3rd Grade: Ukuleles In this class, third graders focused on using their left hand fingers to play notes that use the frets on the ukulele. They played a short exercise that alternates between two notes that use frets. Being able to do this is a big step in learning the skills needed to play any note or chord on the instrument. The students continue to impress me with their attention to detail and hard work. 2nd Grade: Melody Second graders reviewed the concepts they've been learning about melodic direction (how the notes of a melody move by steps, skips, and repeating notes), and phrases (musical sentences). Then they were introduced to the pentatonic scale, which is a five note scale that consists of the pitches, do, re, mi, so, and la. This scale is very useful for improvising (making music up on the spot) because these pitches sound great together in pretty much any combination. Students used Orff xylophones set up with a G pentatonic scale to practice playing up and down the scale with a steady beat along with a backing track. Next time, they'll use these instruments to improvise their own melodies! 1st Grade: Notes and Rests First graders enjoyed starting this class with games! First, we played a game called "Tic Qac Toe." This game uses a tic-tac-toe-type board, but in each space, there is a four beat measure made up different combinations of ta (quarter note, one sound per beat), ti-ti (eight notes, two sounds per beat), and rest (one beat of silence). We practiced clapping and saying each rhythm first. The class split into two teams. The teams took turns listening to me play rhythms. If one of their team members could identify which rhythm I played, they could claim that spot on the board. It was a thrilling game in every class! Next, we played a Jeopardy-like review game called "Quiz Challenge" in the same teams. This prepared the students to do a Plicker quiz. They really demonstrated their understanding of rhythms and the difference between notes and rests! Kindergarten: Tempo Kindergartners have been learning so much about tempo, or the speed of music. In this lesson, they focused on tempo changes. We discussed and listed all kinds of things that change tempo/speed, including lots of animals and vehicles. Then we played a game in which students volunteered to act out something as it changed tempos. The rest of us had to try to guess what they were acting out. We reviewed the song we've been working on in this unit called "Quaver's Choo-Choo Train." We talked about how the lyrics of the song describe the train changing tempo, but the tempo of the music does not change. To make the music match the lyrics, we tried it with the beat speeding up and then slowing down. While singing the song with the changing tempo, the students made four trains by making lines and putting their hands on the shoulders of the person ahead of them. They had to make sure that their feet were moving with the beat of the song so their trains wouldn't break apart or collide! After a review game, the students took a Plicker quiz to show all that they've learned in this unit about tempo!
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