low so.  It is called "The Turkey Dance".

Here's a slide of the verse:

Here's a slide of the refrain:

I've created slides for teaching the song (starting with the lyrics, adding the steady beat, adding the rhythmic icons, adding the rhythm, adding the solfa off the staff, adding the solfa on the staff, ending with the complete song on the staff).

I also created movements to go with the song (even my older ones like to sing and dance - I always tell them that "motions can help us remember the lyrics" and insist on complete participation).

The melodic activity that goes along with this song is what I can't wait to try out.  The students are singing in a circle - singing and moving to the music.  A "turkey trainer" selects as many as 8 students to hold up a turkey card:

After each repetition of the song, I can either:
A) Select a turkey for the class to sing
B) Sing or play a turkey for the class to find
If the class does so correctly, the student holding that turkey is "eaten", they turn in their card, and then they go to play an instrument (soprano, alto, bass xylophone, rhythm stick/claves, and slap stick parts are all included).  Because the song is in G Major, many of my students can play it on the recorder as well.

In a subsequent lesson, the students will complete a worksheet where they label the turkeys with the correct solfa (either low so, low la, do, re, or mi).

Bach's "Little Fugue"

With my 5th graders, for mid-October to mid-November, I've been using lessons from my "Spooky Music" Unit.  I incorporate learning about composers, types of music, orchestral instruments, listening terms, and creative writing and composition all into this unit.

This year, I've created an activity for discussing the music of JS Bach.

First, to grab their attention, I'll show the students the video below (Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor).  Must students recognize this as a "spooky" song and have heard it around Halloween.

Second, we'll read and discuss information about the Composer (I can project it in PDF format):

Next, we'll learn about the piece the students will be describing in further detail, Bach's Fugue in G Minor or his "Little" fugue.  I know the students will be as mesmerized by this as I am, especially with a little spooky context (low lights and my Halloween decorations :) )

Then, I'll ask the students a variety of questions:
1. What colors do you see? (Green, Orange, Pink, Purple)
2. What do you think the colors represent? (The various pitch-levels on the organ)  I like to show this video - the organist is in a church where Bach worked, what a cool connection: BBC Bach
3. What happened when the colors went up/down? (The pitch of the line went up - the height of the colors mirror the height of the melodic line)
4. Why are some lines longer than others? (The length of the lines of color indicate the length of the rhythm - some indicate short rhythms, some longer rhythms)
5. Define fugue: a fugue is a composition technique in which a theme is introduced by one voice and imitated by one or more voices - the theme recurs frequently throughout the composition
6. Add movement: watch the beginning of the video again - ask students to raise their hands when they hear the "theme" for the first few entrances - discuss the higher and lower voices - discuss points of imitation(we almost hear the theme but it is different somehow - a different pitch, a major key, not entirely finished, etc) - I'm also going to have the students divide into four groups and follow one specific color as they watch - using their hands to mimic the direction

This video has a midi-piano recording of the piece - I like how the students can see the real notation.

I'll also show them how to create their own colorful composition:

I'll demonstrate (using the piano), "playing" my piece.  Students will describe the melodic direction of my piece, as well as point to short or long sounds.  Then, we'll "sing" each line, then the students will divide into two groups to sing this.

In a subsequent lesson (otherwise I'm sure I'll get many little versions of Bach because that's what's in their heads), the students will create their own "fugue".  The students can pair up to perform their fugue with a friend (using voice or piano - one plays the top one plays the bottom, etc).

You can find the printables in:
Spooky Music Unit
Fall into Music

Spider Web Instrument Family Game

In 4th and 5th grade, we really go over the instruments in detail (soon the students will get to chose one if they'd like to in Middle School).  Also, my 4th grade students will visit our local university (NMSU) in mid-November to attend an orchestral performance.  So, it is time for me to go over the instruments of the orchestra (again).

To begin: I'm a huge fan of the SFS Kids website.  I use this every year as we go over the instruments, coupled with videos of prestigious orchestras from Youtube.  I still have the old "Share the Music" series and there is a instrument-family coloring book with great printables included.  Of course we don't color the instruments (I mean, what are they learning from doing that?), but I have printed them out on cardstock, laminated them, and assigned one to each student to hold.  From there the student can:
1. Describe what they know about their instrument to the class
2. Break into groups based on instrument families (they love finding their "family members") and discuss similarities between family-members (as well as differences) - from there I can play recordings of instruments (there are some great sound-clips in the "Spotlight on Music" series) and have the correct family stand up and identify the instrument they hear (this can be done competitively, with correct answers earning points for the team)
3. Re-create the layout of the orchestra (great for discussing the reasoning for the placement and helping them visualize what they'll see at the performance)

In order to further prepare them for this performance in a fun and festive way, I created a "Spider Web Instrument Family Game".  Students must match six instruments in each family to the correct web.

