In this music classroom....

I think we've all seen the popular printables about "In this classroom..." stating the expectations of the classroom or characteristics of the students. I changed it up a little bit, played around a bit in Photoshop and came up with this one:

Click here to download a full size copy.

I had it in one of my favorite color combinations (aqua, red and white) and it ended up looking patriotic....so I switched the colors around. Now it's a bit Dr. Seuss? I don't know. If you like it, feel free to download and use it! If you like it but want a copy in your school colors or classroom colors, contact me on Twitter @KellyParrish605 or leave me a comment.

If you think there is a very important adjective that describes the music-makers in your music class, let me know! There's always room for improvement.

'Tis the Season

Around this time of year, it's Nutcracker Season! Tchaikovsky's beloved music is studied and enjoyed year after year in music rooms all over the world. In my classes, it was always concentrated on first grade. However, I have used the music with other grade levels as review and I always included some cool performances of it in my annual singalongs in the past. These two are my recent favorites:

As for the first video, do I need to say much about Pentatonix? I love them and the kids go crazy over them. They are so amazingly talented! And for the second video, it is fascinating on a musical and a scientific level! The kids really enjoy this one as well.

As for other activities students could use when studying The Nutcracker, there are SO many great things out there already! Search on Pinterest and you'll find some wonderful units. While I have not usually have the class time in the past to go into major unit, I did think that a bingo game might be fun. It gives them something to listen for and gives some motivation to pay close attention to the details. There are five different pages you can print out. Feel free to make up your own rules as far as the "bingo" goes.

Just a screenshot....when you print, those annoying "you spelled these words from another language wrong" lines won't show up :)

By the way, if you haven't discovered Picmonkey yet, it's an easy-to-use web-based graphics site. I used it to make the candy cane frame and the Nutcracker clipart. (For this reason, this is another for personal use only.) I can't guarantee that some of those didn't come from my upgraded membership, but there are a lot of fun features on the free membership of the website. And did I mention it's easy to use?

Anyway, I made most of the answer squares educational references to the story, music and ballet but a couple are easy freebie "are you listening?" squares. :) Some of them require a couple written words and they may have to turn it over to the back for a bit more room.

Enjoy!

Nutcracker Bingo - Free for personal use

Snowmen in Kindergarten

As I sort of thought, the weather is......pretty much back to the normal low of 40's and high of mid 60's. Did you think I would say it was snowing? If you did, I bet you've never been here. :)

But it doesn't prevent us from continuing on with the snow theme in the music room. This Kindergarten favorite is one that I actually learned from my son about 6 years ago! Talk about the true oral tradition living on.....he learned it in his preschool class for their winter performance and came home excited to tell it to me. I hadn't actually heard it before and it was just too cute! (Anything from a 4 year-old is though!! Well, almost anything.)

I made this as a picture book (before I got my projector), we act it out, I have made masks (which I sell in my Etsy store), we do it as just the fingerplay.....whatever feels right. I did add one thing that makes it a great vocal practice for Kinder especially.....after each snowman melts, we say "OOOOoooooooo" in a high-low sliding voice and we "melt" down to the ground (or use our hands if we are seated) to reinforce high to low. That gives us a moment to pause and think about how many are left and they are usually very eager to tell you how many the answer. (I always play innocent, though there are some days I truly can't remember which one we left off on......) 

The Powerpoint is animated to melt each snowman if you're not too click-happy and I've checked it a million times.....hopefully everything saved properly.

Five Little Snowmen PowerPoint Show

I was hoping to add in one more thing that I shared around this time last year, but the website is changing up. I found the book Snowmen at Night on a great online website called "We Give Books" but it does not seem to the there anymore. So instead, here's a link to it on Amazon and what the cover looks like:

This book is great for movement! These crazy snowmen go on an adventure all over town, sliding and gliding around.....perfect for the kids imitate. It's a delightful story. And I can't leave this post without mentioning Frosty! I love this book version:

What are your favorite snowman activities in the music room? What can you think of for the older grade levels?

Snail, snail....I mean, Snowflake snowflake!

As you can see, I'm trying to make up for all the blogging that I haven't done over the last few months and I'm on a roll! This is a perfect activity for these winter months and it's a familiar melody to the little ones.

