Freebie! Rhythm Cards: One Beat at a Time

Hello!

This has been a very challenging weekend for me and other teachers in my district as we experience decisions made by newly appointed members of our school board. I won't get political here. What I can do every day is work hard to teach children in my school the value, power and language of music.
Like the song says, "I've got rhythm, I've music, I've got my man, who could ask for anything more?" (Well, I could. But never mind. Just throw in a cup of strong coffee and I'll be good to go...)

So, rhythm. Let's make sure we've got that! 

One of my first "a-ha!" moments that came when I started my Kodály training was the importance of teaching the difference and the relationship between beat and rhythm. (Yes, that was something that was never stressed in my music education!) 
In my classroom when each new specific rhythm is taught I show heartbeats along with the rhythm so students can visualize how many sounds in a rhythm and where it falls on the beat. Often I show the rhythm right on top of the heartbeat.

In older grades, I transition to showing the rhythms underneath the beats.

Years ago I made student packs of rhythms on large foam hearts (and large "beat dots")

I use these with 1st graders as soon as we have a firm grasp of quarter notes and paired eighth notes. (On every heart or dot I drew a ta on one side and ti ti on the other.)
We use these for decoding song and chant rhythms, rhythmic dictation, and composing.

Inspired by all the great heart clip art that Teachers Pay Teachers members have been offering, I recently created rhythm cards showing one beat at a time. (Or two. The half note and eighth-quarter-eighth cards are 2 beats and twice as big as the one beat rhythms.)
The hearts are colorful and glittery, courtesy of Glitter Meets Glue Designs. (Some things  bring out the girly girl in me; I can't help being a sucker for glitter!)
Each rhythm comes with and without note heads. Click on the picture below to download these rhythm cards.

                   

So, please, take my heart(s)! If you do download, I'd love your feedback. (I still consider myself a newbie in regards to making things for Teachers Pay Teachers and it's helpful to know what other music teachers find useful.)

Also, check out the Kodály Corner blog. I recently contributed my first post about opening songs. 

Have a great week and a sweet Valentine's Day!

sol mi la Build a Song

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. 

(And I just love those colorful song sticks!)