This week the music rules will be led by a student. I will randomly pick a student to lead the class in reciting the 5 music rules. Each student will get a chance to lead the class. We have a different leader each week.
After the rules we will do our "crew time" activity. We are an Expeditionary Learning school and crew time a time to build community. The students do a crew circle at the beginning of each day in their classrooms, but I also like to have a crew time. I try to do whole group activity to help them learn how to work together. I will often use a beat passing activity (e.g. cup game) or a singing game. This month's activity we are doing Frog in the Middle (see last week's plans on how to play).
This week students will do the activity without the teacher singing for them. Before we start the activity I will go over the Success Criteria and review how to sing the song. A success criteria is a list of what students need to do to be successful. It can included what the expectation is or what the steps are for accomplishing the task at hand. This is also an Expeditionary Learning component.
This week students will do the activity without the teacher singing for them. Before we start the activity I will go over the Success Criteria and review how to sing the song. A success criteria is a list of what students need to do to be successful. It can included what the expectation is or what the steps are for accomplishing the task at hand. This is also an Expeditionary Learning component.
I do vocal warm-ups with all my 2nd-5th graders. Vocal warm-ups helps them to get focused, warm-up their voice, and to develop a good singing voice. We do the same warm-up all month (3-4 lessons) and then I will change them up. It takes about 5-6 minutes to do all of them. Here they are:
Pitch exploration: slide whistle
Song Fragment (echo song): Caney Mi Macaro
Warm-Up: Mah Mah
Tongue Twister: Apes Ate All Eight Apples
Pitch exploration: slide whistle
Song Fragment (echo song): Caney Mi Macaro
Warm-Up: Mah Mah
Tongue Twister: Apes Ate All Eight Apples
We will continue working on learning what a Refrain and Verse is using the song "Hello to All the Children of the World" from Making Music. I will go over the success criteria with them to review how to read the music and how a verse works. The students will be taking a test on this next week.
|
|
|
I like to start every year going over what makes a note a note and what makes a rest a rest. We discuss how all notes have oval shaped heads and they make a sound. I refer to the whole note as the "grand daddy" of them are. I will tell them that he is grandpa and he's old and lazy. That's why he is going bald (open center) and he let his stem fall off. We call the dotted half note a grandma with a mole on her face and the half note is another grandma because some people have two grandmas. We also discuss how some notes have one flag or two flag and when you have a group of them their flags join together to make a beam. They are like best friends and they like to hold hands.
After I go over the characteristics of notes and rest I give them a little quiz. They have to tell me if the music symbol is a note or a rest. They do not need to give me the real name of the symbol.
I have a Promethean board which is an electronic whiteboard that is hooked up to my computer. Students can go up to the board to write on it or to move things on the screen. I also have ActivExpression which are little remotes that allow students to "click" in their answer (we call them clickers). I can then print out an excel spreadsheet that tells me who answered what for each question and what was their over all score. The students love to use them and I like them because it saves on paper and gives me quick feedback on what the students know or don't know.
After I go over the characteristics of notes and rest I give them a little quiz. They have to tell me if the music symbol is a note or a rest. They do not need to give me the real name of the symbol.
I have a Promethean board which is an electronic whiteboard that is hooked up to my computer. Students can go up to the board to write on it or to move things on the screen. I also have ActivExpression which are little remotes that allow students to "click" in their answer (we call them clickers). I can then print out an excel spreadsheet that tells me who answered what for each question and what was their over all score. The students love to use them and I like them because it saves on paper and gives me quick feedback on what the students know or don't know.
We will finish the day with the folk dance Sasha (see last week's lesson for details). Before they leave we will go over the scoreboard and review the things we need to work on for next time.
