Showing posts with label links. Show all posts

Assessment in Music Class -What Do You Hear?

Looking for practical ideas for assessing hundreds of music students in your classroom? Check out this idea for assessing rhythm skills called "What Do You Hear".

Can I confess something to you?  I have no idea how any of my elementary or junior high teachers came up with a grade for me.  Not a single one.  Did they just "give" me a grade?  Did I do something to earn it?  Was there every any real assessment?  I don't think so.  I think that I got an A because I was a good kid that did what I was told.  Of course, that must mean that kids that didn't do that would have received a different grade.  Is that crazy?  Have you been guilty of that?

I guess that is one of the reasons that assessment has been so important to me.  I've created hundreds of rubrics, sat through dozens of assessment workshops for math and reading teachers trying to glean everything I could and challenged other music teachers to show me how they plan for authentic assessment.  I've learned that there is a wide variety of strategies for grading or assessing students in music class.  I've seen elaborate data tables and heard others say "I just give them an S, no matter what."  Whaaaat?  I've tried to find a balance based on how often I see my students and what I want them to be able to do when they leave my classroom.

Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite tools for assessing rhythm skills.  I call it ear training, but it isn't exactly what I remember doing for my Ear Training classes in college.  I use these assessments most often with 3rd through 6th grades but they could be adapted for use with younger and older students.  When I taught high school band I used this type of assessment all of the time.

Check out this video to see how I use my What Do You Hear set of worksheets.  You can download them HERE if you are interested in trying them out in your classroom.





Like this idea?  PIN IT for later!
Looking for practical ideas for assessing hundreds of music students in your classroom? Check out this idea for assessing rhythm skills called "What Do You Hear".



post signature

How to Get Preschoolers to Love Classical Music


Preschool music class can be such a delight, full of giggles and pure joy.  Of course this is a perfect age for simple folk songs, dance parties, and sing-alongs, but listening to classical music is extremely important too. Incorporating classical music into your preschool curriculum in age appropriate ways will begin a lifelong love of beautiful and complex music.

Everything is still new to preschoolers, they are hearing, seeing and experiencing things for the first time. They haven’t established an opinion about what music is good and what music is stuffy & boring. By pairing classical music with playtime, we can provide preschoolers with a positive and enriching classical music experience. This is the beginning of learning to listen and respond to music they will enjoy for a lifetime.

Here are some of my favorite pieces of classical music for preschoolers and how to incorporate them into playtime.  

Pretend Play

We know that preschoolers learn best by imaging and playing. Adding classical music can elevate pretend play to whole new level of excitement and learning. Try these classical pieces and pretend play pairings:
                -Listen to The Elephant from Carnival of the Animals while you move around the room like a slow, heavy elephant. 
                -Pretend to take an adventure through a castle as you listen to In theHall of the Mountain King, by Evard Grieg. Model sneaky actions like tip-toeing and crawling at first, then change to more energized movement when the music speeds up. 
                -Imitate the fluid, stretching movements of a cat as you listen to Duetto BuffoDi Due Gatti. 

Sensory Play


Preschoolers love to feel new sensations with their fingers and they are not afraid to get their hands wet and dirty. Add classical music to these sensory ideas for a combined auditory kinesthetic experience:
                -Squirt shaving cream into a tray or directly onto the counter top. With one finger, have them follow the sounds they hear as they listen to Bach’sCello Suite No.1 Prelude. 
                -Fill a large plastic bin with water, cups, and scoops of different sizes. Listen to The Moldau by Bedrich Smetana while students scoop and pour water.  
-Let your students draw with one finger in a sand box or a tray of sand while they listen to Air on a G Stringby Bach. 

Relaxing Play


Classical music is also a fantastic way to get preschoolers to calm down and relax. Use these ideas at the end of your music class:
               -Ask your students to lay on the ground while you walk around the room slowly dropping feathers around them.  Listen to The Swan from Carnival of the Animals. 
-Blow bubbles while you listen to TheAquarium from Carnival of the Animals. Let your students follow the bubbles and try to catch them.
-Listen to Clair De Lune by ClaudeDebussy while you float a few balloons around the room. Let students gently bat them around, trying to keep them from touching the ground. 


