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Holly Jolly Rhythms! - Body Percussion Game
By Jason Litt
In Holly Jolly Rhythms, your kids will be challenged to body percussion like never before!
Students will see familiar Christmas characters and items along with body percussion that go along with the characters. They will use a series of claps, pats, stomps, and snaps indicated by clip art in beat boxes read from left to right
If everyone in class performs the body percussion PERFECTLY, you will move onto the next character… and then… A Present will drop into Santa’s sleigh if the students perform a certain number of the Holly Jolly Rhythms correctly!
You will control the amount of time the students can do this. You can put on a holiday song (2, 3, or 4 minutes long) or set a timer, and upon the conclusion, see how many presents they've amassed at in Santa's Sleigh!
It gives the kids an ending goal to get as many presents as they can along with aligning syllabic language to modified notation.
Have a great time with this a cheers!
By Jason Litt
Based off the hit Windows 3.11 game we all knew and loved, Rhythm Sweeper is a progressive game where one slip can end you up on the dreaded mine! This will have your kids reading and mastering rhythms in NO TIME! Students will see a grid of 40 squares on the home page. Each square contains either a link to a rhythm.... or a mine :) I select one student at a time to pick a number. I'll then click on the number and it'll advance to the designated slide. If it's a rhythm, we add that rhythm to the Building Board on the home page. The teacher will click "Back to Game and Building Board" and put the rhythm they just received on the board. As for the rhythms they earned, you can cut out rhythms, write them in dry erase, or have a student keep tabs on the side. Students will now say, sing, or play the rhythm back. Then we repeat! See how it gets progressive? ;) ...until the mine! There are 5 mines in each game, and once the mine is hit, it's GAME OVER! At the end, you can tally up how many beats the class amassed (which is great if you can allow student to add it up as the game has half, quarter, and pairs of eighth notes). Compete against other classes, or themselves! There are 10 files in the pack and each one is completely different (all the rhythms are mixed up and of course, so are the mines) Have fun with this! I keep lively music in the background and have the kids on lummi sticks to play the rhythms back. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment!
Boomin' Whackin', Fun ain't Lackin'
By Jason Litt
10 original compositions for the Boomwhackers that will reinforce all of your great teachings! All arrangements are an 8.5 x 11 PDF which can be projected on a whiteboard, IWB, or printed out for student use Each colorful arrangement uses the 1 octave C diatonic scale of the boomwhackers and each piece focuses on a specific trait, tailored to meet the needs of your students. The pieces are as follows with their specific role: Boom n' Roll - Tremelos/Rolls/Whole Note Durations Boom Sneak Boom - Grouped Eighth Notes and Rests C it and Hear it! - C diatonic scale Variations Dynamically Boomed - Forte and Piano switches Grow n' Go - Crescendos across 1 and 2 measure phrases Legend of the Eighth Engine - Eighth Notes and Subdivision Plastic Jam Op. 2016 - Melodies, Intervals, and Chords Riders of the Boom - Melodic Direction and Sequencing The Boom Room - Arpeggios and Chords The Rest Tests - Counting Quarter Note Rests Tempi is completely up to you! Each arrangement is 20 measures long (after 2 repeats) and includes boomwhacker notation and color on a treble clef staff, which are easy to read large print. A background percussion track has been included, but do not be hesitant to include your own (or use classroom instruments!) Enjoy these arrangements, Boomwhacker enthusiasts!
By Jason Litt
Are you as hungry as I am? Let's eat! Identify rhythms in proper nouns with this fun activity. Students will see a food (or foods!) and their corresponding word (or words!) and given two plates on each slide. Have the students identify the syllables in the food and match it to either rhythm on plate number 1 or plate number 2. After kids lock in their answer, advance the slide and reveal the answer! Most are eighth and quarter note rhythms, but some have eighth note triplets and 4 sixteenths group in the examples You can also play it as an assessment and have kids work individual or in teams. There's a powerpoint and PDF included in this package and there are 13 sets of foods go through and can last up to 30-45 minutes depending on what pace you go in the activity. Have a great time and of course, BON APPETITE!
By Jason Litt
Working on aural theory with your kids? With "Rhythm Mixup" students shuffle up notecards with quarter notes, 2-beamed eighth notes, half notes, and quarter rests to reflect the musical example being played! We start off the first lesson (level 1) with a brief overview of rhythm from Quaver's Marvelous World of Music, and then head right into rhythm mixup. Students will lay out their notation cards (you can either print these out or have the students draw them on a whiteboard, etc), and then a musical example will be played. Students will have to put the notes in the order that they hear the music example -- hence, the "mixup"! Level 2, goes into quarter rests and the students will have to place it appropriately (hint: it's never at the beginning or end of the phrase!) :) Students identify rhythms upon hearing them and use their aural skills to dictate where each rhythm is placed. Make sure to play these several times, especially for the younger ones so they can check their work! Designed in Powerpoint 2007, all animations and transitions should work on machines that support it. A file is included for instructions on how to install fonts. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. Have fun!