I intend to use this activity with a few different stations:
1. Instrument Folder Game Station
2. Listening Station (using apps on our ipods and orchestral music selections)
3. My Favorite Instrument (great for discussions and bulletin board displays - I also tell the students that whatever instrument the write about they need to locate and pay close attention to it at the performance):

From these lessons on, anytime we do any listening examples with orchestra instruments, we'll always discuss what we hear and what family they are in.  Ms. Garret at Music Tech Teacher has some amazing games that are also great for review (and great fun too - project and the whole class can play).

What activities do you use to teach the instruments of the orchestra?

BONES!

With Halloween on the way, I'm totally in the Autumn-mode.  Here are some skeleton/bone/ghost songs that I love (and none of them mention "Halloween", in case you have students that don't celebrate):

First of all, there's my personal favorite, "The Ghost of John" by Martha Grubb.  I use it every Halloween and the kids love the spooky melody.  Last year, I came across a great movement idea from Amy's Blog (she sings "Tom" instead of "John"): Ghost of Tom.  I love doing rounds with older kiddos, and this song is great for that as well.   This year, I found a great orffestration in the Share the Music Series (you know, the really old one text book series - that's all we have so you can see why I create so many PowerPoints, haha).  That series has great orffestrations because many of them include instructions for teaching the orchestration (yay, I don't have to figure it out).  The orffestration was created by Carol King.  I'll share the first page so you can get an idea:

My older students already know the song "Dry Bones Come Skipping" (this is now included in my Fall into Music  bundle).  We've used it as a name game already this year.  The students sing the song while walking in a circle for the A section and stopping and facing center for the B section.  One person rolls a ball from the middle of the circle out.  Whoever the ball hits catches it, and instead of 'Zekiel's bones in the B section, we'll sing their name and they sing a solo on "Some of them bones are mine."

 I've included a few slides for: discussing who Ezekiel was, reviewing the lyrics, and adding the steady beat.

By Halloween, (fingers crossed), the 4th and 5th grade students will be ready to add low so to our pitch repertoire (they already know low la). This song also has some challenging rhythms, including "syncopa" (eighth-quarter-eighth) and tika-ti (sixteenth-sixteenth-eighth).  Now, obviously being Kodaly-based, the students will learn other songs with tika-ti before we get to this one (they already know syncopa, but it never hurts to review).

The students will also add orff instruments to the song.  I created an easy accompaniment for BX and SX.  A while ago, I found a recorder counter-melody (I don't remember where - I have so many books) which the students can also add.

In the past, I've also added, "Dry Bones" (Dem Bones) with motions (in a large circle):
A Section (sung twice):

Ezekiel cried: Students cup hands near mouth
Them dry bones: Students hold arms out, bend at elbow, and wiggle arms (mimic skeleton arms)
Hear the Word of the Lord: Students cup ears, point to mouths, then point upward.

B Section:

During this section, we point to whatever bone is being mentioned.  Hear the Word of the Lord is the same as above.

C Section:

Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around: Students step counter-clockwise to the half note beat (four times).
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around: Students step clockwise to the half note beat (four times).
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around: Students step counter-clockwise to the half note beat.
Now hear the Word of the Lord: Same movements as before (students face center).
 
There's also, "Skin and Bones".  This is a good song for introducing low la, as the "ooh" incorporates it.  Students can sing and discern that the new note is lower than mi, re, and do.

This year I found some very cute erasers at Target.  We'll use these to figure out the last line of the melody, then to dictate patterns I sing and play.  Students can also create their own patterns (using mi, re, do, and la).

I like incorporating ideas from this video - it looks like there are some "trees", a few "bones" on the ground, and one student could be the "old woman" (the only cane I have is a candy cane one, oh well).  Cool ideas in the instrument section too - although older students could also add the recorder on the "ooh".

I hope you find these spooky ideas helpful!