Sweet Dollar Store Finds!

I was so inspired the other day by my good friend Renee over at 

The Reading Corner. She found some really great dollar store finds! 

So good, that I decide to take a little trip to Dollarama myself!

Here's what I found!

1. Mini Hockey Nets.  

 My brother was obsessed with mini sticks growing up! I have many students who are also hockey lovers. Wouldn't it be fun to make a hockey target shot game out of these and have rhythms hanging as targets? Oooooo the possibilities!

2. Cd Cases

I thought I would adapt my Note Name Battleship game to fit into a CD case! Neato! I was looking for folders for that purpose and found these instead! 

3 for $1! Woot woot! I'll try it out and let you guys know what happens :)

3. Stylus Pen

 I totally copied Renee on this one! I bought a stylus for my new iPad too! Two bucks baby!

4. Ice Cube Trays!

I am most excited about these! Yay! At first glance they just look like ice cube trays, big whoop. But just wait! They can magically turn into tools for students to manipulate rhythm patterns in 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4! I love spying on classroom teacher blogs! I get great ideas from those gems... I've seen word and math work being done with ice cube trays, and thought... "Hmmm, I must have a use for these..."

5. Cute Pencil Case

 Unfortunately, I didn't find a cute iPad case but I did find this super adorable pencil case. I will keep my favourite pens, pencils and markers safe in here!

And ta-da! There ya go, five cool finds from a Dollarama. Love it!

What treasures have you found?

Please comment below and share a fave find that you have bought from a dollar store! 

Busted! An awesomely fun DIY music game!

I love games and so do my kiddos!
During the month of June, I included this fun game in our primary centre rotation.

BUSTED!

What you need:

A container of some sort. I used empty Lysol wipe containers.

Coloured tongue dipressers. I got mine from Michaels.

A thin permanent marker that you will write rhythms with. Don't forget to include some BUSTED sticks! I did 1/5 eighth notes, 1/5 quarter notes, 1/5 quarter rests, 1/5 half notes, and 1/5 Busted!.

I made a nifty label! For the upper elementary ones that I will do next year, I think I'll make a vertical label...

Put all of the sticks inside the container, with the rhythm side of each stick at the bottom.

And voila! Your game is ready to be played!

Click HERE for the game instructions and HERE the FREE printable label!

Music Note Name Jenga!

I have my grade 4 to 6 students do small group or independant work on days that I want to work with a small recorder group. Music Note Name Jenga has been our best hit yet! Even better than the amazing Staff Wars and Note Name Battleship! 

I have seen various ways to transform Jenga into a music game. I came across a great version over at COLOR IN MY PIANO. Joy uses many music symbols in her game. I wanted my students to focus solely on note names so I created a game that had treble clef notes only.

HOW TO PLAY

Students stack the blocks as you do in regular Jenga. Students take turns pulling blocks. Each time they pull, they must show their block to the group and name the note. If they get it wrong, that students must pull again. I made a rule that a player only needs to pull a maximum of two blocks, even if they make more than one mistake. The student who is responsible for the blocks toppling over loses. 

They LOVE it!

HOW TO MAKE IT

First of all I bought a cheaper version of Jenga (on sale at Target) for $5.00. I bought two. I then simply drew a treble clef note on each block... well it wasn't that simple. 

I thought I'd be honest and share photos of my marker testing process on the little wooden blocks. It's pretty funny actually.

Attempt #1:

 I used a regular tipped Sharpie for this one. Ew. Gross. I also spent 2 hours trying to make lines on these blocks perfect. I used Post-its to try and make straight lines. FAIL.

I didn't give up though! Attempt #2:

 WAY WORSE!!! Hahahah. This really made me laugh. I used a Uniball rollerball pen for this one. Finer lines, but it bled WAY more. And yes you're right, I didn't use the Post-it strategy. This should actually be on one of those Pinterest FAIL sites. 

I wanted to give up! But I believed in the activity and in the great game of Jenga.

Attempt #3:

Meh, it's not perfect, but it works for me! I used a fine point black Sharpie for my entire second game of blocks. No Post-its, the marker followed the wood grain quite easily to make a straight enough line.

Yay Jenga!

What games do you transform for the Music room?

Please share!

- Steph

Music Symbol Memory Game- FREEBIE!

Hello y'all! I created this Music Symbol Memory Game to add to my grade 4-6 centres. 

Click HERE to get the free PDF file! 

I am going to print it off, cut the cards out, glue front to back and get 'em laminated! 

Ta da!

- Steph

Technology Tuesday- Melody Street and Young Music Genius!

I am currently working on orchestral instrument families with my grade 2 students. I have been trying out some different tech resources to help us learn about this. Check out my post Orchestra Activities for the Smartboard to find on-line resources that I have tried out earlier this month.

Thanks to Brittany over at Making Music Memories who commented about how wonderful Melody Street is! Thanks for introducing me to Melody Street Brittany! It was actually one of those many things that I had pinned and then forgot to look at. Oops!

