Culture Day

Wow - the school year has gotten away from me! Sorry for my lack of blogging. I will definitely get back on track!
Today, I want to share with you one of the traditions are my new school district this year: Culture Day! 

This day is actually a weeklong celebration of countries around the world and their unique cultures. Each class picks a different country (usually the teacher picks the same one every year) and studies about it throughout the week. They create flags, masks, and do other activities that relate to their country. The hallways are lined with flags, the kids eat unique foods and there are even guest speakers! It really is a fun week - plus, it helps the students understand that we are all unique but share similarities throughout the world. 
On the final day, each class chooses representatives to share their country in the grand march in the afternoon. The kids line the gym and applaud as each country is called. They circle the gym twice dressed up and holding their flag. I also play music from each country so the kids can listen and jam along. Here's India:

So, what connects the world better than anything else? MUSIC!

I don't choose a country during this week - I share as many cultures as I can during this special week. Each class gets a day to just talk about their country and head instruments, styles and famous musicians. The next class, we do various activities from some other parts of the world. Here are some of the things we did this year in music class for Culture Day:

My primary students are junior kindergarteners, kindergarteners and first graders. We did several short activities each class period. Some examples are:

• ribbon creative movement to world music (love Putumayo World Music series)
• song stories like Creepy Crawly Calypso (Barefoot Books) & Kookaburra (Cantata Learning)
• Zumba from GoNoodle

Zumba was one of my favorite activities all week! Our guidance counselor previously taught classes and had these fun jingle scarves for the kids to use. Some tied them around their waist while others tied them across their chest. She even had some small ones to put on your wrists. We used Zumba Kids videos from GoNoodle, specifically Indian Moonlight and Bouje. The kids didn't want to take them off - they loved that jingling sound as they danced. I'm definitely doing this again next year!

My intermediate students are second and third graders, but these activities would work well for older kids, too. Here's what we did:

• World Instrument BINGO by Cheryl Lavender
• Music Express Magazine/John Jacobson - the kids loved singing and learning about the music from Moana! We also sang Wavin' Flag from the 2010 FIFA World Cup. John Jacobson's "It's a Musical World" is a great song set with information, dancing and translation for several world songs. I also use it for programs every now and then.
• Games (Se Se Se & Throw Catch) - both of these games are so fun and can take 5 minutes to a whole class period if the kids want to keep playing

Se, Se, Se is the Japanese version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. If you click the picture above, you can download the directions, game and accessory pieces for free! My students loved it so much that they had rematches at recess.

Throw Catch is a Zulu game. You can find some kids playing it on Dana Herro's (a music teacher) Twitter page.

 

My Severe & Profound students are kids with various special needs. They come to a separate music class just for them in addition to their regular music class. We do a lot of repetition of activities and try to meet their learning needs in addition to personal ones.

• "Hola" from Music K8 - I love this song! It is simple, repetitive and great for the kids to identify another language. We also add maracas to it and practice taking turns. Songs with multiple purposes are great for these kids!
• free movement (freeze dance, scarves, stretchy band) to cultural music
• "Waka Waka" with body percussion

As the year has gone by, I've noticed that my Severe & Profound students aren't affected much by noise. This isn't normally the case, but for the kids this year, they are fine with noise. One student doesn't speak much but does like to communicate with her body through sound. I had one of those lightbulb moments - we should do body percussion! The kids love it! However, there isn't much out there for basic body percussion, as these students' goals aren't to read 4 beat rhythmic patterns and such. Their goals are to follow directions, understand personal space, keep a steady beat, body awareness, etc. 

This led me to create several products in my TeachersPayTeachers.com store that appeal to other classes similar to mine. They feature only the picture of what should be done. The teacher can lead a steady beat, let the kids freely do the movement, create an echo or other things. It's up to the teacher to choose what works best for their kids. To celebrate Culture Day with my kids, I created a body percussion activity to "Waka Waka" - a song written for South Africa. It also features a Columbian singer named Shakira. It works well for little ones too if you're not ready for rhythms.

For all of my classes, I recommend this story written by Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon). I use it as a way to talk about respect, understanding and appreciation. They listen to me read the story, including the different languages and pointing out historic landmarks. We finish with listening to Rachel Rumbaugh (a music therapist) singing the story in a gentle way. It's a nice, calming activity to end class. My Severe & Profound students always need a calming activity, but this is great for all of the kids. As they listen, I ask them to think about being mindful during the week, but also when they leave school. You can sing the story yourself to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell" if you prefer.

Next year, I hope to do more folk dancing and bring out my ukulele (I'm just learning to play and no one wants to hear that! lol). You can bring world music into your classroom at anytime, but this week is truly a unique and special experience for our kiddos. Take care!

