Easy Dry Erase Worksheets

Wow, Thanksgiving flew by.  I have had a fantastic week of family and relaxation.  In my county we have a week off for Thanksgiving and mine kicked off with a baby shower.  I hosted a shower for my SIL's first baby.  This is also my first niece!  I'm a little sad that the week is over now but I know that the lessons to come over the next few weeks will be a lot of fun and then more vacation!  

I have posted pictures of some of my sub plan resources before but I thought I'd share some pics of the kids in action.

Last year I found that it took forever for the kids to draw a staff before we could get down to business.  While I think it is important for them to have practice with drawing the staff, sometimes it takes too long and isn't a priority in the lesson.  So, this year, I copied the staff and put the copies inside of sheet protectors.  These are so easy for activities with the staff. (One side is the treble clef staff, the other 3 line staff)

Here's a couple of examples of how I use them:

We were working on singing/reading and notating SMD on the 3 lined staff.  While it wasn't the focus of the lesson, some also added the rhythmic notation.

My older kids worked on name that note in small groups.

Treble Clef Words

I can remember doing Treble Clef worksheets in middle school and enjoying them and my students still enjoy doing this same activity.  Throughout the first 9 weeks of school I had my 5th graders work on writing their own Treble Clef Words.  

Using notebook paper, I made a sample; I traced the lines of the notebook paper to create a staff and then drew a Treble Clef.  When I introduced this idea to my classes, I had them write the music alphabet at the top of their papers.  I found that this made it easier for them to come up with words because they could visually see the letters rather than have to think of them off the top of their heads.  I demonstrated the word "Add" on my paper and how to use a bar line to separate the words on the staff.

I was quite impressed with some of the words they created; defaced, beaded.  This was not something I spent a lot of time on.  The papers were kept in their music folders and when we had a few extra minutes, they could work on writing a few more words.  

This week was the end of the quarter, so I went through their folders and picked out some of the best work to share in the hallway.  I copied the treble clef staff onto some colored paper and then slipped them into sheet protectors.  (I cut the 3 whole punched part of the sleeve off.)  

The reason I displayed them this way was so that I could change out the words from time to time.  I wrote the name of the child at the top of the sleeve using a dry erase marker and then attached an index card to the bottom of each staff.  When flipped up, the index card reveals the answer.  

The Spaces Spell FACE!

In 4th grade Game Plan there is a suggestion to have students make a face so that they will remember that the spaces spell face.  So, for the past 3 years, I have had kids make faces to decorate our music room.  I love seeing what they create from year to year!

The sign was created by a 5th grade students older sibling.  I told her what I wanted and she made this beautiful sign!

I give this as a homework assignment.  These are the faces I have had returned so far.  I don't get 100% participation but most of the kids end up bringing theirs in.  I give each student a paper plate and they can create any face they want, using any medium they want.  They can cut their plate, add more paper to it, anything goes as long as its a face.

3rd Grade: Pease Porridge

The first quarter seems to be mostly review for my kids.  There are a few new things I introduce but more of it is content that we started last year and I find slightly more challenging activities.  This past rotation we reviewed downbeat, bar lines, and measures in 3rd grade.

After working to figure out where the strong beats were in the poem and adding the bar lines, we used body percussion to practice 4 different instrument parts.  For this lesson, I used a SMD melody so that we could review singing these patterns, finding them on the barred instruments and in some classes notating them on the staff (this was an extension that I did not have time for with all classes this rotation).

Melody:
Pease Porridge Hot  Rest  Pease Porridge Cold Rest Pease Porridge in the pot nine days old Rest
S        MM       S               S        MM        S              S        MM       S  S   M   S     M     D

Snap to show the strong beats.
Pat to show where the quarter rests are.
Clap the rhythm of the words.
Sign the SMD pattern in the melody.

Formation:  Seated Circle

I set the instruments we were using around my staff rug.  We used xylophones (SMD), lollipop drums (strong beat), triangles (rests) and rhythm sticks (rhythm).  We transferred the parts to each instrument and then played them altogether while singing the melody.  We rotated clockwise one instrument, reviewed the parts and performed it again.  This process was continued until everyone had a chance to experience playing each part.

First Grade Lesson: Up and Down

I don't feel that this lesson is earth shattering or innovative but it worked.  The kids were successful, it was a great review and it was a lot of fun.

1.  Hello Song (3 min.)
 - We do this at the beginning of every class with steady beat movements.  I will probably continue it through the first quarter before picking a new hello song, just to keep things fresh.

2.  Sing Me Your Name  (7 min.)
- I demonstrate how my voice can move up and down by singing a simple SM phrase "Sing Me Your Name".  What's very cute is how all of the kids kind of move their head up and down slightly with me. Then we practice the answer together "My Name is ______" and everyone fills in the blank.  After we practice I go around the room and each student gets to sing solo into the magic microphone.

