double-sided tone ladders for Apple Tree and Little Leaves
The second graders are currently in the land of "do." We've sung and played games, body signed, showed the "low" note by bending or ducking as we sang, echoed patterns while using individual tone ladders, and written do melodies with leaf note heads.
staff boards and leaf notes for melodic writing
This week I'll present do and the do clef and we'll focus on identifying, reading and writing do songs on the staff. do Songs
Apple Tree
Little Leaves
Mouse Mousie
Pumpkin Man (only the first two measures)
One, Two, Three (Johnny Caught a Flea)
One of the practice activities I'll be incorporating is my Apple and Pumpkin Melody Match
I found foam apples (the come in packages mixed green and red and can be found in the dollar bin,) and foam pumpkins. (I really need to own stock in Target stores. They receive a lot of my cash.)
On each apple I wrote the solfa of a do melodic pattern.
On the pumpkins I wrote the same melody on the staff with a do clef:
I stripped away the rhythm of these patterns because I want students to focus on the melody. (Have you ever noticed when showing mystery songs many kids will figure it out by matching the words and the rhythm and neglect the melody entirely? No? Just me? ...ok...)
Each student will start the game with a pumpkin or an apple.
They must find their partner and then write out their melody jointly on a staff board.
I have pumpkin, ghost, leaves, and blackcat noteheads, (thank you, Amy!) once the pair have found each other they can choose which noteheads they use to write their pattern.
Here are some of the do patterns I've used and what song and phrase they are from:
Do you have additional do songs/activities? Please let me know.
▪Laminated pictures of single orchestral instruments
(the size of an index card.) Mine look like this:
Procedure:
Begin by taping a laminated picture of an orchestra instrument on each student’s back. (Everyone but the student
will be able to see their instrument.)
Lead class in brief discussion of what effective “yes” or “no” questions students
could ask one another to discover what instrument is attached to their back.
Some question ideas:
“Am I in the woodwind family?”
“Do you use a reed to play my instrument?”
“Do you often play my instrument with a bow?”
Establish game rules. Students may roam around the roam asking one another
only “yes” or “no” questions to discover which each instrument they have on
their back. Students must go to the teacher to verify which instrument they
are.
If a student guesses incorrectly, I give them an additional instrument to figure out. (This motivates them to ask good questions.)
This is an easy game to set up and the students ask to play again immediately.
We are very lucky in Colorado to have a well-established symphony orchestra who include in their programming many concerts for children. My husband and I have been taking our son to their Family Series of concerts for the past 3 years and every year I bring the 5th and 6th graders on a field trip to hear a Colorado Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert. In addition to studying the program music we review the instruments of the orchestra. (In my district instrument families are included in the 4th grade curriculum.) There are many wonderful resources out there. Here are a few of my favorites that particularly appeal to 5th and 6th graders:
I love this book. It's got it all, murder (kind of), mystery, intrigue, and a dark, (but not too dark,) sense of humor. I came to this book in a roundabout way. The illustrator, Carson Ellis, is the illustrator for the album covers and posters for the band The Decemberists, (she is also married to their lead singer, Colin Meloy.) As a Decemberists fan, I've been on the lookout for her work in other places which led me to this gem. The CD is included and the narration and composed music is very well done.
Each instrument family is interrogated by the inspector regarding the crime. Many stereotypes of specific instrumentalists are bantered about, (the confirmed-bachelor-tuba's alibi is his card game with his landlady, the harp, played while drinking warm milk from a small blue cup.) The writing style is witty and just jaded enough to capture the interest of 12 year olds. I was fortunate to see this piece performed by Colorado Symphony Orchestra live last year.
Here is a sample of the story:
Side note: I recently went to a reading/book signing of Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy's new book Under Wildwood, the sequel to their first book, Wildwood. I highly recommend both books for the 12-16 year old set interested in Narnia-like fantasies. (Wildwood was a bit too scary for my son, who is 7.)
If you are a music teacher reading this I hope you are saying to yourself, "Of course The Remarkable Farkle McBride, everyone reads this to the students!" If you are not familiar with this book then just go find it and read it to the kids. You won't regret it.
This was a recommendation from Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis when I saw them at the above mentioned book signing after I gushed about how much I loved Carson's work in The Composer is Dead. (Unfortunately, I was too nervous to mention my adoration of The Decemberists. I don't always say what I want when faced with people I greatly admire. Especially when my kids are pulling on my purse and asking for gum. Such is life.)
It's a fun book for the younger set (1st - 3rd grade) that shows the musicians getting ready for their performance. Then they come together at 8:30pm to make music and perform the concert. Be advised: there are partially naked drawings, (but no naughty bits.)
Students will giggle when they see people drying off after bathing but it's worth reading to them.
YouTube clips:
PDQ Bach - Beethoven Symphony No. 5
I live in a sports-obsessed town where the streets become nearly deserted during Broncos games, (a GREAT time to run errands, by the way.)
If this captures the attention of my students and get them interested in the symphony, I'm showing all ten minutes and thirty four seconds of it. It's very entertaining and attainable for 9-12 year olds. (I do remind them that the audience expectations at the CSO concert are very different.)
Peter and the Wolf beatbox flute
My students listen to Peter and the Wolf in 2nd grade. This a wonderful connection and re-introduction to that piece. Greg Pattillo is slammin'!
Cello Wars, A Star Wars Parody
Cellos, Star Wars, what's not to love?
Parent have been letting me know that kids are making their whole family watch this video. Yeah, cellos are coooool!
From the Top is a PBS radio show (broadcast every Sunday evening on Colorado's classical station.)
The show features excellent kid musicians performing and being interviewed about their day-to-day lives and interests. It's a wonderful "slice of life" view of normal kids passionate about making music.
It's great having so many mediums to feature professional musicians. (Don't you love living in the future?) This short list barely scratches the surface of the quality resources available. Did I miss your favorite book/video/website? Let me know!
My husband is the art teacher and often has extra materials he can't use. (Many parents donate excess graph paper, card stock, and other supplies.) I spied several brightly colored tongue depressors in his room a few weeks ago. When I asked if he had plans for them, he said "no" and gladly handed them over.
We've been preparing do and reviewing sol mi la songs in 2nd grade so I thought the sticks would provide a different way to practice constructing known songs.
I used the following songs:
Ickle Ockle Blue Bottle
No Robbers Out Today
Lucy Locket
We Are Dancing in the Forest
I have a SMART Board file with each song written out in stick notation (with the solfa written in underneath the rhythm.) After printing out copies of each song I cut them up in 4 beat phrases and glued each phrase on one side of the stick. On the other side is a small picture indicating what song the phrase is from. (You can see the little pictures near the song titles.)
After reviewing the songs, we made a circle and students select one stick each. (One fun way to choose sticks is to play Apple Tree and have the eliminated student pick a stick until everyone has one.) Students identify their "teammates" by finding those who have the same color and picture on their song stick. Each team rebuilds their assigned song as a team and practices singing and body signing the song. Once a team is confident their song is built correctly, they request a song sheet from me and check to see if it matches.
2nd graders check their song
Are all of my students able to put together a known sol mi la song from memory
with the stick notation?
No way.
How can make this activity a successful learning experience for everyone?
Well...
Many students will benefit from being in a group where they can work together.
Some students with stronger skills have the option of building their song with a partner, (there are always uneven groups so this is a great way divvy out the song sticks.)
Some groups build their song with the song sheet in hand. Yes, they are essentially copying the song. This is still a reinforcement of the melody, rhythm and form of the song and those students can still be successful.
I'm all about doing the same old thing in a slightly different way.
