Recorder Karate Belts

While my kids were doing centers during the last rotation, I kept my hands busy cutting Recorder Karate belts for next year.  I normally don't do this for the kids, I usually have them cut them, but after seeing Lauren's post on Rhythm and Glues, I decided it was time for a change.  I'm excited about how this will simplify getting belts next year!

More Recorder Karate

I had some empty ice cream containers from an end of the year celebration and I divided them up using pieces of cardboard.  Each belt is 7 inches long, which I think will be a good length for little fingers trying to double knot them around a recorder.

This would be a great project to work on during pre-planning meetings.  I  know that your supposed to go ready to focus and direct all of your attention to the meetings but that makes me antsy.  I can't just sit in a meeting, I lose focus.  A project like this keeps my fingers busy and helps my mind focus.  Yeah, I was one of those kids!  :)

Resource: pixlr.com

Have you ever wished that you had Photoshop?  Did the price scare you away from purchasing a copy?  Well.....here is a great solution!

http://pixlr.com/editor/

Pixlr is a FREE photo editing service.  If you are familiar with Photoshop, it works similarly, you just don't have as many options.  This is a great resource for customizing photos or images to use in your classroom.  Here is a little image I whipped up using the service.  

Freebie: Barred Instrument Labels

I find the more I label instruments the better my students get at naming them.  Each of my barred instruments has one of these labels, which not only help students with the name, but understanding the differences in timbre. You can request this file in the Freebies section of my blog.

When I printed the labels for my instruments I didn't have access to a color printer, so I printed them on colored card stock.    The labels are small enough to fit between the mallets on the bass instruments and the box of the smaller.  I placed my glockenspiel labels on the stands I use in my classroom (check them out here).  I'll make sure to get some pictures during Pre-Planning.

iPad App: ABC Music

A couple of months ago, my husband came across the app ABC Music by Peapod Labs.  He thought it would be great for my classroom, and I think he's right.

http://peapodlabs.com/applications/abc-music/

I hadn't had a chance to really look at the app until he was playing with our 7 month old niece a couple of weeks ago.  She was delighted by all of the instrument sounds and video.

The App is basically an alphabetical list of instruments.  When you click an instrument, it opens up a screen with a picture of the instrument and it's name.  Along with each instrument are videos of the instruments being played.  The app can be played in either English or Spanish; this is great for bilingual programs.  It's available in the App Store for $2.99.

I plan to use this app with my Kindergartners this year.   We will do a letter each rotation, hitting my benchmarks and supporting their classroom benchmarks as well.  This will be a great way to end each lesson.

Gettin' Back to School

I still have a few weeks off but I know that many of you are already preparing to get back to school. With that in mind, this post is a link to some of the ideas I posted last summer.  I hope this list helps you as you prepare.

If you see something you like check out the Freebies section.  I have uploaded many of these ideas over the past year.

Don't forget to stop by my blog over the next couple of weeks as I will be posting new back to school and lesson ideas!  Hope you are enjoying the last bit of your summer.  :)

Display - Common Board Configuration
Display - Performer's Corner
Display - Word Wall
Display - Rhythm Building Blocks
Display - Time to Pause

Bulletin Board - Great Musicians Always...
Bulletin Board - Look Who's In The Spotlight

Advice - New Teacher
Advice - Meet the Teacher

Organization - Seat Numbers
Organization - Seating Charts
Organization - Schedule
Organization - Kindergarten Visuals
Organization - Storing Seating Charts
Organization - Hooks for Rhythm Cards

Classroom Tour 2012-2013

Rest, Relaxation and Rejuvenation

July is here and although I have been off for just over 3 weeks, it doesn't feel like it at all.  The past month has been one of great personal joy and sadness.  Mrs. M, my art teacher buddy, and I successfully ran our first two weeks of camp ever!  We are excited to grow our business and share art and music with children in an environment completely free of distractions.

While becoming my own boss for a few weeks was a lot of fun, I also experienced great loss this month.  Within the past 18 days, two of my Uncles have passed away.

I have many posts planned to share with you and I will have them up by the time back to school starts but for now, I'm going to take a few weeks away from blogging to enjoy my family, rest, and relax before the school year begins.  Look for new posts in August!

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?

Handy Headphones

I'm sure I'm not presenting anything new with this one but it is something that makes a huge difference for my kiddos.

We have 3 self contained VE classrooms at our school and some of these students attend specials as part of their IEP.  When kids from the VE units join us I want them to experience music but there are times when this interaction can be stressful for them.

Many of my students who are on the spectrum have a hard time with loud sounds.  This can be hard for some kids, especially when we discuss soft/loud or piano/forte in the lower grades or play recorders as a group in the upper grades.  I happen to have a listening center equipped with 6 sets of headphones.  In cases when I have a friend who is having a hard time participating because of sensitivity to sound these headphones come in handy.

I always have a set at the front of the room and I have made sure that the paras who attend specials with these students know where they are.  Having them ready helps all of my students participate successfully in the lesson and prevents me from having to search for a solution on the spot.