I learned Snowflake, Snowflake a long time ago and I'm trying to remember who taught it to me! I'm going to have to ask a few friends from my Kodály levels if they remember learning this song from one of our teachers or if I learned it from a colleague. I will update if I get some answers. (I did Level I in 2001 where I probably would have learned this song, so my memory is fuzzy. I don't have a master copy either so it must have just been one of those songs learned in a lesson. Maybe someone made it up. Again, I'll have to ask around!)

The lyrics and solfa are on the slides in the activity, but basically, it's the same melody and rhythm as Snail, Snail with these words:

It's simple, but fun and catchy and the kids love this one! We play a movement game of sorts where we float and drift around like lovely, gentle snowflakes....at the end, of course, we freeze! The most frozen snowflake gets to come to the front and choose the next frozen snowflake and then go back into the game. There's no elimination....it's just fun movement and singing. We don't usually sing it very fast....maybe that's because I'm used to soft, gentle snowfall here in Texas. :) Though I will admit, if I feel like a particular class can handle it, we will have a blizzard in the forecast and sing faster for a different tempo practice. Usually the blizzard passes over pretty quickly though.

If you have a projector but not a SmartBoard, this one is especially for you. I chose PowerPoint for this activity because of the animations and action settings that I needed to use....Google Slides just doesn't have the options I needed. I have basically set it up to give an assessment for reading la, so and mi on the staff and it won't advance until they get the answer (out of three options) correct.

So head over to the link below and download it! I put the activity directions and leading questions in the slide notes at the bottom. If you read over those and then press Play to practice it, I think it'll be pretty clear. I don't write all directions directly on my slides because I don't want to just read from the screen. :)

Snowflake, Snowflake Activity Link

Unsplash!

Have you heard of Unsplash? If you haven't.....you're welcome! :) Seriously though, it's a great collection of beautiful, high-resolution photographs. As the front page says, they are FREE to do whatever you want. You really don't find those words on a website very often, if ever!

I love this website so much because kids need real-life experiences and real-life references as much as possible. For example, have you noticed how many train songs we sing? I realized a few years ago that the only train that a lot of my kindergarteners knew about was Thomas the Tank engine or the Little Engine that Could! Cartoon trains that talk! I always had to pull up a video of a real train well before before playing The Little Train of the Caipira as a listening example. Otherwise, they had no idea what they were supposed to be hearing. Some of the toys and cartoons out there do a good job with using the real sound effects, but there's nothing like seeing a real train and hearing the sounds it makes all at the same time.

I like to use real photographs whenever possible for this very reason. While browsing Unsplash today, I finally completed a project I've wanted to do for awhile! This picture inspired me:

I know it won't make sense, but the project is for Rocky Mountain....

Click here for a link to a set of Google slides with the lyrics and some staff work for the refrain. Feel free to copy the link to your Google Drive and leave me some comments about it!

The whole song is great for preparing/practicing the pentatone and half note. So we work on the beat, the rhythm, the solfa, anything and everything.....seriously, this song is always a hit.

By the time we are really getting into this song, the students are also talking about landforms in their classrooms. They get so excited that they can tell me what a mountain, valley and ocean is in formal terms! A retired friend of mine (and brilliant teacher!), Caroline, taught me some really fun movements and an additional verse:

Tiny island, tiny island, tiny island small

When you're on that tiny island, there's no shopping mall.

Does that picture make sense now? I usually confess that I'm pretty sure the island verse doesn't belong to the original folk song.....and that we should write some more. With older kids, you could even have them type their verse into their own Google Slide and collaborate together. And with a search function on Unsplash, you might even help them find a picture to add in to the verse. (I wouldn't necessarily suggest letting the kids go through the website themselves; I don't think there is anything wildly inappropriate but there are some swimsuit pictures, etc. that might not be the most appropriate for grade school.) They have always come up with some really creative verses! They really get into it.

By the way, let me know what you find on Unsplash!

Anchor Chart #2

Another day, another free anchor chart! This is a simple one outlining dynamics:

Again, for personal use only, please! :) Click here if you'd like to download a large version already formatted to 11"x17" to print at your local office supply store.

Anchor Chart Freebie

With larger-scale printing getting cheaper and cheaper, nice anchor charts are all the rage on Pinterest it seems! Sure, you could do the old-fashioned, authentic "write and draw your own on a flipchart" but for those of us who despise our own handwriting, this is a daunting task. I don't mind jotting notes on the classroom board, but if it's going to go on my wall long-term and it's in my handwriting, it's going to be typed up and printed out nicely!

