Instruments of the Orchestra Part 2

"Who Am I?" Instrument ID Game
I recently shared a few of my favorite resources for teaching instruments of the orchestra. Here is a instrument ID game that has been a huge hit with my students.

Materials:

▪  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.