Composer of the Month

Third, fourth, and fifth grade students really enjoy our month composer studies! The first week of our study, we read a biography about the famous composer and discuss facts about their life. In the following weeks, we listen to and learn about the most famous and important pieces by the composer. Many times, I show the students a video of the piece being performed but my favorite way to introduce a piece is to show a listening map. Our most recent study was about Beethoven. Here are a few of the listening maps that my students enjoyed watching throughout our study.

At the end of our study, we usually play a game to review the information they've learned about the composer. Their favorite game is Kahoot! and they beg me to play it all the time. :) After we play Kahoot, I usually have another computer game or activity for them to do related to that composer. Since we studied about Beethoven this month, they enjoyed playing with the Beethoven Google Doodle where students had to help Beethoven get to the symphony concert by putting his music in the right order. It was a great way to reinforce identifying the most famous Beethoven melodies!

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!

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!

Ukulele Strumming Exercises

Fourth and Fifth graders have been working on their ukulele skills in music class. After learning F, C, and G7 chords, we used these YouTube ukulele exercises to practice chord changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsCk0lVIUDA&t=51s

Then, I had the students create their own exercises using the notation provided in the videos. After they created their own and practiced it, they switched papers with another group and had fun trying to play their composition. Here is the worksheet I provided if you'd like to try this with your students: Ukulele Chord Practice.

Alash

HSES was incredibly fortunate to host the Alash Ensemble recently for a performance at our school. They are currently on tour in North America and were performing at the university nearby, UGA. I discussed the group's country of origin, the Republic of Tuva, and their unique style of performing called throat singing. They were fabulous and the students were so fascinated! I heard from many parents that throat singing was the topic of conversation at their dinner table that night including some demonstrations. ;)

Here are a few pictures of their performance a some video clips of the group you can check out. Their website also has some wonderful information if you'd like to learn more about them: http://alashensemble.com/

The President's Own!

Our school was incredibly honored to host "The President's Own" US Marine Band Woodwind Quintet! They were giving a concert nearby at UGA and were able to stop by our school to do a performance for our students. It was an incredible experience for all of us!

Photography Credit: Charley Clinkenbeard

Kahoot!

Have you heard of Kahoot? It is an interactive online quiz website where you can create and take quizzes on various topics. Our 4th and 5th graders have been studying about John Williams this month and we used Kahoot! to review all of the information we had learned about him.

The students got into groups and worked together to answer the questions of the quiz on an iPad. They enjoyed being able to come up with team names and see their scores up on the board as they played the game. It was a great way for me to assess their knowledge and they had so much fun in the process! We will definitely be doing this again. :)

Here are a few pictures of them in action...

Tennis Ball Rhythms

To go along with our Rhythm unit, 4th and 5th graders have been talking about subdividing and how music note values are related to fractions.

Classes have really enjoyed this tennis ball rhythm activity! Each note has a different movement that goes with it to represent that note value. It helps to reinforce steady beat, how the notes are related to each other, and how they fit in the measure. Here are some pictures of the students practicing:

Whole Note: tennis ball goes around the body in a large circle for 4 counts

Half Note: bounce tennis ball for 1st count and catch ball for 2nd count

Quarter Note: toss the tennis ball up and catch on each beat

Eighth Notes: toss the ball back and forth between each hand on each half beat

You can find this activity here on YouTube:

(In addition to "Stars and Stripes," I have the students try the activity with a variety of styles)

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!