Mrs. Q's Resources: First Grade Rhythm Pack

I have another resource up in my store; a first grade rhythm pack.  There are 20 cards in the pack containing patterns with quarter notes/rests and beamed eighth notes.  The pack is regularly priced at $4.00 but if you click the link below, you can purchase it for $1.00 off!  There are a limited number of coupons, so don't wait too long.  More rhythm packs coming soon.

http://gum.co/zkZi/25fgrp

Back to School: Popsicle Sticks

I was at the Dollar Tree this evening doing a bit of my Back to School shopping and I happened across these:

What a great deal!  100 Popsicle sticks for $1.00.  I think my box was $7 or $8 when I bought it at one of the craft stores.  There are about 16 of each color which is great for Popsicle Stick Rhythms.  You only need 12 sticks per students, so I would purchase 3 or 4 packages.  Four may be a bit much but you would always have spares just in case.

Here is the post I wrote in January about Popsicle Stick Rhythms.  

I'm thinking the variety of colors would lend themselves well for small group work.  I'll have to think about that and how I could use a variety of colors for other rhythmic activities this year.

Exit Tickets

Exit Tickets are quick assessments you can do as kids are wrapping up an activity.  I have seen several different versions of these, some using Post-it Notes.  Although I know there is value in written assessment and I do use it on occasion, having kids write quickly, in my experience, never works out.  I would rather do something aural/oral on the way out.  I've used my rhythm cards several times throughout the year as exit tickets.  Here are a couple:


1.  To assess understanding of the whole rest/whole note in 3rd grade.  Each student performed an 8 beat rhythm pattern containing one or the other before lining up to leave.  Sounds like it would take forever but we completed this within a couple of minutes.  Way better than searching for pencils and clipboards and getting a post it note.  Ugh!  I hate tedious time spent on passing out materials.

2.  In 1st grade I assessed note names using rhythm cards.  After labeling quarter/eighth notes, I would point to a note randomly on the rhythm cards and ask students to name it.  I could see whether they knew the name instantly or at least knew where to find the answer in my room.

These are just 2 ways I've used rhythm cards for exit tickets.  Do you have any other ideas?

Clap it, Play it, Think it!

This time of year is full of reflection.  I often catch myself thinking (mid-lesson mind you) "I need to do this again next year, it's really worked" or "I should have done this before moving on to this lesson".  While I don't want to rush past summer in any way, trust me, I find this reflection inspiring.  I get excited about how much I can improve my program the following year.

While I was teaching my 1st graders today I reflected on how well the simple concept of "Clap it, Play it, Think it" is.  This isn't something that takes long or that I use every lesson but man does it help hit all those different learning styles and help the kids understand the rhythmic concepts they are working on.

Clap it, Play it, Think it:
(I'm not sure who first introduced this to me but I know for sure it is not a new or earth shattering idea!)

Display rhythm cards.
T.  says (in rhythm) Saying only here we go.
S. say the rhythm
T. says Clap and Say here we go.
S. clap and say the rhythm
T. says Clapping only here we go.
S. clap the rhythm.
These 3 steps should be done with the same rhythm before moving on to the next.

As I was reflecting, I realized this is something that I do with my 1st graders often but not the older kids!  I'm not sure why but I definitely need to incorporate it into my lessons with the older kids more often.

3rd Grade Compositions

Every year I like to give each grade level composition experiences.  Whether it is group, centers, or individual experiences with composing, I find that it is so impactful.  You can see students putting everything together.  It's the light bulb moment.

In 3rd grade we have talked a lot about time signature, bar lines, measures, note/rest values, etc.  To wrap up the year, I gave my students a chance to compose within guidelines.

I gave each student a small piece of paper (I use colored copy paper cut into quarters).  We review what a measure is and discuss that they will be composing a measure of music in 4/4 time.  Their paper represents the measure, so they don't need to worry about bar lines (for now anyways!).  Before composing I give them a list of notes/rest they can use.  Here are their choices:

• Beamed Eighth Notes
• Quarter Notes
• Half Notes
• Quarter Rests
• Half Rests

Although they already know whole notes/rests I leave these out because they are too easy for a one measure composition.

