I have uploaded a video of The Thank You Song to SchoolTube. It's definitely not our most refined performance but you can hear the lyrics and see the movements the kids created to go with the chorus. You can access the video here and see my crazy kids! I think you will probably have to create an account (if you don't have one) in order to see it.
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Monday, February 11, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The Thank You Song
Recently my principal asked for my kiddos to sing for a teacher appreciation event after school. It took me awhile to figure out who I wanted to perform at this event (chorus, orff, a class, ASP kids) because of how close this event is to our spring concert. We are 5 weeks away at this point and have not learned much of the music, yikes!
So finally I decided chorus would be easiest. We could sing to a recorded track, learn it fast and they stay after school often to begin with, so I knew I would have less of an attendance problem. My next dilemma was choosing a short, appropriate piece. I knew I wanted something familiar to aid in learning the piece quickly but I wasn't happy with anything I had done before, I needed something fresh. For inspiration I began searching YouTube for thank you/teacher appreciation songs and I came across this video of Nesbit Elementary School.
So finally I decided chorus would be easiest. We could sing to a recorded track, learn it fast and they stay after school often to begin with, so I knew I would have less of an attendance problem. My next dilemma was choosing a short, appropriate piece. I knew I wanted something familiar to aid in learning the piece quickly but I wasn't happy with anything I had done before, I needed something fresh. For inspiration I began searching YouTube for thank you/teacher appreciation songs and I came across this video of Nesbit Elementary School.
I liked the idea and I remembered my kids were already familiar with The Lazy Song (they were screaming along to Kidz Bop or some track like it at a non-music outdoor school event). I must admit I feel a bit hypocritical. Recently there was a post on best choral practices on Beth's Music Notes. I loved these posts because, as a woodwind player, I feel as though I am continually improving in this area. Anyway, I had responded to one of these posts in regards to using pop music in the elementary classroom. I honestly don't use pop music in my classroom often, and when I do, it is usually not to sing. You can read Beth's post to see some of the reasoning for this.
Once I decided on this piece, I realized the lyrcis in Nesbit's version weren't quite right for our event, so I set myself to the task of lyric writing (not one of my favorite things to do). After coming up with the chorus, I asked a couple of my super creative 4/5 kids to help finish the lyrics. I am proud to say that they created the three verses and even tweaked a bit of the chorus to their liking.
Below is an image of the powerpoint I used to teach the lyrics. It's nothing fancy, but if you would like to download it, request the document in the Freebies section.
You will notice I used 2 different colors. That's because I had a duo perform the verses and the rest of my group sang the rest. This was another time saver with my limited amount of rehearsal.
Our staff loved the song!!! The kids got a big kick out of how emotional some of their teacher's were. I would say it was a success.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Ostinato
Have you seen this video on Pinterest?
This rotation I am labeling ostinato in 2nd grade. At the end of our lesson, I have had my kids count the ostinati while watching the video. After watching we discuss how many we heard. They love this and are still talking about it.
If you are going to show this video to your kids, I would stop it just past a minute. I usually stop it when Harry and Snape argue back and forth. If you're anything like me, you're wary about the word "bomb".
Have you come across any other good examples of ostinato on YouTube?
Friday, December 14, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Holiday Videos
There are some very cool videos being pinned and I thought I would share some of my favorites so far...
The Maccabeats (Kids L-O-V-E this!)
Jingle Bells 17 Ways
Judy Garland - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (I just love this one, personal favorite.)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Fantasia 2000
One of my favorite videos to share with the kids is Fantasia 2000. The music is fantastic and the cartoons are beautiful to look at. What I like most about this video is that you can show it in short segments as part of the lesson. For example, I have been preparing my students for our trip to see the orchestra and today we learned about Pomp and Circumstance. It was great to show them the video to help spur conversation about what Elgar intended when he wrote the piece and how we use it today.
