Swim Ring Sanity-Saver

It is almost summer, and you can feel it in the air. Not the outside air, since the weather is crazy (It snowed yesterday! No joke!) but the air in the school is thick with kids-gone-cray-cray. Between assemblies, field-trips, indoor field day, and graduations I’ll see less than half my classes this week. Those I do see will be out of their minds with anticipation for summer. Plus, we’ve had indoor recess every day for the past two weeks. What the heck do you do with kids this time of year?

Two words, my friends: swim rings.

Yup. You heard me. No, I’m not telling you to take a personal day and go to a beach. Stop buying that plane ticket to the Caribbean, because can use swim rings as drums. Let that sink in for a bit, folks.

I picked up these swim rings at the Dollar Tree. (Have I mentioned that I love that place? Oh wait, I wrote a whole post about it.) The same ones at Walmart were $3.88, so it’s a good deal. Tire swim rings = coolest thing ever to a 4^th grade boy. I have small yellow rings and big blue rings as well. We use one mallet (you could use two if you have enough) to play the ring, and one hand to steady the ring so it doesn’t go flying.

These rings are a great instrument for pretty much any drum activity, with an added bonus of being interesting and new. I like having three colors, because it makes drum circle pieces a cinch.

Since it’s the end of the year and I don’t have a lot of time to prefect a complicated drum ensemble piece, I decided to keep it simple and play poetry on our swim rings.

For primary kiddos, we read Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae. Get it from Amazon here. We read all the poems, students chose their favorite, and then we wrote out the rhythm. Most of them are simple enough that quarter/eighth notes work fine. Once we had the rhythm down, we went to swim rings and played the poem.

My 5^th graders are losing their minds. They are a tough group anyway, but with two days left they’ve gone bonkers. (The weather doesn’t help... Snow. In. May. What?!) 4^th and 3^rd graders aren’t much better in the sanity department. So to combat the insanity, we read Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee. Get it from Amazon here. Once we had the poem down, students created an ostinato to go with. Students then transferred to swim rings, and a few students on the smaller rings performed the ostinato. It was fun to experiment and see what they came up with. One class was obsessed with saying “BOOM!” when they got something right, so we made that our ostinato. Another class opted to do a three-part round, so we had the tires go first, followed by the blues, followed by the yellows.

These swim rings are definitely going into my tool box as an end-of-the-year lifesaver. 

Treble Clef Story Project

Ah, the treble clef. It is an absolutely essential skill to learn, but students tend to struggle with it simple because it takes so much repetition to learn. There’s only so many times you can run through flash cards before you start getting bored. (Let’s be clear here, I get bored faster than the kids do!) 

The good news is, there are lots of resources to make learning the treble clef fun. I used this project to wrap up a treble clef unit for 3^rd grade, though you could easily use it for another grade as well.

To learn the treble clef, we used a lot of technology. Staff Wars is a staple in my classroom when learning notes, and the students love it. Star Wars + blowing stuff up = great opportunity for learning! No, really. The kids love it! We also created our own silly mnemonic device sentences to help remember the notes. My favorite example this year from that activity was, “Evil Goblins Buy Dirty Food”.

Once individual note identification became comfortable, students had daily puzzle challenges using Treble Clef Words at classics for kids and eventually the more advanced Word Warrior games. These games had students spell out a word using notes on the treble clef staff. Word Warrior also lets you blow stuff up, which is a proven recipe for success.

For the project, students created a short story (5-10 sentences) that contained at least 5 treble clef words. For the final product, students wrote the words on the treble clef within their story. Students brainstormed a list of several words that only use the musical alphabet, A-G. We then organized them into small, medium, and long words. Students could self-differentiate based on how comfortable they were. 

We started with a frame of what the story would be, using the frame: (Character) is (Doing Something) (Somewhere). I gave them a starter list with super-heroes making breakfast or fighting evil in an airport or a farm, but students were free to use anything that was school appropriate.

Here is an example of a rough draft. The story frame is at the top.

Next, students looked at the musical alphabet words and chose 5 that would be easy to fit in their story. For instance, if your story frame was “Spongebob making breakfast under the sea,” it would make sense to use the word “egg.” Students wrote those words out on the treble clef staff, with each word getting its own staff. I had them write out quarter notes, but you could also use whole notes so you don’t have to worry about stems going up or down.

Treble clef word rough-draft

Students created a rough draft using plain words with normal letters. They put a box around each treble clef word, so they would know to write them out on the treble clef when they did the final copy.