Spooky Rhythms! (* Distance Learning Approved)
By Jason Litt
In Spooky Rhythms, right in time from one of your favorite October holidays, students will see a character, item, or a semblance of something from Halloween
They will then view a series of pumpkins with rhythms on them (all combinations of quarter notes and two eighth note pairs) and will have to identify which pumpkin matches the character displayed on the powerpoint.
Have the students select the answer and the correct pumpkin will turn green (maybe it's ripe)
There are three levels
One or two Halloween characters/items with 2 pumpkin choices
Multiple Halloween characters/items along with 4 pumpkin choices
Spooky Rhythms ReMix -- 1 pumpkin rhythm and 3 multiple choice characters/items
You can assign to distance learning and have the students select the 1st, 2nd (or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th pumpkin) or play it in class (side vs side, boys vs girls, individually, or all together!)
Have a spooky time with this ;)
Drum Background Tracks - 24 loop tracks at various tempo!
By Jason Litt
Get your class on beat! Included are 24 background tracks with ethnic flair -- tablas, bongos, electric kits, and drum sets for your kids to jam with. The 24 tracks vary from 95 bpm all the way to 125 bpm (there are 6 different tracks with 4 different tempo)
Want a sneak peak? Give the preview a sample of some of the tracks!
I use these in my class for Orff, Boomwhacker, Rhythm Sticks, Dancing, Movement, or singing activities. The tracks go for about 1 minute each, but you can manipulate a longer track by having it stay on repeat for as long as you wish
Have fun!
Who am I -- Identifying Music Terminology!
By Jason Litt
Was that Presto or Largo? Staccato or Tenuto? Forte or Piano? Use "Who am I" to reinforce the music terminology you've been working on in your class! After a brief review, 6 musical examples will be played with all examples ascribing to either Presto or Largo, Staccato or Tenuto, and Forte or Piano. Students can do this in a variety of ways: -- On whiteboards and dry erase markers -- Through collaborative grouping or partner activity (using pre-cut cards as an idea -- On a SMARTboard or brightlink -- As a race (maybe boys vs girls, side A vs side B) After the example is played, you can advance the slide in the powerpoint to reveal the answer! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the Q&A or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!
By Jason Litt
Based off the hit Windows 3.11 game we all knew and loved, Solfege Sweeper is a progressive game where one slip can end you up on the dreaded mine! This will have your kids reading and mastering solfege in NO TIME! Students will see a grid of 40 squares on the home page. Each square contains either a link to a solfege syllable.... or a mine :) I select one student at a time to pick a number. I'll then click on the number and it'll advance to the designated slide. If it's a solfege syllable, we add that solfege syllable to the Building Board on the home page. The teacher will click "Back to Game and Building Board" and put the solfege syllable they just received on the board. As for the solfege syllable they earned, you can cut out the included syllables (make a bunch of copies!), write them in dry erase, or have a student keep tabs on the side. Students will now sing the solfege syllables back in order. Then we repeat! See how it gets progressive? ;) AND what a great way to do a composition. Heck, you should get your piano involved too! ...until the mine! There are 5 mines in each game, and once the mine is hit, it's GAME OVER! At the end, you can tally up how many syllables the class amassed. Compete against other classes, or themselves! There are 5 files in the pack and each one is completely different (all the syllables are mixed up and of course, so are the mines) Syllables included are DO, MI, SOL, and LA. Have fun with this and let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment!
Body Percussion Warmups (40 exercises!)
By Jason Litt
No need to have drums, recorders, or even auxiliary instruments for this one! If you don't have access, are traveling to rooms, or want to give a change to your curriculum try "Body Percussion Warmups"!
There are 10 warmups in each level with CLAPS, SNAPS, STOMPS, and SNAPS, all indicated on the powerpoint slide. Count your kids off with a few prep beats and watch them go!
Also terrific for reading in some of the younger grades who are not familiar with standard notation and need a warmup to reading using these icons.
Use the included background tracks (90bpm to 110bpm) or put on your favorite music so the kids can jam along!
