Check out this PBS segment promoting arts education.

https://vimeo.com/55299494

Tragedy for all of us.

My family is praying for and remembering the victims and their families of the horrific school shooting on Friday, December 14th 2012. As a parent and educator, I can't imagine the intense pain the families must be going through and I continue to think of them and pray for them many times each day.

Do you ever find yourself excited to start a new activity or song with your students and then present too much at once and it's a huge flop? Well, that's what happened to me last Thursday. I was excited to start the Winter Circle Song last week and I put out all the stations at once and well to be honest, it was quite a mess.
Friday, I smartened up and only had students play the boomwhacker parts in first and second grade and boomwhacker plus the simplified bell parts in 3rd and 4th grade.  I played the other parts on the xylophone. We even were able to randomely pick different students to play the solo bell part and then end with one final dramatic note on my cue. The kids liked it a lot and they were eager to play over and over with new bell solo players each time. Now I can slowly add more and more over the next few weeks and hopefully perform it at our winter show.
Thanks for visiting. I hope your winter songs and shows go well this season.

Winter song for classroom fun or stage

I'm offering a winter season arrangement for classroom or stage that you can preview at this link:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-and-Winter-Song-k-5-uses-boomwhackersOrff-and-Hand-Bells

It's based on the popular Carol of the Bells melodies and uses several different classroom instruments in a circle activity. There are no references to any particular holiday so it can be used any time during the winter season.
Students will be able to learn their part by singing the lyrics for the instrument that they are assigned to play. My vision is that eventually students will learn all the parts and be able to move around the circle to each instrument grouping and play each part. This can be extended over several weeks of learning and since students change instruments and parts, it will stay fresh and exciting. To purchase the score, classroom teaching instructions and student music parts, go to:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-and-Winter-Song-k-5-uses-boomwhackersOrff-and-Hand-Bells

Boomwhackers play
Snow on the ground
Family around
Cheer in the air
smiles everywhere

Handbells play:
building snow forts
bundled up tight
see the snow flakes
swirling at night

Glockenspiels play:
cookies with sparkly sprinkles
some sweet hot chocolate
with floating marshmallows too

Xylophones play:
skating on the ice
and whirling around
on my sled I'm speeding
over the ground

Thanks for looking.
Leslie

How to motivate students

Motivating students to practice or do their homework is difficult in the best of times but during the holidays, it can be really daunting. How can we as teachers and parents help?  For my own children, I find that routine works best. I just keep the routine of practice going even when we are on vacation or have house guests. I keep practice sessions short and usually try and put the session right before a really fun excursion or event. For example, if we are planning on going ice skating in the afternoon, I have the kids practice right before we are getting ready to leave and if they drag their feet which they often do, I can remind them that they are losing out on their skating time by not getting their instruments out and working with me during our session together. It works really well. I've tried practice charts, achievement ribbons, and other reward systems that do work too at least for a while. One idea that lasted for several months and that I might just start up again is an at home store where my kids earn tokens by practicing and then get to go shopping once a week for prizes. I'm working on an olympic theme for my students at school where they can earn ribbons for different skills achieved.

Orff arrangement going well

We began the Orff arrangment of Rockin' to the Zoo.  Students are succeeding in large part because they know the rhythm already and the basic melody after already learning the boomwhacker parts. I am noticing that the students are mastering the different phrases very quickly. We are learning the parts as a class so today we worked on the bass part only. During the next two classes, we will work on the alto and soprano parts and then be ready to put it all together.

Last week, I introduced a new piece called Rockin' to the Zoo to all my students. It is an arrangement that is first introduced to the students using boomwhackers and then the rhythms from the boomwhacker arrangement are also used in the Orff instument arrangement. Orff instruments are xylophones, metalaphones and glockenspiels. The melody lines are a bit more complicated than the boomwhacker arrangement so it is appropriate for older elementary students in 3rd-5th grade. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly my 1st and 2nd graders learned the boomwhacker arrangement. It took about 12 minutes of class time and they were able to play through the entire song with about 90% accuracy. They seemed to enjoy learning and playing through it several times. This week, we are going to work on it again and I will add some drum beats with my electric keyboard to spice things up a bit. I also plan on introducing the Orff instrument parts to the older students.

The full version of Rockin' to the Zoo which includes the score, Orff Instrument arrangement and Boomwhacker arrangement can be purchase at the following link for $5.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Boom-whacker-and-Orff-Instruments-Arrangement-grades-1-5

Reinforce note reading with your students

I recently invited my general music students in grades 3-5 to play the music note memory game in class and it was a big hit. It took about 12 minutes of class time and they enjoyed it while reinforcing note reading in a fun, collaborative way. I printed 8 game sheets out in color and stamped each square on the back with a smiley face so the students could arrange them on the floor right side up while preparing for the game. I then laminated the sheets, cut them into squares and put them in separate containers. It took only about 30 minutes of prep time after asking our school secretary to laminate the sheets.

I had eight containers of game pieces so there would be at most 3 students playing together. The memory game sheets can be found in a music activity worksheet packet for $5 at the following link. Included in the activity packet are other games and activites to reinforce more note reading, solfege singing and rhythm reading. I was so pleased at how much the students enjoyed this simple music variation to the classic memory game.

Link to purchase activity sheets.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-Worksheets-and-Activities

Why Music? Why Now?

Researchers now know that music activities will engage the young brain more than any other human activity. When researchers dissect a healthy human brain, nothing about the person's life experience or IQ can be determined. However, they can tell if the person was a musician, especially a musician trained at a young age because the musician's brain is markedly enlarged in approximately 20-30 areas.

There are striking changes that can occur with a single year of musical instruction. Only music seems to have the power to alter the brain during life particularly during the first years of life.

 

 

How long should I practice?

How long should we advise our students to practice their instrument?

The younger the child, the less time should be spent. It's more important to advise parents and students to practice a smaller amount of time more often. For 5-6 year olds: 8-10 minutes each day. Try to establish a routine time to practice just as you schedule in time to brush your teeth. 7-8 year olds can go 10-12 minutes and 9-10 year olds should practice about 15 minutes.

Another thing to consider: Depending on what instrument the child is playing, too much practice at one time can actually do harm.  If the child practices too long, the muscles become too tired to keep up the correct playing positions, posture and muscle control for a good tone and bad habits will quickly develop.

Older students that are in middle school can practice 20-30 minutes for each session. Once the child becomes a serious enough player to have a private teacher, join youth groups that require auditions or enter into musical adjudicated events and competitions, then they can establish longer and longer practice sessions to prepare.

Best advice I ever got

When I was in college, a professor of music gave some advice to our class of young wannabe music teachers. She said, " Your students are coming to your music class to play music. Let them play!"
I'll never forget that small, simple piece of advice and when I'm starting to launch into a long lecture about playing technique or music theory or something, her voice creeps into my head. "Just let them play music." It really simplifies things for me and helps me remember to keep the kids engaged in music making whether it be playing an instrument, singing a song or moving to a beat in a dance.