I spent a lot time of gathering, admiring and borrowing ideas from here and there and finally put a few together in my own personal styles. My first priority was a chart comparing beat and rhythm. For some reason, this has always been tricky. These words seem to be blend together in a lot of kids' brains after a while. Unless the student has a solid memory for the definitions, they seem to always be looking around for the answer or how exactly to explain it.

So my version is below.

If you'd like to download it and print it out yourself, click here. (For personal use only, please!) This one is formatted for 11x17 printing at Staples for under $2 if I remember correctly.

Enjoy!

Rhythm Ice!

Has the cold weather hit your area yet? In true Texas style, the temperature dropped to the low 40's with cold, cold rain and I broke out the heavy coats (and went to the store for my son who grew out of last season's coat).....and then it warmed back up enough for a regular jacket. As for the next week and half, who knows? It'll probably snow! Typical Texas. :)

(Is everyone in the north laughing at me that I think the low 40's is super cold? What can I say, I was raised in tropical south Texas wearing shorts nearly year-round!)

Anyway, my son and I were shopping last night and his comment ("Maybe it'll ice over and school will be cancelled!") reminded me of a favorite rhythmic activity in my classroom. During most of the year, I call them Rhythm Gems or Marbles, but in winter (and especially after the movie Frozen came out), they are known as Rhythm Ice:

I have a ton of each type organized into their own boxes and can pull out the appropriate types according to the grade and lesson. I love these little stacking boxes that you can find at your local craft store! I made the labels on my Silhouette machine.

I always use them with some laminated beats in whatever meter needed for the lesson. In this previous post, my students had been practicing half note (and then the student had to trade with a friend and read someone else's composition) and I've also used them whole group. Here's another example that could be used with your younger groups who have learned quarter/eighth:

What's great about these is that the student clearly sees that one piece of rhythm "ice" belongs on one heartbeat when they are placing them. When you get to half note (as shown in the earlier post link), you simply show them how to put a blank rhythm ice piece as a placeholder.

If you're interested in purchasing some of these already made, visit my Etsy store! I have them for sale in groups by level and by individual rhythm as well. They are listed as Rhythm Gems in the store. (Laminated beats not included in purchase.)

Rhythm "Ice" or Gems - Individual Rhythms

Beginner Set - Quarter, 8th, "Z" and Rest

Intermediate Set - Half note, 16th, synCOpa

Advanced Set - 8th/16th, 16th/8th, Dotted quarter/eighth

A new chapter....

I don't want to get into the boring details of it all, but these last few weeks have been a journey for me. I have discovered a lot about myself that I didn't know was there. Translation? Lots of changes personally and professionally.

One of those changes is that I am pursuing a dream of mine to open an Etsy store in my spare time! I know this sounds like a blatant advertisement, but really, no pressure to visit. ;) I've been told I should put my stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I have never minded sharing my digital stuff for free. If I'm making it for class, it's already there....why not share it? But on the other side of things, I also love to craft and make things for the classroom, which is what my Etsy store is all about. Most of the items are for teaching in the music room, but some could just be a gift for that special musician or music teacher in your life. Some might even be of interest to a general education teacher.

Anyway, I'm excited about it and about the future. In the meantime, I love that I can use this badge!

Connecting....Part II

This post is a thank-you to Mrs. Graham and her kindergarten class in SE Minnesota. They invited me into their classroom for a moment today to share one of my favorite song stories, Down By the Station. How fun is that? And I didn't have to spend a dime on airfare!

Kory is a fabulous kindergarten teacher that I recently followed on Twitter. I can remember my coworker mentioning that she read for her class earlier this year so when Kory put out a request for more guest readers, I thought it sounded like a great opportunity! She calls her group #Korytellers. (I'm so jealous she has a cool name that lends itself to a catchy hashtag!) I've been wanting to do a class Google Hangout or Skype or some kind of video-conference all year, but it gets a bit tricky arranging those. I have five groups per grade level so finding and arranging five equal hangouts for each class is not so easy. So I jumped on the chance to at least experience being a guest on the other end of things.

So sweet! I'm mentioned on the agenda!