I know it is sad to say, but I'm sure you have been there too, I had a moment today when my patience was completely shot. I didn't want to take it out on the kids so, after teaching the beginning portion of the lesson to 2nd grade, I put on Fantasia 2000. It gave me a breather and I made a game out of it. Every time I paused the video, they had to be able to tell me what the dynamic was in the music (which was what we had been working on). They loved it and it gave me a minute to compose myself and muster up a bit more patience.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The Woodwind Family
I have mentioned before that I have been doing a unit on Woodwind Instruments with my 2nd graders but I thought I would create a post that compiles all of the resources I have been using for this unit.
I like to use the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's website for recordings. They have done a great job of recording each instrument playing Twinkle, Twinkle and an orchestral excerpt.
Some of the images of the instruments on DSO's site are great examples but others run on the small side; even when projected onto the screen in my classroom. In these instances, I use my Peter and the Wolf signs. I made these a few years ago for a fun Peter and the Wolf lesson and I can easily project the name and image of the instrument from my doc cam.
I give my students an experience with a famous piece for each instrument we learn about. For the oboe, we listened to the Afternoon of a Faun, the bassoon Peer Gynt, etc. I display a picture of the composer on the screen with their name and the name of the famous piece. Depending on the instrument and piece, we may also do a listening/movement activity.
Students take notes on each instrument and the famous piece it is featured in. Here are some images of their notes.
They aren't anything fancy but they help the kids keep the information organized. I think the part that has been the most impactful is drawing the instruments. I make sure to emphasize some of the physical features of the instruments like the bocal on the bassoon, the difference in bell size of the clarinet and the oboe to help them distinguish between the instruments. My kids have been easily able to discuss the differences when we played our review game.
Our notes only take about 5-8 minutes at the beginning of the lesson. These sheets have a backside with more boxes to take notes on other instruments. I leave drawing the instruments for when we have extra time. Some lessons there may not be anytime to draw instruments but other days they may have time to draw 2. It just depends on the class and the day and sometimes my mood! :)
Another thing I like to do when I have extra time is play videos of the instruments we are learning about. I posted these videos in October. If you have an oboe or clarinet video you like, please share it in the comment section of this post.
There are a lot of things I don't mind getting behind on because I know I can catch up. But, when I have a sub one thing that I do let them teach is the instrument. I have them read from "The Story of the Orchestra" by Robert Levine. There is great information and pictures in this book. It's not just great for a sub, I like to read from it as well!
It's the end of the first quarter, so we have been playing Jeopardy as a review. My kids LOVE this! It only takes about 20 minutes to play, so it doesn't take up my whole lesson. It has definitely been worthwhile to take the time and play the game before moving onto the next instrument family. I found my Jeopardy template on Powerpoint Games website. There are a few things I'm not crazy about, like the text colors and size, but for a free template it works! The template on their site is blank, so you could use it to create a review game for any concept you are working on.
Each team gets a sound effect instrument (use 3 different timbres). The team to buzz in first gets to answer the question (I don't care if they answer in the form of a question). If they answer correctly, they get the points. If not, the other teams can steal. If no one gets the answer correct, then no one gets the points.
I play in 3 teams because of my seating arrangement. After each question the instrument is passed to the next team member so that everyone gets a chance to represent their team. After buzzing in I give the team a few seconds to discuss their answer. For the listening examples, I make them wait to buzz in until I have given them a thumbs up or stopped the recording. If you don't specify, no one will be able to hear because the kids will be buzzing in.
Tips:
-Try and provide as many real examples as you can. I brought in my flute and it gave my kids a much better perspective when it came to the size and shape of the instrument. Videos are also great for this.
-Buy a few reeds. I have examples of clarinet and bassoon reeds and I'm hoping to collet others.
-Provide multiple listening examples. The more the kids hear these instruments the better.
This 9 weeks we will be working on our next instrument family. Here is a preview:
I like to use the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's website for recordings. They have done a great job of recording each instrument playing Twinkle, Twinkle and an orchestral excerpt.
I give my students an experience with a famous piece for each instrument we learn about. For the oboe, we listened to the Afternoon of a Faun, the bassoon Peer Gynt, etc. I display a picture of the composer on the screen with their name and the name of the famous piece. Depending on the instrument and piece, we may also do a listening/movement activity.
Students take notes on each instrument and the famous piece it is featured in. Here are some images of their notes.