Making Sense of Major & Minor

Today, I'd like to share about a topic that I think is overlooked in music education: major & minor. 

Being in Iowa, there are very few opportunities for elementary music teachers to meet and collaborate. A small group of us started having a workshop day twice a year (late summer & winter) at a centrally located spot. Two of the teachers involved were gracious enough to host and plan it out the first time. From there, we've started tweaking certain things, but overall have had a wonderful day of sharing, planning and just being grateful for the chance to talk with others in our field.

I met up with a few of these teachers at our yearly state conference this past fall. One of them, Anne, shared with me (because she knows I love books in music!) about the story called "Fortunately" by  Remy Charlip. Each part has a good thing that happened followed by a not-so-good outcome. Here's a sample:

                     

Anne explained how she used this book to present and review major/minor to her students. I had a eureka moment! The kids always catch on to when something is "happy" or "sad" but they need to know the terminology. I feel uncomfortable just springing stuff on them, so this kind of connection would be perfect! I also wanted to introduce my new handbell/deskbell sets. More and ideas kept coming to me and I was so excited!


I sat on this lesson for a bit. I wasn't quite ready to bring it to my kids just yet, as the holiday season approached and then program practice. 
Then, one day I was at Half Price Books with my mom (we love this place). I stumbled upon a cute book in the CLEARANCE section, no less called "Good News, Bad News" by Jeff Mack. Those are the only words in the entire book and it shares a similar idea as the "Fortunately" book.

Another eureka moment - I could introduce major & minor to my younger students with this book. Then, bring it back in the later years with "Fortunately." HOORAY!
I haven't been excited about lessons like this since I discovered Artie Almeida's movement activities. So, I wanted to share this idea and how I'm going about it with you all!
The ideas below are merely suggestions - I'm sure you all have your own way of teaching, additional materials, assessments, etc. You can use these ideas as a whole lesson or break them into parts and do other things. Click below for the freebies you can use with this unit! As always, make it accessible for your classroom.

Lower Elementary:

• First day: introduce & read the story "Good News, Bad News"
  
  

• Second day: project story (kindle version) and play major or minor chords for each page of the story - I'm a pianist so I'd just play it and click through the story as the kids watch.
  
  After the story, play the chords one at a time and talk about how it makes the students feel (happy, sad, mad, etc.)
  
  Stick up or project the two faces (without words) on the board; play sounds and have students use their own faces or point to the right picture
  
  
  
  
  

• Third day: bring the faces out again and play examples (mp3 or piano) - can the children pick the right face?
  
  Let students create their own happy/sad face cards; attach to a pencil, popsicle stick, etc. for easier flipping!
  
  Replay the examples and have the students use their own cards
  
  
  

• Fourth day: I would use SingtoKids major/minor mystery pattern sets. My lower elementary students couldn't read the must, but they could identify whether the mystery pattern is happy or sad each day. You could also use this for an assessment piece at some point!
  
  

• Additional ideas: add instruments; introduce terminology; create listening examples & place the identification cards at a center; introduce & practice borduns, use beat buddies with different examples; make half the group happy & other half sad - have them stand when they hear "their music"
  

Upper Elementary:

• First day: introduce & read the story "Fortunately" - if previously talked about in lower elementary, bring up the faces & happy/sad idea
  
  

• Second day: stick up faces and have the students identify as they listen to different examples
  
  Then, introduce the terms "major" and "minor" ; write the words on the faces or swap with terminology faces
  
  Identify the examples again, using the vocabulary
  
  
  

• Third day: bring out "Fortunately" and talk about the different pages using major & minor
  
  Introduce the handbells/deskbells (from here, you can talk about scales, chords structure, etc. but I just group them for the kids already) and play the major sounds, then minor
  
  Read the story, having half of the group be major for fortunately & the other half be minor for unfortunately; switch groups
  
  
  
  
  

• Fourth day: From here, I would use Linda McPherson's Major/Minor games. You can buy the games separately or as a bundle.
  
  First, the kids would make their own major/minor assessment tool and as I played the examples in her product, they would use their card to share their idea (instead of shouting it out)
  
  
  

• Additional ideas: introduce scales, chord structure, etc.; create listening examples & place the identification cards at a center; written/aural test; mystery patterns & chords; students creating their own pattern or chord & having other students label major/minor

I know there are tons of ideas out there for teaching major and minor but none ever really spoke to me for introducing it. I love both of these books and my students enjoy using those two words to start describing music. They even use them as they talk about their favorite pop songs - it's awesome!

If you introduce or teach major and minor in a different way, please share below. I love having multiples ways to bring something to my students. Don't forget to click upon to get that freebie with the ideas and materials mentioned above!

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! 

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!