Easter Egg Activities

The second and third graders got to enjoy some different Easter egg activities earlier this month!

The second graders each got a plastic egg filled with some sort of material (felt, paper, paperclips, macaroni, etc.) and had to keep their mouths silent as they shook their eggs around the room. Their goal was to find the classmate whose egg contents matched theirs...using only their ears. This was a good challenge for the students' listening ears (and silent mouths)!

The third graders practiced identifying different time signatures with their eyes and ears this month. One of our visual/reading practice activities involved working with a partner to divide a bag of eggs into 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signature piles.

Treble Clef Literacy

The 4th and 5th graders started learning/reviewing their treble clef note names this week in preparation for our recorder unit. We started this process with a parody called "I Knew You Were Treble" by Jeanette Young.

We've also started practicing and creating our own acronyms to help remember the location of the letters. My personal favorite line acronym is "Evil Gummy Bears Destroy Florida."

We've also used a chant to go along with our hand signs (video to come later). "E G B D F - these are the lines of the treble clef. F A C E spells face in the space, uh-huh, face in the space, uh-huh, face in the space - yeah!"

Here are some online games for students to play to continue improving their note-reading skills:

Space notes

Line notes

Lines and spaces: this one from netrover.com, this one from musictheory.net, this one from Sound Feelings, musicracer.com (in the blue box, choose Note names; in the yellow box, choose Recorder), this one from Vic Firth, this one from classicsforkids.com, this one from teoria.com (to start, check Treble clef, lines and/or spaces (up to you - add ledger lines if you want a challenge), answer using note name, and uncheck the maximum time to answer; once you feel ready, start challenging yourself by changing the options!), notationtraining.com

Suggested apps:
Staff Wars ($0.99)
Note Squish ($0.99)
NoteBrainer (free)
Developing Musicianship Speed Reader ($0.99)
Music Tutor Free (free)

Treble Clef Note Names

The 4th and 5th graders have reviewed different ways to remember the lines and spaces of the treble clef. Here are some of the memory tricks we've used:

Evil Gummy Bears Destroy Florida

Even George Bush Drives Fast

Elvis Goes Belly Dancing Fridays

We've also used a chant to go along with our hand signs (video to come later). "E G B D F - these are the lines of the treble clef. F A C E spells face in the space, uh-huh, face in the space, uh-huh, face in the space - yeah!"

Playing recorders gives the students a great opportunity to practice reading the notes in context while playing an instrument. Here are some online games for students to play to continue improving their note-reading skills:

Space notes

Line notes

Lines and spaces: This one, this one, this one, and this one

Spelling words

Kindergarten: Johnny Works with One Hammer

Lately, the kindergarteners have continued their steady beat practice. We've worked it into a song that uses our whole bodies, "Johnny Works with One Hammer." One of the kindergarten classes asked me to record them and post the video on the blog...so here they are! (By the way, they choreographed the 7th hammer (er, screwdriver?) move themselves.)

Rhythm Review...with Legos!

Today we worked on reviewing rhythms in 4/4 time with grades 3, 4, and 5. There are so many neat resources out there for SMART Boards, including these Lego rhythms! Each bump on top represents one beat, so it's a great tool for visual learners. We also verbally reviewed for auditory learning, and tapped each student-written rhythm out using rhythm sticks (while speaking the rhythms) for kinesthetic learning.

These were some of the rhythms students created:
(from top to bottom, 5C, 5NW, 4G, 4W, 3K, and 3B)

Ahoy, mateys!

Today was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we celebrated in K-2 by exploring our pirate voices and playing the pirate version of the singing game "Doggy, Doggy."

The new lyrics:
Pirate, pirate, where's your gold?
Someone stole it from your trove.
(Pirate:) Who stole my gold?
(Thief:) I stole your gold.

While we sang this in a seated circle, a student designated as the pirate stood outside the circle, facing away from us. As we sang, we passed around a small piece of "gold" on the steady beat. The last person to get it within one round was the "thief." Once the thief sang, the pirate got three guesses to figure out who the thief was. I was impressed at how well the students knew their classmates' voices!

Welcome!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Lannoye Music Blog!

The third week of school is almost done, and it's been a whirlwind so far! Lots of name games, pitch exploration, solfege review in the older grades, and fun... One name game that was particularly well-received had a "We Will Rock You" beat underneath it.

Another big hit in the music room has been Smoulder, our resident dragon musician. Smoulder has quite the background story: Due to a genetic disorder, he can't produce fire from his mouth...only a bit of ash...but as one of the third graders put it, he breathes music instead! Smoulder loves to sing and fly at the same time - when he flies up high, he sings high, and when he flies down low, he sings low. He's a great prop for our pitch exploration exercises! (I thought the younger students would like him more than the older students, but the 4th and 5th graders are quite enamored with him!) Go Dragons!