iPads in the classroom

We had the great privilege in the month of December to rent an iPad from our technology department. Our 3rd-5th grade lessons this month were on reading pitch on a treble clef staff. Above two of our students are pictured playing Ricci Adams' note identification exercise from his website musictheory.net.  This was one of our 10 stations for the month of December.

Pictures from Rhythmic Compositions

A few of my students using fraction tiles to write their compositions. I had four sets of the fraction tiles that I rented from our Math Department.

 One of my groups used circular manipulatives rather than fraction tiles. These are a little bit more complicated for the students to understand, but these three did a great job. I only had one set of the circular manipulatives.

 

I made five sets of manipulatives out of construction papers.

Five construction paper manipulatives, four fraction tiles, and one circular set gave me 10 sets to use with my students!

Fun Idea for Rhythmic Composition

 

This week we are wrapping up our unit on reading rhythms. As an assessment we are composing three full measures of music using half-notes, quarter-notes, and eighth-notes. I borrowed some fraction manipulatives from our math interventionist for us to use as visual aids to help us with our compositions. I don't have enough manipulatives for everyone to have their own, so I placed the students into groups of three to share manipulatives. I instructed the students to make a complete row out of the fraction tiles and then convert the tiles into notes to copy down on their papers.

Originally I was using sixteenth-notes as well but the students were composing rhythms that were too difficult for them to perform so I decided to simplify the options. I also made a few manipulatives out of construction paper that only had notes on them, so that some of my slower learners wouldn't have to convert fractions into note values. I have one set of circular fraction manipulatives that doesn't have the fractions or the note values written on it, so I reserve this set for my advanced groups.

At the end of the class I am selecting a few students to perform their compositions for the class. After we finish our unit on reading pitches which we will be starting next week, they student will be putting pitches to their rhythmic compositions. I am selecting a few of the best compositions to be performed at our winter program.

We have really been enjoying this activity in our class this week. If you decide to try this in your own music class, let me know how it goes!

Chelsea Farr

My Experiences So Far

The past two months have been the craziest and most fun time of my life. I was hired in the first week of September and taught my first class on September 12, 2011, a month into the school year. I inherited lots of stuff from the teacher before me who had been at the school over twenty years. Some of the students had a very hard time adapting to a new way of doing things, especially the older ones. But here we are a almost two months later and most of the students are settling into my way of doing things.

One of my first big tasks was the clean up/out, rearrange and organize all of the things that had been left for me. I am very lucky to be in a school that has so many materials but didn't realize this until I hosted a music room cleaning day. About ten volunteers from the high school band spent the day helping me clean and organize everything that had been left for us. The high school band program also donated some shelves for which I am very grateful.

On my first day at my new school there was a letter in my mailbox from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra about a concert specifically for elementary school students and information about grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission to cover travel expenses. I immediately began pursuing this grant and last week was able to take my fourth and fifth grade students to see the show. Everything went over very well, and the KSO payed beautifully!

Now that my first big project (the field trip) is behind me, it is time for me to start focusing on the next big thing on my list. In December, my first and second graders will be performing The Nutcracker Suite by Sally Albrecht. This is such a cute little musical that puts words to Tchaikovsky's original music. It is only twenty minutes long and My biggest challenge yet has been coming up with the choreography and costume idea. If you have any suggestions send them my way!

I am very lucky to be in a school where everyone seems to support the music program and I really appreciate all of the help and input I have received so far. These are just of few of the my experiences in my first few months as a teacher. As the year progresses, I will continue to share my experiences with you and hope to hear from you about things that are happening in your classroom.

CF