Rules and Rhythms has become my favorite back-to-school lesson! It is the perfect way to review our music rules and expectations while also practicing rhythms and having fun! This year, I tweaked the lesson a little and the students did a great job and seemed to really enjoy it.
First, each group was given one of our music rules and they had to notate the rhythm using their rhythm cards.
Next, the groups were asked to create a body percussion pattern to perform their rhythm. They used creative combinations of snapping, patting, stomping, clapping, and more. After some practice, each group performed their body percussion and rule for the class to a beat track. This is the track we used and it worked really well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anCq5XLnnKY
Finally, we had each group perform their body percussion at the same time while saying their rule out loud (using the beat track). So much fun! Now, the students know our music rules and they are ready for our rhythm unit!
