2/4 Tuesday Linky Party! Four Neat Finds for the New School Year!

Welcome to the first ever Stay Tuned Linky Party! Steps on how to link your blog to our party are found at the end of my post. If you are here just to look at ideas, be sure to check out the linked blogs below! 

Here are my four ideas for the 2/4 Tuesday!

1. New Musicals!

I'm so pumped for the new school year! Here are two of my favourite new musicals from Hal Leonard. They are both great!

Have a peak at Arf On the Rooftop! HERE

Have a peak at Summer Camp HERE

2. Mozart Printables!

I am so excited that I found these! I am going to use them for my first composer bulletin board.

Thank-you Sara Bibee for creating this excellent resource!

Click HERE to download the super cute Mozart printables! 

3. String Instrument Video

I am pumped to share this with my grade 2 and 4 classes when we do our orchestra units! This video features sound examples of each of the string instruments. Check it out!

4. My Freshly Painted Desk!

Can you guess what my favourite colour is?! I painted my desk to brighten up my room a bit this year. I love it! Who knew you could paint over nasty laminate so easily?! Click HERE for an easy to follow tutorial from Centsational Girl.

Connecting with Students through Summer Stories!

My husband and I just returned from an amazing trip to Europe! We spent three weeks visiting friends, family and new places. I thought I would connect vacay to school stuff in this post!

For me, making meaningful connections with my students is the most important element as an effective and engaging educator. Listening to stories and sharing my own stories and experiences helps my students see me as a real person. These moments really build on the essential relationships with my students. 

I have made a vacation highlight list to share with my students as well as some photos from my trip! I have included musical and personal connections for each of the cities. I will expand on the musical information when I discuss with my students. 

PRAGUE

Personal:

Prague is on of my favourite cities! My favourite place is the Charles Bridge with all of the buskers, artists, vendors and the beautiful Vlatava River that flows through Prague's centre.

Musical:

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak lived in Prague for much of his life! 

BERLIN

Personal:

Berlin is a city rich with culture and history. We ate dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of Berlin TV Tower on our first night. I also had the amazing opportunity to watch the German Musical "Hinter dem Horizont", a profound love story set during the East/West Germany era. 

Musical: 

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach spent 30 years in Berlin! He worked as a member of the Royal Orchestra at the time and also composed much music for orchestra and piano. 

DRESDEN

2 pics just because it's my fav!

 (Dresden Semper Operahouse)

Personal:

I lived close to Dresden for a year on a student exchange ten years ago. Dresden is officially my favourite city in the world! Not a lot of tourists, a beautiful old city and an unbelievable history. Love, love, love this city.

Musical:

Many composers spent time working here including Wagner, both Clara and Robert Schumann, Strauss, and Rachmaninoff. 

SAXONY SWITZERLAND

Personal:

Incredible landscape and history here, near Dresden. Breathtaking views. We spent time at the National Park, Rathen. Lovely!

Musical:

Wagner lived in Leipzig and Dresden, but also spent time in the Saxon Switzerland region, gaining inspiration from the beautiful area for his compositions.

PARIS

Personal:

We took in many sights in Paris. It was a jam packed two and a half days! Eiffel Tower, Le Louvre, La Seine, Champs-Elysee, L'Arc de Triomphe, Sacre-Coeur, Notre-Dame, and the Catacombs!

Musical:

I am sure there are many, but I thought it was pretty funny that I had the song "Champs Elysee" in my head from the moment we arrived until the day we left!

What stories do you plan to share with your students? How do you make personal connections with them?

I Can Sing By Myself Sticker Labels!

I love anything that makes students motivated and comfortable to sing by themselves. Being brave to sing alone needs to be celebrated!  

Children love stickers and also love when people are proud of them. I thought my students would really appreciate a sticker that celebrates their accomplishment and they could wear it for others to see! 

I created a simple template for sticker labels that I will be printing off for my kiddoes.

Yay for singing by yourselves!

Click HERE for these free labels!

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! 

Summer Music Festivals!

Have I mentioned that I love summer? I love summer. I love summer. 

I LOVE SUMMER!!!!! But seriously, I do. 

One of the best things about summer is being able to listen to live music outdoors! Here in Manitoba we have quite the list of outdoor music festivals, with my favourite by far being the 

WINNIPEG FOLK FESTIVAL. 

There are 8 stages of wonderful music to choose from!

I took the entire festival in once again this year, and also camped where it took place, at Bird's Hill Provincial Park. What a great five days of music, dancing, friends, food, and the outdoors. And all of that to enjoy in such a warm, friendly and positive environment. 

A beautiful structure that extends above the trees was created this year as a meeting place.

I can't wait to share stories back at school and hear which students had a chance to get out to the festival. These conversations always lead to great discussions about local/Canadian artists. I love to create listening activities for my students that incorporate musical gems that I have found at the festival.

 The Big Blue stage at night. A TRIBE CALLED RED was getting a fantastic dance party going!

Last day at the festival. 

We're checking out NIYAZ, KAKI KING and my favourite fest find, COLD SPECKS.

What do you do in the summer? Please share the Music events you enjoy in the summer time! I'm always looking for fun music things to do and see in the summer! I looooooove summer!