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!

Melodic Stations

I tried out some more stations this morning and I think we're off to a pretty good start! I guess my 2nd graders are my guinea pigs this year for stations since they are (again) the grade level for this lesson.

Since we recently learned re and completed the pentatone of do-re-mi-so-la, I thought some melodic stations were in order. These were much more challenging to plan though, since melody is a lot more difficult to work on independently (if accuracy of pitch and contour is your goal!). I also wanted a variety of activities, of course, that highlighted reading, writing, listening and singing. Here's what I came up with:

Station #1: Step, Skip or Leap?
This was an interactive PowerPoint game that I made for the projector. The group had to work together to determine whether the notes were a step, skip or leap apart. The game told them whether their answers were correct or incorrect and they could try again if they were wrong. Edited to remove PPT....it had tons of mistakes that my 20th group found....hmmmm, makes me think the others weren't quite paying attention?!? Ugh. I will replace it soon once the mistakes are all found.


Station #2: What Does the Fox Box Say?

Okay, okay. Cheesy pun. (Hey, the kids loved it and my station sign!) This is my low-tech station. I recently ordered some Talk Blocks (or music boxes, as I call them) from School Specialty. I took a chance on them and while the sound quality is not great, they get the job done. My son helped me prep this station and we had fun doing it! What I really like about them is that you can insert directions or pictures into the top of them and then record 30 seconds of sound. (There are cheaper ones that have no picture inserts and about 10 seconds of recording time.) I have ten of them so I split them up into two different groups. Five of them were error detection. For example, one was a staff saying "m  r d" but I recorded me singing "d r m" and asked them to explain the difference. The other five were a mixed-up mystery song. I sang "Dinah" into the first one. The other four were me playing the four motives of "Dinah" separately on an instrument. The kids had to put them in order and sing along.

Station #3: Cookie Dough-Re-Mi
Since my new magnetic staves are actually cookie sheets, I came up with the idea of making some notes that look like cookies. I made mine out of little wooden craft circles and printed sticker paper, but you could easily do this by just printing on paper and cutting them out. I stuck magnet tape on the back, made some do clefs, made some solfa sentence strips and they were good to go. (This was something we had already been practicing in class, so writing on the staff was already familiar.)


Station #4: iCan Play Do-Re-Mi
This was the most coveted spot in the room! My coworker has a set of iPads for her classroom and was kind enough to let me borrow a few of them! We used the app Tap and Sing (Storybots) to play some do-re-mi melodies. I just printed out some melody cards and put them on the table, gave them a picture of which robots to tap, and let them practice. This was a bit more practical than using xylophones (which was my back-up plan if the iPads didn't work out) simply because we could plug in headphones and they wouldn't interrupt each other. Plus, the kids are quite motivated by using the technology!



Station #5: The Match Game
In this station, they simply got to work in teams or against each other. They had to turn over one card labeled stem and one labeled staff. If they had the same melody, they kept the match.


As you can tell, again, photography is not my strong suit. I will never understand how all these teacher blogs have such nice pictures! I look like a chicken with my head cut off trying to help kids, keep an eye on equipment (especially borrowed iPads!), making sure Talk Blocks aren't being recorded over, games are played correctly so learning is happening.....pictures obviously are the last thing to happen! :) But these stations went smoothly and we'll continue them for this week and into some of next week due to a (much-needed) holiday this Friday and a state-testing day next week.

What do you do for melodic centers? Leave me a note in the comments!