Cori Bloom is the author of some amazing music teacher resources! You can find her resources at her Teachers Pay Teachers store, Rhythm and Bloom  You can also connect with her on FACEBOOK.

Did you like these ideas?  PIN THEM for later.


post signature

Music Freebies Round Up

Music teacher freebies? Got ‘em! This list features free resources that you can download now and use tomorrow in your classroom. Music history, composers, rhythm, melody, instruments and more downloads await! Most of the resources are geared towards elementary classes, but several would work well in middle school and high school general music classes.

Let's face it, most music teachers spend hundreds (I've even heard thousands!) of their own money each year on resources for their classroom.  It is one of the reasons that I am so glad that I found TeachersPayTeachers.  I love the affordable resources that were created by teachers like me.  

I've compiled a list of some great freebies that I think you'll love in this post.  I hope that you'll try them out and follow all of these amazing music educators there.  You can follow them (and me!) by clicking the green star by the name of the store.  When you do this you'll get occasional notifications via email when they add new resources.

History and Composers

The Big Apple Dance Craze of 1937 by Sally Utley of Sally's Sea of Songs
How did I live this long without knowing about the Big Apple?  Your students will be just as delighted as I was!  This PowerPoint file is linked to several amazing videos.  You'll want to add this to your yearly lesson plans.

John Williams Foldables by Kim Maloney from Music Teacher Resources
I am such a fan of John Williams and so are students that are introduced to the magic of his music.  This set of foldables is perfect for the classroom or private studio.  With ample opportunities for research and writing, this freebie is great for cross curriculuar integration.

Favorite Folk Songs: Looby Loo (Teacher Toolkit) by David Row of Make Moments Matter
I love, love LOVE David's amazing collections of folk songs.  They make great bulletin boards and great tools for introducing songs.  After using several of them, my students were more than disappointed to learn that our next song did not have the "cool slide show" to go with it.  LOVE that!

Composer of the Month Johannes Brahms  by The Bulletin Board Lady-Tracy King
I love celebrating composers of the month with my students and I created this series of composer bulletin boards and writing activities to use.  Since I used the kits for Kindergarten through 6th (and for a few years 7th and 8th grades), they were designed to used accordingly.  Grab this one (normally $5.99) for free!

Music teacher freebies? Got ‘em! This list features free resources that you can download now and use tomorrow in your classroom. Music history, composers, rhythm, melody, instruments and more downloads await! Most of the resources are geared towards elementary classes, but several would work well in middle school and high school general music classes.

Instruments

My Book of Instruments  by The Bulletin Board Lady-Tracy King
I'm always looking for ways for my youngest learners to write in music class that don't take up our entire time together.  This book is my solution!  We can do a page or two on an instrument that we are studying and continue to add to it as the year goes along OR I can leave it for a sub and they leave with a beautiful book to take home.

Rainbow Ukulele Starter Kit by Shelly Tomich of Pitch Publications
So, a few years ago in the midst of 20 snow days at home, I ordered a ukulele.  I did not do well.  LOL.  I think that Shelly may have convinced me to try again!  This is a great way to get started with the uke.  You'll probably want to check out her post about choosing a great instrument too.

Recorder Black Belt System by Linda Seamons of Floating Down the River
Learn about Linda's recorder program and get tons of music to use with your learners.  She starts with C and A instead of the traditional BAG.  This freebie is filled with many great ideas for teaching and organizing.  I wish I had this twenty years ago!

Brass Instrument Races (Aural Identification) by Chrissy Hutzel from Hutzel House of Music
This is such a great idea!  In this freebie your students are asked to listen to an unidentified instruments (sound files included) and then race to identify it by retrieving a card.  FUN!

