Buckets of Fun

Here is a fun summertime game to promote note naming. 

I place the "Buckets of Fun" board on a table or piano lid.  Students take turns trying to throw a bingo chip or penny on to the board.  If any part of the chip lands on the bucket they are to draw the note on my
Staff Board.

Students take turns trying to land their chip on a bucket.  Whoever gets all of the letters first wins.

You can make this even more challenging by not letting the students use the same note on the staff twice.  For instance if they land on C and someone has already drawn middle C, they have to draw a different C.

If you don't have a magnetic staff board you can print one out through this link to use in this game.
Staff Board
You can choose from the large Staff or the smaller staff that fits on one page.  Student can just write the note on the staff.

*Tip if you put your staff board in a page protector you can write on it with dry erase markers and use it again and again

Google Docs: Buckets of Fun

Staff Board

Here are two different size staff boards for use in games.

If you need a big staff for bingo chips or other manipulatives, you can print out the Big Staff and cut and paste it together on card stock.

The One Page Staff is best used by putting it in a sheet protector.  This not only makes your materials last longer, but you can use dry erase makers on the sheet protector and the markings wipe off.

One great thing I like to do before I give my students their new piece for the week is write some of the melody on a staff and have the student analyze and sight read the section.  This improves focus and sometimes we can work a trouble spot that I know will frustrate the student.

Some of my students see a whole piece of music and want to jump right in, but isolating a section helps them concentrate on just that part. Sometimes I have the student write the passage on the staff, promoting note recognition.

Google Docs: One Page Staff

Google Docs: Big Staff

Summer Songs

Swimming in the sea  
Sung to: "Doo-wa diddy diddy"

There I was just swimming in the sea

Singing Dooo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo

All the sudden there's a dolphin next to me

Singing doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo

She swam fast she swam fast

she dove deep she dove deep

she swam fast dove deep

Hey this dolphin's pretty neat!!

Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo

Other verses:

Dolphin-swimming

Crab-pinching

Whale - breaching

Shark swimming

Mermaids plug nose and shimmy down

Teaching Ideas:

1. Use pictures to show students the different animals in the ocean

2. Do the hand jive: Pat Pat, clap, clap, hand over hand 2x, hand under hand 2x, fist pound 2x, switch hand on top for 2 more fist pounds, right thumb over shoulder, left thumb over shoulder.

Google Docs: Ocean Creatures 1

Google Docs: Ocean Creatures 2

Five Little Fishies in the Sea

Five little fishies in the sea  teasing Mr. sharky

You can't catch me  you can't catch me

Well along came Mr. sharky (softly) as quiet as can be 

He snapped! a fish up right out of the sea. 

Count down to 0

Teaching Ideas:

1. Have children pretend to be the fishes and one be Mr. Sharky and act out the song.  Other children can pretend to be the waves or other fish or sharks

2. Use a higher number and subtract two or three fishies each time for a math lesson

Google Docs: Five Little Fishes

Sea Gull song Sung to: "Frere Jacques"

I see sea gulls I see sea gulls,
At the beach, At the beach,

Soaring, diving, fishing,
Soaring, diving, fishing,
At the beach, At the beach.

Other verses:
I hear the ocean, I hear the ocean,
At the beach, At the beach,

Crashing, splashing, foaming
Crashing, splashing, foaming,
At the beach, At the beach.

I feel the breeze, I feel the breeze

At the beach, at the beach

Windy, blowing, blustry

Windy, blowing, blustry

At the beach, At the beach

Teaching Ideas:

1. Think of other things you can see, hear and feel at the beach.

2. Add actions to the words.  You can clap on "at the beach" or act out the describing words

Slippery Fish

Thumb and forefinger close and open for this small fish

Slippery fish, slippery fish

swimming in the water

A slippery fish, a slippery fish

Gulp, gulp

OH NO! He's been eaten by a

Hand opens and closes

Jellyfish, a jelly fish

swimming in the water

A jelly fish, a jelly fish

gulp, gulp

OH NO! He's been eaten by a

Both hands joined at the palm open and close

Tuna fish, a tuna fish

swimming in the water

A tuna fish, a tuna fish

gulp, gulp

OH NO! He's been eaten by a

Both arms joined at the elbow open and close

Great White Shark, a great white shark

swimming in the water

A great white shark, a great white shark

gulp, gulp, gulp

OH NO! He's been eaten by an

Both arms make a big open and close

Enormous Whale, an enormous whale

Spouting in the water

Enormous Whale, enormous whale

Gulp, gulp, BURP!

Excuse ME!

Teaching Idea:

1. Before you sing see if the students can put the fishes in order from smallest to biggest

2. Act out the song with students pretending to be the fish.

Google Docs: Slippery Fish

Sunny Primer Notes

For my younger students I wanted to include a game that drilled the introductory notes from Bass C-Treble G.  For the notes they have not learned we either take turns or figure out what the unknown note's name is.

Students draw cards and match them to the correct note.  You can use bingo chips to cover the notes they get right.  I also went around the sun and had the students play the note on the piano.

Google Docs: Sunny Primer Notes

Sunny Enharmonic Bright Spots

Here is a matching game to reinforce Enharmonic Notes along the same lines as my Sunny Circle of Fifths.  Students pick from the pile of cards and match the card to the correct note on the sun.

There are other ways to use this resource

• Flip the cards over in a grid pattern and play a memory game.  Try to pick the two cards that match.  F# - Gb
• Pick a card and play the note on the piano
• Players pick a color to represent their player (red bingo chips, pennies, candy, etc.) Take turns picking a card and placing a token on the correct key.  If you get two tokens on the same note, then you win that note.  Whoever has the most notes at the end wins the game.  You will need a lot of matching tokens, so I use bingo chips on a paper keyboard to play this version.

By the way, I have had bingo chips and pennies get stuck in my piano.  I had to call the tuner for a pennectomy, as he called it.  I now use paper keyboards when games call for tokens and things that can get stuck.  I've learned my lesson! 

Sunny Games on TPT

Goggle Docs: Sunny Enharmonics