Melody Street is FANTASTIC! It is great interactive story for iPads but also works on your Smartboard or just anything that will project a video from your computer. We started by using Melody Street on our Smartboard. We listened to the story of "The House on Melody Street", starting with chapter one. Watch it on Youtube: 

The House on Melody Street

After watching each chapter and learning more about the instruments, we played the instrument guessing games found HERE on the Melody Street website. There are many different games, but we played the "Memory Card Game" and "What's That Instrument?" on the Smartboard as a whole class and it worked well.

During the next Music class the students tried "Young Music Genius", a great iPad app and it's free! In pairs, my grade 2 students used the iPads and played an instrument sound matching game on the Young Music Genuis app. There is also a memory card game that's fun to play. They loved both games! 

Young Music Genius

I love sharing ideas! Please let me know what you think of these resources! I would love to her what you do with your students as well!

- Steph

DIY Solfege Fishing Game!

Here's my first official Make it Monday!

January is Under the Sea Month in Music! Grade 3 students will be working on all of their solfege signs this week, so to tie into our theme I made a solfege fishing game!

First, I found free fish clipart... that I love! This awesome clipart is here on Clker.com. After downloading the picture, I copied it onto 7 different slides in Powerpoint. On each fish I typed a solfege syllable. After I printed my fish off, I cut them out, glued them onto cardstock, and added a paper clip .

To make the fishing rod I simply used an old marker, twine, a magnet, and hot glue. 

I put my fish in a bucket and voila!

My fishing game is ready to go!

To play the game, I will either play a recording of "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music" or "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid". The rod will get passed around as the music plays. When I stop the music, the person with the rod must catch a solfeg fish! When the student gets a fish they must read the solfeg syllable and show the appropriate hand sign.

We tried it! The students and I found it difficult to catch fish from a bin, so instead we scattered them on the floor. I also felt that students needed practice with the hand signs so when a fish was caught the whole class showed the hand sign instead of just the fisher.

They loved it!

- Steph

Tips and Tricks for Engaging Rehearsals #3

Here is the last of the Tips and Tricks for Engaging Rehearsals! I will start posting photos of my concert costumes, props and backdrops this coming week! Yay!

FUN GAMES TO MIX IT UP A BIT!

Sometimes I notice that my kids are getting restless during a rehearsal. I take 5 minutes to play a quick game that will get their jitters out!

Four Corners

Most of you probably already know how to play a version of this, but here is the version I play with my kids that I got from the teacher I was student teaching with 5 years ago! 

1. Create 4 cards that each represent a different song you are working on.  

2. Post the cards in different corners of your room. 

3. Choose a caller to stand a t the front of the room. The rest of the students start in the middle of the room and the caller turns away closing their eyes. 

4. The caller then says, "Choose your corner. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1". The rest of the students go to a corner while the caller is not looking. 

5. Before turning around, the caller sings part of one of the songs (or plays a recording of it). 

6. Whoever was standing at the corner of that particular song is out and must sit in the middle of the room.

7.  The game continues until there is a winner or until the caller sings a song that no one is standing at. In that case everyone in the middle is back in and the game restarts.

Drum Talk

This is a quick game I like to play in the middle of a rehearsal to give the kids a movement break.

1. Have students spread out in the room and face you.

2. Take a hand drum and choose 2 different simple 4-beat rhythms.

3. Each rhythm represents a different stance. For example "ta ta ti-ti ta" could mean hands by your sides, while "ta ta ta" means arms in a T position.

4. Play the two rhythms on the drum while the class does the stances that go along with the rhythms. the last student to change their position or if someone does the wrong stance they are out. The last person standing wins!

Shadow Dance

This is a super quick and easy way to add a movement break! This is a simplified version of an activity I saw Jeff Kriske & Randy Delelles present at a conference in October.

1. Take a triangle and have students line up behind you.

2. Play a background track that you are working on (or another piece of music if you are not using background tracks).

3. Have students follow behind you (like your shadow) in a line and do what ever you do! Do any kind of dance move as you travel around the room (hand in the air, turn, anything!).

4. Once you play the triangle sound, the leader moves to the back of the line and a new leader takes charge!

Freeze Dance

Easiest game EVER! Kids love it and it is the simplest thing.

1. Put some music on and have students dance!

2. When the music stops they must freeze, or they are out!

3. Once students are out, they sit to the side and may dance with their upper body.

4. Last one standing wins!

- Steph

12 Bar Blues Activity

My grade 6 students have been working on the tune "Duke's Place", an arrangement of Duke Ellington's C-jam blues. This arrangement by Doug Goodkin is found in his book, "Now is the Time", published by Pentatonic Press. While learning the Goodkin written words, barred instrument parts and working on improvising, we have been identifying and talking about the 12 bar blues. 

In preparation for their assessment at the end of the week, we had a sorting contest today! I created cards that had I, IV or V on them and put them in packages of 13 cards (one extra to make it more tricky!) paper clipping them together.