Orff Instrument Labels by Stacie Bates of The Bates Clef (I love that name!)
Do you love the look of camo?  You are going to love this set of Orff instrument labels!  Make sure your instruments are decked out with these free printables.


Melody and Singing Activities

Fishin' for Melody by Linda McPherson
I am a BIG fan of centers in music class and this free download sets you up for four (Yes.  I said FOUR!) recorder stations.  It's easy.  It takes little explanation.  It's brilliant.  Did you hear me? Go get it!

Kindergarten Music Lesson Plan Day 1 by Lindsay Jervis
I've said this for years and years "I knew how to teach music after graduating from college, but no one taught me what to do on that first day!"  This detailed and engaging lesson plan does just that.  Songs and activities and a great sequence are laid out in detail.  Try this freebie and you may want the entire year!

The Adventures of Sophie Solfege - Sophie Climbs the Ladder by Angie Kelton of i heart teaching music.
This is a clever (and quite adorable) way to introduce lines/spaces and solfege to your students.  You are probably already acquainted with Sophie Solfege, but if not this is the place to start.

First Grade Music Lesson  by Aileen Miracle
This is a fun and engaging lesson for first grade!  It is actually a sampler from a much larger work, but this is a stand alone lesson plan with great ideas, a detailed plan and several songs and activities.

Fall Vocal Explorations by Anne Newman
Warm up with these fall vocal explorations.  These slides are laid out in beautiful autumnal colors and would be a great way to start class.

Copy, Transfer, Transpose (sol mi set) by Debbie O'Shea from Crescendo Music
Such a difficult skill, such a great freebie to help!  With these worksheets, students transpose sol and mi to different places on the staff!  Although this is probably intended for younger students who have just learned sol and mi, I can see it being handy for older students too!

"Come Along and Sing with Me" (2 part round) by Sandra Hendrickson of Sing Play Creatively
This catchy little round is laid out perfectly for your Kodaly classroom.  You get the sheet music, solfege and pitch names version as well as a file to introduce it.  WOW!

Peter and the Wolf Vocal Explorations by The Bulletin Board Lady-Tracy King
This is a great set to use for vocal explorations at workstations (or as part of your Peter and the Wolf workstations).  It's a great way to warm up a group before singing and it is a fun (and silly!) way to review the characters in PatW and the instrument that plays their theme.

Music teacher freebies? Got ‘em! This list features free resources that you can download now and use tomorrow in your classroom. Music history, composers, rhythm, melody, instruments and more downloads await! Most of the resources are geared towards elementary classes, but several would work well in middle school and high school general music classes.


Rhythm

Rhythm Whack-a-Mole by Cara Coffey of MiscellaneousMe
Okay I must admit that I haven't played this game with students yet, but I have about 20 different props for whacking!  LOL.  Cara has put together a simple, but ridiculously fun game that you'll want to download today.

Engine Engine Number Nine by Anne Meleski of Anacrusic
Working with ta and titi?  You'll enjoy this bright and colorful download of "Engine Engine Number 9" that works on quarter notes and barred eighth notes.  Working from lyrics, then steady beat and then rhythm, this is a great plan.

16th Note Worksheets by Jamie Parker
I'm always looking for print and go worksheets to use with my students.  This sampler of 16th note worksheets is great!  You'll get worksheets for "Dinah", "Old Brass Wagon" and one that works great for ear training.

Rap It, Clap It, Music Match It  by The Bulletin Board Lady-Tracy King
This has to be one of my primary students' favorite activities!  Students say (or rap) the pictures, clap them and them match them with rhythms.  The worksheets make assessment a breeze!  This is a freebie, but be sure to check out the entire line of Rap It, Clap Its in my store.

Rhythm Clap Backs by Jennifer Foxx of Music Educator Resources
What's a rhythm clap back?  Well, you know.  It's a rhythm that you clap back!  This freebie has 5 different rhythms represented iconically and a worksheet.  Such a smart idea!

