Music Camp: Day Three

Today we added dynamics to our music map and created a rain storm.  I reviewed the rhythm we have been learning and had the children play the rhythms with instruments today.  I had four rhythm cards in a row and I had the students say the rhythm, then clap the rhythm and then we played them with the instruments.

I also introduced the concept of accent and staccato.  I wrote four quarter notes on the board and put an accent underneath one of the notes and we said the rhythm, accenting the note.  We did the same for the staccato.

Our theme for today was "The Great Flood"and our bible verse was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:4-6.

I demonstrated how to use a rain stick and then we used body percussion to make a rain storm.  I would start on one side of the room stand in front of the students, showing them a motion.  Then as I moved to the other side the students in front of me would copy me.  To create a human rain storm I used the following motions:

Rub hands together
Snap fingers
Clap hands
Pat legs
Stomp feet
Pat legs
Clap hands
Snap fingers
Rub hands together

It was a really fun experience!  At the end we added dynamics, accents and staccatos to our music map.  The "Fun with Composers" series has a music map for each piece.  I copied it onto poster board so it could be seen by the students.  I put some dynamic markings, accents and staccatos on some post it notes.  I had the students decide which dynamic matches the piece as we listened to it.

Music Camp: Day Two

On Day Two I focused on rhythm, music vocabulary and dynamics.  I am using some fun words to teach rhythm to the children that correspond with Noah's Ark as seen below.  It has been great using the rhythm cards found at Layton Music.  The kids have really caught on to reading rhythm pretty well.

I also have been introducing the dynamics and having students tell me which dynamic I am using in various songs.  We have been speaking the words with the appropriate level of voice.  So piano is whispered and forte is with a very loud voice.  They like being able to be loud!

Today we played a fun game with Zoo Pal plates.  Zoo Pals are plates with animals on them.  I matched up the plates so that there were two of each animal, just like on Noah's Ark.  On the back I asked a question like what note has four beats?  The answer would be on the matching plate.  Students would come to the front with their plate and turn the plate with the question around.  Then I would see if any student knew the answer.  Next, I would have the other student with the matching plate turn over their plate to see if the answer was right. 

Another way to play would be to have all the plates scattered on the floor and see if the students could match up the question and answers.  They would know they were right if the animal matched.

Music Camp: Day One

Fun with Composers was a big hit!  I played the music for the students and asked for ideas of what it might sound like.  I am using Persian March by Johann Strauss.  Without knowing the title, one boy said it sounded like marching off to battle.  Other great answers were: "sounds like a circus", "sounds like a fair", "sounds like dancing."

We used the suggested drum beat to get students to feel the movement.  She suggests tapping the drum in different patterns and making those patterns match a movement.  So a simple beat tapped on the head of the drum was marching and taping on the rim was hopping.  When you tap the drum three times fast the kids had to freeze.  It was a lot of fun and very easy.   We added percussion instruments and every child seemed to be engaged in the activity.

Along with that activity, I introduced the quarter note and eighth notes.  We clapped some rhythm cards.  I added words to the rhythms to go along with the theme of the camp, which is Noah's Ark.  Quarter notes are "Zoo" and a pair of eighth notes are "Monkey."



We played a game called find the monkey.  I would clap a four beat rhythm of quarter notes and insert a pair of eighth notes on one of the four beats.  Students had to tell me which beat the monkey was on.  For older students I added two monkey rhythms.

Fun With Composers

I am currently preparing to teach at a music camp and I am using a series called Fun with Composers by Deborah Ziolkoski.  The series teaches classical music through stories, songs and instruments.  It comes with a Teacher's Guide, a DVD that shows you how to implement the lessons and a CD of the recordings.  


I have enjoyed learning the story and dances that go with the music.  I think this will be a fun way to interact with a piece of music that the children are not familiar with.  I am using the Persian March by Johann Strauss.  In the book it has been turned into a fun pirate story.  A music map outlines the form of the piece and reminds the students of some movements.  Instruments are added last to compliment some of the story line.  


I think the series could deal more with the musical aspects of the piece.  It does include some music notation of the piece, but no real analysis of pitch or rhythm.  You could use this book if you had no music knowledge, which I guess could be a positive.  However, I like to talk about the music and how it was put together, analyzing pitch, rhythm, instruments, articulation, dynamics, etc. . 


This series is geared toward 3rd-7th grade, mainly because of the dancing.  I think it could be adapted for a younger audience.  


One obvious problem is the association of words and story to a piece of music.  The student might come to believe that the composer intended Persian March to be a pirate story.  Throughout our culture classical music has been used in various media to portray many things.  It is one of purest forms of music which lends itself to different interpretations.  ART!  So we need to be careful when assigning themes and ideas to music.  


I am going to try and address this by playing the music first and getting ideas of what the students are thinking about when they hear the music.  


I ultimately think the benefits of learning a piece in such a creative way outweighs the limitations it may create in the listening process.  As I go through this week I will update you on our progress and mention a few other things I have the children working on.  See more my review in the Music Camp posts

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