Teddy Bear Time!

Can you believe it's almost the end of February? I feel like the year goes by so fast sometimes. Winter is the hardest for the kiddos, though. We have had some interesting weather this year in Iowa! Nasty weather means inside recess and some wiggly kids. Today I'm going to bring you into the land of teddy bears (and less headaches). 

My mentor teacher used to have a container of teddy bears. They were wonderful motivators for children, as well as a friend and companion during those icky outside days. I love them so much that I created a mini unit for my kindergarteners all about teddy bears! The first thing to do is come up with several teddy bears. If you feel comfortable enough, each student could bring their own to school to use. I'm hesitant about that, as many of my students don't have toys at all. But, if it works for your school, go for it! Here are some suggestions for finding a classroom set:

1. Thrift stores/garage sales - I went to my local Salvation Army and found several teddy bears. You might have to wash them, but they come in all shapes and sizes at these locations.
2. Teachers - ask your fellow teachers if they would like to donate some to the music classroom. I have several teacher friends who stored old toys in the basement but haven't used them in years. They would be glad to get some extra storage and help you out!
3. Family members - my mom practically threw my old teddy bears at me! I kept them at one point for sentimental reasons, but I would much rather see a student's smile than leave them at my parents' house for several more years.
4. eBay - if you are looking to buy some, eBay is always a good place to find things. They might be more expensive, but you can definitely find hundreds of teddy bears.
5. Advertise - it never hurts to ask around local places if they have any teddy bears at home. Donations are a tax write off and many people gladly donate to the school. Stick up a sign at the library or ask a neighbor. You never know!

So, now you are stocked with teddy bears. What's next? I keep mine in a plastic container with a lid. My room tends to flood in the spring, so everything is plastic to keep stuff safe. Wash them, spot clean and check for any staples, sticky parts, etc. These will be in the somewhat dirty  hands of children - don't expect perfection but they should be in decent condition. 

DAY 1:

I introduce our teddy bears by sitting them in front of the class one day. I tell the students that they are "visitors" and are checking out music class for the day. If they like what they see, they will come back and find a buddy. This grabs their attention immediately! 

DAY 2:

Next time, I go over the expectations of our new buddies. If any student isn't respecting their friend, it goes back in the container and won't visit again. I might have to remind a student or two, but if one goes away, you have them scared for the rest of the unit. Each teddy sits in the student's lap as we sing a story. I recommend The Teddy Bear's Picnic, which comes in many different versions. Sometimes, we bounce our teddy to the beat as we sing the story. We say goodbye to our friends and put them away for the day before moving on to other things.

DAY 3:

We go over the expectations again and bring out our buddies. Each student is reminded that all teddy bears are unique and special in their own way - just like students! We want to be happy that we have a special friend, even if it's not our favorite. This way, students will have several bear friends by the end of the unit. After everyone has a buddy, we bring out some vocal explorations. We do the first few together to warm up our voices. Then, I have different students come up with their teddy bear and create a pathway. It's also fun to have the teddy bear follow the path, either in the air or on the floor. Afterwards, each student creates a pathway for their teddy bear to follow with their voices. It's so fun to see what the students come up with for their friends! I've included this resource for you FREE below. It comes with five pre-made pathways, five blank pathways and two worksheets for students to create their own. Enjoy!

DAY 4:
Today is a really fun day! After passing our the teddy bears, we talk about movement. Just like kids - teddy bears need to move around and be active to feel good. First, we move our teddy bears to the beat by bouncing them on our laps. Then, we stand up and bounce them on our head, arms, knee, etc. From there, we move around the room. I have students jump, skip, walk, clap, etc. with their teddy bear friend. Sometimes, we even play freeze dance with them! I like using John Feierabend's "Keeping the Beat" CD because it has a variety of music on it. 

When we're finishing moving, we sing some songs about teddy bears. Here are some ideas:

• The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• We're Going on a Bear Hunt
• Tango Teddy (Music K8)
• The Other Day (I Met a Bear)
• The Great Outdoors

DAY 5:

On this day, we usually have to say goodbye to our furry friends. We start by singing the song "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and do the actions with our teddy bears. Then, we talk about how the bears have to go home to their school now. If students are focusing on a certain letter of the alphabet or writing feature, we will create a card to send with our friends. I've had students draw pictures before, as well as practice writing in between the lines. It all depends on the class, but it's a nice way for the kids to have some closure but know that they will return again. 