My second graders had a field trip today which left me with an open class period. We set it up and I'll admit that I was actually nervous to be on camera. But as soon as I saw those sweet little faces, it was just like being in front of my own kids! They were so adorable and ready to listen! They had wonderful manners and you could tell they were delighted to have new guests in their classroom every chance they got. I love how Kory uses technology to reach out globally and invite others to join her and her students on their educational journey. Reading a story in a kindergarten class is nothing new....but using technology to bring in exciting and diverse guests from around the world? That's what tech integration and connection is all about. Bravo, Kory! You and your #Korytellers are my heroes on Hero Day! Thank you again for letting me be a part of your day.

Connecting through Technology

I've been thinking a lot about how technology fits into the music room, especially a Kodály classroom. There is such a rich history and tradition to the Kodály curriculum and bringing in iPads and computers doesn't automatically seem to fit into that ideal. I'm always careful to point out that my classroom is not a totally digital world...in fact, there are times when I'm teaching and it occurs to me that maybe I'm misrepresenting my claims of tech integration in the classroom because most of the time we are still "unplugged." You still find us playing a fun round of Lucy Locket with a cloth purse or Apple Tree with a wax apple from Hobby Lobby. I feel very strongly that these activities belong in a Kodály classroom and I don't see myself giving them up anytime soon.

However, I use technology in a lot of places during my day (and night) as a teacher to help strengthen my teaching in whatever way possible. Sometimes it's behind the scenes for lesson planning or file organization. (I'm not a naturally organized person, so THANK YOU, TECHNOLOGY!) I use my class iPad to make playlists for the day's listening selections....goodbye, CDs! (If you're a music teacher still messing with CDs, please ask your PTA or principal or someone in your community to help buy you an iPod or iPad of some sort!! You deserve it!) I also love having an iPad handy for those times when my kids have asked, "Ms. Parrish, what does a weevil look like?" I've just grabbed my iPad to do an image search. (This is much safer than doing one on the computer while the image is projected on the screen! And if you do this, just be sure to put your screen on blank first.) Or when that one student isn't matching pitch and they just don't hear it? I use the iPad or my iPhone in my pocket and do a quick voice record to play back to them.

As far as more planned integration, it is difficult to do as much as I want because there is so little time. There has to be balance between the "old" and the new. However, one thing I've learned from technology is that, if nothing else, it allows us to form connections. In the past, I've tried our district website to try to connect with students at home but it just hasn't been very successful. This year, I opened a class Twitter to share our thoughts and successes, but I also connected with the students on Edmodo.

I know to many of you, this will not be a big deal at all. To me, it's everything. It just is.

You see, by 5th grade, many of my students start becoming very social and music class at school isn't always a priority for all....they get busy with homework, sports and other activities. Communicating with your music teacher after school doesn't exactly sound like something most kids would do, right? Not necessarily. Technology made this happen this year. And many actually want to do this. I actually feel bad about not keeping up with some of their conversations on Edmodo! We chatted over the snow days, over the winter break a bit and over weekends. I posted videos for fun, I posted their work from class....we've discussed our favorite music and singers. I fell behind and they would actually ask me where I went!

In class recently, I assigned them to improvise variations á la Mozart after hearing his 12 variations on "Ah Vous Dirai-je Maman" or basically, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." This was being done on xylophones in class. I posted the theme on Edmodo and recommended a virtual xylophone website and app just in case they wanted to practice and play around at home. I figured some might look at my post and play the theme once or twice, but I didn't expect to get these:

 

Both students took their own personal time at home to practice a variation and set up their device to record it. They uploaded it to Edmodo and shared it with me and the rest of their classmates. I was floored. I have never had this type of connection with my students before! I simply can't imagine how this would have happened in the past before devices were so readily available. I'm incredibly proud of the time they took to show their creative side and I appreciate that technology could help bring it to my attention.

So you might not be ready to bring devices into your music classroom or you might not think there is time in the curriculum. Maybe you're not sure how to integrate them. After all, we are given so little time to begin with.

But just keep in mind that using technology in the music classroom is not just about apps and tapping screens. It's about sharing, creating, collaborating and connecting. I always think of the graphic to the right.

They have these devices already. Use them to your advantage and make a positive connection with them. Allow them (maybe even challenge them!) to create and find inspiration and capture those moments with their devices or with your devices (if you have them). They have so much to share and our short class time is just not enough!!

Personal Failures

This is a bit personal for me, so here goes nothing....

