Collaboration Christmas!

For most of the month of December, the phys. ed teacher and I will be collaborating on a dance/movement unit with our students. Our schedules work out so that one of us has an older grade when the other has a younger grade. I’ll be bringing my classes to the gym to work with her classes on dance and movement projects set to Christmas music. Two of the classes will be working on line dances, and the other two will be working on black light movement pieces. We’ll have black lights set up, the windows to the gym will be completely blacked out, and the lights will be turned off. The students will dress all in black, they will wear white gloves or hold white ribbon. The white will be the only thing you see.

Because my Christmas concert is already chock full of pieces from all of the different music classes, there (unfortunately!!!) is no time for us to allow the students to perform all of their dance/movement numbers in the concert. We decided that one group – the most outstanding group -  will have the chance to perform at the concert, and all of them will have the chance to perform at the traditional Christmas sing-a-long assembly on the last day of school before Christmas. This way, everyone will be (hopefully) committed to doing the best job they can, and everyone will have a chance to perform at least once.

This is not only a wonderful chance for the students to work with a group that they are not used to working with, but it encourages participation, team building, and leadership for the older students. Teaching is such a lonely profession – it will also give myself and the phys. ed teacher a chance to be around another adult during the day. We’re so excited to work together on this!

Halloween Art Project

I taught my grade 2 classes the song, “The Thing that Isn’t There” from the grade 2 “Share the Music” text. It’s a fun, spooky song to sing and the kids just loved it! It also provokes discussion around the scary things that we can create in our imaginations – i.e. a monster under the bed, something hiding in the closet, behind the shower curtain, etc. Our minds – especially young minds – are extremely creative and we can scare ourselves silly with things that aren’t even there at all.

I thought of a fun art project that really goes along with the concept of thingsthat “aren’t there.” I gave each of the students a sheet of white paper (I wrote their names on them in pen first) and a white crayon. I had the students draw a picture of “the thing that isn’t there” from their imagination. You can only see their creation if you look really, really closely. At first glance, it looks like nothing is there.

On another day, I brought in water colour paints and set up paint stations around my music room. I handed back their seemingly “blank” creations, and we painted over top of the crayon. The water colour paint resists the wax, and pulls away from it. In other words, the colour sticks to the paper where the crayon is not, leaving a clear picture of what they drew. It’s like magic! The students thought it was the coolest thing they’d ever seen. And now they will never forget the song they learned!

success!

Today was a huge accomplishment for me! As music teacher, it falls under my jurisdiction to plan and execute the Remembrance Day Assembly for the school. That includes planning all of the music, readings, etc. Booking, the color party, booking a trumpet player for the Last Post, decorating, setting up, etc. It was a big job! We take this assembly very seriously – it’s a big deal! I had a lot of help from the staff – they were so wonderful.

Both of my choirs performed, and my grade 4 clas sang a song and accompanied themselves on Orff instruments. All of the kids were just so amazingly well-behaved and respectful!

I’m so glad it’s over, but I’m also so glad it went well! Yay! Milestone day!

Halloween Sound Effect “Tableaus” using Audacity & free sound samples

We had a Halloween activity day for the whole school. I was in charge of a “music” station. For 5-7 minutes each, groups of 4-6 students would visit me and I had to find something fun, engaging, and QUICK!

We are slightly technology-challenged (as in lack of equipment) at my school, so I’ve seen it as my duty to start introducing a few new things to the students. Here is what I used:

• My personal laptop
• A 27″ external monitor (also could be done with LCD projector, but ours was in use so I made do with the monitor)
• A set of laptop speakers
• “Audacity” – a free audio recording program (get it here)
• A collection of free “halloween” sound samples that I downloaded onto my computer  – i.e. wind, rain, footsteps, thunder, screams, ghost sounds, howls, etc) (get them here)

I had the students sitting on mats around the monitor. Since we only had 5 minutes to complete the activity, I had prepared cards in advance with each sound effect written on them. I had 3 different types of footsteps, so they went on one colour card, and were each numbered, “F1″, “F2″, and “F3″. Those went into one pile. Then, on another colour card, I numbered my scream sound effects, “S1″, “S2″, etc. I did this with each type of sound effect I had downloaded specifically for this project.