With several classes, I've done this set from Linda at Floating Down the River! It has several wonderful activities for teddy bears. I love the instrument playing with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It works well for a review the following year with my 1st graders, as well as the writing template she includes. Great ideas!

The more I use this small unit, the more I think about moving it to the beginning of the year. I love how it helps with behavior right now, but a reassuring friend at the beginning of the year is always nice too. Who knows?? There are many different activities, assessments and ideas that can be done with teddy bears. I hope this has inspired you to get out some teddy bears and share with your younger students. Remember to click on the freebie above for a fun vocal exploration activity! 

Product Post

Apparently, I was bitten by the creation bug these last few months! I have several new products that I would love to share with you all!

This is a great lesson for older students. Grab the wonderful book by Anna Harwell Celenza and you are set! There are assessment pieces, as well as a fun stick game at the end.

For students of all ages, these listening glyphs are a wonderful assessment piece. You can choose one of the preselected pieces with the glyphs or use the generic ones to choose a song of your own!

This project is great for older students to share their favorite song! Students will dig into the meaning of the song and share it through writing, creation and an optional project.

If you're looking for a fun brain break, check out this Japanese game! It's very similar to rock, paper, scissors and has modifications for a variety of learning levels.

This last one is my personal favorite! My students are obsessed with "Happy!" from Despicable Me 2. Not only does it have a fun beat, but the words are positive. Pharrell Williams just put out a children's book of his famous song. This product includes a lesson plan for the book, assessment worksheets, movement ideas and a body percussion routine. EEK - I can't wait to use it with my students!


Be on the look out for a few sales coming up, too! Bye for now!

                                   

       

III
If

Crow Rooster!

I went to an awesome workshop this summer all about singing games. Today, I'm going to share one of my favorites with you: Crow Rooster! I can't wait to bring this out for the first week of school. It's great for the older students to refresh their head voice.

I like to add a fun twist on it with beanie baby roosters. You can find them on eBay, at garage sales, or you might still have some in your house. I use the bigger ones, but the mini ones work well, too. I have ended up with 15 because I (hopefully) won't have more than 15 pairs in my classroom at once.

 With all singing games, there are variations from teacher to teacher. The original game directions are listed above, but I'm going to share with you my variation.

Crow Rooster

1. Divide class into partners, putting one across from the other about two feet apart. This should make 2 straight lines down your classroom. Give one partner the rooster to start.
2. Leader (teacher) starts the song, with students taking four steps backward on the beat. On the echo, students take four steps forward to their original position.
3. On the first "crow rooster," the first partner tosses the rooster to the other partner. On the echo, the rooster is tossed back to the original partner.
4. The last line should be clapped and patted. Clap the rhythm of "ku ku ri ku, ku ku ri ku" and pat the beat for "work for everyone." Repeat. (Students with the rooster should do their best at clapping and patting). 
5. If the rooster was dropped during the "crow rooster" part, that pair is eliminated. They sit out, still singing, clapping and patting.
6. All pairs that are still in the game take a step back. Repeat the song. 
7. After each time, the gap gets bigger and bigger. More pairs are eliminated until there is a winner. The kids love to see how far they can get and still catch the rooster!

The "crow rooster" part is a great way to get kids into their head voice at the beginning of the year. The tossing of the rooster is also great for kinesthetic learning. Sometimes my lower voiced students need that tossing motion to reach higher notes. It's also a nice reminder of the difference between clapping the rhythm and keeping the beat. Finally, the kids LOVE a competition! My room is quite large, so I'm excited to see how far they get - especially those athletic kids that have been at sports camps over the summer. 

Hope you enjoy this fun lesson for the first few weeks of school!

H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N spells Halloween!

Ha, sorry! I learned this song in elementary school to the tune of "Danse Macabre" and it's stuck with me ever since. Here's the video from YouTube that I like to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Eg8UifzmI

Anyways, I thought I'd share some Halloween activities my classes have been doing.