This simple step allows the child to stay in my room and participate, which is what I want, and it ensures that it is a positive interaction.  The last thing I want is for a child to associate my room with something unpleasant.  Plus, keeping things positive aids in transition time.  If music is associated with a positive experience, a child is going to have an easier time transitioning and then participating in my lessons.

What do you have in your bag of tricks to help all students successfully participate in your lessons?

Survey Winner!

Thank you to all of you who completed the survey.  The information you provided will help me to shape my blog. 

And the winner of my Sink the Ship game is......Krista Hillier!!!  Congratulations!  I will contact you about claiming your prize!

If you didn't win this one, don't worry, I am planning another giveaway.  Look for more details throughout the summer.

Brand New Beginnings

There are only 2 more days with kids and 2 days of post-planning before I am done for the year.  While I love these last few days with my students before summer vacation (I really do, despite the fact that they are bouncing off the walls!), this year I am just as excited as the kids to start the break.  I'd love to say that it's because I have an amazing trip planned to the beach to relax by the shore but it is far from that.

In January my best buddy and I, Mrs. M (the art teacher from my school), embarked on the journey of starting our own business.  I am proud to say that, after a lot of research and hard work, I am the Co-Owner of a Summer Art and Music Camp!  While I won't be lying on the beach for the first few weeks of summer, I am relishing the opportunity to make music with children and share the experience of running our own business.

Tonight I was working on some of my camp lessons and going through some supplies I have gathered from family and friends over the years and this is what I camp up with....

It's kind of hard to tell what they are from the picture, so let me explain.  I had a bunch of chopsticks that I was trying to use in some way and then it hit me.  Cup Drumming!  After unwrapping a set and trying it out on a plastic cup, I was happy with the sound but the chopsticks were splintering and a bit flimsy.  

Being the band nerd that I am, I remembered that the drum line in marching band used electrical tape to wrap their sticks.  So, I ransacked my tape drawer and found some!  Yes, between two teachers, we have a whole tape drawer in our house.  We have everything from duct to scotch to double sided and beyond.  Then I wrapped the sticks in an assortment of colors.

Here is what they look like in use:

My patient husband as a hand model.

While this is something that I am planning for camp, there are so many practical applications for the classroom.  Here are some I've thought of so far:

1.  Play-a-long to famous pieces.

The sound of the drumming is light enough that you could have a whole class playing-a-long without it covering the musical selection.  If you do your sticks multi-colored like mine, you could have different groups play-a-long to different sections in the music; A-red, B-blue, etc.

2.  Centers

These would be great for rhythmic centers.  Again the light sound wouldn't be distracting to kids working other places in the room.

3.  Improv

These would be nice for a variation on an improv activity.  I'm thinking Q and A.

How do you think you could use these in your classroom?

Cleaning Recorders

Every year clean-up is such a long process!  My last rotation is always centers for all my classes.  It's great review and fun for them, while it allows me to start cleaning instruments to be put away.  I can sit myself by the sink and see everyone while I work.

(Sorry for the dark pic.  My 5th graders rehearsed the song for their ceremony 

this morning and we had a bit of extra time.  Since it wasn't enough to start a game, 

we watched, dare I say it, a video!  While they watched, I cleaned.)

One of the things I make sure to spend a good amount of time cleaning are recorders.  Although I clean them after every use and run them through the dishwasher a couple of times per year, I like to scrub them by hand (I know....Eew!) before putting them away for the summer.  There are a couple of reasons why I do this.

1.  Although the dishwasher does a great job of sanitizing the instruments, it never really gets that icky build up in those tiny grooves on the instrument.  Gross!  I use a brand new sponge with a scrub pad to really get in there.

2.  Greasing the joints.  I take the instrument completely apart, again to get in all the nooks and crannies, and to take the opportunity to grease the joints.  I can't stand it when one of the instruments is twisted and I can't correct it to allow for proper hand technique.  Taking this step saves me time the following year and makes sure that the kids can easily twist joints into the proper alignment.

Here's how I go about doing this:

1.  Fill a bucket with water and lysol.
2.  Place all recorders in the sink.
3.  Take several recorders apart and drop them in the bucket.
4.  Scrub them and set them to dry on the rack (don't reassemble yet).
5.  Allow to dry.
6.  Grease the joints (vaseline will work).
7.  Reassemble and place in container for storage.

I have to repeat these steps several times because my recorders won't fit, disassembled, on the pegs at the same time.

Tip:  If you have stuck recorders, take a couple of foam sheets or sheets of paper towel.  These will help create friction.  I used a combo.  Paper towel in one hand, foam sheet in the other.

It may take a bit of time but it's worth knowing that they are ready for the following year.

I only have 6 more days!!!  I can't wait to soak up some sunshine!!!

Featured Product: May

I almost forgot to post a Featured Product!  Click the link to read more.

Featured Product:  May

12 More Days!

Only 12 more days to go and one full rotation of specials.  I'm as antsy as the kids right now!  It will be a bit before I post again, I'm working on gathering pictures and documents to share.  Hope you are enjoying the final days with your students.

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.

