Group Lesson Thanksgiving Style

We had a great time at group lessons this past week.  I decided to review the games we had played recently which included Jenga, Uno, Tough Turkey and Eight is Enough in a Station format.  I have included the directions to these games below.  I go over the rules of the game and at each station there are directions for the students if they need help.  I plan on posting more about Jenga later so stay tuned.

I had a multi level group, so I had to modify some of the games to accommodate the different levels.  I have some students in the "My First Piano Adventure" by Faber and Faber so they haven't learned any notes on the staff so here are the modification I made.

For Eight is Enough, I had them make stacks of Alphabet Cards.
For Uno, we matched the bass and treble clefs using line and space notes.

We had a lot of fun as you can see in the pictures below.

Some other fun Thanksgiving games you can play are

Pilgrim, Pilgrim, Turkey:  Played just like "Duck, Duck, Goose"  I have my students keep a rhythm pattern going as the player goes around the circle saying "Pilgrim, Pilgrim, Turkey"  Whoever is touched on the head when the player says "Turkey" chases that player around the circle trying to tag them.  If the player gets back to his/her seat in before being tagged, they win.

Turkey Rhythm: You can use Thanksgiving words to say simple rhythm cards.


Pass the Turkey: If you have a stuffed turkey or a foam turkey (found at most craft stores) you can play pass the turkey.  Students pass the turkey saying the alphabet, intervals and or chords.  You pick a alphabet letter to start on and the students pass around the turkey going through the chord, alphabet or interval.  Try going backwards.  You could also recite the lines of the bass clef, the flat order, etc . .

Tough Turkey Directions

UNO Directions

Eight is Enough Directions

Tough Turkey Scales

This is a fun activity where student write the name of the scale on the turkey's feathers.  I laminated my cards and students wrote on them.  You could also stick them in a sheet protector and have students write on them with a dry erase marker.  Another option is to use Bingo Chips with the letters on them and have the students arrange the chips in the correct order.

I also have a Tough Turkey Worksheet that has students write the alphabet and intervals.

Tough Turkey Scales
Example of how to complete a Turkey Scale:

Tricky Turkey

These worksheets have students fixing Mr. Tricky Turkey's mistakes.  I find students love correcting things and pretending to be the teacher.

  Tricky Turkey Level 1

Tricky Turkey Level 2

Musical Mayflower Level Three

Here is another Thanksgiving worksheet that includes the intervals 6th, 7th and Octave.  Follow the directions to successful get the mayflower around the high seas.

Musical Mayflower Level Three

Musical Mayflower

Here is a music worksheet just in time for Thanksgiving, that helps reinforce the concept of steps, skips and intervals.  Just fill in the right letter on the ship and work your way to the end.  If you get all the correct notes, you should match up with the last letter.

Google Docs Version: Musical Mayflower
Musical Mayflower Level One

Musical Mayflower Level Two

Tough Turkey

Here is a worksheet I use to reinforce the musical alphabet and intervals.  The student completes the musical alphabet on the turkey's feathers.  On the turkey's with intervals, the student completes the musical alphabet by 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths or 7ths.  With the interval turkeys you can start on whatever letter you choose or write a different letter in the first feather for group lessons.  I usually have the students go around to the left or up alphabetically, but they could also go around to the right going backwards or down through the alphabet.  I use my bingo chips to complete the turkey's feathers, but you could have your student write on the turkeys as well.

Google Docs: Turkey Worksheet

Here is an example of how to complete the worksheet