Dear Santa...Five music books you'll want to find under the tree!

Hope you are all having a joyous holiday season!
Today I'm sharing five books with you that I think are wonderful for Christmas lists! How many of us ask for supplies for our classroom for the holidays or end up using gift cards/money to purchase things? I know my husband just shakes his head at me occasionally for it. However, we just want to bring the best musical experience to our students - even at our own expense, sometimes.

I've included a nice variety of books and how I utilize them in my classroom. Each is linked to Amazon, but please contact me if you have difficulty locating the book. 




The Story Orchestra - Four Seasons in One Day
listening, composers, music appreciation, mood

My students LOVE this book! It takes the reader through Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with beautiful illustrations and sound samples. Each page has a short musical example to press. More information, vocabulary and all of the sounds are on the back, too. If this book interests you, definitely check out her other story The Nutcracker for your lessons next year. It's wonderful for all ages!






It's a Small World singing, diversity, popular music/appreciation

I love books that include CDs. They are great for days when my singing voice is off, a substitute or when you want students to hear a different singing voice. But, it's always a fun time when you and the kids sing it! Aside from that, this timeless song is a great bridge for families AND it promotes diversity. Our building does a huge Culture Week in the spring and this will definitely be brought out to introduce different countries, traditions and more. 

Tap the Magic Tree

fingerplays, sensory, drumming

This book is wonderful for so many reasons! It is interactive so readers can do fingerplays with it as a large group or at a center. Personally, I like to use it with beginning drumming. Throughout the book I have my students participate on their drum (tap, whoosh, plop, etc.) to make the tree change. For example, here's one of the beginning pages:

I would have the students tap four times (steady beat) on the top of their drum. You can incorporate lots of different drumming techniques and teach appropriate playing with a relaxing story. It's a great sensory activity for my adaptive classes as well. I usually put on some calming yoga music as we read the story and drum together. 

Ada's Violin

orchestra, diversity/cultures, STOMP/found sounds, music appreciation

This is a relatively new story, but it's already a hit. It tells the story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay - a group of children that created instruments from recycled trash. I like to use it with my older kids to bridge them from learning about the orchestra to a STOMP unit. It also includes wonderful information, pictures and additional resources at the end. There are so many ways you could bring this into your classroom and it will definitely stay with the kids!

Tangled - It's Better When You Sing It
singing, steady beat, vocabulary, vocal exploration 

I discovered this new series at my local music store. Hal Leonard has put together stories (with Disney characters) that bring music to families with young children. However, they are great for my Pre-K and Kindergarten classes! I'll be using this one in January to help us remember the comparitives we talked about earlier in the year and get our singing voices working again. It has a fun song as well as online interactive activities for extension. Two other books are now in the series as well - Mickey's Found Sounds and Moana: The Beat of Your Heart. I can't wait to share these with our baby in a few years, too. 

-----------BONUS------------

Here's a story for you! We focus so much on our students and lessons that we tend to forget about ourselves. Take time this break to rest and rejuvenate! I definitely recommend this book to remind you about the good, the bad and the downright silly times you've had as a teacher! It is honest but REAL. 

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and break. Our beautiful baby should be arriving in the next few weeks. What a whirlwind of a January it will be. Until later - take care!

Amahl and the Night Visitors

In my previous post, I mentioned "Amahl and the Night Visitors." I have always wanted to talk about opera with the students and they have begged me to use my "opera" voice. However, I have never been able to figure out how to do it successfully for my students --- until now!

Bless you, Tracy King aka The Bulletin Board Lady! 

She recently posted about it here: Rockin' Resources and provided a link to her TeachersPayTeachers store for the product.

I was also able to find the VHS she mentioned from Amazon. I don't have time to do the whole unit/set she provided, but I was able to put my own twist on it. My primary students will do some coloring while they listen to the music. In the future, I'd like the intermediate students to do some comparing of themselves with Amahl through the venn diagram Tracy provides.