Measure Tiles by Nancy Otto of The Rested Musician
This game is essentially music dominoes and it's FREE!  A great resource for music workstations or to use during a reward day, you'll want to print and laminate this one and use it for many years.


Don't have time to grab all of these fabulous freebies now?  PIN this list and grab them later!
Music teacher freebies? Got ‘em! This list features free resources that you can download now and use tomorrow in your classroom. Music history, composers, rhythm, melody, instruments and more downloads await! Most of the resources are geared towards elementary classes, but several would work well in middle school and high school general music classes.


post signature

Movement Ideas for "Those" Days


It can happen during the week before Christmas, the days before Spring Break or during each and every sunny day in May.  Your students come to music class with an overabundance of energy and a deficit of attention.  It is tough for them to concentrate and they need to move!  In this post I'll share some of my favorite wiggly activities to get through "those" days: creative movement, watch and wiggle and dance party.

Creative Movement

I've been using these posters for quite some time.  Last year I turned them into something a little prettier and now have several sets in my TpT store.  These movement sets each have a theme and come with two different activities:  Freeze Dance and Creative Movement.  Freeze Dance is probably self explanatory, but the creative movement cards may need a little more explaining.
I either project the file or print it out and just hold the posters up while students dance.  I actually prefer printing them out so that I can come back to a really fun move over and over.  I start the music (Suggestions are included, but almost anything works!) and then hold up a creative movement poster.  Students look at the picture and/or the name on the card and then decide how to interpret it.  This is SO much fun that kids ask for it every week.  Sometimes I mix and match the sets to keep them on their toes.  Here are a few samples from different sets:




 You can click each of these pictures to learn more about the sets.

Watch and Wiggle

Teacher Confession #1:  Sometimes, especially at the end of the school year, I just need to sit down for a few minutes.  I need to sit and rest because there is just no tired like end-of-the-year-tired.  For me, it is a great time to pull out my watch and wiggle videos.
Teacher Confession #2:  I have quite a few student favorites saved on Symbaloo and until this day, I have never shared my list with anyone.  Why?  This visual playlist ups my cool factor by about 50 degrees.  Kids love it that much.  So, be careful and use it wisely.  :-)
Click here to check out my Movement and Dance Symbaloo board with links to some of my favorite wiggly songs.

Dance Party

This is the most exhausting but exhilarating options for "those" days.  It is time to wear them out with an all out dance party! WooOoOooT!  On dance party days (or days where the last half of class is a dance party), I have students stack their chairs and leave a ton of open space.  We talk about acceptable dance behavior, personal space and rule #2 in the music room "Don't touch Mrs. King's stuff!"

Then, we dance.  I usually dance with them as they need a leader for some of the dances.  Here are some of our favorites:
Cha Cha Slide
Macarena
Cupid Shuffle
Chicken Dance
The Bunny Hop
C'mon Ride the Train (Here's a great tutorial.)
The Hokey Pokey (Yes, even with the big kids!)
Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)
Next dance party I'm going to try:
The Wobble (Tutorial here.)
The Cotton Eyed Joe (Tutorial here.)

Warning:  This option can be pretty exhausting, but I must admit that I always feel better and sleep really well that night!

post signature

Music Education Blog Carnival

Music Education Blog Carnival hosted by Tracy King
I am SO excited to host the Music Education Blog Carnival this month.  April is here and with it are sunny days and chilly nights, flowers blooming and of course, some fabulous blog posts by music educators you love!  I hope you'll enjoy peeking into the classrooms (and minds!) of the talented educators that I've linked you to below.



Musical Prep in the Elementary Music Room 
by Lori Sweet at Sweet Sounds
Looking for a little direction when planning your spring musical?  This is a great post about just that.  Practical tips and great ideas for taming this mammoth project.  I really like Lori's idea for "The Packet" which is an absolute must!


A Little Thank You Goes a Long Way
by David Row from Make Moments Matter
Your mama taught you to always say "thank you" and in this post David Row reminds us to do the same thing at school!  Post concert thank yous are a necessity and he gives some some great ideas for what to include.


