My third graders have been loving the Japanese Weather telling song and game, transcribed by Jerry Jaccard, my friend, and the mentor of our school district. I love connecting the songs with a book and this is what makes it work well. This is a simple but lovely true story about a young girl in …
In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg
I play the song, “In the Hall of the Mountain King” around Halloween. We talk about the pattern: ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta, ti-ti ta, ti-ti ta, ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta rest The students listen the first time and count how many times they hear the pattern. The next time, we count together. …
Thanksgiving Activities for the Music Classroom
I try to do at least one day of Thanksgiving activities for the kids. I will add to this in the next week. Here is the list I choose from: Cherry Pie song (younger) Students love singing about their favorite kind of pie and it is a great way to also assess their i-tune singing. …
Skim, Skim, Skim- A Song for Making Butter For Thanksgiving
My favorite mentor teacher, Julianna Barker Gylseth, taught me a song and activity for first grade that we do every year. The kids love it. We work on this song in November and right before Thanksgiving, we make butter by putting heavy whipping cream into a mason jar and shake it as we …
Skim, Skim, Skim- A Song for Making Butter For ThanksgivingRead More
Music Teacher Halloween Costumes
I tried last year and this year, to dress up in something that is related to music. Last year, I was the Farmer in the Dell. It was a big hit, even among the kids. Many of the older kids even “got” it. Make your own pieces or if you want some pre made pieces …
Looks Like and Sounds Like Behavior Managment
At a district music meeting, a lady who is our district liaison for the music teachers gave a presentation on behavior management that made sense. She said we should post something so the students know what it should look like and sounds like to come into class AND what it should look like and sound …
Around the World- Bate Bate, a new discovery
We do the chant Bate, Bate in first grade every year. I love how my hispanic kids come to life when they hear us saying or singing a song in Spanish and I love how my English speaking children adapt to the accent so easily and love to learn a new language. It goes like …
Composer of the Month
I am really trying to bring the composer more to life for my 6th graders. We have talked about them bits here and there and have listened to various pieces throughout their years. In 6th grade, I am doing a composer a month. For our first composer in September was Beethoven. I read them a …
Box Tops for Education
I don’t get the class donations that other teachers get, so I am always trying to think of ways I can get items for my classroom without spending money from the small amount a teacher in my state makes. I always thought these were only for other teachers and finally realized I can collect them …
5th and 6th grade raffle
In 5th and 6th grade, I give out raffle tickets for musical things they do– singing solos, answering questions, even singing the A-440 of the tuning fork. They eat it up, and I am amazed what they will do for a raffle ticket. I have a student of the day each day in each class. …
