We have really been enjoying our free Quaver trial this semester! Today in Kindergarten, we celebrated Earth Day by learning the song "Save the Planet." Then, we added a quick, easy, and fun accompaniment with Boomwhackers.
We discussed some of the different ways that they could take care of the planet. Some of their ideas were pick up trash, don't litter, plant a tree, and reuse our things. Each student wrote their idea on the provided worksheet and enjoyed coloring the sheet as well.
At the end of class, the students took turns singing their ideas as a "solo" in the song.
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!
After reviewing rhythm patterns at the beginning of the year, 3rd grade classes began working on layering rhythm patterns together. This is one of the more difficult skills that they will work on so I like to start early. By playing contrasting patterns together, students have to show proficiency in steady beat and rhythm counting. After lots of practice, and doing class layering activities like this, the students got into groups and began working on their own composition projects!
I always love it when people come into the music room while students are collaborating with instruments. They always say, "How in the world do you stand this noise??" It does get a little noisy but it is so neat to watch the groups collaborate and come up with great ideas together. I guess it is a sound only a music teacher could love. haha! ;) Here's a little sample of their group practice sessions:
To give the students a little inspiration, I like to show a few examples before they start their projects. Here are a few that I found on YouTube of a group of music teachers demonstrating their own Boomwhacker group creations:
Afterwards, the groups watched a video of their performance and then did a group self-assessment. I used Shannon's idea from "Music Room Magic" to create the rubric. They rated themselves on the following categories:
1. Did everyone know their part? Was everyone involved?
2. Did the rhythms fit together? Was their a consistent steady beat?
3. Was the form clear the audience?
4. Did the piece flow? Did you keep going no matter what?
Update: After many requests, I have decided to share my Boomwhacker Project Worksheet! Click here if you'd like to download a copy. :)
It is rhythm review time in my third, fourth, and fifth grade classes. One of my favorite rhythm lessons involves a favorite instrument: the BOOMWHACKERS! There is just something about those colorful tubes that gets kids really excited about making music. I acquired this lesson from a workshop led by Chris Judah-Lauder many years ago.
After spending several weeks reviewing notes and rests using a variety of activities, I introduce these 6 rhythms patterns:
Once they can perform the rhythms comfortably, I divide them into 6 groups, pass out the instruments, and have each group practice their rhythm pattern. I have the groups play individually, two groups together, three groups together, and so on until we are playing all of the rhythms together. After some practice, we try the rhythms in canon starting and ending with the "Big Reds." This activity allows the students to practice playing contrasting rhythms (which is really tricky!) and it leads nicely into our Stomp rhythm projects (which are coming soon!).
Here is a snippet of their practice session:
And here is our final product:
A little bit of rushing but not too shabby! This lesson is challenging but very rewarding and the students love hearing how all of the rhythms interact with one another. It is definitely a favorite among my students. :)
As a part of our winter unit, Kindergartners learned a song about a snowman. The students really enjoyed using their imaginations and pretending to build their snowmen while we sang the song:
Once they learned the song and practiced several times, they were very excited to add the Boomwhackers! Boomwhackers are colorful plastic tubes that are various lengths and pitches. I tell my students that they are called Boomwhackers because they make a "boom-ing" sound and you "whack" them on things.ツ
For this activity, we played them on the carpet. The students took turns playing up the scale while we sang and then down the scale when the snowman melts at the end of the song. It was a great visual for them to see that as the notes got higher, the Boomwhackers were shorter. They did such a great job! Here are a few pictures of them with their instruments:
It takes a LOT of self-control for Kindergartners to keep all of their Boomwhackers on the floor! ツ