After composing their measure, I give each student a number (1-4) and ask them to keep it on their fingers.  I use 1-4 because it means ultimately my groups will end with 4-5 kids.  Once every student has their number, I ask them to move to specified locations around my classroom.  After everyone is seated with their group I explain that they will be arranging their measures into a longer composition.

I show them how to place them in 1-4 measure order.  Step 1 is to decide on an arrangement.  They may not pick one until I have seen them playing it together.  Once they have decided, they raise their hands to let me know.  I then tape the composition together and have them move on to Step 2.  In the second step they need to practice in order to play their composition together.  I have them play the entire thing together because I want them to have a longer reading experience.

After completing Step 2, students raise their hands again to let me know they are ready to move on.  Step 3 is picking an instrument to perform on.  Most pick drums but every once in a while some rhythm sticks or boomwhackers sneak their way into a performance.  Step 4 is practicing the composition with instrument.

After everyone has practiced playing their composition with instruments, we perform for each other.

The final step is transferring our composition to traditional notation.  We add the time signature, bar lines and an ending.

This takes a full lesson to complete (45 min.).  In another lesson, we will extend our composition by adding melody and use it as a notation activity with the staff.

12th Street Rag

As I have said before, I LOVE GamePlan.  While I don't use it exclusively to teach my kids, I do enjoy many of the lessons and games.  One I have used this year was from the 3rd Grade Book.  The lesson is playing rhythms along to 12th Street Rag (Rhythmically Moving 5).  My kids have always loved this and it was a great way to reinforce rhythm patterns, especially the whole rest.

This year when I taught the lesson, I added my own twist.

Lesson:

• Review known notes and rests using people rhythms. 
• Look at the form (Randy and Jeff have a nice visual for this in their curriculum.)
• Review Intro, Interlude, Coda
• Have a student perform the A section rhythm pattern.
• Class echoes
• Repeat with B, C, and D.
• Perform along with recording of 12th Street Rag (clap patterns)                                              (After performing the first time through, I add my twist.)
• Divide students up into 4 groups.
• Assign each group a section of the piece.
• Groups have 5-7 minutes to create a movement that can be performed using the rhythm from their section.
• Have each group demonstrate movement.
• Play music, each group performs during their section.

I have found that this twist on the lesson really helps the kids with playing the rhythms accurately.  They can create and discuss among themselves what works and why.  I find these more independent moments are when the light bulbs go off.  I wish I had video of the lesson in action!  It's interesting to see how the kids discuss and play with the idea of how to interpret a whole note with movement.  I hear them saying things like "What if we bounced our hand four times like this!"  "No, that's more like quarter notes."

Another addition I have made to this lesson is playing instruments.  I didn't include them this time but rhythm sticks are nice.  I like this instrument choice because it isn't a heavy sound, so you can still actually hear the recording and playing whole and half notes are accessible.  When students have one smooth and one bumpy stick, they can scrape the sound of the half/whole notes.  This gives them a feeling of how long the notes last.

Popsicle Stick Rhythms

There is a lot I like about Game Plan but Popsicle Stick Rhythms is one of my favorite activities.  It's so easy to do and my 1st graders love manipulating the sticks into a given rhythm.

An adaptation I have made to my sticks are magnets.  I used a bit of magnetic tape on the back so that I would be able to demonstrate how to use them before handing a set off to my students.

I start this activity with reading notation.  I draw 4 beats on the board (I really like to do this because it helps emphasize the space that quarters/eighths take up.) and then explain that I'm going to use my popsicle sticks to write a rhythm pattern.  

I notate a pattern and then ask my students to clap and say the rhythm.  After doing a few, I switch gears into notation.  I remove all of the sticks from the beats and play a rhythm while tracking the beat on the board.  I find that tracking the beat more accurately helps them identify which beat had two sounds.  Eventually I take this away but during the first attempt it seems helpful.

After working together to decode a few patterns on the board, I pass out sets of sticks to every child.  

