Carnival of the Animals Unit
The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns is one of the most loved works for elementary students. Selections 6-19 in the Listening Resource Kit 1 and the Listening section at musicplayonline are from this work.
Peter and the Wolf Unit
Peter and the Wolf Lessons
Get Them Listening!
We are surrounded with sound all day every day. But are our students actually listening? Every teacher in your school would like to have students in their classes that are better listeners. Here are some ways that music teachers can really help the students improve their listening skills.
Quick and Easy Assessments
Quick and Easy Assessments
For the past 2 weeks I've been teaching a new class of Grade 1 and 3 students. In order to plan instruction, I need to know what they know. When you hear a class perform together you might think they "get it" but it's when I listen to individual students that I can really assess understanding.
Ostinato Lesson
I've been doing a music residency with a grade 1 and 3 class at Grandview Elementary in Red Deer for the past week. I've seen the children every day for 35-45 minutes, and have had an amazing time with them!
Really Fun Listening Lessons
In primary music classes, the students should sing, play instruments, move, listen and respond to music, read/write music and create. Fitting all of this in to a 30 minute lesson takes careful planning. It helps to fit it all in, if it all fits together. If you want the students to understand call and response, you teach them to sing a call and response song. If they can then listen to and respond to a call and response song you've tied together singing, read/write music (understanding form) and they are listening and responding. If it's a singing game, they are also moving to music.
Ostinato Lesson using Musicplayonline.com
I’ve been doing a music residency with a grade 1 and 3 class at Grandview Elementary in Red Deer for the past week. I’ve seen the children every day for 35-45 minutes, and have had an amazing time with them! One of the lessons that went really well was a lesson on ostinato using the singing game, Musicplay 3, #6 Plainsies Clapsies.
Create Accompaniment For Songs
As I'm editing Musicplay lessons to post on the new online resource - www.musicplayonline.com - I've been finding new ways to encourage student creativity in my music classes. The 2009 Ontario arts document focusses on the creative process and critical analysis, and the new Core Arts National standards in the USA, is very similar, with more focus on creating and process than on content.
Mother's Day Songs and Stories
Many kindergarten classes have a program for Mother's Day. If you're looking for ideas for a performance, there are several options for you in Musicplay.
Earth Day Lesson Ideas
Earth Day this year is Friday, April 22nd. If you are doing an Earth Day assembly performance or if you want to teach some lessons using the theme, this newsletter has some ideas for you.