The Mitten

One of my absolute favorite lessons each year goes along with the children's book, The Mitten, by Jan Brett.

I got this idea from my mentor teacher years ago and have adapted it and tweaked it over the years. I use it as a way to culminate the major units that my first graders have been studying throughout the year - rhythm patterns and basic mallet skills. It is also a great way to ease them into preparing for their Spring Musical.

First, I read the story to the students and we discuss the various characters in the book. For each character, we learn a rhythm pattern and I have the students practice playing the rhythms on various percussion instruments.

Then, I teach the students a song that goes with the book. We add a simple bordun and an octave glockenspiel part at the end of each phrase.

Finally, we add some actors! I choose students to represent each character and they follow the narration of the book. I created some masks that I printed from Jan Brett's website, laminated them, and added some elastic bands.

I used a cheap white sheet and cut it into the shape of a mitten for the actors to sit on top of during their performance.

After the students have practiced all of the parts, we put together a performance that we show to their classroom teacher. As the story is read, one student plays the rhythm pattern on the percussion instrument while that character "gets into" the mitten. When the bear sneezes in the story, the actors toss the mitten up into the air and pretend to fall into the snow while the percussionists play all together. We begin and end the performance with our mitten song accompanied by the mallet instruments.

 

If you have larger classes, you can add actors for Nicki and his grandmother, Baba. You can also double instrument parts and even add sound effects on the sneeze part (think: crank, vibraslap, slapstick, etc.) This activity makes a great "informance" piece at PTO meetings or other school events.

The students LOVE it and it is definitely a crowd-pleaser for teachers, too. Fun and learning - that's how we roll at HSES! :)

The Snowy Day... on the Mallets!

I love the book, The Snowy Day, and so do my students! First graders have been experimenting with various sounds they can make with the mallet instruments. I thought this activity would be a perfect way to give them experience on the instruments as well as allow them some creative expression.

First, we read the story and talked about all of the things Peter did in the snow. Then, I had the students partner up and I assigned each of them an action from the story...

The students then worked with their partner to create a sound effect that could represent that action in the story. It was so neat to see the ideas they came up with!

After each group shared their ideas, I re-read the story and had the groups add their sound effect at the appropriate point in the story.

An extension idea could be having half of the class play the sound effects and the other half act out the story. Maybe we'll try that next! :)

Dancing Snowflakes

To celebrate winter, Fourth and Fifth grade classes have been working on an Orff piece called, "Dancing Snowflakes." It is very appropriate that we've been working on this song because we've had two snowstorms so far - unheard of in this part of Georgia! This is one of my favorite pieces to teach because it incorporates so many difference elements: mallet technique, improvisation, playing on special words, ABA form, and poetry. After learning the song and instrument parts, students work in groups to create haiku poems that describe snowflakes. Then, we use these poems to create the contrasting sections in our performances. Here is a video of one of the 4th grade classes performing the song:

I also created a display in the hall using their haiku poems and some snowflakes that one of my classes made. Check out some of my favorites:

(Music Teachers: This song and arrangement is located in Gameplan Curriculum - Grade 3)

Folk Song Unit

Third grade is currently working on a Folk Song unit in music centering around folk songs originating in the United States. They learned that folk means "of the people," that folk music has been passed down from generation to generation, and is usually handed-down orally. We have also discussed how the lyrics or verses of these songs can change over time similar to the "telephone" game. They have also been discussing the similarities and differences between folk songs and folk tales.

Our unit on folk songs is giving the 3rd graders a chance to brush up on their mallet skills. The focus has been learning the cross-over pattern and playing on special words. All students get a chance to learn each instrument part and the folk dance, and then we divide into two groups for our final performance.

Here is a video of the 3rd grade ABC class performing Tideo.

Mallet Madness!

First graders have been really enjoying our unit on mallet instruments!  We have been focusing on mallet grip, basic technique, and playing on cue.  These skills will prepare them for the Orff pieces they will play in 1st - 5th grade!  They have had a blast participating in activities from Artie Almeida's Mallet Madness and Mallet Madness Strikes Again - LOVE her stuff! 

 

Since we don't have quite enough for the students to have their own instrument, they have been pairing up with a partner.  One activity that they loved was echoing rhythm patterns on their instruments.  Since they just completed a unit on basic rhythm patterns, this was a great connection!  First, I would play various rhythm patterns on my drum and they would echo that pattern on their instruments (in pentatonic).  Then, I would say a pattern using syllables and they would echo that as well.  Next, they tried this same activity with their partner calling out the rhythms to them. 

 



 

 

 

 

(A note to Orff people:  We are still working on getting those fingers wrapped around the mallets.  I use the "pinch and wrap" technique but they revert back quickly.)

 



 

 

Another favorite mallet activity used hoola hoops!  I found this fun activity on YouTube.   One student is chosen as the leader and they step into the 3 hoola hoops randomly.  The other students must play their instruments according to what color the leader chooses.  The xylophones would play if the leader stepped into the orange hoola hoop, the metallophones would play when the leader stepped into purple, and the glockenspiels would be yellow.  Sometimes the leader would try to be tricky and step in two colors at the same time.  This was a great way for me to assess their mallet techniques while also giving the students practice following the cues of a "director."

 



 

Here the students are demonstrating the correct technique for removing and replacing the bars on their instruments.

 

 

First graders LOVE the mallet instruments!