I had each student in the group pick one sound effect, and that was the one I would use in their “tableau” (I should also mention that I had opened each of the sound effects that could potentially be used in one window so that as each student chose their sound effect for their group, I just located it in the first window, and then copied and pasted into “their” window.

Some sound effects we had lasting for the entire tableau  (about 15 seconds) – i.e. wind, rain, etc.

Other sound effects were used more sparingly – i.e. a scream, thunder crashing. In these cases, I would ask the students where they would like that particular effect located – at the beginning, middle, or end.

We ended up with some pretty cool sound effect scenes! And it actually worked for 5 minutes. If I had more time with the students, I would have them manipulating the sound samples themselves, adding effects, moving them around, etc. Now that they all have been introduced to the program and have seen how it works, I may be able to do this in a lab setting later on.

Here is one example of a grade 6 group’s finished product. I think they did a great job!

my new baby…

It’s long overdue, but I’ve finally purchased a new guitar! I’ve played for years (not well, but I can hold my own!) – and I’ve begun taking guitar classes. I decided that it was time to retire my 8-year old Yamaha f-310 and upgrade. I now present to you my brand new Yamaha CPX700:

Legends and ghost stories

I’ve been having trouble keeping my grade 6 students engaged. The “junior high” mentality just kicks in earlier and earlier – they know they’re at the top of the totem pole here at the elementary school, and they think they’re too cool for what I have to offer sometimes. It’s ok though – they keep me on my toes! I like a challenge!

For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be researching our local history for ghost stories, legends, and the like. We listened to a song today called, “The Ghost Ship” and we discussed the elements that made this particular arrangement an effective retelling of the tale of this ghost ship. I am going to have the students work in small groups (2-3 students per group) to research a legend or ghost story that originates from around our area. Then, they are going to collaborate on writing the lyrics to a song based on that legend or ghost story. Once the lyrics are finished, then I will help them put a melody to it (if they don’t already have one in mind) and we’ll create simple accompaniments that will suit the style and feel of their piece. Hopefully, we’ll then record their compositions.

When I presented the idea to them, they immediately loved it. I think that my two grade 6 classes just really love to be hands-on and they like to be treated as responsible people who can handle a project such as this – they feel important, and that this is going to be something worthwhile.

That they are already taking ownership of this project makes me super excited – I think it will be all that much more meaningful to them

Maestro’s Obstacle Course by Cheryl Lavender

“Maestro’s Obstacle Course” is a game from the book, “Help! I’m a Substitute Music Teacher!” by Cheryl Lavender. (On a side note – definitely buy that book!!! I haven’t had to have a sub yet, but if I do, this book has excellent ideas to leave behind for a substitute teacher who is not experienced in music. Where I live, there are only 2 music substitutes available for our area, so they are very hard to get!!)

Here are the basics to the game:

1. Split the class in half: one half will be the “orchestra” and the other half will become human”obstacles” around the room.

2. One student will be the “Maestro” and lead the “orchestra” and one student will be blindfolded.

3. “Maestro” needs to lead the blindfolded student around the human obstacle course by cueing specific members of his “orchestra” to play. Each individual instrument will have a specific action assigned to it (i.e. claves = walk forward, cymbal = turn left, ect). This is all done with the instruments giving directions, and no talking.

That’s just a basic outline – obviously the book is much more detailed. It’s a lot of fun – the kids really love it, it’s easy to set up, it encourages listening and proper instrument technique, and it’s a great segue into teaching timbre!

Rhythm Bingo

My school is very small and doesn’t have much money, so I’ve been trying to come up with economical ways to re-create activities that I’ve done in the past during my practice teaching times – only without the resources that I had there. One of the best ways of reinforcing rhythm came from playing a rhythm-focused Bingo game that my co-operating teacher had at my last practicum in the spring. The kids love it, and they are all the while practicing reading, clapping, and writing rhythms.

This teacher owns Cheryl Lavender’s Version which is excellent – it comes in two parts, each with 2 levels in increasing difficulty.

I decided, however, that since I can’t buy it right now, that my students would get the chance to make their own. I did this in a series of deliberate steps:

1. I displayed 24 4-beat familliar rhythms on the board. I didn’t introduce anything new at this point – that will come later. I had the students clap through the rhythms on several occasions, just for practice.