After reviewing 12 bar blues with students for the millionth time (...well it felt like it...) I put them in pairs and gave them a package of chord symbols. They were to leave their pack face down with the paper clip on. When I said, "Go!" the pairs needed to organize their cards as fast as they could in order to create the 12 bar blues pattern. When they were finished they were to raise their hands and after looking at my stopwatch, I would shout out their time. We did a second round- how many groups can do it in under 20 seconds? After a couple of tries everyone was able to do that and we tried 15 seconds, 10 seconds, etc. The best of course was when I told them that the other class' time was better and that they needed to try and beat them!

I also explain to my students that there are different variations of the blues pattern such as I-I-I-I for the first four bars instead of I-IV-I-I like in Duke's Place.

Our next step is bingo chips with letter names on them. Students will not only organize their 12 bar blues pattern, they will place the letter name bingo chips on each card to indicate bass notes in different keys. Should be fun!

Click HERE  for a FREEBIE printout of the chord symbol cards and matching study sheet!

How do you teach the blues? What activities and resources do you use?

- Steph

Rhythm Robots!

I am currently getting music centres organized and I am having so much fun! I came across a great idea from Sing A New Song. She uses lego blocks with her students in order to build rhythms. I was in Dollarama yesterday and came across these! A pack for only $3.00, so I bought two. 

I bought mini labels and cut them to fit the blocks.

I was going to keep these rounded off pieces out of our centres, but then I thought they looked like feet! I thought, "We could make robots!"

Students will have three different activities to do at the Robot Rhythms centre. While in pairs, one partner builds a robot with the blocks. When finished, their partner must clap and say the rhythms from head to toe and then toe to head. Partners then switch jobs.

The second activity is similar, except the student rolls a die before building their robot. The number they roll, will show the amount of beats their robot must contain.  

I still really like the idea of how Sing a New Song has the students build their rhythms similar to the photo below, because they will read it from left to right, as they would in standard notation. I am including blocks in the centre package that will be able to be used in this way. The left to right rhythm building will be the third activity and again the die will be used.

I also found our robots a friend at Dollarama! You gotta love Christmas stuff out at the same time as Halloween! I also love that this guy is so ugly that he's cool!

Have a great week and comment about your favourite music centre activity that students in your classroom do!

-Steph

Trick or Treat Rhythm Game!

I have been playing a Trick or Treat rhythm game with my grade 1 and 2 students this week! We sing a song about trick or treating that I am actually not sure who wrote. The words are:

Up, down, up and down the streets.

That's where I go for my trick and treats.

Scaring all the ghosts... oooooooooh!

Scaring all the cats... meow!

Scaring all the witches in their big black cats!

If you know this song and you know where it is from, please share! I have also played this game with grade 3 students and we sing Boogie Woogie Goblin by Alice Oleson (a great song for reinforcing 

ti-ka-ti-ka).

Any Halloween song works for this game, especially songs about Trick or Treating. Students sit in a circle around a bucket or cauldron. Inside the cauldron are candy cutouts with a rhythm on the back of the picture. I give one student a wooden spoon to begin. While everyone is singing the song, the person with the spoon, walks around the circle GENTLY tapping everyone's back to the beat of the song. When the song stops, the student with the spoon on their back must take a candy from the cauldron and clap the rhythm. That student then holds up the rhythm for the whole class to clap together. The student who chose the candy now has a turn to walk around the circle keeping the beat of the song with their spoon. 

I had lame construction paper silouettes for my candy this year! Booooo to me (not the scary boo, but the "I suck" boo)! So because this activity is still on my mind and I don't want cheepo looking candy next year, I decided to create better candy cutouts right now! Click here for pdf of my new and improved candy cutouts. CANDY CUTOUTS I will print my candy on card stock and write 4 beat rhythm patterns on the back of the candy before I send them away for laminating. They will be all 

ready for next year!

What did you do for Halloween or Fall activities?

- Steph

Glow Stick Movement!

Sometimes I finish a lesson early and have about 2-5 minutes left at the end of class. For K-3, I sometimes fill that time by playing one of their favourite songs and playing the Freeze Dance game! I play the music and they dance, then I stop it and they freeze or they are out. Simple hey? I know. Now, I am finding kids who are even in grade 5 and 6 just want free time to dance. I know, it sounds crazy! I have been playing Freeze Dance with my older kids now too and they love that time to try out new moves of their own. 

On a completely different topic, I have my own weird obsession with GLOW STICKS! I love wearing them and moving with them. This year I decided it would be fun to combine glow sticks and Freeze Dance for the ultimate experience! And no better time to do so than Halloween!

Glow sticks are on sale at Michaels right now! A pack or 12 is only $2.00! And because the glow sticks last long, I can use them with different classes for a whole morning. 

I have played glow in the dark Freeze Dance with my kids while we listen to Thriller and Monster Mash and they love it! What a fun Halloween game!

- Steph