KIZZ DANIEL

I decided to use the 16 block grid as a means for students to create and organize rhythm patterns based on the erasers.  I talk a little bit more about the grid and the lap packs they are used with in THIS blog post.

At this workstation, students choose an erase and put it in a square.  Then, students decide what to call the eraser.  They can be creative with this part (and often are!).  When they decide what to call the eraser they write the name under it.  In this picture they actually put it in the second row, but usually we put it in the same box as the eraser.

If you have been reading my blog for long, you know that I a big fan of workstations  and I love new goodies for my music room!  I've posted a few times about Music Go Round from Music in Motion.  They are so fun to touch and lend themselves to a variety of activities.  You can read about using them for singing practice HERE and reading about using them with rhythm work HERE.

Today I'm going to explain how I've used them to build a creative movement workstation.  In preparation, I created a 16 block grid on my dry erase board with colored masking tape.  I tried drawing it on the board with the first class and it was a much bigger hassle.  I had to re-draw the grid after each group.  The masking tape worked really well and lasted all week.

I laid the Music Go Rounds that I needed on a stand near the board.  For this workstation I used Music Go Rounds: Hands and Feet and the quarter notes and barred eighth notes from THIS set.  

Students were instructed to choose a hand or foot piece and a rhythm piece.  Within their group they decided what each hand or foot piece represented.  Some groups used clapping or snapping for hands and stomping, sliding or hopping for the feet.  They composed and performed their piece together.

After performing their piece, some groups made some edits to make it easier or more interesting and then performed it again.  I loved watching their creative process and hearing their conversations about what would improve their pieces.

This was a great activity to add to our center rotations.  Student got practice with rhythm, but also engaged in composing and creating choreography too.  Having a workstation that let students be physically active wasn't too noisy or crazy (much to my great delight!) and I can definitely recommend it for inclusion in your classroom.

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Note Knacks are wooden blocks that are strategically cut so that note value is represented by block length.  So a half note is half the size of a whole note and a quarter note is half the size of a half note and so on.  The set comes with 3 different frames to hold the Note Knacks.  They measure 4 beats, 3 beats and 2 beats.  One side of the block has a note and the back side has the corresponding rest.  

I am lucky enough to have a magnetic set of Note Knacks and I keep them on my dry erase board.  They are much larger so that they can be seen by an entire classroom.  I've used them to decipher rhythms in familiar songs and to create ostinatos for various activities.  I've also used them in workstations.

I've also had students trace the outline of the blocks on long strips of bulletin board paper.  I only have one set of the blocks, so I could only do this activity with small groups as they rotated through workstations.  I hope to get a few more sets because I have SO many ideas I want to try out!

I bet I know what you are thinking.  Couldn't you just make something similar?  Well, sure.  I've made Noodle Notes which are similar.  The tactile experience of Note Knacks is what I like.  I mean, who doesn't like playing with blocks?

You can get Note Knacks from Rhythm Band Instruments.  If you liked these ideas PIN this post for later!

There seems to be a great debate among parents and educators about the value of fidget spinners in the classroom.  This blog post is NOT about that.  Instead, I'd like to share with you a few ways that you can use the spinners for practice and assessment in music class.

I've created a set of activities that use the fidget spinner as a timer and as...well...just as a spinner!  The best way to show you how to use them is in this video below.

I am a a big fan of writing in my music classes.  You'll probably notice as you browse through this blog that I use many different strategies for incorporating writing.  I use exit tickets, oral writing, group paragraphs, writing prompts and more.  Most of these tools are for writing about music, not actually writing notation.  Lap packs are my go-to tool for writing notation in my classroom. 

Lap Packs are my name for page protectors stuffed full of templates.  I have 3 or 4 sheets per page protector and most of them have a template on front and back.  I use a piece of cardstock or two when I am making the copies so the lap packs are pretty sturdy and can just be used on a lap.  No clipboard or desk needed! 

When I first started using lap packs, I paid extra for page protectors that were described as "high quality" and "extra thick".  Yeah....turns out that the cheap ones work just as well!  Some years I switch out 2 or 3 page protectors and other years I switch out 30 or 40.  It really depends on my students, how often I leave lap pack activities for my sub to use and how diligent we are when erasing them.  

I use regular dry erase markers and we erase with a piece of a paper towel.  I get a pack of paper towels from the custodians and then cut them in thirds.  We don't erase very much so the small piece of paper towel is more than enough.  Someday I'd like to buy something else to use as an eraser, but until then this free option works well.

I store my lap packs in a magazine box.  I encourage students to put them back in the box with the open side on top.  When others pull out a lap pack with the open side on top they don't lose all of the pages on their way to their seat.

Most of the sheets in my lap packs have two sides.  This just makes it easier for me when copying and it also makes it easier to have students change the sheets that are on top.  

On one sheet I have a large staff (no clef).  We use this with bottle caps for learning pitch names and melodic dictation.  I also use this side to introduce line notes and space notes with younger grades and for composing simple ostinatos.  The back side of this sheet contains 2 smaller staves.

