Alexander and the Rhythm/Instrument Review!

One of my favorite children's books is the classic, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst. Artie Almeida has a wonderful lesson plan in her book, Mallet Madness, that serves as a great review activity for the beginning of the year! Not only does it review basic rhythms but you can also use it for an instrument technique refresher as well. Our HSES 2nd graders have really enjoyed this activity as we have gotten back into the swing of things in music class.

First we read the story together...

Next, we reviewed the quarter note, eighth notes, and quarter rest, and then I had the students discover the rhythm of the repeated phrase in the book, "...terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."

I divided the students into 4 groups and each group practiced one part of the phrase. Then each group played their rhythm on their instruments and we put the phrase all together.

The woodblocks:

The tambourines:

The maracas:

The drums:

Then I read the book again, and each group played the rhythm on their instrument on the correct words. Great job, 2nd graders!

Rules and Rhythms!

It's the beginning of the new school year and the time to talk about rules and procedures in the music room. I took some advice from Aimee from "O For Tuna Orff," and combined our rules talk with reviewing rhythms!

First, the students were divided into 6 different groups and they were given one of our music rules. They were asked to work together to figure out what the rhythm of their phrase was and they displayed their answer on their beat sheets using rhythm cards.

After practicing their rhythms, they performed them for the class. Next, was their favorite part: adding instruments! We were even able to perform these rhythms together as ostinato patterns. This will lead wonderfully into our first unit about performing contrasting rhythm patterns together.

This activity made learning and reviewing the rules so much more fun and meaningful!