I created a powerpoint of pictures from various performances to give the students a little background on the store. Then, we looked at the first verse of words to "We Three Kings." Many students knew these words already, but we did sing it once and talk about the meaning behind the verse.

Here's the fun part - next, we added CUPS! I discovered this wonderful resource from ComposeCreate.com. I usually use this resource for ideas on piano and how to add new things to my studio. However, this activity looked so fun I had to use it in the music classroom!

You can have a piano player accompany the group, but I put the provided cup rhythms to a children's group singing "We Three Kings." We practiced by ourselves first at different tempos and then added the passing. This does work for any level, as you can keep it to yourself or move the cups in groups. 

My kids loved it! It was also very relatable to many of them, as they have learned variations of cup routines by watching YouTube, friends, movies, etc. Here are some photos of my 5th graders trying it out:

We will start the video of the opera this week and finish it next week. I'll also be using my "opera" voice in the talent show before Christmas break. It will be fun for the students to hear mine in comparison to the different voices they heard in the video. 

Both Tracy King and Wendy at ComposeCreate.com have wonderful resources throughout year. Tracy just gave some new bulletin board ideas for winter and Wendy released several ideas for cup rhythm explorations. Be sure to check them out! 

Nutty for The Nutcracker!

'Tis the season for "The Nutcracker!"

Normally, I do this with all grades, K-5 during the last few weeks of December. This year, however, I'm incorporating "Amahl and the Night Visitors" thanks to Tracy King over at Mrs. King's Music Room. Check out her information here: Amahl and the Night Visitors

Each year, I gain more insight into how to teach "The Nutcracker" and find new, exciting resources to use. As always, I LOVE to use Artie Almeida's book Parachutes and Ribbons and Scarves, Oh My!

It has so many great ideas for incorporating movement into classical movement. Here are some of my students using the stretchy band to show form with "March." They love listening and running to a new spot on their color's turn! I usually do this with 3rd and 4th grades.

We also talk about the "March" in kindergarten. First, we use jingle bells and egg shakers to show the different parts of the "A" section. The "B" section is sitting, with the "C" section laying down. The kids loved that part! Then, we are up moving. Artie's idea for candy cane horses is genius! Here are some kids "watering" their horse on the "C" section. They are so creative - the blue tile is the river!

We also do a mystery song activity from Cori Bloom. These are so fun and interesting to do with students. Many recognize the tune of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" but can't remember it's title. I love reading their titles and seeing what they come up with for a picture. The big reveal is always fun, too!

Later in the month, we'll be doing some more movement from Artie (ribbons and parachute), as well as different activities from some fellow bloggers and great TPT sellers. Here's what I'm planning to use:

Play Alongs

These are both great resources to use with the students. It's fun for them to play along with known music, but also reviews their rhythms, instrument technique and listening skills.

Plate Routines

I am obsessed with plastic plate routines! They are a fun, cheap way to add color and beat work to the music classroom. I used a patriotic routine last year and it was a hit! There are several videos online of different Nutcracker plate routines. This is a new one I'm excited to use:

It's from Emily at Emily's Kodaly Music. She has a wonderful blog and just posted some more ideas about using "The Nutcracker."

Listening Glyphs

Let's face it: I'm a coloring junkie! I think it is great to have students color and listen - it doesn't matter what age. Sometimes, just having them sit and forcing them to listen does the opposite and they dislike it. However, when they are creating a picture that relates to the music, they are actively listening and enjoying the experience. Music should be fun and interesting - not a chore. Tracy's listening glyphs are wonderful to do this time of year. It allows the students to have a relaxing, yet informative listening session.

To end, I'm going to use this fun scavenger hunt. I tried to put one together my first year and teaching and it was a disaster. I'm so glad that I found a new one with great graphics. 

Hope this gives you some new or different ideas to try this year. Have a great Friday!

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!