Final draft for the same student

Students then created their final copy, and decorated it if they had time. (One thing I would do differently next time: only provide light colors. Some of my kids colored with dark colors and then got sad when their story was hard to read.) We then projected them on the board and solved several of the treble clef stories. Students had a blast solving the stories of other students!

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Check out that spider-man!

This story cracked me up!

"The reason he eats cabbage is to be green."

My kids really loved this project. I would like to do something similar with an older grade next year, but have them  perform their stories and play the notes on tone bars. It's a great project though, and I hope you find it useful for your students!

Carnival Of the Animals: Part 1

Ah, spring! The weather gets gorgeous, life gets very busy, and students get antsy. I like to do a lot of movement lessons to counteract the craziness. Carnival of the Animals is perfect for this, and is a great way to review musical opposites and steady beat. Here’s what I do for the first few movements with my kiddos.

Lion listening map

Lion/Introduction

Focus: Steady beat                                          Prop: Hands, then scarves

Questions: How does a lion move? How would a lion keep a steady beat? When is there a “roar” in the music? How do you know?

For the introduction, students do “jazz hands” to show the piano line (and you try not to giggle at 25 5-year-olds doing jazz hands), then move their hands up and down in smooth motions for the strings. We don’t focus on this part as much, but the kids love to do it when we perform the Lion once we have the movements down.

For Lion, we start by finding the roar in the music. We add in an “I’m so proud of my roar” pose after each roar, and then find the steady beat. I like to have the kids move to a half note pulse so they have a little time to make their movements interesting. We talk about how lions move, and practice moving our shoulders and arms to make our lion walk more interesting. Students also explore levels, while moving and during the roar. Once students have practiced the dance in their own space, we move in a circle. Before each roar, a leader (teacher or later a student) calls out if the roar will face out, in, or up. This looks so cool! Once students are comfortable, we add in scarves.

Hens and Roosters

Focus: Short and long sounds             Prop: Hands, then scarves

Questions: Are most of the sounds long or short? When do you hear long sounds? When do you hear short sounds?

This movement is pretty simple: students “peck” towards the floor with hand-beaks during the short sounds, and freeze during the long note of the clarinet solo. (They could also freeze during the longer violin notes, but since there’s short notes as well I let them choose. AKA they keep going fast.) Once students are familiar and comfortable with the music, we upgrade our beaks to scarves. If students show they can be safe and not run, they move around the room. Students who run or are unsafe have to peck food from the chicken coop, a carpet square off to the side. With my visual, a student leader moves the star to show when students are moving and when they are frozen.

Donkey

Focus: Higher and lower                                 Prop: Mini animals, scarves

Questions: Does the melody stay on one note for very long? If the melody gets higher, does it start high or low? If the melody gets lower, does it start high or low?

This movement is great for higher and lower. After an initial listen, students draw an imaginary ladder on the floor. Depending on the class or grade, I sometimes give them paper glockenspiels instead. Students then take a mini animal (mine are from oriental trading) and have them move up and down the ladder depending on if the sound gets higher or lower. A student leader moves the donkey within the visual. We then move on to scarves, moving in the air instead of on the floor.

Tortoises

Focus: Fast and Slow, AB                                 Prop: Tinsel Wands

Questions: Is this music fast or slow? How are Tortoises and the Can-can similar and how are they different? The composer created Tortoises to be a musical joke. Why is it funny?

Man, I love this piece! We listen to the Can-Can first, since it was written first. Then we listen to the A section and compare the two. The piece is AB form, so that can also be a focus. The movement for the A section is two small circles and one larger, slower circle. That movement repeats the entire section. For the B section, students slowly trace geometric shapes. (This is an easy cross-curricular opportunity with art and math!) If students are really on the ball, I’ll let them trace create their own organic shapes. We use tinsel wands, but scarves can work as well.

Scarf Folding

I always have students fold their scarves before they put them away. We use the song below, though you could easily use another listening example as you fold.

Lit Lesson: Blue Hat, Green Hat

It is very important for primary kiddos to have opportunities to experiment with instruments. We spend so much time teaching kids how to play instruments correctly… but what really intrigues them, of course, is how to do it dead wrong. I’ve found that you can constantly correct, or you can find ways for students to experiment with how it feels to play incorrectly so they know what not to do without constant reminders. They’ve already done it wrong, so there’s not a need to do it later. Blue Hat, Green Hat is a great way to do just that. (Get it from Amazon here.)