I have snack size bags with 8 popsicle sticks and they are sorted by color.  Each team gets the color that matches their riser.  Once they have their sticks, I allow them to spread out around the front of the room so that they will have space to notate.

I found my popsicle sticks at Michaels and I want to say they were between $8 and $10 dollars for a ridiculously large package.  !!!WARNING!!!  The first time I used mine, my kids hands turned the color of their sticks, particularly those with extra sweaty palms.  Even after having them wash their hands it did not come right off.  I felt horrible but this effect does wear off.  After the first few classes, hands stopped changing colors.  If this is something you don't want to worry about, you could just buy the natural popsicle sticks.

First Grade: Thanksgiving Rhythms

I wasn't planning on doing much with my 1st grade class today because they had gotten ahead of the other classes and it was their Thanksgiving Feast, so I figured they would be wound up.  But, then I realized it was my gifted class and I thought showing a video would be more work than just doing a lesson with them, so spur of the moment this is what I decided to do.

I had seen this worksheet pinned (it's a free download from Teacher's Pay Teacher's):

I like this worksheet a lot but I hadn't planned this out, so I didn't have copies and didn't have time to download it.  Plus, this may have been a bit over my 1st graders heads.  So, instead of 2 beat rhythms, we simplified to words that matched Ta and a column of words that matched ti-ti.  

I was impressed with the words they came up with, especially Mayflower.  It took a bit of prompting but they discovered that it combined the two note values.  Now, this was my Gifted 1st grade group, so I'm not sure this would have worked quite as well with my other classes.  

Once we had our lists, we used white boards and in pairs created 8 beat rhythm patterns.  They could use any of the words they wanted but they had to make sure and practice clapping their rhythm.  After about 6 minutes of writing and clapping, we performed our rhythm patterns for each other.  

Afterwards, I recorded a few of the groups performing their patterns.  What was great is some of them were already trying to use ta and ti-ti instead of the words to read the patterns.  

Take a look at the first pattern in the video.  These girls used Mayflower and figured out on their own that it would take up two beats.  I thought that was pretty spectacular for 1st graders!

Pease Porridge: 1st Grade

There are a few of those poems and songs that I use across grade levels and Pease Porridge is one of them.  I have posted a 3rd grade Pease Porridge lesson and this lesson is one I did recently with 1st grade.

We reviewed the poem from Kindergarten while keeping the steady beat.  I told them we were going to be detectives and decode the rhythm of the poem.  (EXCITING!)  They helped me keep the beat while I notated ta on the board.  Once I had notated the beat for all 3 phrases it was time to decode.

I have got to remember to write things lower!  I'm a little dense and keep doing it, so I bought a little green stool so that my poor little ones can reach.  You would think that after 6 years I would have figured it out.  BTW...is that not the cutest little bow!

We started by finding the silent beats and replacing ta with a rest.  Once that was complete we moved onto beats with two sounds.  Finally we played the rhythm of the whole thing using the words of the poem and ta's and ti-ti's.  They loved this and it didn't take long to do.  I'm sure you could extend this activity with instruments and in other ways but for this lesson it was enough.

Carpet Squares, Take 3!

Yet another way I use my carpet squares for rhythm.  The rhythm is created using rhythm sticks.  Repetition, repetition, repetition is the name of the game with kids.  I find that they don't get bored with this even thought it is, in reality, the same thing.  Put a twist on it and it's brand new!

Thanksgiving Freebie

I love using my pocket chart for rhythm/composing activities.  I recently used one during 2nd grade to learn about unbeamed eighth notes.  It is easy for kids to manipulate the rhythm cards and create patterns to play.  These are some halloween rhythm cards that I used recently with my 2nd graders but I also have Thanksgiving and Christmas sets.  Below is a sample of the Thanksgiving quarter note cards.  If you would like to download and print a set for your classroom visit the Freebie section of my blog.

People Rhythms

People Rhythms are one of my favorite ways to help kids with visualizing rhythm.  What I have found is kids have a really hard time understanding that eighth notes are 2 sounds on one beat and this, plus repeating the definition, really helps.

