Rhythm Sharks

I did these in January with my grade ones. I got the idea of making the sharks from Look at my Happy Rainbow . To make them musical and to reinforce grade 1 rhythms, each student had to write a 4 beat rhythm using ta, ti-ti or rest inside their shark's mouth! After they were finished, we clapped each of the shark rhythms together as a class.

I woud like to do the rhythm sharks again next year, but I think I will use construction paper rather than having the kids colour paper plates. That might look better!

- Steph

So-mi Fish Assessment FREEBIE!

This was really fun for my little grade 1 students. We finished up our Under the Sea month by demonstrating so-mi. Each student got a so-mi fishbowl and some Goldfish crackers. Students were prepared as they had been practicing notating so and mi with THIS Smartboard activity and by using popsicle sticks together with bingo chips. 

I sang a 4 beat so-mi pattern and the students notated it using their Goldfish and fishbowl. Once I checked their work, they could eat their fish. This was a lot of fun, and a perfect end to our Under the Sea Unit.

Click HERE for the free so-mi fishbowl template. All you need now is some Goldfish! Voila!

- Steph

Techno Tuesday- Smartboard Dictation!

I love using my Smartboard to quickly assess my students' rhythm/melody dictation skills. Keeping with our "Under the Sea" theme in grade 1, I created a simple Smartboard activity where students notate so-mi on my 4 line staff (right before we get to 5 lines) after hearing me sing a short so-mi melody.

Click HERE for the free Smartboard file!

 

 

My grade 4 students were working on identifying "syn-co-pa" (this year I actually started saying "ti-ta-ti" instead) in November. We learned "Canoe Song" to help us achieve our goal. I created a Smartboard activity helping students demonstrate the rhythm of the words in "Canoe Song".

Click HERE for this one!

And last of all today... a super fun one that is just great for practicing ta and ti-ti in a fun way!

Kooshball Rhythms! Click HERE for the Smartboard file. Check out The Music Interactive for more free resources.

 

- Steph

PS- I'm so sorry my files weren't available! Everything is fixed now so click on the Smartboard files and you can open them!

Under the Sea- Move Like a Jellyfish!

I am doing an Under the Sea theme right now with my K-3 students and they are loving it! We are having so much fun with it. Here is a photo of my bulletin board this month!

This past week in grade 2 we read poems from Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae. We focused on the Jellyfish poem and did a few things with it.

• First I read the Jellyfish poem, then we all read it together. 
• Next we brainstormed words to describe how a jellyfish would move.
• We then chose instrument sounds that would match those words.
• Finally, we practiced moving like jellyfish: slow, smooth, floating, curvy, jiggly.
• Some children created an underwater soundscape to portray the movement, while the rest moved like jellyfish.
• The following class we reviewed how a jellyfish would move and then painted that movement!

I found this great idea for jellyfish from Kristin over at For the Love of Art. Check out her blog for the instructions!

This was such a fun way to connect poetry, music and visual art!

What are your songs and ideas that would fit into an Under the Sea theme? Please share!!

- Steph