Sound Equipment

My school was blessed with a less than adequate sound system when the school was built.  There is a sound system that you can plug microphones into and an audio system but they never put any speakers on the stage!  This equals huge timing issues because there is a delay between the time the audience hears the music and the kids on the stage hear it.

During the first year we were open, I needed a portable system for outdoor events, so my principal purchased me the Yamaha Stagepas 500 Portable PA System.  I love it.  The system is light and easy to use.  After our first grade level performance that year we quickly realized we needed a solution.  The PA system was the easiest and most affordable.  So, since then it has been what we use.  Not ideal but since I don't use recorded music for my performances, it's not anything I have really looked into changing.  Down the road I will definitely look into it but for now it does the job.

Since grade level performances are mainly the responsibility of classroom teachers, I have run into some issues with how our sound equipment has been treated.  At first I was agitated.  How dare they treat my resources this way!  But when I really started to ponder the reasons why things were getting beat up, I realized it was my own fault.  I didn't even know how to use certain audio equipment when I started teaching and I was a musician.  I shouldn't expect my staff to just know!

This year I made some changes to help my staff and keep things a little less crazy for me.

• I chose one microphone to stay on the stage at all times.  I happened to have one that was of poorer quality that was good for the job.  This saved me from having to set one up for every event imaginable.
• I created a sound system cheat sheet with tips and rules for handling/using sound equipment and the choral risers.  It explained things like not placing microphones on plastic surfaces that hold static.  Not running over cables with the risers.  Just basic things that I know not to do because I want materials to last.  These are things that a classroom teacher may not realize or think about because they don't use the materials on a regular basis.
• Requesting resources.  I made a rule about when and how to request my help or resources.  There were many times when teachers would send a student or stop by themselves when I was in the middle of a lesson to ask a question.  This year I told them to give me a weeks notice.  This allowed me to place things on the stage for them (better than having someone not familiar with the equipment doing it) at my leisure.  It also allowed me to make sure that no one else had asked to use a resource for another event.    
• One Representative per event.  In past years I felt like I was training a whole team of teachers at different times over the course of the year how to use the equipment.  Such a waste of time!  This year, I asked teachers to pick a representative from their team to be responsible for sound and risers.  This meant I only had to train one person per event.

If you are a new teacher, I would suggest getting to know your school sound system ASAP!  I didn't get to know my first school's portable and cafeteria systems soon enough in the year.  I remember being asked the day of an event to set up the system.  I was terrified!  I had never used a sound system in my life.  Make sure you get to know yours because most likely it will become one of your responsibilities.

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.

Idea for Next Year

Ugh....it's testing season.  While I'm quite proud of myself for coming up with quiet productive activities that travel to the classrooms, I'm over it!  For the first week I proctored half the day (with a very sweet class) and then traveled to each classes room for the 2nd half of the day.  This week I have 4 days traveling all day.  Not fun!

Alas it will soon be over.  While I've been traveling I've had some time to start thinking about changes I want to make for next year.  I'm starting small and will post more come June/July but for now a sneak peek.

I happened across this really cute duct tape in the dollar section at Target last week.  Cute isn't it?  I couldn't resist buying two rolls.  When I got home, I started to brainstorm ways to use it in my classroom.  And then I remembered seeing a pin using it on pencils.

I don't know about you but my pencils seem to grow legs and walk out the door.  To prevent that, I added little duct tape flags to the top of a brand new set of pencils for next year.  

Since the tape I had was a bit wide, I cut a short piece and then tore it in half.

Then wrapped it around the pencil and trimmed it a bit to look like a flag.

I'm quit happy with how they turned out.  The only thing I think I would change is the color.  Don't get me wrong, I love this tape it makes me happy.  I'm thinking that for organization purposes green, red and blue tape to match my risers would have been better.  It never fails one team is short 5 pencils because someone put them away in the other teams caddy.

One thing done for next year.  Seems crazy to think that way but this year is almost over.  Only 3 lessons left with my classes.  Once testing is done I'm hoping to post more lessons.  Hope your testing season is flying by!

UPDATED: Mrs. Q's Survey and Giveaway

***As teachers we are continually learning and that is definitely the case when it comes to me and Survey Monkey.  This survey is anonymous, which is perfect because those completing it can give me an honest opinion about my site.  However, that makes it difficult to give away something special.  While I know how many have completed the survey, I don't have the names of those who have.  Once you have completed the survey, please indicate by submitting a comment to this post.  I will work on my survey skills so that my next will be less confusing!  Thank you for your feedback.***

I can't believe it!  My blog is coming up on 1 year.  It seems like I started blogging just yesterday.  My goal in starting this blog was to network with other teachers while sharing some of the ideas/lessons that have worked in my classroom.  As I approach the one year mark, I'm wondering how my blog has helped others and what I can add to make it even better.

Here is a link to a survey I made using Survey Monkey:  Mrs. Q's Survey.  Please take a few moments to answer the 10 questions.

Sink the Ship Playing Card

All those who complete the survey will be entered in a chance to win a copy of my "Sink the Ship" Treble Clef Staff Game.  Winners will be announced in June.  Only 100 people will have the chance to fill out the survey.  Don't miss out on the chance to have a new game for your classroom!

Featured Product: April

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