Rules and Rhythms - Updated!

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!

Instrument Aikendrum

Kindergarten students have been learning all about our classroom percussion instruments. They've learned to identify the instrument names and play them using correct technique. I got the idea from Mrs. Mattson's Music Room to use this "Aikendrum" activity to review all that they've learned. First, I introduced the song and we talked about what they heard. The students loved hearing all of the silly things Aikendrum was made from.

(http://rovingfiddlehead.com/kidlit/flannel-friday-aiken-drum/)

Next, we learned the song and sang it together. I used Raffi's version.

Then, I had a few students come to the board to choose their own Aikendrum food items and we sang the song again.

After some fun singing together, I told the students that they were going to get to be even more creative together and create an Aikendrum from our classroom percussion instruments. I put them into groups, gave them a bucket of instruments, and the fun began. Once they were finished creating their Aikendrum, they worked together to draw a picture of each instrument part and write the instrument's name in the blank for their creation. They also tried to sing their own version of the song.

Here are a few pictures of what they came up with:

Here is a copy of the worksheet I made for those interested. Enjoy!

Treble Clef Practice with Boomwhackers

Fourth and Fifth grader music classes have been learning about and reviewing the treble clef staff. They've been playing games to practice identifying the names of the lines and spaces. Before we begin playing soprano recorders, I wanted to give them a little more practice with reading a melody on the treble clef. I set up 5 stations around the room with a variety of children's melodies (Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald, etc.) and but a set of Boomwhackers at each station. When the students arrived at a station, they were to divvy out the Boomwhackers and review which note they had an where it was located on the staff. Then, they worked together to play the notes in order to create the melody. Each group typically had time to play through each melody about 4 times before they had to rotate to the next station. This took concentration and team work!