Instrument Investigation Research Begins

As we prepare for our Children's Concert field trip next month, we have been reviewing families of instruments in the orchestra, how to categorize them, and now we are focusing in on specific instruments. Students are working in pairs to research an assigned instrument. They will answer questions about their instruments, create a question to research and answer, and then will present their research to the class. Students will be assessed on their written work, as well as their presentation.

Students, here are some resources you can use in your research. Keep up the great work!

     San Francisco Symphony

     Classics for Kids

     Dallas Symphony Orchestra

     New York Philharmonic

     Arts Alive


Here we are in action...

*Music Teachers: This activity was adapted from this worksheet available for purchase here at Tracy King's PayLoadz.com store.

2nd Grade Rhythm Review

We've been reviewing rhythms through singing, playing instruments, notating, and composing. We've reviewed quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes. We learned a poem called "Loose Tooth," first adding body percussion like snaps, claps, and pats, then audiating the words of the poem and just performing the rhythmic word patterns. We then learned an instrumental accompaniment to the poem and interspersed our musical creation throughout a reading of  "Loose Tooth" by Lola M. Schaefer.

We also learned a song called "I Bought Me a Cat" by Aaron Copland. Click here for a video of a performance of this piece.

We used this song to reinforce the concept of one, two, and no sounds on a beat (syllabification). We used this syllabification concept to determine the rhythm of the words of our song. See some of our "I Bought Me a Cat" activities below.

We enjoyed reading/singing the book "Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee."

*Music Teachers: "I Bought Me a Cat" SMART Board Lesson and Rhythm Activity available from "Music and Technology's" Teacherspayteachers store here.

Let's Keep a Beat, 1st Graders!

Our 1st graders have been working on differentiating between sounds that have a steady beat from sounds that have no beat. Ask your students to explain what a beat is, and have them demonstrate how to keep a beat with sounds around them!

We listened to environmental sounds that keep a beat, like clocks and windshield wipers, versus sounds that have no beat, like a cat meowing or a rainstorm.

We learned a poem called "Windshield Wipers," to help us begin recognizing how to keep a beat at different speeds. Check us out...

We learned the song "Miss Mary Mack," and as we did, we worked on recognizing sight words and finding rhyming words. We responded to this song with a movement game, and as the tempo changed, we had some fun! 1st graders, teach your parents or siblings how to play!