Shoe Storage for Boomwhackers: A Tutorial

How many of you have boomwhackers in your room? *raises hand*
In the past, I have stored my boomwhackers in plastic coffee containers. My room was large but had a nice instrument cart for them to sit on top of. In my new classroom this year, I have very little storage. I barely have enough room for movement materials and classroom instruments, let alone eight separate containers of various sized colored tubes.
For the first month of school, my boomwhackers laid on the floor in the plastic wrap they came in. I was stumped and was about ready to create shelves or something. Then, I stumbled upon a genius idea from the Facebook group for music teachers: plastic shoe organizers!

I knew immediately that this was the answer. Thank you, Laurie E.!
So, how do you go about making this? Have no fear - I am here to share! My materials maxed out at about $20 and I completed the project in 15 minutes. 


To begin, you will need the following items:

• plastic shoe organizers (I used two, which ended up holding 8 of each color)
• scissors
• hanging materials (I used command hooks, but over the door hooks were included)

Step 1: Spread out your shoe organizer on your work area. Think of the top as row 1 all the way down to row 6 at the bottom.

Step 2:

For this step, you will be focusing on rows 3 & 5 of slots. Cut the fold at the bottom of one of the slots and then cut across. You are removing the slot from the organizer so it opens up. You should be able to stick your hand through it. This is where the taller boomwhackers will slide through. 

Step 3: Repeat the process for all of the slots in rows 3 & 5. Pull the plastic out so it creates a shoot. Again, the plastic is attached at the sides, but the top and bottom are open. This will encase the boomwhacker. 

Step 4:

Prepare to hang your organizer. I attached basic Command hooks to the wall, using holes one and four. Included with mine was an "over-the-door" option. If you don't have a lot of space but have doors, this would be another space saver idea!

Step 5:

Fill and organizer! On my wall, I was able to fit two side by side. The longer tubes (C-F) should slide down through the hole you cut into the bottom slots. The shorter tubes just fit normally into the shoe slots. This is my set-up, but you are welcome to get creative and adjust it to your needs.

EASY! It actually took me longer to put together this blog post giving you directions than to make both of them, hang and stuff. We've already used them a few times and clean-up is quick. I love how it makes use of a blank wall with bright colors. 

Have you had to be creative with storage in your classroom? I'd love to hear new ideas - please share below!

Brrrr...It's Beethoven!

Well, the new year is starting off with a bang....and I mean a cold bang! Most schools in the state will not be having school tomorrow because of the wind chill and below 0 temperatures. Yuck! I'm glad we are cancelling because bus duty at the end of the day would be no fun whatsoever.

Anyways, I always start my 5th graders off in January with some discussion about Beethoven. In the past, I've noticed that history and composers is a sleepy subject for 5th graders, especially at the end of the day. I'm really working hard to add some movement, conversations and minimal hang time with our lessons this year. Here's a run down of my Beethoven lessons to start off the year:

I always like to start off lessons with literature. Even though these kids are at the level of reading independently, they can still learn key strategies from modeling. Our district is huge on read alouds, talk alouds and think alouds. This is a great opportunity to model and keep the students engaged through questioning. Plus, this book series is fun and relatable to students. Win win!

SYMPHONY NO. 9 "ODE TO JOY"

After our beginning discussion, I'm going to open up with Symphony No. 9. Most of the students will know this, but this year, I want to really dig into it in multiple ways. We'll start with a tennis ball activity to practice steady beat, but also understand the make-up and form of the song. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a video of this soon. We'll be focusing on the singing part for the movement.

Lead in - 1 bounce, hold to 4 (whole note)

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory - bounce in hand on each beat, 1, 2, 3, 4 (quarter notes)

Lord of love; - cradle in hands, shake back & forth (eighth notes)

hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the - bounce in hand on each beat, 1, 2, 3, 4 (quarter notes) 

sun above.  - cradle in hands, shake back & forth (eighth notes)

 
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;  - around waist to back (1, 2) around waist to front (3, 4,) and repeat (half notes)

drive the dark of doubt away.  - around waist to back 1, 2 around waist to front 3, 4 repeat (half notes)

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the  - bounce in hand on each beat, 1, 2, 3, 4 (quarter notes) 

light of day! - cradle in hands, shake back & forth (eighth notes)

In between or ending music - 1 bounce, hold to 4 (whole note) 

 The next class period, we will review this movement, as well as compare the structured version to 

Sister Act's "Joyful, Joyful." The kids will really get a kick out of this!