2. I gave sheets of blank paper to the students, and had them write the word “BINGO” across the top of the page in large letters ( did this on a larger scale on the whiteboard as a demonstration as they did theirs on paper – I find they just get too confused if ever step isn’t shown exactly! ) Then, we made straight, vertical lines down the page, and then divided the page into 5 rows of blank squares, using the entire sheet of paper.

3. I allowed them to decorate the center square any way they liked – this was their, “Free” square.

4. Then, the students took the rhythms from the board and started to copy them down into the empty squares on their home-made Bingo cards. They had to make sure to write the rhythms properly (stems the right way, in the right order, etc). Also, they needed to randomize their placement of the rhythms so that no one person had all of the rhythms in the same order on their cards.

5. I walkd around the room and helped students, corrected their rhythm writing if needed.

6. When all of the cards were finished, we could play: I choose a rhythm and clap & speak it to them. Then, they clap & speak it back to me. Then, I have one person come and write the rhythm on the board, and they place a bingo chip on top of the rhythm. Before the game began, we would have decided what would constitute “Bingo” – a straight line, diagonal line, four corners, etc. A “full card” game is not possible with this because all of the students have all of the same rhythms, and they would therefore all win at the same time. The randomized location allows for lines, diagonal, corners, L-shape, etc to be played without having several simulatneous “bingo” winners.

*Also – as the students are familiarized with the game, I won’t speak the rhythm to them anymore, I will just clap it and they clap it back. I will also omit the writing on the board – I would hand out blank sheets of paper, and each student will write the rhythms down as a rhythm dictation exercise.

PROS of this method of Rhythm Bingo:

1. Students take ownership of their “Bingo Card” – they like the responsibility and it makes it more fun
2. Can switch bingo cards around
3. Students have lots of practice writing notes/rhythms while making the card, and are held accountable for writing them correctly and neatly

CONS of this method of Rhythm Bingo:

1. Longer process than just using a bought version
2. If a student misses the card-making day, they are behind and will probably miss the first game
3. Students won’t always write the rhythms properly, and need to correct over and over, and is therefore quite time-consuming
4. Some students finish very quickly and are bored

Field Trips and Halloween

Today was my first time being in charge of a field trip! I took my elementary choir (grade 4,5, and 6) to record a track on the Children’s Wish Foundation Christmas CD. It’s pretty exciting for them – all of the schools in this area will each record a track and then the CD will be sold. The funds raised from the CD sales will go towards granting the wish of a terminally or seriously ill child. Local radio stations will also play the CD during the month of December. It was exciting for me!

On another note – has anyone ever done anything really fun and music-related for Halloween? I’ve been asked to do a station in our school’s Halloween activity day later in the month. I’m super excited about it – I’m thinking about something will scary sound effects…composing “halloween”-y music…I’m not really sure. Any suggestions?

“easy as 1-2-3″

I’ve been having so much trouble with my grade 1, 2, and 3 students when they line up at the door to leave, so today I decided that it was time to review the procedure. While I was at it, I introduced a new technique to get their attention.

After they had entered the classroom and we sang their daily welcome song, I had them (in small groups) line up at the door. I made sure to remind them to keep both feet on the red tiles (my floor is mostly white tile, but it has a red-tiled border that leads right to the door – which is so great!), and face the back of the person in front of them. Eventually I had them all lined up and ready to go. Then, I asked them for three things:

#1. All eyes looking at me

#2. No talking

#3. Arms at your sides

Then, we walked out the door and lined up at my other door to enter again. We then entered the room, sat down, lined up, exited, and entered again – just for practice.

Eventually, I will only have to ask for the numbers, i.e. “give me number one….give me number 2…” when I want the particular response.

I definitely think that reviewing our entrance/exit procedures was a good idea. I forget that they can forget. Physically going through the motions was good for them – and I think it would definitely help them remember more than if I just verbally reminded them. If we have to do this once a month, so be it!

I think the 1-2-3 thing will work too, not only for lining up, but in the classroom, walking in the halls, concerts, you name it!

Today was a great day for my little ones – every single one of the grade 1, 2, and 3 classes were just a joy to teach! I love these days!