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.

Fall/Halloween Melodic Manipulatives

Yesterday, I blogged about some rhythm manipulatives I use for the Fall/Halloween season.  I also use some of the same (and a few different ones) for melodic activities.

I created a little background called, "Corny Melodies" which we use throughout this season.

Here are a few example:

 

This year, I plan to use these with "Pumpkin, Pumpkin" and "The Pumpkin Patch":

This is a dictation example for the first line of "Old Mother (Mrs.) Witch" - the little ghost is the quarter rest :):

 

 

Last year, I did a few dictations with real candy corn (I cleared allergies, asked permission, etc).  It worked really well and was a lot of fun.  This year, I found these cute erasers at Target (we'll be using these instead):

Fun stuff!

You'll find the slides for the songs mentioned in my "Fall into Music" bundle.

Fall/Halloween Rhythm Manipulatives

I'm a huge fan of the Target dollar section and their seasonal stuff.  Over the past three years, I've collected some great manipulatives that I love to use.  I've already checked them out this year and I found the plastic pumpkins, plastic leaves, pumpkin erasers, and ghost erasers that you'll see below.  I hope you find some great ideas:

Here's a cute little anchor chart the students can make (I've done these with 5th grade in the past, but that was when I had 45 minutes per class).  The leaves are die-cuts made from construction paper.

Another fun activity (the small ghost erasers I found last year but the larger ones are currently at Target) is Mrs. White.  I use this with K and 1 grades. It goes along with the poem:

Mrs. White had a fright
In the middle of the night
Saw a ghost eating toast
Halfway up the lamp post

Sorry - for some reason it wont go vertical - stretch your neck ;)

Introduction: We speak the poem and dramatize the words.

For Kinder - Beat vs. Rhythm Lesson
1. We count the beats (number of squares - 16 beats)
2. We point to the beats as we say the poem
3. We say, "short-short" on the two ghosts and "long" on the one ghost - that's the rhythm
4. We clap the rhythm (two claps for two ghosts, one clap for one ghost) first without the poem, then with the poem
5.  The students add the large ghost erasers to the single ghost and the small ghost erasers to the paired ghosts.

For First - Quarter Note (ta) and Eighth Note Pair (titi) Lesson
1. We count the beats (number of squares - 16 beats)
2. We point to the beats as we say the poem.
3. We say "short-short" on the two ghosts and "long" on the one ghost - that's the rhythm
4. We clap the rhythm (two claps for two ghosts, one clap for one ghost) first without the poem, then with the poem
5. We add rhythm sticks to the rhythm as we say the poem and follow the ghosts
6. I laminate the worksheet and give the students a dry erase marker - at the bottom, next to the picture of the one ghost, we draw a quarter note (ta - one sound on one beat) and next to the picture of the two ghosts, we draw an 8th note pair (titi - two sounds on one beat)
7. Using this key, the students draw the correct rhythm over each ghost picture - then we check our answers

This year, I found these acorns and leaves at Hobby Lobby ($3 a bag) and the pumpkins and more leaves at Target ($1 a box).

You can find my instructions for this activity here: Fall Rhythm Fun

 

The pumpkins are eighth note pairs (pumpkin) and the leaves are quarter notes (leaf).

This year when I incorporate my Leaves lesson, I'll have the students dictate the rhythm themselves.

Here's an example

The plastic figures match the rhythm icons I use in the song.

This year, I'm going to try to use these ice-cube trays.  First, the students can create rhythm patterns.  Then, they can use the top row as "so" and the bottom as "mi".

 

My 2nd graders are reviewing rhythmic structures.  Their's will be a little more complex (I use the folders like this all the time, sometimes with cards, sometimes with manipulatives, etc):

This rhythm activity I used with the upper grades last year as a review.  The students like to dictate patterns I sing or play, create their own patterns for the class to dictate, and play rhythms I have and create patterns to play.  (You can find more about this here: Halloween Rhythm Dictations).

I used this activity with the song, "Pick a Pumpkin".  The students decode the first two measures using their erasers (jack-o-lantern, black cat, black cat, skull).

You can find Mrs. White and the Fall rhythm fun printable here: Fall into Music

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!

The Owl and the Wind

It is no secret.  I love owls.  It really is a problem - but this little poem - well - I can't wait to incorporate it into my lessons.

I just created this, so we'll see how it goes (I'm thinking late September, early October with grades K-2).  We'll be able to discuss weather changes and what types of "signs" we see to know that the season has changed.  We can also discuss plenty or rhyming words.  You can also sneak in things like tempo (the leaves swirl quickly - they have a fast tempo) and dynamics (the wind howled loudly - it was forte). After enough experiences with these words, I can easily ask a 5 year old, "What was the dynamic level of that song?" and they can respond correctly.

