Wednesday, November 5, 2014

More Rhythm Centers

First graders have been working on basic rhythm patterns using quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. They have really enjoyed these rhythm centers to help them practice and review.


1) Koosh Rhythms - Students take turns tossing the koosh ball at the board. When they hit a circle, a rhythm will pop up and they have to read that rhythm correctly to their team. You can download this game here.



2) Rhythm Bingo - I have the students take turns calling out the rhythms. That way I can assess their rhythm reading and identification. When they get 5 in a row, they call out, "Bingo" and the students check their answers.



3) Rhythm Caterpillar - I got this idea from Mrs. King's Music Class blog. Students roll the dice to determine which circle to put on the caterpillars' body. Once the body is filled in, students choose an instrument and play the rhythm together. This center is designed to exposed students to 8 beat patterns.



4) Musical Groceries - First, students work together to figure out the rhythm of each food item. Then students pick 4 foods and place one on each plate. Students then have to perform the food names with their appropriate rhythm. Here are some other "Musical Groceries" ideas.



5) Busted Rhythm Game - Students take turns pulling out popsicle sticks and reading the rhythms to their team. If they get the rhythm correct, they get to keep the stick. When someone pulls out a "Busted" stick that person has to put all of their collected sticks back in the container. The game continues until all the sticks are pulled and the one with the most sticks is the winner.




6 comments:

  1. I love this post! I've always wanted to do centers but have never brought myself to do it. Thanks for sharing - I'm totally pinning this for later!

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    1. Thank you! :) It takes some work to get started but once you do it runs itself! The kids are pretty used to doing centers and they love playing games so it really works. I also love to chance to work with the kids in small groups as I observe and assess. Thanks for reading! :)

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  2. I nominated you for a Liebster Award! Check it out here: http://elementaryetudes.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-liebster-award.html

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  3. Looks like Christine beat me but I'd like to nominate you for a Liebster Award as well. I love your blog! It's full of great ideas! http://musicwithmissw.blogspot.com/2014/11/liebster-award.html :-)

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  4. Hello Clare,
    I have been wanting to make the Busted game for awhile now, but every time I go to start I seem to have a question. Thought I'd try asking here.
    How many sticks do you put into the container?
    Do you repeat any of the rhythms?
    How many busted sticks do you put in?
    Do they say and clap the rhythm or just say it?
    Do the kids put the stick down on the floor so the others can see if they got it right?
    Can this game be played with a large group like the whole class?

    Thanks for your help!

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    1. Hi!
      I can't remember the exact number of sticks that I used but it was probably 25-30? You can really use as many as you want or as many rhythms as you can think of. You can definitely repeat rhythms. You can have the students say and clap or just say - however you would like them to play. I always have the group check answers. I use this for centers so usually only about 5-6 students are playing. You could definitely use this with a whole class you would just need to create more sticks. I hope this helps! :)

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