The premise of this book is very simple. Four friends are trying on clothes that are blue, green, yellow, and red. Three always do it correctly, but one always finds a way to mess it up. The colors change each page, so the “oops” is a different color each time.

After we read the book, the students are sorted into four groups: Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. We do a movement that corresponds to the clothing item (like moving your head for the hat). The three colors that are “correct” do the correct movement. The “oops” color gets to do a silly movement instead. Once they have the concept down, we move to instruments. The correct colors play their instruments the correct way, and the “oops” group gets to play their instrument incorrectly. I make sure to stress that you can be silly, but you can’t hurt the instrument or any humans. The example I use with the kids is blowing into a guiro instead of scraping it.

I love how versatile this book is. You can have all the kids have the same instrument or have each group play different instruments. Students could play each time or be sorted into color coded groups. I have also done this book as an exercise in how to hold mallets. I eventually split students into color groups, because it makes an easy transition to Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. I like to use a lesson I saw Thom Borden present with that book that involves color-coded groups composing using colored squares. This lays the groundwork for it, and is a great activity by itself.

I hope your students have fun making experimenting with “oops”! 

Classroom Management: General Tips

I am mentoring several new music teachers in my district this year. The biggest concern of every single one? Classroom management. I was right there with them my first year; if you are a veteran teacher who had amazing classroom management right off the bat, then please let me know who you are… so I can grovel at your marvelous feet.

Management is nearly impossible to master as a student; you can learn Fred Jones until you are blue in the face and yes reading can help, but it just can’t be mastered until you have experience. A lot of it. But what do you do until then? What do you do when 19 2^nd graders are doing their absolute best, but 6 have checked out due to the one who is hiding behind your instrument storage, singing “Twinkle Twinkle” as loud as they can because “half notes are evil and I won’t learn about the devil in school”? (Yes, that really happened.)

This was me, the next morning.

We have all been there. While it’s hard to have ironclad “you must do these things” in management because every teaching style differs, here are some general tips that I’ve found helpful in establishing my classroom.

1.) Don’t take it personally.

If you’re brand new or even new to a school, it can take time for students to trust you. This is especially true for your at-risk students. At first, students are learning much more about you and what your limits are than your actual subject. They will push, and sometimes they will say terrible things that they don’t mean. It doesn’t mean the kid is bad. It doesn’t mean you are bad. Most likely, you’re both just adjusting. Clear rules help this adjustment. That way, when that 4^th grader is using a mallet to annoy their buddy, you can calmly point out that they made the choice to break rule whatever, and can now sit out. Then, it isn’t personal for them either; it’s simple cause and effect.

2.) Stay calm.

For some students, getting a rise out of the teacher = VICTORY. Use extreme volumes only in extreme situations. This can also apply to getting flustered. If I make a mistake? Hurray, I am officially human and not an alien. I always acknowledge the mistake quickly and move on. Do I still get flustered? You bet. I just don’t make a huge deal out of it. The goal here isn’t for it to never ever happen, the goal is for it to not be a part of the culture of your classroom.

3.) Find the positive.

This should be easy, because if you weren’t freaking awesome you wouldn’t be teaching. But the truth is, our culture is currently quite focused on rooting out the “bad apples” and education can be very overwhelming. It is easy for teaching to become an oppressively negative experience. I absolutely, completely guarantee: EVERY SINGLE LESSON you teach every single day has at least 3 things about it that were good. Maybe they were small, but they were there. Find a few of them. Sure, you need it so you don’t go insane, but it is also helpful to know what is working so you can build on your strengths. If you can’t find them, call in reinforcements from a colleague or video-tape yourself teaching your best management class.

4.) Self-evaluate

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”

-Haim G. Ginott

Here comes the tough love, folks: if you are having classroom management issues, your kids are only half the problem. Hear me on this though: That does not, ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT mean you are a bad teacher. Do you expect kids to get a concept perfectly 5 minutes into a lesson? Probably not. Don’t expect the same thing of yourself, because you will make mistakes and that is OK. However, for most lessons you will have to take an objective look at the things you do and figure out what isn’t working so you can improve. Often, it is a behavior that leads to the escalation of a negative situation. What were you doing before a normal situation got bad? If you aren’t sure, bring in a video camera to your toughest class and tape yourself. That can also help you spot escalating voice inflections, like sarcasm.