Note: I'm really into using movement to help students understand text, lyrics, and vocabulary words.  We move all the time, even in 5th grade.  Having a movement helps students understand (especially with ELL's) what they are learning and can help them recall information.  Lots of teachers at my school do the same thing in ELA lessons with their students.  Most of the time, I let the students create the movement (with some guidelines).  For this, since I've already created the movement and the instrumentation we'll use, I'll ask the students to explain why they think I moved that way or why I added that specific instrument.  They enjoy figuring this out and following my creative thought process will help them with their own compositions later.

Here's the poem:

I've created a slide, movement, and instrumentation activity for each little phrase:

Movement: Students are standing, put hands out to sides and raise about mid-way (like wings).  Flap wings for “a little owl” then bend down (pretend to sit) on “sat on a branch”.

Instrumentation: Wood block (like the wood of the tree), plays, “Little owl, Little owl” (titi-ta, titi-ta)

Movement: Students hug themselves and shiver.

Instrumentation: Metallophones do a tremolo (any pitch is fine – I suggest setting up in c pentatonic).

  Movements: Students twirl, with hands rising from low to high, either in place or safely around the room.

Glockespeils: Glissandos up and down.

Movement: Students extend their arms out above their heads like the branches of the tree and sway back and forth.

Instrumentation: Either temple blocks or agogo bells (something with two distinct sounds) play “sway-ing-branch-es” (ta (higher pitch), ta (lower pitch), ta (higher pitch), ta (lower pitch))

Movement: Students cup hands around mouth as if “howling.”

Vocalization: All students sing “ooooh”, moving their voices up and down

Movement: Students put their hands up by their chests (like a begging puppy or the arms of a T-Rex) and scurry about the room.

Instrumentation: Rhythm sticks play “hur-ry, hur-ry, scur-ry, scur-ry” (titi, titi, titi, titi).

 Movement: Students look upward.

Instrumentation: Metallophones and glocks glissando up.

  Movement: Students spread out fingers in front of them and mimic snow falling.

Instrumentation: Jingle bells lightly shake.

I'll be updating my "Fall into Music" set with this and at least two other files this weekend.  Check it out ;)

Leaves

This is a song I created last year to review basic rhythms (quarter note/eighth note pair) with my 1st graders while also discussing melodic direction.  It was very successful and this year I've re-vamped it with some more fun visuals.  You can download it here (the instructions are included and they are very specific).

I love using fake fall leaves (available at Hobby Lobby - pretty much everywhere this time of year) as we sing and move to the song.  We do several vocal exploration exercises (I move my leaf up and down and the students mirror with theirs, while singing "ooo" - then I give students a turn) before I perform the melody of the song for the students.  As students learn the song, they are constantly moving to the melodic direction (using their leaves too).  There are motions for each pitch and the students love this, but our favorite parts are the glissandos at the end.

In later lessons, we review the lyrics, track icons for the steady beat, track icons for the rhythms, learn the rhythms, and track icons for the melody.  We also play the melody on boomwhackers (I change the color of the icons to match those of the boomwhackers).  Students also re-construct the melody as a class using printables.

Melodic Icons

Melodic Icons for Boomwhackers

For the wrap-up lesson, students create their own "fall leaves" song which they share with the class then take home.

I've added some extensions to this file.  Now, rhythmic icon and rhythm note cards are included.  There are several suggestions in the file for ways to use them.

I've also included instructions to an vocal improvisation game that I'll share (the kiddos loved it):

Use this game after the first mini-lesson.  You will need at least one fake fall leaf (I give each student one).
Seat the students in the circle.  Review the song.  Tell students we will use an AB Form with A - singing and B - playing the game.
Select a student to sit in the middle of the circle, place their leaf on their head, and shut their eyes.  While singing the song, choose one student to take the leaf off the head of the child in the middle and hide it somewhere in the room.
After the song, the student in the middle “wakes up” and begins to search around the room.  The rest of the students guide that student to their leaf by:
Shaking their leaf low and improvising on Do-Re (C major) by singing “ooh” - this indicates that the students is far away from their leaf.
Shaking their leaf in the middle and improvising on Fa-So (C major) by singing “ooh” - this indicates that the students is heading in the correct direction
Shaking their leaf up high and improvising on Ti-DO (C major) by singing “ooh” - this indicates that the student is very close to their leaf
Once the student has found their leaf, the game can begin again.  Extend this by having students improvise low, middle, and high sounds on C Major Pentatonic on a metallophone