But first, a reason why this blog post came to mind. Tonight, I went to a beautiful choir concert given by our district's 5th grade auditioned honor choir. I have three very talented students in the group this year and due to a crazy personal schedule, I had missed the previous concerts. I'm so glad I made it tonight because it was lovely! I am always impressed by the teachers who put in the extra hours to work with these students. Thank you to Virginia, Christie, Corey and Robyn for all your hard work!

One of the songs they sang tonight brought back a lot of memories for me. The children sang John Rutter's arrangement of For the Beauty of the Earth. When I was in the 7th grade (which was the first year of middle school in my home district), this piece (along with another called Jubilate Deo - sorry, I don't remember the arrangement because I know there are a million out there) was an audition piece for our All-District choir competition. Being so passionate for music, I signed up to audition. Looking back, I'm quite surprised I did this, because I've always been terrified to sing by myself! But I did, maybe because I loved the audition music so much!

Long story short, I practiced at all the rehearsals, learned my part (Soprano I back then), practiced with my tape (yes, tape) and headed out on the bus early on a Saturday with all my friends. I was definitely nervous, but I remember making it through, not missing my entrance, and not messing up.

But, after many years of great scores at piano festivals, concerts and such.....my first choir audition was not as successful. Most of my friend's names were posted or called -- I can't remember how they announced it -- but not me. Truthfully, I was devastated. I didn't feel like I was robbed or scored unfairly....it was just my first major fail in music. (Certainly not my last though....)

When my 5th graders told me they were singing For the Beauty of the Earth at this concert, I shared this story with them. Yes, I failed at a singing audition when I was a kid, but I went back to choir that next Monday and sang more and went back the next year and the next and the next. Now I'm a music teacher encouraging my students not to give up either. I wanted them to see that one failure doesn't have to define us. This is something I'm struggling with currently (on other levels), so perhaps I'm trying to convince myself in the meantime. (Why is it so hard to follow our own words?)

I love that music can bring back memories and transport us back in time. It may sound like painful memories, but in the end, failing at that audition was just part of the journey to where I am now.

One Lovely Blog Award

Wow! I have been away for a long time so I definitely don't deserve this recognition! A special thanks to my sweet friend and colleague Melanie of Confessions of a Kodaly Music Teacher for the nomination of One Lovely Blog Award! I'm flattered that she follows my blog.

I'm still fairly new to this blogging thing and definitely haven't been exposed to any awards, link parties, etc. so let's see if I do this right! I think I'm supposed to give some rules for this award:

1. Thank and link back to the awesome person who nominated you.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers and comment on their blogs to let them know.

Number one, check! Thanks again, Melanie! You are the best!

Now, for seven things about myself...

• I have an almost 10 year old son who knows 36 (or more?) digits of Pi. He's obsessed and I love him!
• I have a phobia of reptiles in general, but I am now the proud "mommy" of a spoiled bearded dragon named Waffle. He's like my second baby.
• I love to craft in my spare time and would rather DIY than buy.
• I love the imagery of birds....the fact that they sing, fly....my classroom is decorated in birds.
• My iPad Mini and I are pretty much attached at the hip. I can't remember life before it.
• I have a hard time passing up good deals on washi tape and yet I hardly ever use it because it looks pretty on display in my craft room. Same thing with fabric. I love how pretty fabrics look on my shelf so I have a hard time actually using it for projects.
• I was terrified to sing by myself in school (all the way up until I began teaching, actually) and once broke out into hives singing with my ensemble at a required high school competition. I empathize with my shy students while trying very hard to normalize solo singing in my classroom! (Oh, and you still won't catch me doing karaoke.)

Now to nominate 15 other bloggers! I didn't actually know 15 music people with blogs (until now!) so I'm going to list some of the music bloggers that I have met and followed through Twitter. I tend to follow more craft blogs because I get a lot of ideas and inspiration for classroom manipulatives, materials and even simple DIY organizational furniture! 

• Marisa at The Wren's Nest
• Catie at A Day in the Life of a Backwards Musical Mind
• Malinda at My Musical Menagerie
• Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road
• Melissa at Mrs. Stouffer's Music Room
• Jennifer at Educational Musings of a Music Educator
• Joanna at Joanna's Music Blog
• Eric at Orffing Around

I'm a believer: Take Two

My title refers to this original post found here. This is an update!