They aren't anything fancy but they help the kids keep the information organized. I think the part that has been the most impactful is drawing the instruments. I make sure to emphasize some of the physical features of the instruments like the bocal on the bassoon, the difference in bell size of the clarinet and the oboe to help them distinguish between the instruments. My kids have been easily able to discuss the differences when we played our review game.
Our notes only take about 5-8 minutes at the beginning of the lesson. These sheets have a backside with more boxes to take notes on other instruments. I leave drawing the instruments for when we have extra time. Some lessons there may not be anytime to draw instruments but other days they may have time to draw 2. It just depends on the class and the day and sometimes my mood! :)
Another thing I like to do when I have extra time is play videos of the instruments we are learning about. I posted these videos in October. If you have an oboe or clarinet video you like, please share it in the comment section of this post.
There are a lot of things I don't mind getting behind on because I know I can catch up. But, when I have a sub one thing that I do let them teach is the instrument. I have them read from "The Story of the Orchestra" by Robert Levine. There is great information and pictures in this book. It's not just great for a sub, I like to read from it as well!
It's the end of the first quarter, so we have been playing Jeopardy as a review. My kids LOVE this! It only takes about 20 minutes to play, so it doesn't take up my whole lesson. It has definitely been worthwhile to take the time and play the game before moving onto the next instrument family. I found my Jeopardy template on Powerpoint Games website. There are a few things I'm not crazy about, like the text colors and size, but for a free template it works! The template on their site is blank, so you could use it to create a review game for any concept you are working on.
Each team gets a sound effect instrument (use 3 different timbres). The team to buzz in first gets to answer the question (I don't care if they answer in the form of a question). If they answer correctly, they get the points. If not, the other teams can steal. If no one gets the answer correct, then no one gets the points.
I play in 3 teams because of my seating arrangement. After each question the instrument is passed to the next team member so that everyone gets a chance to represent their team. After buzzing in I give the team a few seconds to discuss their answer. For the listening examples, I make them wait to buzz in until I have given them a thumbs up or stopped the recording. If you don't specify, no one will be able to hear because the kids will be buzzing in.
Tips:
-Try and provide as many real examples as you can. I brought in my flute and it gave my kids a much better perspective when it came to the size and shape of the instrument. Videos are also great for this.
-Buy a few reeds. I have examples of clarinet and bassoon reeds and I'm hoping to collet others.
-Provide multiple listening examples. The more the kids hear these instruments the better.
This 9 weeks we will be working on our next instrument family. Here is a preview:
Thursday, October 11, 2012
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.
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".
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.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Spotlight Performers: Freebie
Every month I select a class that has been working together to be the Spotlight Performers. This group then records a video that goes on the morning announcements for the whole school to see. I never really know what I will be videoing from month to month, think of it as more of an informance than a polished piece. This gives the kids a chance to see what other kids are learning and the adults a snapshot into the music room. I also include a photo of the Maestro of the Month in the video.
I created my video using iMovie and I use the same template from month to month, year to year. The only thing I have to change out is the month and name of class/maestro.
You can request this template in the freebies section of my blog. Remember, this will only work on Macs.
I created my video using iMovie and I use the same template from month to month, year to year. The only thing I have to change out is the month and name of class/maestro.
You can request this template in the freebies section of my blog. Remember, this will only work on Macs.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Woodwind Videos
So far for my 2nd grade instrument families unit I have used these videos.
They loved them both!
They loved them both!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
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!
It has been a breeze to teach the lines and spaces this year thanks to this video. The kids just get it!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Gotta Love It!
In class this week, 4th grade used lollipop drums for a rhythmic canon we were working on. This was a really fun lesson, I'll try to remember and post about it later. Now I know I always think this...
...when I say lollipop drum but this week kids started singing the refrain unprompted and it spread throughout the class. What's more, it happened in several classes! I love teaching music. :)
...when I say lollipop drum but this week kids started singing the refrain unprompted and it spread throughout the class. What's more, it happened in several classes! I love teaching music. :)
Monday, July 9, 2012
Meet Your Teacher
It never fails....every year Meet the Teacher starts out slowly. I see parents rushing down the hall to drop off their supplies and meet their child's new teacher but my room remains empty and I'm not quit sure what to do with myself.