Finally, the students will get a chance to work in groups and perform Symphony No. 9 on 
boomwhackers. I put this together myself, so it's not the most precise thing in the world - 
I hope you enjoy it!

The kids will also be doing some decoding as they dig deeper into Beethoven 

and his bio. I don't like to do quizzes, so we'll probably do some kind of 

exit ticket, just to gauge their knowledge without taking a ton of

 class time for a test. Plus, they are still writing with their exit ticket, 

which is also something we are focusing on in the district.

Here's the code book I'm using for their partner work on the bio:

And, I'm really hoping to use some exit tickets from The Bulletin Board 

Lady. These look so cool and will be really functional for a quick 

assessment! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Exit-Tickets-for-Music-Class-BUNDLED-MEGA-Pack-1041225 

 

Whewww, so much about Beethoven! I have several more ideas for lessons and things, but this is the beginning of what the students will be doing. Hopefully, I see some more excitement from the students this year with these activities. If not, there is always room for improvement :) Stay bundled up!

Christmas Activities

Holy moly - these kids are amped up! 'Tis the season of course, but wheww, they wear me out.
Tonight is the final program for a couple of months. They take a lot of time and effort, but they are becoming much easier and more fun for me. Good luck tonight 5th grade choristers - you'll rock!! :)


I thought I'd share a few fun activities that my students enjoy during the month of December. Some of these I have borrowed from others and some are my own creations.


1. Drummer Boy

This is a wonderful book by Loren Long. It's not the traditional story of the drummer boy, but instead one of his journey around town during Christmas. In the end, he is placed on the mantle and plays for the manger. The students loved it and the pictures are beautiful. I had my kindergarten students play hand drums each time the drummer played his "rum-pum-pum."

2. Jolly Old St. Nicholas

I found a fun freebie for this Christmas favorite. It is a great way to review half note, add jingle bells and play on boomwhackers. You can find it here from Emily F.:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jolly-Old-Saint-Nicholas-441841 

3. Jingle Bells

So, there are thousands of fun things to do with jingle bells. I created this dance to it last year so my primary kids could get some energy out. Lo and behold, all of my older students still love it! It's rather simple and lets the students move around as well as find new partners and keep a beat. Here is a short video of my students performing it. The music is from Hampton the Hampster - I found it on Amazon.

 

I also do a lot of activities and lessons with the Nutcracker and other holiday carols. Let me know if you are interested in any of those ideas or resources. Happy Holidays!

2/4 Tuesday Linky Party!

I'm a little late, but I'm joining a new linky party! This one is from Steph over at http://staytunedmusicteacher.blogspot.com/ 

I'll be sharing a few things I'm doing in my music room this week!

1. The Five Little Pumpkins

           I love the story The Five Little Pumpkins! My kindergarteners have done a lot with this tale this week. We started out by singing the story and patting the steady beat with our beat buddies. Then, the students got a chance to act out our song story by either being the pumpkins, witches or ghosts. Our next lesson, we sang our song story again with our beat buddies AND added boomwhackers. I found this great powerpoint to help the students see their color's turn as well as follow along with our music.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Five-Little-Pumpkins-Lesson-on-Pitch-Using-Boomwhackers-PPT-version-172286

2. Tiri tiri practice

             My third graders have been working hard on tiri tiri the past few weeks. We did some reviewing yesterday by using "I have/who has." I'm new to this activity and it was hard for some of my students. However, I hope to use it more often so the students are communicating and negotiating without my assistance. Here's the version I used from Aileen Miracle:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-have-who-has-tika-tika-game-455194

               I also end the class with a game the student's love. All over the floor are rhythms we've learned (ta, titi, rest) and our new one, tiri tiri. The students dance around until the music stops, then they must find a card to stand on. There are more than enough cards for everyone. Behind my back, I pull out a popsicle stick that has a rhythm on it. Whoever is standing on that rhythm is out! We keep going until we have a winner and then start over. It's really simple, but the kids go crazy for it. It also helps me work out who can identify our rhythms pretty quickly. 

Thanks for reading! I'm excited about all the new ideas from this linky party :)

triangles, sticks and drums - oh my!

