Mi So La Tic-Tac-Toe

I love using tic-tac-toe and bingo format games with the kiddos.  They don't even mind that I never give out prizes for winners, haha (so cheap).

They are a really great opportunity for students to practice ear-training and for me to assess who can read the patterns and who can't.

I usually follow these steps when I use such activities (I'm huge into getting the most I can out of anything we do, especially if it takes me forever to create and/or assemble):

Prep: Students sing each pattern on solfa as a whole class.  I make sure the students know where each solfa is living.  Students sometimes play individually and sometimes with a partner.

Level 1: I sing a pattern on solfa three times.  After the third repeat, I announce the correct number so students can check their work (while I'm singing, I'm walking around and watch the students to see who quickly covers the correct answer, who covers the correct answer after subsequent repeats of the patterns, and who doesn't cover a pattern or covers the wrong pattern).  Sometimes we get a tic-tac-toe or bingo at the same time, but it doesn't matter to the kiddos.  After about three or four repeats of this level, we move on.

Level 2: This level is the same as level one, only I sing the solfa on a neutral syllable.  The students will have to label the solfa themselves using their ears, and then find the correct pattern.

Level 3: For this level, I only play the pattern (usually on the piano or recorder).

Extensions: Students love to volunteer to sing a pattern for the class.  This can be a bit nerve-wracking for some of them, so I usually only take volunteers.  If they mess up or fail to sing on the correct pitch, often the class isn't sure what pattern to pick, so the students (especially the performers) realize how important musical accuracy is.  Depending on the solfa we're using, students also enjoy playing patterns on the instruments.  They can do this with a partner, with one student playing the pattern and the other trying to find it on the game-board.  If the bingo board has a "free space" the students can take turns creating the "free space" pattern (which I write on the board for all to see).  Only if and when I sing that pattern can the students now cover the "free space".

Try these steps out for yourself.  You'll find my "Mi So La Tic-Tac-Toe" game on my TPT store as my latest freebie (click the picture below).  Enjoy!