Music Crafts for Your Group Activities
by Jennifer Foxx at Music Educator Resources
Feeling crafty?  I love crafting and I love incorporating it into my classroom any chance I get.  This blog post is stuffed with clever craft ideas


Ukulele Comparison for Music Class
by Shelley Tomich at Pitch Publications
I have a confession to make.  I dropped out of class guitar.  Twice.   It is true!  A couple of years ago I bought a ukulele during a snowed out month of school and tried to teach myself.  Uhm...nope.  LOL.  I wish that I had Shelley's guide to ukulele's to help me pick out mine.  This blog post will become your favorite reference for comparing ukuleles.  You'll find reviews, pictures, video and more.  This is definitely worth the read.  Don't forget to bookmark it!


Music of Japan Mini Unit
by Aileen Miracle at Mrs. Miracle's Music Room
She calls it a "mini unit" but this post is PACKED with great ideas for exploring the music of Japan.  Folk songs, movement, drumming, links and more.  If you are planning to share the music of Japan with your students, start by checking out this post.

Big Ship Sailing
by Jennifer Hibbard at the Yellow Brick Road
Irish music is the topic of this blog post.  Jennifer introduces "Big Ship Sailing" with some great ideas for movement, map skills and and video links to some great listening examples.  I am bookmarking this one for future use!


Shake It Up - Spring Activities for Music Class
by Tracy King
I'd also love to share one of my favorite posts from this past month.  In this post I share some fun ways to make use of plastic Easter eggs.  Now is the time to find these versatile learning tools for just pennies!

I hope that you have enjoyed this installment of the Music Education Blog Carnival.  Want to see other editions or learn about hosting the carnival?  Click HERE.




post signature

Tips for Improving Audience Behavior at Your Next Performance

Mrs. King's Music Room: Tips for Improving Audience Behavior at Your Next Performance. How can you keep students and parents engaged and quiet? Try some of these tips at your next concert or program for the best audience ever.

Tips for Improving Audience Behavior at Your Next Performance

The music is ready.  The lines are memorized.  The stage is decorated.  It is concert time!  The next thing to consider is how to keep the audience entertained and under control during the entire evening.  Let's face it.  Your students know what your expectations are for the evening.  They have practiced walking in lines, being quiet and using good audience behavior in your classroom all year.  The audience?  In all likelihood, they have been to more ballgames than concerts and may need a little prompting to be a good audience.  This doesn't mean that they aren't there to be supportive or that they don't like the arts.  It may just be that they don't know what is expected of a great audience.

1.  Add a little reminder about audience behavior in your program.  Something like this:
Mrs. King's Music Room: Tips for Improving Audience Behavior at Your Next Performance. How can you keep students and parents engaged and quiet? Try some of these tips at your next concert or program for the best audience ever.


2.  I always have students welcome the audience and introduce songs.  On occasion, I've had them rap or recite a poem about audience etiquette.  I love THIS one by Tami Mangusso.

3.  Use slideshows and videos before the concert to help students and audience members know what's going on.  I also use this as an opportunity to remind concert goers about good audience behavior.  Here is a sample from about 7 years ago.  I set the show to loop and have thematic music playing in the background.  This concert was easy as there are many great country Christmas songs out there.


4.  It's not usually before a concert that I have problems with noise.  It is during the time that students are getting on and off the risers.  With large groups this takes a few minutes no matter how much we practice.  During this time the audience starts chatting and moving around.  This is fine (I would rather they do that when we are not performing!) but it can be hard to get them back to a reasonable level before the next group starts.  My solution?  Entertain them!

I play slideshows with pictures of class activities, trivia (related to the theme of the concert) or other thematic content.  As soon as the first group of students takes their bow, the slideshow starts and we transition to a new group.



