Farewell March

Where did this month go?! Is it me, or is time passing quickly? I'm going to take that as a great sign...you know, time flies when you're having fun!

As part of our Kodaly curriculum, second graders "discovered" the tone re this week. We prepared by singing several different songs and games (Hot Cross Buns, All Around the Buttercup, Ridin' on the Railroad, Sally Go 'Round the Sun, Let Us Chase the Squirrel and Bow Wow Wow). After comparing parts of these songs to each other and/or playing the games, I felt like we ready to name the note this past week. I always try to set it up as a big deal...like we are scientists testing out different tones to see which one is the correct sound. When it comes to re, they usually have it narrowed it down to fa or re. We use the song Bow Wow Wow for the actual discovery lesson and I usually make some sort of excuse to test fa first and ask them to listen and tell me whether it fits in the song or not. No, it doesn't! When I sing re, they know immediately that it's the right fit but I don't usually confirm their guess right away. I let my powerpoint presentation reveal the answer by replacing the ? with re....their reaction? Cheering! I think that is too funny. They get so excited to find out a new tone! What's neat is that they did all the work!

First grade rocked out with Queen this past week and learned all about how an ostinato works. We Will Rock You is a great example of a repeating pattern and one that is easy enough that first graders can dictate as well (ti-ti ta ti-ti ta):

(I don't show the video and don't necessarily play the whole song....but the kids love this song and hear it a lot in the gym so they recognize it immediately.)

Kindergarten is also in the middle of a fun lesson: clapping syllables for rhythm practice. We had a great time today clapping Prin-cess An-na, O-laf, Mis-ter Pea-bod-y, Ker-mit the Frog and more. Of course, we then went around and clapped student names too. :)

Third graders and fourth graders enjoyed some play parties this week (Alabama Gal and Turn the Glasses Over, respectively) as they prepare to learn new notes from the tone ladder. Fifth just finished up an instrument unit on theme and variations. This unit did not go as well as it could have. We had a lot of interruptions for certain classes - bad weather days, holidays, absences by me, a week off for Spring Break - it was not ideal. I did hear some creative variations by many students though! I just wish we had more time to create. Either way, I am definitely going to make some changes the next time that lesson is taught.

Goodbye March....hello, April! What kinds of tricks will the kids play on me tomorrow? I wonder....

The Luck O' the Irish

Sometimes ideas strike at midnight. Literally. :)

I had planned out my lessons and had everything ready to go and then had a really rough time sleeping last night. I always revert to my night owl/late sleeper routine on long breaks so ending Spring Break did not go over well with my body's schedule. As I tossed and turned, I had a last-minute idea that ended up changing my plans a little bit and it worked out well this morning! I wish I had pictures, but it was a quick-paced lesson and I was in the middle of leading the action.

Anyway, I had already planned on having a gold coin/rainbow themed lesson to have a little fun with St. Patrick's Day today. I made pots of gold out of black cardstock and painted some leftover wooden circles that were in my craft bin. I had planned on using them for Kinder as high/low icons and for 3rd grade to earn as team points for reading syncopated rhythms.

But what came together nicely was the set-up and an add-on lesson plan for 2nd grade. They just finished a reading assessment for half note before leaving for Spring Break, but I decided to take it a step further this morning. I asked them to do some rhythm improvisation. I formed two rainbows using spots, with a large pot of gold in the middle and two smaller team pots at the end of each rainbow:

I sat in the middle with the large pot and had two team lines form down the middle. We practiced a few patterns (from the board) to the music (some Celtic/Irish folk music) and we had two rounds.

Round one: they could pick any pattern from the board to say, but they had to be ready when it was their turn. If they were ready and they could say it in rhythm with the music, they got a gold coin. They could travel down the rainbow and put it in their team's pot. (This put them at the end of the line nicely.)

Round two: the sneaky leprechaun stole their rhythms and now they had to improvise a pattern! If they could improvise a pattern using a half note, they earned another coin. If not, I usually gave them another chance at this one. They were really very good at it! Even "under pressure"! (And yes, most of them did make up different ones than the ones they said before.) I even challenged them to make up ones that were not on the board and I got some very creative answers.

Was it the luck o' the Irish? Or more likely, the amazing Feierabend workshop that I attended about a year ago with a very similar pirate-themed lesson that popped into my head and the translation just seemed to work?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!