Before our concerts last year I had students make me signs that said "Please do not touch the instruments.". I use these the night of the performance for instruments that are on the floor in front of the stage to deter little fingers but they are also great for Meet the Teacher. Place them all around the room. Anywhere you have instruments, you should have a sign.
Many of the questions parents and students have are about recorders and my after school groups. Since my room is sometimes a bit hectic, I thought a video with this information would be a great way for parents to get the information they need if I'm talking with another family. The video plays on a loop and I included some music advocacy and curriculum information in the video. There is no sound because I have a playlist set up on my ipod that runs throughout the event but you could very easily add sound if you are making your own video.
This is the video I used last year. I have only made a few updates but you can see where I was going with it. I made this using Keynote. Once everything was the way I wanted I exported the file as a movie. I could either run it through my doc cam from my lap top or burn it to a dvd and play it that way. I'm sure there is an option similar to this in Powerpoint.
Forms
There are many events in the first few weeks of school so I make sure to have copies of any forms/newsletters I will be sending home to help parents get a head start. Some of the forms I make sure to have copies of are: recorder order forms, information about materials, flyers announcing interest meetings for after school groups, wishlist, etc.
I found that this helped a lot last year with recorder orders. I think I had at least 10 in the first week, which is not the norm.
Activity
This year I think I'm going to try adding an activity for families to do while they are waiting to say hi. I'm thinking something along the lines of "How was music a part of your summer?". I think I will get a big piece of butcher paper write the question in the middle and then set out crayons/colored pencils for parents and students to fill in their answer. This will be great to hang in the hallway for the first week of school.
It seems as soon as I settle myself into a comfortable spot at my desk parents and students and their younger/older siblings come in massive overwhelming waves and it can be a mad house. Kids (and yes sometimes parents) banging on instruments while I'm trying to introduce myself to a new family. Here are some of the things I do to try and answer everyone's questions while keeping hand drums from being completely destroyed! :)
Place Signs EVERYWHERE!
Place Signs EVERYWHERE!
Before our concerts last year I had students make me signs that said "Please do not touch the instruments.". I use these the night of the performance for instruments that are on the floor in front of the stage to deter little fingers but they are also great for Meet the Teacher. Place them all around the room. Anywhere you have instruments, you should have a sign.
Although the families at my school are very sweet and respectful, it is hard for just about anyone to resist striking a key on the piano or playing a glissando on the xylophone. If you've ever been in a band room during warm-up you know what things can start sounding like. For everyone's sanity, this is a must do! :)
Welcome Back Video
Welcome Back Video
Many of the questions parents and students have are about recorders and my after school groups. Since my room is sometimes a bit hectic, I thought a video with this information would be a great way for parents to get the information they need if I'm talking with another family. The video plays on a loop and I included some music advocacy and curriculum information in the video. There is no sound because I have a playlist set up on my ipod that runs throughout the event but you could very easily add sound if you are making your own video.
This is the video I used last year. I have only made a few updates but you can see where I was going with it. I made this using Keynote. Once everything was the way I wanted I exported the file as a movie. I could either run it through my doc cam from my lap top or burn it to a dvd and play it that way. I'm sure there is an option similar to this in Powerpoint.
If you would like my blank template to use, please email me and I will send you a version you can just plug your own information into. Keep in mind my template will only work on Macs.
Forms
There are many events in the first few weeks of school so I make sure to have copies of any forms/newsletters I will be sending home to help parents get a head start. Some of the forms I make sure to have copies of are: recorder order forms, information about materials, flyers announcing interest meetings for after school groups, wishlist, etc.
I found that this helped a lot last year with recorder orders. I think I had at least 10 in the first week, which is not the norm.
Activity
This year I think I'm going to try adding an activity for families to do while they are waiting to say hi. I'm thinking something along the lines of "How was music a part of your summer?". I think I will get a big piece of butcher paper write the question in the middle and then set out crayons/colored pencils for parents and students to fill in their answer. This will be great to hang in the hallway for the first week of school.
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