5.  Decorate with a purpose.  You may have noticed that I kind of LOVE bulletin boards!  LOL.  Well, I've got one for audience behavior too.  Check out Thankful for Good Audience Behavior.
Thankful for Good Audience Behavior

I hope these tips help you have a great performance!  Best wishes!
Like this article? Pin it!
Mrs. King's Music Room: Tips for Improving Audience Behavior at Your Next Performance. How can you keep students and parents engaged and quiet? Try some of these tips at your next concert or program for the best audience ever.

post signature

Teaching Patriotic Music - What to Do

Teaching Patriotic Music - What to Do Great ideas for teaching patriotic music. Activities and patriotic songs by grade level inspire you to add more to your curriculum. Easy lesson plan ideas for incorporating patriotic music are also included.

In a previous blog post I asked the question "Why teach patriotic music?"  There are several reasons and I hope you'll take a moment to check out that article.  In this post I'm going to talk about my song and activity choices for my Kindergarten through 6th grade students.

I must admit that when I first started teaching I didn't focus much on patriotic music.  For the first two or three years I really just did a little something with the national anthem and that was it.  I was looking to incorporate music that really connected with students and really got them excited about what we were doing in class.  Silly me!  Patriotic music does just that!

I decided that I would come up with just a couple of songs that each grade level would learn.  By the time my students left me to move on to middle school or high school they would have a solid repertoire of patriotic music under their belts.  Then I added a few activities with patriotic music including a large unit on the "Star-Spangled Banner" for third graders.

Every August, our song of the month is the "Star-Spangled Banner".  All students review the three rules of etiquette when listening to or performing our national anthem.
1.  Stand up (and take your hat off if you are wearing one).
2.  Hand on your heart.
3.  Eyes on the flag.

This is a tough song for my youngest learners, so we usually just use this time to practice listening and being respectful.  I often put up a bulletin board in the main hallway or near the flag in my room that reminds students about national anthem etiquette.  This one is my favorite.  I've used it a couple of times.


So now, let's break this down by grade level.  Here are the songs and activities I do K-6.

Kindergarten
"You're a Grand Old Flag"
We learn the words and sometimes a very simple plate routine that focuses on them following my directions. (Nope, don't have these written down because they are mostly steady beats with plastic plates.  Think up, down, left right, etc...)
"Yankee Doodle"
We talk about march and lullaby in Kindergarten so this is one of our favorite marches.  We also use it for steady beat practice with rhythm sticks.  We don't really talk about the history of the piece.

In Kindergarten we use several Sousa marches too.  We keep the steady beat, freeze dance (well...freeze march) and sometimes write/draw about what we hear.  Since we only talk about a few instruments in Kindergarten this is a great addition to our listening repertoire.  We identify drums, trumpet and flute easily!

First Grade
"You're a Grand Old Flag"
"Yankee Doodle"
We can read most of these words by the end of first!  Hurray!  We don't really do anything new with "You're a Grand Old Flag" in first grade.

With Yankee Doodle we learn a very simple stick passing routine.  We sit in a circle and use the pattern "tap tap cross pass".  Tap on the floor.  Tap sticks together.  Pass to the right.  After we've done this activity in class, I can add it as a workstation.

"My Country 'Tis of Thee"
We learn the words to this song and talk about them.  "land where my fathers died" can be a bit confusing.  Some years we create a patriotic song quilt with these lyrics.  I'll talk more about that when in a bit.

Second Grade
"God Bless America"
Kids LOVE this song!  We listen to a couple of different performances, red and talk about the lyrics and sometimes create drawings/sentence writing to show our favorite things about America while listening to it.
"You're A Grand Old Flag"
We love this song.  It is a part of our "second grade songs" PowerPoint.  This file contains the lyrics to songs that we sing often.  I can leave this for a sub to use because it is essentially click and go.
"Allegiance Rap"
This song is by the talented folks at Music K-8 Magazine.  It is mostly the Pledge of Allegiance, but seriously cool.  The kids learn this quickly.  Some years we add a plastic plate routine with it.

Third Grade
"America the Beautiful"
I have a book with the lyrics of this song that stays in my student bookshelf.  Students can read/sing through it when they are at this station during centers days.  I take it out early in the year and we read/sing through it as a class.  Some years we will create a patriotic song quilt with it.

