Last year, as second graders, my students composed simple do-mi-so songs and used SMART Notebook software to print and share them (see my post about that project here). Now that those students have learned the extended pentatonic scale (s, l, d r m s l d'), I needed a creative way to get them to apply that knowledge through composition.
I decided to create a worksheet similar to the one we used in second grade, and like that project, we completed it as a whole class before I separated the students into small groups to work independently. Here is a SMART Notebook file with the template that also shows my markup from one of the third grade classes.
The students were involved in creating their compositions before I decided what we were going to do to share those songs. I didn't want them to make something on the computer like they had the previous year, but I could not think of a really good idea. So what did I do? What any crazy person would do: I asked the kids how they wanted to share their songs! Each of my three classes chose a very different method of sharing their compositions with an audience (should have seen that coming). *Note: I have not had formal training in Project Based Learning (PBL), but this whole process had many of the elements of a PBL unit, as you can read here.
This project took much longer this year than it did in second grade. This is due to the fact that the content is more advanced (quite a bit beyond do-mi-so and ta, ti-ti, rest), and also because I divided the students into smaller groups so that each student would have a voice. It was more work for me to monitor and assist the groups to make sure everyone was being successful. I also did a lot of observational formative assessment throughout the process. And of course, after the compositions were written, the students had to practice and prepare for their presentations.
I have a difficult time personally justifying projects that take more than 3 or 4 class meetings, but when I look back on just how many standards we were able to address through this unit, I just need to get over it. Here are the National and Ohio Music Standards for third grade that were incorporated into this project:
Below are the finished products of the third graders' pentatonic composition unit. Enjoy!
Mrs. Laemmle's class chose to create posters, record their songs, and turn it all into a slideshow presentation. The posters are also displayed in the hallway outside the music room.
[vimeo=60716000]
Mrs. Tackett's class chose to have an assembly performance on the stage. Due to the poor acoustics in the gym, we filmed the students' performance in the music room immediately after they performed on stage. The sound quality is much better in this video than it was in the video from the gym.
[vimeo=60828401]
Mrs. Watkins's class chose to perform and explain their projects to the morning kindergarten classes because students at our school don't get to have music class until first grade.
[vimeo=61262114]
Here are this year's second grade compositions! To read about the process and download the planning worksheet and SMART Notebook file, please read this previous post. After printing a copy of their own composition for each child, and rather than using even more colored toner to create a bulletin board, I decided to put all of the compositions online this year! Click on an image to view it larger and to scroll through each class gallery.
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Below is the Google presentation, including all of the links from the OMEA/TI:ME conference session “Using Web Video as a Tool for Music Education” presented February 9, 2013 at 11:00 AM.
Some additional resources:
KeepVid.com - paste a link to a web video, choose your file format, and download!
Zamzar.com - free online file conversion. Use if your downloaded video is not the best file type to embed in your blog or document.
Please also visit my co-presenters' websites:
Watch the whole presentation below!
[vimeo=60964383]
Below is the Google presentation, including all of the links from my OMEA/TI:ME conference session “Feeling Diminished? Augment Your Professional Development With Social Media” presented February 8, 2013 at 12:15 PM.
Watch the whole presentation below!
[vimeo=60004391]
A couple of years ago I spent a ton of time creating a box full of rhythm dice games for my kids to use to review note names and durations. I wanted them to be easy to use and durable so that they could be used as a part of my own lessons or if I had a substitute with no music experience. The time spent creating the games was well worth it, and the kids have played the games over and over. A couple of the games are from The Big Book of Music Games, but I created my own boards. One of the games (Rhythm Ladder) was invented by some of my students! Below is a video of some of my fourth grade students demonstrating the three different games.
[vimeo=58948659]
Here are the printable game boards and instructions.
Baggie Inserts (list of contents for each baggie)
Rhythm Dice Games Instructions
Roll 'Em! Game Board (durations)
I laminated everything but the play money bills, and so far they have been super durable. I did purchase some of the supplies for the baggies, but the cost was minimal. I got all of my supplies from United Art and Education because they have a store close to my school and I had coupons. I bought enough to make 15 baggies (for a class of 30 students), with a few extras of each item. When I was ready to assemble all of the baggies, I had one of my classes do it, assembly line style (free labor!). Here are Amazon links to the supplies I purchased for my baggies.
Blank Dice with Adhesive Labels