I have a stack of carpet squares that I picked up from a design center that was closing.  They were completely free and I use them all the time; sometimes for a friend who needs a defined space to stay within, other times for bass xylophone players to sit back on between songs.  There are many options but I always have a set of four at the front of the room for rhythm activities.

Recently, we used them to discover two sounds on a beat.  I play the rhythm of the words in a song that we are working on (this time Big Black Cats from First Grade Game Plan) and lead the kids in discovering the rhythm.  I allow students to come up and gently rearrange the rhythm until we have matched it to the song.  The kids love being a part of the people rhythm and reading people rhythms.

I have also used these carpet squares for carpet rhythms.

Rhythm Building Blocks In Use

This week we sang about the zoo and created a B section using the Rhythm Building Blocks.  Here are the words my students came up with to match the rhythms on the blocks.  Each class was slightly different but ti-ti ta seemed to always be kangaroo.

More on Rhythm Building Blocks.

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.

1st Grade: Spooky Rhythms

I happened across a post on The Sweetest Melody and it inspired me to do some Spooky rhythm patterns during my 1st grade lesson this rotation.  We've been working on reviewing ta and rest from the end of kindergarten and experiencing eighth notes.  After singing a song that had eighth note patterns that we moved to, we looked at our Ghost rhythms.

I asked my kids to tell me how these rhythms looked different than the rhythms we read during our last class.  They said "Some of the beats have 2 ghosts".  So I asked them what they thought would happen and their response was exactly what I wanted "there will be two sounds".

So, we played our spooky rhythms saying ghost for one sound on a beat and spooky where there were two sounds.  Oh my goodness did they love this!  Afterwards I gave them an opportunity to compose their own spooky rhythm.  I kept it to 4 beats since this was our first composing experience this year.

I didn't have any Halloween themed manipulatives but these worked.  I had some cardstock that was cut into 8ths and some button shapes that had been donated.  I separated them into baggies, each bag had 4 pieces of cardstock and 8 buttons.  The cardstock is to represent the beat and the buttons the notes.  These are nice because I can use them throughout the year.  I think I will give each group 8 beats next time for a longer composing experience.

Hear is some video of my kids working on their rhythms.  Sorry my voice is so loud, you can't really hear it in the video but the class was kind of loud as they worked in their groups so I had to speak up so my little ones could hear me.  Unfortunately, my cell phone picked my voice up more than anything else because I was so close to it.

Rhythm Building Blocks

I learned about the Rhythm Building Blocks (technically called Bricks in Keetman's book) during my level II.  I loved the idea but I have never really incorporated them into my lessons.  This year I am trying to find as many ways as possible to incorporate them.  I have found that my kids have a hard time with clapping the rhythm of words, so it's something that I want to work on throughout the year.

I started the year off using them with 2nd grade (I wrote about this lesson earlier:  2nd Grade: First "Real" Lesson).  For this lesson, I chose the words to coordinate with each rhythm pattern but the next time we experience them, I will choose a theme and ask the kids to come up with words that fit the rhythms.  This is not only a great way for kids to visualize the rhythm but there is such a strong connection to syllables and reading.  I actually write the words under each rhythm using a dry erase marker (my blocks are laminated), so that I can easily move them from place to place.

To help build this into my lessons and visually remind myself (I am very visual!), I posted them on my cabinets.  Now they are easily visible and accessible anytime.  If something happens in the creative process we can just pull them down and create an ostinato, introduction, etc. on the spot.  They are also placed where the kids can see them while sitting in line, so I'm thinking we can even play a game with them at some point this year.

I attached the blocks to my cabinets using velcro dots (what a fabulous product!).  I made sure to put the loop side on the block so that they won't scratch any little fingers if we take them down to move around the room.

Don't have a set of blocks?  They are a free resource here:  http://www.scalantropio.com/Orff/images/building%20bricks.pdf

Hooks For Rhythm Cards

Over the summer I came across this pin from A Day in the Life of a Classroom Teacher .