To make the quilt, I give them squares of paper and assign them a line in the song.  Some kids draw "Oh, beautiful for spacious skies" while others draw "for amber waves of grain" and so on.  We display them on the wall so that they look like blocks from a quilt.  Such a great display!  Some years I will print out squares with the lyrics, other years I just give them the squares.  I think 8 x 8 works best so I just cut a couple of inches of a standard letter sized sheet.

This works with "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and several other patriotic songs. LOVE the finished display.  If I can, I try to have it up for the first parent-teacher conferences.

"God Bless America"
We really just review this song and all of the other songs since Kindergarten.

"Star-Spangled Banner" Unit
I take about 4 weeks during September/October to focus on the "Star-Spangled Banner" with third graders.  We learn about the history, decipher the lyrics, work on memorizing it and more.  After experimenting with this unit for a few years I came up with some workstations that I love!  This set is available in my store and contains ten different workstations.  HERE are several blog posts about Star Spangled Banner Workstations that will let you take a peek at them in action.

I like these workstations because there's a little bit of everything in them.  Students learn about Francis Scott Key, work with vocabulary from the song, review the history of it, work on memorizing the lyrics, singing and more.  Good stuff.  Students are on task and really walk away with a great deal of knowledge.

I used to give a 10 question quiz at the end of this unit.  Instead of doing that now I use exit tickets.  We do one at the end of each class period that we are studying the "Star-Spangled Banner" and sometimes randomly throughout the rest of the year.  I use THESE with 3rd graders but honestly they would work for 3rd through 6th with ease.



Fourth Grade
"God Bless the USA"
I have a PowerPoint for this song that I use.  Kids love singing it and we add it to the list of patriotic music we know.  You can download one by Patty Oeste on THIS page.  (Scroll down.)
"This Land is Your Land"
We sing this from the "Get America Singing" books.  Some years we will learn a little descant part (from an old text book series...sorry I can't remember which one!)
Music of Missouri
Fourth graders focus a great deal on Missouri history so I try and add a few folk songs from the area, we touch on musicians from Missouri and listen to the "Missouri Waltz".  I'm always looking for new resources for this, so if you are a Missourian please let me know what you do!  I feel like I barely touch this topic.
Star Spangled Evaluations
Last year we did a huge unit on our national anthem.  This year I want to make sure they remember some of it!  In fourth grade we review the story, etiquette and vocabulary from our study of the "Star-Spangled Banner" in third grade and then we do Star Spangled Evaluations.  This activity takes one 50-minute class period and is a huge hit with the students.  I just blogged about this activity HERE.  Take a look and download the freebie to use with your class.

Fifth Grade
"Fifty Nifty"
All year.  Workin' the fifty nifty so that students leave with this song (and the alphabetical presentation of the states) memorized.  You can watch a YouTube video of this student favorite HERE.  Get a real copy from Hal Leonard.

Teaching Patriotic Music - What to Do Great ideas for teaching patriotic music. Activities and patriotic songs by grade level inspire you to add more to your curriculum. Easy lesson plan ideas for incorporating patriotic music are also included.
My 5th and 6th graders performing "Rap of the Presidents" at a patriotic concert.  It makes you smile, right?

"Rap of the States" and sometimes "Rap of the Presidents"
Depending on the groups and the year I use these two gems from Teresa Jennings with 5th and 6th graders.  They are a little long, so unless we are using them for a concert performance we don't memorize them.

Songs of the Westward Expansion
A large portion of the year is spent learning folk songs from the time of the westward expansion in America.  Songs include  "Erie Canal", "John Henry", "Home on the Range" and cowboy and pioneer songs.  We sing the Music K-8 versions, watch videos of their performances by a variety of folk singers and musicians and complete a favorite project of mine, the rewriting of "Home on the Range".

