My Favorite Books
I love using books to teach musical concepts (and literacy!). Here are a few of my favorites!
Mabela the Clever: This is a great story, by Margaret Read MacDonald, that I use with all grades if I have time. I use it with grades K-2 every year, and 3-4 if time. The story is a folk tale from Africa, and has a cute song for students to sing during the book. With kindergarten, depending on when I use it during the year, they sing the song, keep a steady beat either on instruments or laps, then play the “Mouse, Mousie” game from Singing Games Children Love Vol.1. In 1st grade, students keep a steady beat of Orff instruments while singing the song, then play “Mouse, Mousie”. Finally, in 2nd grade, students learn a crossover on the Orff instruments and keep a steady beat that way, and end with the “Mouse, Mousie” game. Instruments can be added to the “Mouse, Mousie” song. Each year, the steady beat gets more challenging. In 3rd and 4th grade, students play contrasting Orff instrument parts at the same time while singing the song. You can change the instruments depending on the Orff techniques your students are able to do or what techniques you want to teach them.
Here is what Amazon.com says about Mabela the Clever: “Mabela may be the smallest mouse in the village, but her father has taught her to be clever. And this cleverness comes in handy when the cat comes, inviting everyone to join the secret Cat Society. The mice line up, with Mabela at the front and the Cat at the back. They march into the forest, singing the secret Cat song and shouting FO FENG! Only clever Mabela realizes the Cat is up to no good!”
Buzz and Ollie Series: This series has three adventures that follow siblings Buzz and Ollie. The three adventures are: steady beat, high/low and loud/soft. These are engaging stories to read to your primary students that emphasize these musical concepts. Use them to supplement your pitch, beat and dynamics lessons.
Here is a description from Friendship House: “Buzz and Ollie’s Steady Beat Adventure teaches and reinforces the concept of rhythm. Learn about pitch in a whimsical and wonderful way in Buzz and Ollie’s High, Low Adventure. Buzz and Ollie’s Loud, Soft Adventure is a delightful story that teaches children the concept of dynamics.”
How to Speak Moo: Click here to read my post about this engaging book!
Mallet Madness Books: I enjoy all the lessons from Mallet Madness that go with these books. My favorites are: Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop, Rumble in the Jungle, Mortimer, There Were Ten in the Bed, Jump Frog Jump!, In the Tall, Tall Grass and Peanut Butter and Jelly. I do not own the other books, so I have not done the lessons with my students, but I’ve read through the lessons or seen them done at a workshop, and they are great!
Mallet Madness Strikes Again Books: These are a new purchase for me this year, and I am doing a couple weeks of Mallet Madness with these books in May. The lessons look engaging for the students. I will let you know how it goes!
Listening Walk: This is a great book to introduce environmental sounds to Kindergarteners, or young students. After reading the book and discussing sounds with students, you can add instruments to make the sound if you desire. You can take a listening walk outside and discuss sounds the students hear. Also, you can have students draw or write down the sounds they heard while outside. There are so many fun activities to do with this book!
Whew, this post is getting long. Time to wrap it up! There are many other books I love to use: Too Much Noise!, My Daddy Snores, My Many Colored Days, I Feel Silly…, and so much more! Here is a link to my Elementary Book List and the concepts the books are used for!
The Elementary Music Teacher Blog is Now MOBILE!
The Elementary Music Teacher Blog has gone mobile! Going to yourangelofmusic.com on your mobile device will now take you to a screen that looks like this:
Orff Instrument Storage
There are some weeks in music class that the Orff instruments (specifically xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones) are not used, but they are still set-up in the corner of my room or pushed up against the wall. Even then, when performing folk dances, singing games, and other activities, they are frequently in the way and students can get hurt or damage the instruments. Here is a photo of the new storage cart I bought from Lowes to hold all 25 of my instruments, plus room for more. The shelf is $79.97 and if you want wheels, they are another $20. The shelf is rated 5 stars with 20 reviews.
Here is a photo of the instruments set out in one corner of my room:
And finally, here is a photo of the instruments on the shelf!
My instruments are now organized and protected better when not in use. Very happy with my purchase.
Expectations Rap
The most frequent request emailed to me is: What is your Expectations Rap? After receiving several inquiries, I have realized that writing a post about my Expectations Rap would be a good idea! So here we go!
My Expectations Rap is a list of how I expect my students behavior to be. They are posted in the front of my room; however, instead of just listing them and talking about them, we rap them! Here are my expectations:
Be Respectful
Follow Directions
Raise Your Hand and Wait Your Turn
Always Participate
Stay in Your Seat, HUH!
At the beginning of Kindergarten, every student learns this rap. During the Kindergarten year, almost every day after entering the room to my circle song, students keep a steady beat somehow and rap my expectations.
In first grade, they will say the rap often, but not nearly as much as Kindergarten.
In second grade, at the beginning of the year we review the rap and add rhythm sticks to how we learn it. We will review it throughout the year as well, when needed.
In third and fourth grades, instruments are added to how we review the rap at the beginning of the year. We will review it throughout the year as well, when needed.
Hope this clarifies!
March 2011 Posts
Two years ago on the Elementary Music Teachers Blog:
Music Showcase Night: Done enough musicals this year? Love doing musicals but want to experiment with something new? Well, look no further, because I have an idea for you. {Read more here}
One year ago on the Elementary Music Teacher Blog:
New music theme in my room for the next couple months! After spring break, I will be using my activities from Lynn Kleiner’s S.O.S: Songs of the Sea and my lobster, dolphin, shark and octopus puppets! {Read more here}