I thought this would be a great way to store my 8 beat rhythm cards; I hate when they are laying all over my cabinets.  I found hooks at Lakeshore Learning, they weren't very expensive, and stuck them to the sides of my cabinets.  If you don't have a Lakeshore Learning near you, your teacher supply store  should have something similar or Command hooks are another great buy.  

My Rhythm Cards:

More posts on using hooks to come soon.

2nd Grade: First "Real" Lesson

Wednesday was the start of my second rotation and my first set of "real" lessons for the year.  Although I did incorporate music into my first rotation (especially with K-2), much of those first lessons was reserved for rules, info. about performing groups, recorder letters, etc.  So needless to say, it was refreshing to be able to focus on just making music!

My 2nd grade lesson for this rotation is one I'm particularly proud of.  Each activity was borrowed or inspired by a colleague but they way they came together was awesome.  It's not often that I don't feel the need to tweak after the first day.

Here's what we did:

1.  Hello Song
I do an echoing song that I got from my supervising teacher during my internship.  I start out the year leading the song and once students are comfortable, I invite a duet up to lead the song and the rest of the class echoes them.

2.  Instrument Families
Introduction to instrument families.  I plan to focus on one instrument family per quarter.  I started with WW's but I wish I hadn't.  It wasn't my original plan but because of the scheduling of some special events, my students really would benefit from being familiar with WW's now.  In this lesson we just discussed how they are played, what they are made of and special features (reeds, keys).

3.  Rhythm Building Blocks
I know that technically these are supposed to be called bricks but I always default to blocks, so that's what I'm using with my kids.

This was a great way to ease back into rhythm.  I came up with back to school inspired words for each of the rhythm building blocks.  Since my blocks are laminated, I wrote the words under the rhythms with a dry erase marker.  This is the first time I'm using the blocks with my students, so I picked the words this time.  Next month, I will let the kids brainstorm words that fit each of the rhythm blocks.

We clapped the rhythm of the words of each card as I stuck them to the white board.  Once we had clapped each card, I called students up one at a time to pull out a card to create their own 8 beat rhythm pattern.

4.  The Cougars Are Coming
This was a short back to school poem that a colleague, Mr. G, shared with me.  We echoed to learn the poem and then used the rhythm we had composed with the blocks as a B section.

We performed this in AB form:
A - poem spoken
B - Drums play building block rhythm

We sat in rows and the kid at the front of the row played the drum.  During the repeat of the A section they would move to the end so that the next student would be ready to play B.

5.  School Bus Rhythms
To assess what my students had retained over the summer I used Mrs. King's School Bus Rhythm idea.  This was such a great way to see how they were doing with aurally distinguishing rhythm patterns.  You never know what they are going to retain over the summer and it was nice to see where they were and who was struggling.

See Mrs. King's School Bus Rhythms

I Spy: Note Recognition

My kids struggle with the names of notes.  They can recognize a quarter note, play them in patterns, in many cases tell you how many beats they receive but they always seem to stumble on the names.  I have tried incorporating different games and activities to work on vocabulary but I want a new one for this school year.

I think I'm going to try a version of "I Spy".  Here's what I'm going to do.

Before the kids come:

1.  Cut out quarter/eighth/half notes and rests in various colors.
2.  Place the notes throughout the room (should be visible).

Playing the Game:
1. This will be a game we play in line.
2. Teacher says I spy a blue quarter note.

3. The first team (I line my kids up in two separate lines boys and girls) to raise their hand and
identify the blue quarter note get a point.

4. Keep tally on a small whiteboard.
Going to try it out when school starts.  I'll post any tweaks I make after playing it with the kids.

Carpet Rhythms

Carpet Rhythms is another center idea.  I first introduce this as people rhythms with 1st grade at the beginning of the year.  Each carpet square is one beat and students can create rhythms with ta, ti-ti and rests by standing on the carpet squares.

At the end of the year I revisited this idea but with bean bags instead of people.  Students composed their own 4 beat rhythms and then the group performed the rhythm with body percussion.  Two bean bags on a beat = ti-ti, one = ta, no bean bag = rest.  The kids loved creating their own rhythm patterns!