This activity is actually the idea of my pal Kristin Lukow.  Check out her blog HERE and download this worksheet HERE.  The idea is that students re-write this classic song to fit their tastes.  They must work to use the original tune and keep as close to the syllabication of the original song to make it work.  Here's a good one:
Oh give me a phone, with extra minutes to roam,
with more storage than I can fill up!
With a rockin' ringtone
and a case made of chrome,
and data so I can text you "what's up?"

Phone, phone of my own,
with more storage than I can fill up!
With a rockin' ringtone and a case made of chrome,
and a camera for my selfie close-up! 



Sixth Grade
Music of the Armed Forces
The music of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard are studied in 6th grade.  We use some patriotic and armed forces listening glyphs.  The big kids don't get to color as much as they would like and really enjoy the listening glyphs.  It is also a chance for them to get really familiar with these pieces because we listen to them as we work.  You can get the listening glyphs HERE.
Teaching Patriotic Music - What to Do Great ideas for teaching patriotic music. Activities and patriotic songs by grade level inspire you to add more to your curriculum. Easy lesson plan ideas for incorporating patriotic music are also included.

I blogged a bit about my Music of the Armed Forces activities in THIS blog post.  I also like to use one of the five armed forces bulletin board sets I have when I display the listening glyphs.  I love to do this near Veteran's Day if I can.


Slave songs, plantation songs and traditional African American folk songs
Throughout the year, sixth graders learn about music of the American Civil War, slave songs and traditional African American folk songs.  In February we study American Jazz Musicians and do a short research assignment on them.  You can take a look at that HERE.

I hope that you've enjoyed the red, white and blue tour through my school year.  I have many patriotic resources on my Patriotic Resources Pinterest board.  Follow it to get new ideas.

post signature
Like this article?  Pin it!
Teaching Patriotic Music - What to Do Great ideas for teaching patriotic music. Activities and patriotic songs by grade level inspire you to add more to your curriculum. Easy lesson plan ideas for incorporating patriotic music are also included.

Star Spangled Banner Evaluations

Mrs. King's Music Room: Star Spangled Banner Evaluations FREE download of a fabulous activity for analyzing different performances of the "Star Spangled Banner". Links to videos and great ideas for using it in your classroom. Students love this patriotic activity.

I am so thankful that I am teaching in the digital age.  As a rural teacher, my students don't have an opportunity to see a variety of music performances.  YouTube has opened a whole new world of instruction.  If we are learning about bassoons, we can watch a video about bassoons.  If we read about a barbershop quartet, we can pull up a video and hear one in minutes.  Looking for an authentic folk song from New Zealand?  Hello, Internet.

One of my favorite patriotic activities utilizes the awesomeness of YouTube and encourages students to evaluate and critique.  I call it Star-Spangled Banner Evaluations.  I give students a sheet to fill out while listening or watching performances of our national anthem.  The worksheets ask students to write down the name of the performer, the genre, if it is acapella or accompanied and then rate it using a 5-star system.  There is also a place for a few notes that will help students write about the performance later.  At the end of class (I usually leave about 10 minutes, maybe less.), I ask students to write a paragraph (4-6 sentences) about their favorite one.

I use a wide variety of examples.  They hear soloists, groups, choirs, instrumental versions, classics, children and whatever else I can find.  I usually cue up these performances before they get to class, but sometimes we'll vote on the ones we watch.

I have most of my favorites saved on my national anthem Symbaloo board.   Check out this page to see all of the performances that I have bookmarked.  You can save this page too and use it in your classroom.

This activity leads to great conversations about vocal quality, how to classify genre, how to name groups (quartet, sextet, etc..), stage presence and more.  For some students this is an introduction the term "acapella".  This is also a lot of fun, so students often don't realize what higher order thinking skills they are using.  Love that!

Would you like to try out the Star Spangled Evaluations?  You can!  I've uploaded them to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store as a free download.  If you like them, please leave a little feedback.  I love 4 star ratings and your comments help me create more things that you'll love.




post signature
Like this article?  Pin it!
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)