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.

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.