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg

This is the first year I've really delved into Grieg. I love the music and the melody really sticks in the kids' heads! I start introducing it in Kindergarten and 1st grade with Eric Litwin's (Pete the Cat!!!) song from The Learning Groove. It takes the melody and puts in words like "I can shake my shaker egg and sneak around the room." It's fun to add egg shakers and a little movement once the students have learned the melody.

As they get older, I show my intermediate students a short cartoon of the story.

It's only about 5 minutes, but also adds in the "Morning Mood" music, which many of the students recognize. In the future, I'd like to add a literature connection. I've seen some great picture books online, but haven't picked one up yet. Soon!

I also add rhythm sticks to the main theme, with the help of Malinda Phillips' great active listening resource! Check it out - it's free :)

From there, we move on to actually feeling the beat, tempo and dynamic changes in the music. If you follow my blog, you know I LOVE Artie Almeida. She has a wonderful guiro and kickball lesson for this piece. I tried it with my third graders last week and we had so much fun! I used basketballs because we don't have enough kickballs and it still worked out just fine. Here are some pictures from my students engaging in the music:

It was Character Counts week, so they're all dressed up in the careers they'd like to have.The basketball coach had to come get the balls for practice at the end of the day, but we had a good time while it lasted. Artie's lessons are truly wonderful resources. I encourage you to check out her videos on YouTube and purchase this resource. You won't regret it!

Some other activities we are doing this week are:

• singing the story "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!" with melody from Kristin Lukow
• Halloween melody patterns from Aileen Miracle's 13 Nights freebie
• Halloween vocal explorations and "create your own" template from Amy Abbott
• Witch Witch (so-mi activity) and game from The Yellow Brick Road
• Spooky Music listening & rating from Music with Sara Bibee (this one is a fun activity for the older kids!)

The last game we are playing is a favorite of my primary students! I discovered it on Pinterest last year and the students just love it. I can't seem to find the right recording for it, though. There is a faster version and a Denise Gagne version that has a different melody. I kind of plunked it out on my own and adapt it to my student's singing ability. Here's the video of the song I use and the game:

It's really fun and a great way to reinforce steady beat. What Halloween or seasonal activities are you doing this week with your students?

Five Favorite Pins of October

Hello all! Sorry it's been awhile. We just finished up the first quarter and conferences are next week. Wow, time flies!

I'm linking up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room for her monthly linky party. Here are my favorite pins of October!

#1: Music Gifts

I had a couple of students who just finished up auditioning for Opus Honor Choir. Unfortunately, none of them were selected. They worked really hard, though, so I wanted to reward them for their dedication to becoming a better singer and all around musician. I can't wait to make these and leave them in the office next week!

#2: Drummer Pete

I just LOVE this video! My husband is sick of hearing it already. However, it is a great review for my students and we can break out the new drums.

#3: Amusement Park Mallet Exploration

I adore all of Cori Bloom's resources. This one is a great exploration for mallet instruments. It has a wonderful lesson plan attached to it, complete with standards, skills and a composition. I snatched it up right after I pinned it. Check it out!

#4: Pete the Cat bundle

My primary students love Pete the Cat. I usually bring him out in the spring or with a sub. However, our book fair has the Christmas story available this year AND I just received my Pete the Cat puppet from our DonorsChoose.org project. How happy was I when I stumbled upon this new blogger/TPT seller's page! There's a section for steady beat buttons and prereading rhythms with colored shoes. 

#5: Dancin' Scarf Blues

Jazz and scarves? Win win! Can't wait to get the recording.

Christopher Kazoo and Bongo Boo - Review!

It happened and way too early in the school year. What is this occurrence, you ask? 

The dreaded SICK DAY!

I really hoped it wouldn't happen this early in the year, but it did. Our secretary was sick at school, and I was in the vicinity right after she was. Also, I started studio lessons this week, so I'm getting a double case of germs. Either way, I had a 24 hour bug and left before school started Friday morning.

