The Teaching Studio: Review & Giveaway!: Ear Training Pro

The Teaching Studio: Review & Giveaway!: Ear Training Pro

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Easter Songs

Jelly Beans in My Tummy Sung to "Skip to My Lou"

Red jelly beans yum, yum, yum

Red jelly beans yum, yum, yum

Red jelly beans yum, yum, yum

Jelly beans in my tum, tum, tum

Teaching Ideas:

1. Change the color of the jelly bean having your studnets idenify the color.  Use real jelly beans or ones cut out of construction or foam.  I have included the visual aids I use below

2. Use the flavor to sing about the jelly bean.  Strawberry jelly beans yum, yum, yum

Jelly Bean Countdown

5 little jelly beans I wish I had more

I'll eat the (color) one and now there are four

4 little jelly beans tasty as can be

I'll eat the (color) one and now there are three

3 little jelly beans only a few

I'll eat the (color) one and now there are two

2 little jelly beans, eating them is fun

I'll eat the (color) one and no there is one

1 little jelly bean, the last one for me

I'll eat the (color) one I'm as happy as can be

See the Easter Bunny Sung to "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"

See how the bunny hops along, hops along, hops along

See how the bunny hops along On a Easter morning

This is the way he wiggles his nose

This is the way he flops his ears

This is the way he jiggles his tail

This is the way he eats his carrot

Hippity Hoppity “Sung to Shortening Bread”

Here comes a bunny, hip-hop-hop

See how his long ears, flip-flop-flop

See how his nose goes, Twink-twink-twink

See how his eyes go wink-wink-wink

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Funny little bunny goes, hop, hop, hop

Funny little bunny, please stop, stop, stop

Wiggle your ears and crinkle your nose

Then wiggle, wiggle, wiggle right down to your toes.

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Hop, little rabbit, hop, hop, hop

Hop little rabbit, flip, flop, flop

Hop, little rabbit one, two, three

Hop little rabbit, hop to me

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Hippity Hoppity Easter Bunny Hippity Hoppity Flip Flop Flop

Teaching Ideas:

1. Act this out and have fun with it.  Do a conga line and hop around the room.

Can you find the Easter Egg? Sung to "Mary had a little lamb"

Can you find the Easter Egg

Easter egg, Easter egg

Can you find the Easter Egg

The bunny hid today

Look up and down and all around

All around, all around

Look up and down and all around

For the Easter Egg

Teaching Idea

1. Have a student(s) look for the Easter eggs you have hidden around the room.

2. Have the student identify the color of the egg or a concept that you have placed in the egg.  You could put letters, numbers, addition problems, etc. . . in the egg for the students to find.

Recommended Reading

1. Easter Egg by Jan Brett

2. The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing

3. Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff

Jelly Bean Bingo:Level One

Who doesn't love jellybeans?  They are usually gone within seconds of me putting them out.  The rhythms in level one use the quarter note, half note, dotted half note and whole note.  Using jelly beans to cover your bingo board creates a fun way to play this game and of course after it is over you can eat your jelly beans.

Google Docs: Jelly Bean Bingo: Level One
Jelly Bean Bingo Level One


Google Docs: Jelly Bean Bingo Cards: Level One

Jelly Bean Bingo Cards Level One

Hopping Intervals: Level Five and Six

Hopping Intervals Level Five has the intervals 2nd through an Octave.  You can play the same as before, (See Hopping Intervals Level One for how to play) just with more challenging intervals.

Level Six is only minor and major 3rds.  I am constantly reviewing this concept with the major and minor chords.  This level and level three (whole steps and half steps) gets very repetitive unless you separate the cards into up and down piles.  I find that if we go up and then down, we aren't moving to the same two or three notes.  With this in mind, you can use just the "hop up" cards to race up the piano or the "hop down" cards to race down.

Usually when racing I start at the far end of the piano and race to middle C.  I put a little sticky flag on the note and whoever gets to the flag first wins.  Now "Hop" to it!

Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level Five: 2nd-8th
Hopping Intervals Level Five

Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level Six: Minor and Major 3rds

Hopping Intervals Level SIX

Awesome Giveaway

Check out the great giveaway over at Pianoantics.  Anne is giving away her great resource: Barnyard Friends.  Enter and win the following:

1. The Barnyard Friend Workbook
2. The Lamintaed Barnyard Board
3. A set of Barnyard Friends Flashcards

Her blog and website also have some great ideas.  Check it out!

Hopping Intervals Level Three and Four

Hopping Intervals have been a big hit in my studio this week.  Here are two more levels that expand the game to whole steps/half steps and 6ths.

To play you need some type of token to represent each player.  I love using erasers and collect all kinds for this very purpose. 

You can start your player on Middle C.

Then I get seven Easter eggs, one for each note on the piano.  I then put an alphabet letter in each egg. I just write the letter on a note card or post it (no printing required).  You can open the egg to see the surprise letter at the beginning of the game, but I have found it is fun to be surprised at the end of the game.


Now for flat and sharp you can add more eggs or an easier way is to pick a card out of a hat that has a sharp or flat on it.  
Now you are going to need a place to record what notes you land on.  I use my ever handy white board, but you can use a simple piece of paper. You want to record how many times you land on a certain note.

Start by drawing an interval card and follow the instructions.  Record the letter you land on.  Keep playing through the cards as many times as you like.

Then at the end open your Easter egg and see what the secret note was. Whoever has landed on that note the most wins!  You can reward the student with jellybeans or a sticker.


Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level Three: Whole Step/Half Step





Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level Four: 2nd-6th
Hopping Intervals Level Four

Hopping Intervals: Updated with Staff Notation

I recently have been teaching intervals in Faber and Faber Level 1 Piano Adventures and wanted to review the 2nd, 3rd and 4th concept with my student.  I have used cards to move across the keyboard before, but this time I inspired by our Easter season with "Hopping Intervals."

To play you need some type of token to represent each player.  I love using erasers and collect all kinds for this very purpose.

You can start your player on Middle C.

Then I get seven Easter eggs, one for each note on the piano.  I then put an alphabet letter in each egg. I just write the letter on a note card or post it (no printing required).  You can open the egg to see the surprise letter at the beginning of the game, but I have found it is fun to be surprised at the end of the game.

Now you are going to need a place to record what notes you land on.  I use my ever handy white board, but you can use a simple piece of paper.  You want to record how many times you land on a certain note.

Start by drawing an interval card and follow the instructions.  Record the letter you land on.  Keep playing through the cards as many times as you like.

Then at the end open your Easter egg and see what the secret note was.  Whoever has landed on that note the most wins!  You can reward the student with jellybeans or a sticker.

Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level One Steps and Skips
Hopping Intervals Level One

Google Docs: Hopping Intervals Level Two 2nd-5th
Hopping Intervals Level Two