I recently mentioned this post to my supervisor because things have really exploded (on Twitter) lately....in a really, really good way! When I last wrote about getting involved in Twitter chats and such, I feel like I was just barely scratching the surface. I am now an active member of several more chats and even moderating a new chat weekly. If only this all counted towards real professional development hours! (Does it?! Hmmmmm.....)

My district is now really involved with chats and in such a short amount of time, I've learned so much from participating in them. All are welcome and I guarantee you'll enjoy them if you stop by. Here's an infographic to tell you more:

I am active on #PISDedchat and #PISDartchat and I am moderating #PISDmusic. (Though I'm sure we will be having other moderators step in at times!) All of these are informative chats full of supportive, helpful, knowledgeable educators who really know their stuff. As the lone music teacher on my campus, it has been invaluable to reach out to others and get to know what they're doing at other schools. This large district doesn't feel so big anymore as I've gotten to "know" several others around me through this great network.

As for outside of these chats, I try to join #elmused on Tuesdays at 8 CST (when I'm not totally exhausted and can keep my eyes open!) and there is still #musedchat on Mondays at 7 CST and there is a new #slowchatmus that posts a question each day to answer at your leisure.

With all these options, it's so much fun to participate. Hop onto Tweetdeck if you want to organize all of this separately, too.

If you want to participate but don't know where to start, leave me a comment! Let me know how I can help you. I hope to see you on a chat or just conversing on Twitter. Simply put, it's just a great way to connect with others.

String Family Tech Hunt

My students are headed to the symphony after Spring Break so we are focusing in on the four families of the orchestra. We have covered facts and characteristics here and there over the years, but I definitely want to do a little more in-depth study before we get on that bus!

I'm very excited to integrate more technology into this year's orchestra study. To just tiptoe into the string family, I used a recording of a string piece with something familiar (the voice), yet a bit deceiving (the voice). I know....that sounds a bit strange, but if you know the piece, you'll know what I mean. I chose Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma's recording of J.S. Bach's Musette.

I love this recording because the cello is just beautiful and it's just a fun, playful short piece. The vocals can be a bit distracting (whose voice is that anyway?! they all ask), but I do ask the kids ahead of time to be sure to listen carefully to all the sounds because there will be quiz about what they heard.

This takes us into a Plickers quiz. If you've never used Plickers, download those little code cards and print them now (or splurge on a set from Amazon.com like I did!). It is such a great app! All you need is one device and you can give quizzes with immediate feedback and recorded answers! (Here's the actual quiz that I gave, if you're interested in seeing or using it.)

Once that Plickers quiz was done (which I assured them was just a "see what we know" type deal; not a major test grade! though I do look forward to comparing their knowledge after we study our instruments a lot more in-depth), we split up into groups to start our tech hunt. Each group received a clipboard with their scavenger list of questions and a device. I had several QR codes taped up around the room, plus three permanent stations set up. The QRs were repeated just in case the groups were crowding around a certain one. The list is as follows:

• QR leading to information about pizzicato technique (text only)
• QR leading to a Thinglink about string quartets
• QR leading to a string instrument labeled with Skitch (major parts labeled)
• QR leading to information about how many strings in a harp (text only)
• QR leading to information about bows and the type of hair used to make them
• my personal Macbook in guest mode (yes, I'm brave!) with Artopia.com set up to listen and compare the four main instruments of the string family; they can do the matching game as well (if time)
• iPad mini with MSOLearn app to view interactive orchestra seating chart information
• teacher computer set up with a headphone splitter set to this YouTube video so one group at a time can view a short video about the string family which also introduces the harp

Edited to include Google Doc with QR codes <here>. I added labels to show which QR was which, but I don't have labels for the kids....that way it is a surprise when they open the QR, of course!

I wish I had some pictures of the kids working on their hunt....but every device I have was being used! These days I don't have a separate camera that I keep handy in my classroom.

In case you're wondering, I don't have a class set of iPads! (I wish!) I borrowed a couple from the 4th grade teachers (since they are planning, they aren't using them for teaching), used my class iPad and used a couple of my own personal devices. Unfortunately, that meant that the groups had to be slightly larger than I would have liked (4-5) but it worked out fine. The kids worked well together overall. The tech hunt will continue for 1-1.5 more lessons or so until they get the questions answered.

After this, we'll certainly explore some more string repertoire....what are your favorite recordings? Any great suggestions? Leave me a comment!! Also, any other suggestions or ideas to incorporate some more technology in my tech hunt? I'd love some feedback!