3.  Moving Up and Down (3 min.)
-This week I had my flute with me, so I played scale patterns up and down and the students responded with movement.  I really liked how this worked.  While I have done this with my students before, I really liked how playing the patterns on the flute made them listen carefully.  When I play a barred instrument or the piano they can see my hands and respond to the direction I move my hands.  Some of the students aren't truly listening.  I will have to remember this in future years.

4.  Playing Up and Down (10 min.)
-In K we learned how to play upwards and downwards glissandi on the glockenspiel.  We reviewed mallet technique and what bar to start on to play up/down.  Then we moved to the floor, seated in 6 lines.  I would say up or down and the person at the glockenspiel would play 1 up/down glissandi.

5.  Hickory Dickory Dock (Idea from Game Plan) (3 min.)
-We have used this poem during the previous 2 lessons moving our voice up and down like the mouse in the poem.  We played up/down sounds on the words in the poem during this lesson.

6.  Mortimer (Mallet Madness) (12 min.)
-If you have not checked out Artie's Mallet Madness, you definitely should!  I love this little story (it reminds me of my brother when he was 2).  For the first reading the kids sang along with me and showed a thumbs up/down for the sounds I was making with my voice.  Afterwards we played up/down sounds on the glockenspiels to help tell the story.  You can find more details in Artie's book.

Lines and Spaces

I can't tell you how much my kids love this video!  I played it for them during the 3rd rotation and they remember it verbatim.  I'm sure you can imagine what they look like trying to do the dance moves.  :)

It has been a breeze to teach the lines and spaces this year thanks to this video.  The kids just get it!

Name that Note: Staff Review

I have been doing a bit of staff review during each lesson with 5th grade and this week I included a new variation on an old game.  We have played Name that Note as a class, around the world style, in centers, etc.  Today I didn't want to spend a lot of time playing the game because we had other things to move on to like "Play Me Maybe!" so, we played it game show style.

I gave each team an unpitched percussion instrument (conga shaker, jingle bell, large maraca).  I would toss a bean bag on the staff rug and students would buzz in to answer.  The first to buzz in answered.  If they got it correct, their team got the point.  If not, the 2nd team to ring in could steal it.  This was easy to play, fast and we only had to do 8 rounds at most before the game was done.  I think I spent 7 min. from introducing the game to concluding it.

The kids were actually disappointed when they didn't get a second chance to answer for their team.  I will definitely have to play this again when we have spare time and it may even be something I can leave for a sub during a planned absence.

Play Me Maybe!

I was looking for a fun way to continue reviewing the staff with my 4th/5th graders and I happened across a pin from Elementary Music 3T.  I tried it out today with my kids and they loved it!!!

I found that this was a great way to reinforce the name of the Treble/G clef with my students.  With my 4th graders we only focused on playing the verse because we are still learning the staff.  I don't introduce students to reading the staff this way until 4th grade.  In 3rd, I focus on solfege, skips, steps, pitch direction, etc., so today was my 4th graders first opportunity to read line notes in a piece of music.

For 5th grade, this ended up being a great review of the notes we have already learned on recorder.  We played the verse on xylos and the refrain on glocks.  I did make a change to fit the video I had of this song.  When I tried out the refrain before my classes arrived it didn't quite fit with the version I had.  So, I altered it to B-G-G, G-D-D.  That may not work with the recording you have but it fit with what I was working with.

My boys, who were skeptical at the on set of the lesson were jamming along by the end.  When we were lining up one of my 5th grade boys said "That was fun, still don't like the song, but it was a fun lesson!".

I think I will extend this lesson when we start recorders.  This would be fun to play along with!  I'll let you know how that goes.  :)

Solfege Ladder

I'm sure you have seen or may even have this solfege ladder in your classroom.  I bought mine a few years ago from West (here's the link: Solfege Ladder ).  When I received my ladder I wasn't happy with the fact that it didn't have the syllables written on each pitch in the scale.  I created my own little labels to place on each card (they aren't laminated, just printed on copy paper and mounted to colored paper).  I wanted to be able to easily take pitches on and off when I needed to, so I attached them using magnetic tape.

Now that I have lived with this visual for a few years, I love it!  It is so great to be able to take the pitch names on and off.  This seems to help students focus on the pitches in the song they are learning and visually see the steps and skips in the pattern.  I have noticed that they are better able to find steps/skips on the barred instruments than if I had all of the pitches labeled.

I also make sure to always hang the scale vertically.  I have seen it hung horizontally before, and while I guess this may be a great way to connect to the barred instruments, I feel it is easier to visualize up/down, high/low when the scale is placed vertically.