On the flip side of the pink page is Martha Stanley's Mighty Music Grid.  I use this grid for SO many things.  My favorite activity for this grid is rhythmic dictation.  For Kindergarten classes we practice writing quarter notes and quarter rests and clapping our patterns with a friend.  In 1st grade we create sound songs by drawing symbols for various sounds and body percussion in each block.  In other classes we take rhythmic dictation just like you did in college.  I clap a rhythm, they echo and write it down.  Students love the challenge of matching my pattern and become quite skilled at deciphering rhythm patterns.

I also include a blank sheet in each lap pack.  This page has been used with my youngest students to illustrate what they have heard.  With older students we have created vocal exploration patterns, choreography, graphic organizers and flow charts and listening maps. 

 The picture below was an example from a 5th grader.  Okay...this wasn't just an average student.  This student went above and beyond and created a pretty amazing listening map for the overture from William Tell.  I'm not exactly sure what the question marks were for, but they worked well with the song.

If you are looking for a way to incorporate any of these activities but hate getting bogged down with shuffling papers and stacks of pages to grade, I would definitely recommend using lap packs and dry erase markers.  Instead of grading papers, I walk around the classroom and make notes on my attendance sheet and record points later.  This makes assessment easy for me and stress free for students.

So have I convinced you of the awesomeness of lap packs?  Try them out!  I put together a few of my favorite pages for you to try in your classroom.  Follow THIS LINK to download them.  Let me know how lap packs are working for you in the comments!

Recently I met with Mary Ann Stewart of Music in Motion and was delighted to learn about one of their new products, Music-Go-Rounds.    I must admit they caught my eye from a distance and up close?  Well I just couldn't stop touching them!  They are kind of squishy and incredibly satisfying to touch!  I knew that if I loved them, my students would too!

Mary Ann offered a few sets of these beautiful manipulatives to me and I couldn't wait to try them out!  In this article, I'm going to talk about using them for singing practice.  In future posts I'm going to talk about using them for rhythm, differentiating assessment and creative movement.

The Music-Go-Rounds are made from silicone and they are completely washable and stick like a magnet to your dry erase board.  I also have tried them on cabinets, my SmartBoard and even the floor.  Fun!

First, I set up the hand signs set and the numbers (which are conveniently color coded).  My middle school choral teacher prefers that students sight read using numbers and since my elementary person nor I teach one cohesive system, I've decided to teach numbers and use the Kurwen hand signs with them.  Students totally connect with this idea and will hopefully transition well to her middle school choral program.

After using these for a few weeks I set up a singing center during one of our center days.  I added some blank dots to the set up.  Students can use a dry erase marker on them.  I used a baby wipe to clean them after.

For the workstation I just wrote the instructions next to the display.  I know it is a little tricky to see in the picture.  Here's what I wrote:
1. Use a dry erase marker to write the syllable names on the dots.

2.  Sing the scale using the numbers and hand signs.

3.  Sing the scale using the syllables and the hand signs.

4.  Mix them up and then sing.  Hint:  Keep them in order from low to high.  Just mix numbers and syllables.

Here's one of the examples.  In this example students would sing "do re 3 fa 5 la 7 do" and then "1 2 mi 4 sol 6 ti 8".  They weren't really supposed to move the hand signs, but they were doing a fabulous job so I didn't fuss too much!

This was a fun workstation and using the Music-Go-Rounds kept students engaged.  They were amused that they stuck to the dry erase board and most groups tried sticking them on the walls, chairs, etc... to experiment with them.  I can't blame them.  I did the same thing!

You can take a look at all of the Music-Go-Rounds available at Music in Motion.  This is not an affiliate link.

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At this station, students review instruments and their names as they determine how many syllables are in each instrument name.  Then they take a clothespin and pin the note or rhythm that most closely matches the syllable of the instrument.  This is mostly rhythm work, but this is an opportunity for students to see a picture of the instrument and the instrument name.  You can get this Instrument Clip It here.

I think that I may love dabbers more than my students!  I am always looking for ways to incorporate them into center time.  At this station students had four worksheets to complete (one for each instrument family).  Students dabbed instruments belonging in each family.  So fun!  You can get this dabber set HERE.

Some of the dabber pages needed a little bit of time to dry.  We laid them on our seats and by the time most students had rotated through all of the stations, their papers were dry and ready to go home to hang on the fridge.

This fun workstation was created by Chrissy at Hutzel's House of Music.  You need to purchase the regular Guess Who game and then purchase her insert, trim it and slide it into the case.  Students compete against each other to figure out a selected instruments.  They can only ask yes and no questions.  Here's a few of the GREAT thinking and learning questions I heard from this workstation;

This station is SO much fun!  I have a collection of hole punches.  Some have stars, hearts, music notes or the original circle.  At this center, students complete four punch cards (one for each family).  On each card they are asked to punch the instruments for a specific family.  You can download the cards HERE.

In my classroom, this station worked out best to be a standing station.  I used an empty cart and placed supplies on it.  Students stood around the cart to complete their center work.  Most students really enjoyed this opportunity to stretch their legs.  I will definitely add more standing stations in the future.