5.) Be the positive

Kids are incredibly sensitive about the “s” word: stupid. I have kids who aren’t great at one subject, and become absolutely convinced they are stupid and terrible at school (despite being geniuses in other subjects.) Humans tend to focus on the negative, and one of the best parts of teaching music is our ability to find that one thing kids are great at and highlight it until you can see that sucker from space. We can’t do that until we establish our classroom as a place of mutual respect. Using positive language like “please walk” instead of “Oh God DON’T RUN ARGH” (I’ve totally caught myself saying that exact sentence before) helps you establish a safe space where kids can fail but continue on to succeed. I also use positive reinforcement whenever possible. Word to the wise: stickers are magic, and Dollar Tree has foam music-themed ones.

6.) Balance novelty with procedure, and insanity with structure.

I know I’m getting through to a kid when they laugh and tell me I’m crazy. Because guess what? Kids pay attention to the crazy lady. (Or crazy dude. This tactic works well for anybody willing to be nuts.) They want to see what I’ll do next, so they give me the benefit of the doubt. One of my best engagement strategies is being an unpredictable crazy lady. My students no longer blink twice when I show up in a wig and frock coat to be their substitute Herr Mozart, and even my jaded 5^th graders put up with my antics because they know something good is coming. They also know exactly what my rules are, exactly where my limits are, and exactly what the consequences are for each action, both good and bad.

7.) Be consistent

Yes, I know that one first grader is stinking cute. But if they break a rule, they need to have consequences. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t differentiate; several of my kids have deals with me for specific behaviors I am looking for, or a hand-sign for when they need a chance to cool-off. As a whole, though, be clear about your expectations and stick to your guns. If playing out of turn on drums, recorders, or tone bars means two minutes of silence in your class, then you need stick to the that consequence. Only set consequences you are willing to follow through with. Do this with positive actions as well. For keeping track, I have individual systems as well as a class-wide system using Class Dojo.

8.) Get them moving

Music teachers have an advantage with this, because so much of what we teach is naturally kinesthetic. But even if you are doing a lesson focusing on theory, find a way to get kids up and moving. If that means they jump while reciting a definition, cool. Braindance at the beginning of the lesson? Word. But you don’t want kindies to sit criss-cross-applesauce for 40 minutes if you want to keep your sanity. (Let’s be real, it’s probably hanging by a thread anyway.) If you have longer classes, consider taking quick one-minute brain breaks. I also let students earn dance breaks if they finish what they need to get done in a lesson. Go Noodle is a great resource for this.

I hope these tips will help you. I plan on going into more detail with certain things, like procedures, soon. Have a great day!

Lit Lesson: The Jigaree

I completely lucked out with this book! I found it in a “free” pile from the library and it is PERFECT for blending rhythm reading and locomotor movements. I use it with quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests.

The book is a “read-together book” from the 80’s and is very simple. The format of the book is,

I can see a jigaree. 
It is (locomotor motion)ing after me.

(LM motion)ing here, (LM motion)ing there, 
jigarees (locomotor motion) everywhere.

The book can be found here. It is out of print, but there are used copies available. If that isn’t your cup of tea, you could easily use the chant with a different animal.

First, we read the book. Then we go through the locomotor motions listed in the book. Next, we add our own locomotor motions. I have a movement wall that they can use as a starting point.

Once we have the movement portion of the game down, instruments are added in. I have a big set of rhythm cards that each have four beats of rhythm. We take one, students have a short amount of time to figure the rhythm out, and then we play the rhythm on instruments. For this activity I use tubanos or frame drums, but we do similar activities on many kinds of instruments and body percussion. Kids are used to rhythm-reading before we add in the book and movement. Through one activity or another, students have read each rhythm card before.

Once we are ready to put everything together, I split up the class. I usually have 5-7 on instruments, one conductor, and everyone else moving. Most of the instrument group are on tubanos, but one will be on finger cymbals.

During the chant portion of the book, the student conductor shows a rhythm card to the kids on drums. Students on tubanos have time during the chant to practice the rhythm. After the chant, the students on tubanos play the rhythm they have been assigned until one student, on the finger cymbals, signals them to stop. The movers also have to stop when they hear the finger cymbals.

After a round, the conductor and one of the tubano students switch groups and are replaced by new students. This is a great opportunity for small group assessment, both for movement and rhythm reading.

What's in a Book?