Sorry I've been off the radar for the past week - I've been dealing with some personal health issues. However, I am back to blogging!

My first year of teaching, I rarely used instruments. Seriously - like, never. They terrified the heck out of me and I had ZERO experience with them. During student teaching, I became familiar with recorders, but nothing "percussion" like. This is really sad because I am a percussionist. FAIL! 

Anyways, I came into the program at my school with the hope of surviving the first year. In the past, the students had used Mallet Madness and there were tons of smaller bell sets in storage. I didn't go near them until my second year, where I pulled them out a couple of times with the younger and older classes. This was a headache! It takes forever to get everything out and placed and then that is all you can do for the day because of the set-up/tear-down time in between. UGH!

This year, I vowed to instrument it up. I've been to some workshops with Orff ideas and they've been great! I love taking a poem or story and having the students choose instruments to play during certain parts. I have also been adding instruments to the song powerpoints I've been using. The kids are getting really good at reading the music, their instrument part and listening to others. In the next few years, my goal is to incorporate the Mallet Madness resources, as well as start up a recorder program. Fingers crossed!

Here are some of my favorite instrument ideas I've used this year:

I love this book! It is short and has huge pop-up pictures. Plus, you can start off with 3-4 instruments sounds and add more and more throughout the year. It gets the students talking and negotiating which instruments should be what and why!

This activity is so awesome! And...IT'S FREE! It is so good for my younger students. It reinforces our different types of voices, ta/titi/rest, a fun game and instruments. Each slide only has 1 instrument, so our new learners can see their picture really big. You can find it here, from The Sweetest Melody 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Wee-Willie-Winkie-856082

Last year, I introduced bucket drumming. Wow! So much fun and so much chaos. The kids love it and it's a great way to talk about steady beat, being a group and form. Here is a fun one for Christmas from "The Nutcracker."

http://ofortunaorff.blogspot.com/2012/11/bucket-drum-routine-to-trepak-from.html

Finally, I love boomwhackers! Cheap and fun for the kids to start learning about instruments and reading music parts. I started using these last year on a whim and couldn't put them down. Here's a fun fall activity with all of the C boomwhackers. It also has an action song and ta/titi work. 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Leaves-a-melodic-direction-song-for-Fall-366216

I am always on the lookout for more Orff instrument books, songs and ideas to show the kids. I don't have a smartboard, but our district is 1-1. Send me any ideas you have so I can stay on my instrument track this year :)

Bounce High, Bounce Low

I love the song "Bounce High, Bounce Low." It has so many things in it for the students to learn! I am using it with 2nd graders for concepts, but I hope to glue it to the 1st grade curriculum by the end of this year.

To start, we play a singing game. The students are in a circle, with one person holding the ball. We all sing "Bounce high, bounce low. Bounce the ball to Shi-loh," but replace "Shi-loh" with a student's name. The ball is bounced to that student and we keep going. Granted, it is not the most exciting game ever but the students like it and it is awesome for helping with names at the beginning of the year.

Next, we take it apart. I got this wonderful powerpoint collection of Penguin Songs from Emily F. at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Penguin-Songs-a-Mi-So-La-activity-486960

The students review steady beat, as well as "ta" and "titi." Then, I introduce our new solfege hand sign "la." The students have already heard of "La" through the book series "So-Me" by Stuart Manins. I highly recommend you purchase these books. They are great! The kids love singing So-Me's name and remember it forever. They are pricey, but they introduce rhythm, melody, different sounds and high vs. low. They are also awesome for a sick voice day because the author reads the stories on his CD that comes with the books.
           http://www.westmusic.com/p/so-me-storybooks-set-of-12.htm

Anyways, we learned about "La-Me" who is So-Me's older brother. They now get to see where La is! We use the powerpoint to see the picture relationships, sing the song, show the handsign and see it on the staff.

Finally, we add instruments! The students love the boomwhackers and they are a great way to reinforce our district goal of student-centered classrooms. I divide the students, explain to them about boomwhacker notation and we get started! They are given 10 minutes to work together before performing in front of the class. It's also a nice way to introduce and reinforce audience etiquette. The students listen to one another, clap, and encourage each person's playing. I love it! They are so brave to get up in front of their classmates and play - I couldn't even do that until middle school! It really helps them out as we prepare for our program in December.

What other ideas do you have for Bounce high, bounce low? I love songs that teach so many different things :)