Cue scrambling to get sub plans together for the morning. My afternoon was empty, as the 4th graders were on a field trip, so I just needed lesson plans for kindergarten and 1st grade. My subs are rarely music subs and most of the time, the recommendation is to "throw in a movie." This bugs me, but I understand. Subs are few and far between, plus many don't feel comfortable because they believe music class is difficult to teach. Anyways, I have an extensive supply of educational music videos to choose from. Yesterday, though, my substitute was a retired kindergarten teacher who loved music. AWESOME! She actually passed along her CD set of rhythm sticks and activities. I love using these with my primary students! They are great to review beat, rhythm and making music in a small group. 

This was also a great chance to test out the resources I received from my first DonorsChoose.org project. I had requested resources for "Christopher Kazoo and Bongo Boo" from Little Schoolhouse Books. The video looked great for interactive learning and introducing instruments to my little ones throughout the year. 

I have both sets that the company has put out. Each set is around $40, but comes with the story book, teacher's supplemental lessons and DVD. The DVD has the telling of the story, along with extra mini lessons to teach or reinforce concepts. My kindergarteners are beginning to learn about steady beat and the first two lessons on the DVD are all about steady beat. Win win! The kids had to clap, jump, pat, march, etc. to the steady beat to help the characters on the screen. Eventually, we can add instruments and other things to these mini lessons. 

With both grades, the students were able to see the book come alive, review steady beat and then use the rhythm stick activities to add a little extra to it. I heard wonderful things from the substitute about the lessons being fun and interactive. I'm really happy that these resources are a part of the music classroom! Yes, it is a video (I know, I know), but it is soooo much better than many of the choices I've had in the past. I'm also very excited about using this as a jumping off platform to begin integrating the mini lessons and teacher supplement lessons into my own teaching and lesson planning. I bet the students were super excited when they saw the bongos and kazoos. There's also a mini-musical that came out last year! Hmmm...the possibilities :)

Have any of you heard of Christopher Kazoo and Bongo Boo? If you have, what do your students think of it? How are you implementing it in your classroom? I'd love new ideas!

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!

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 :)

Five Favorite Pins of October!

I love Linky Parties! This is my second time participating and it's so great to see more resources to use in the classroom. I'm linking to Mrs. Miracle's Music Room about my favorite pins of October.

http://www.mrsmiraclesmusicroom.com/2013/10/five-favorite-pins-of-october-linky.html

1. Monster Melody Madness

            It is Halloween and fall time, but I love activities that can be used throughout the year. My 2nd graders are just starting to learn about "do" and this set is a great way for them to review their skills soon. It's from Amy Abbott on TeachersPayTeachers.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monster-Melody-Madness-a-collection-of-activities-for-teaching-do-914219

2. Primary Listening Sheet

          I'm trying to focus more on listening this year, through various activities. It's hard for my younger students to do this because our district is really working on writing and communication/negotiation. I love this gem I found for primary students to start communicating how they feel and why about certain types of music.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-Listening-Activity-Worksheet-805853

3. Every Little Thing

           I LOVE singable story books, especially ones that have a great message and are relevant songs to people in every day life. I stumbled upon Cedella Marley as an author through the blog "Treble in the Classroom." I can't wait to order this book and her other story One Love.

http://trebleintheclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/08/every-little-thing-song-picture-book.html

4. Beat Buddies

            I saw this on Mrs. King's music room and knew I had to incorporate it immediately. I'm having some struggles with a couple of my kinder classes concerning behavior. Beat buddies are perfect for keeping the beat and learning, but also a behavior incentive for them. If they aren't following directions, their beat buddy is taken away. My 4th graders even wanted to use them for our program practice! If they were showing program posture and doing their best at singing and listening, they could sing with a beat buddy. Wow - love!

http://mrskingrocks.blogspot.com/2013/09/beat-buddies-help-keep-steady-beat.html

5. Emergency Sub Plans

          Whenever I am gone (planned or unplanned), rarely do I have a music sub or an actual scheduled sub. They are few and far between in our district, so I usually have an associate or someone in the building who is free to cover my class. I hate always showing a movie if it's not relevant to our current topics, but it's the easiest for whoever ends up teaching music. However, I found this great idea that will get the students learning about things we can't cover, as well as talk with one another.

http://musicelementary.blogspot.ca/2012/01/emergency-sub-plan.html?m=1

Can't wait to see the other great ideas that others post. Enjoy!