I recently attended my state's music education conference, which was fantastic. I noticed a lot of good clinics on children's books, and was talking about with some teachers from my district. I happen to love it and use books as often as possible, but I know some teachers are wary of using books in the music room. One concern I heard about books was how to choose them, and what you should look for. I definitely struggled with this at first, but thanks to several hours in thrift stores and the library I know what I want in a book. Here's my list:

1.) Type of activity

There are as many types of books in the music room as there are activities. Books to accompany major works or composers, books that lead the kids to instruments, books that lead to singing or speaking, and books that lead to movement are some of the major categories I keep in mind as I thumb through stacks at the thrift store or library.

2.)  Reading Level

Think about it: Even with fourth or fifth graders, every word in the book will need to be read out loud, or summarized quickly. So keep it simple. I keep my books at a primary reading level; the older kids won’t mind as long as the lesson is engaging. If they are taking some convincing, have them create a recording for the kindergarteners so the intended audience is younger.

3.) Repeated Structures and Refrains

Simple structures and refrains allow students multiple opportunities to move or make sound, and allow them to know what’s coming next without constant reminders. Rhyming can also help, though it isn't always necessary.

4.) Onomatopoeia

Sound effects are very easy to transfer to instruments. This is especially effective for K-1. I like to have students explore the sound effects and then choose which instrument fits, which increases rigor. (Plus, the students think it is very fun!)

5.) Vocal Exploration Opportunities

You pretty much can’t go wrong with a roller coaster. Animal sounds are also good opportunities to explore.

6.) Connection to common or folk songs

If you find a book about a lost cat, it is simple to connect it to “Ding Dong Digga Digga Dong”.  A star book can be connected to “Twinkle Twinkle,” and the list goes on and on.

7.) Lots of verbs

This can lead to movement activities, or can lead to making noises that represent each movement on instruments or with sound effects.

8.) Abstract books without words, or books that focus on a line or simple shape

                The possibilities are endless! 

9.) Common Themes

There are some themes that do a good job of lending themselves to onomatopoeia and folk songs. They include (but are certainly not limited to):

·         Farm Animals

·         Stars and Moon

·         Trucks, Cars, and Trains

·         Cats and Dogs

·         Rain

·         Sleep, Lullaby

·         Halloween

·         Opposites

·         Eric Carle

Complete Lit Lessons

                Here are books I have posted about, complete with lesson ideas. 

·        Ghost Story, by Bill Martin Jr. (lesson here)
·        Listen to the Rain, by Bill Martin (Lesson here)
·        Blue Hat, Green Hat, by Sandra Boynton (Lesson Here)
·        The Jigaree (Lesson here)

·         Going on a Lion Hunt, David Axtel (lesson here)

·         Wide Mouthed Frog, Keith Faulkner (lesson here)

·         Tikki Tikki Tembo, Arlene Mosel (lesson here)

Starter List

                Here are some additional books I've had success with in my classroom:

·        Muncha Muncha Muncha, Candace Fleming (Instruments, gardening songs)

·         From Head to Toe, Eric Carle (movement)

·         Blue Hat, Green Hat, Sandra Boynton (instruments, pattern, quarter/eighth notes)

·         Mortimer, Robert Munsch (Instruments, up/down patterns, np perc., words for song in book)

·         How to Speak Moo, Deborah Fajerman (Vocal Exploration and head voice)

·         The Squiggle, Carole Lexa Schaefer (Movement)

·         Tanka Tanka Skunk, Steve Webb (Drumming, Quarter/eighth notes)

·         The Jigaree, Joy Cowley (Movement)

·         The Wide Mouthed Frog, Keith Faulkner, Jonathan Lamber (instruments)

·         Grump Groan Growl, Chris Raschka (Sound effects, instruments)

·         Bear Snores On and Bear Feels Scared, Karma Wilson (Instruments, sound effects, dynamics)

·         Fortunately, Unfortunately, Michael Foreman (Vocal exploration, instruments

·         Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?/Brown Bear, What do you See? Eric Carle (Singing)

·         Down By the Station, Will Hillenbrand (Folk Song, Singing)

·         Hush! Minfong Ho (Singing, lullaby, instruments)

·         Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak (instruments, dynamics, singing)

·         A Frog in the Bog, Karma Wilson (Instruments, dynamics)

·         Rain Drop Splash, Alvin Tresselt (Instuments, Movements, dynamics)

·         Cat Skidoo, Bethany Roberts (instruments, movement)