Here are the 4 levels:
By Jason Litt
Get your kids reading notation with this rockin' assortment of body percussion! Each line is denoted with with claps (A part), snaps (B part), pats (C part), or stomps (D part) and the notation is displayed in color coded boxes. Students play these body percussions back after the teacher counts them in. In the package is a powerpoint file and PDF, and contains 20 different slides of 4 beat and 8 beat passages with quarter, eighth note, and rest patterns. Ideas include splitting the class into 4 parts, having the students switch body percussion, or even having students use an IWB to drag the body percussion signs around. The uses are endless. Put some rhythmic music on in the background to get things rollin'. Have a great time with this and if you have any question please feel free to leave a comment!
It's just Formality! - Identifying Form in Music
By Jason Litt
Introducing your students to musical form? It's just Formality may be the answer! After a short introduction and review about musical form (with a video illustrating musical examples), 8 form examples are played Students are to identify the form by using the letters "A", "B", and "C". Some are easy, but some can get really challenging! They'll see a blank slate on the screen with the number of letters in the form. All form examples are a maximum of 3 measures (so you can even teach this to your little ones!) Students can write it on whiteboards, use cut out cards, use an interactive SMARTboard/Brightlink pen, collaborative grouping -- it's up to you! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the Q&A section or email me: jasonlitt@gmail.com Have fun!
Up, Down, All Around (Melodic Direction)
By Jason Litt
Your Kindergarteners and 1st Graders may understand high and low (although they may think it's loud and soft, but this is why we teach them), but can they identify it which way it travels through non-traditional notation?
In "Up, Down, All Around!", your students get a brief introduction of melody, the most important aspect of a song or piece and will venture into the lesson where they will learn to identify melodic direction.
They will be given a multiple choice selection of 3 answers and then asked to identify which answer is UP, DOWN, or is a melody that STAYS THE SAME. Advance the slide and the correct answer will illuminate green!
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You can play this one of several ways
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Play some classical music in the background, and you have a win-win!
HAPPY FEET! (Fast, Slow, and Moderate expressive movement)
By Jason Litt
A great way to work on expressive movement with your kids is through HAPPY FEET!
In this lesson, students will hear a 4 minute and 32 second compilation of classical music, Edvard Grieg, John Philip Sousa, Dmitri Shostakovich, and more! Each piece will be played for a segment of time and while being played students will mimic the tempo by showing expressive body movement
Of course, as the music teacher you can tailor this however you like, but with social distancing in our classroom at this juncture, the motions are preferable the way they are built :)
In between each segment there may be a slight pause which students will "freeze" in time. Keep the kids' attention by saying if they moving during the silence, they're OUT! ;)
Have a great time and perform this however you wish!
Rhythm Espresso! (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
Something that'll satisfy your caffeine fix and your students understanding and mastery of rhythm!
In Rhythm Espresso, students will see an assortment of 10 famous beverages (by national coffee chains, of course) and accompanying coffee logos with rhythms in them. One of the rhythms match the rhythmic syllabes said in the beverage name.
Have your students select the rhythm they believe to be correct, advance the slide, and the correct rhythm will illuminate green!
Works well with boys vs girls, team vs team, individually, or even as a distance learning activity!
By Jason Litt
Shaun the Sheep hits theaters this summer, and there's no better way to work on Solfege than "Sol Mi Sheep - Level One!". In Sol Mi Sheep, Shaun the Sheep, the Lambs, and the Farmer, help the kids identify where the Sol, Mi, and La lines are on the staff in a game format. Characters are placed on different solfege levels and students will sing back the solfege syllables as they see them. If the class masters the solfege example, the slide will advance and the high score will continue to elevate. Each character has an independent rhythm -- Shaun is a quarter note, the lambs are a pair of eighth notes, and the farmer is a quarter rest. The way I construct the lesson is I have all classes participate and record the highest score at the end of the lesson. I run this exercise about 2 or 3 minutes (it helps if you have a percussive background track running around 90-110 bpm) and let the students keep adding to their score. You'll notice that the more the activity progresses, the solfege examples become more lengthy and difficult. I keep track of the scores on a different powerpoint so the kids can see how they're progressing AND how they match up against other classes in their grade. Trust me, it gets pretty competitive! :) Included are instructions and the game in PDF and powerpoint format. All steps are a 2nd, so no La to Mi skips... yet ;) If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. Happy Sol Mi La-ing!
By Jason Litt
Learning the values of quarter and eighth notes are a good solid foundation to start off, but when it gets to rests, understanding a beat of silence is a little different! In "Give it a Rest!" students are introduced to the quarter rest, which is a note, but a note of silence. They watch "Give it a Rest!" from Music K-8 and then are given an activity -- try to decipher where the rest occurs in a musical example. The students will be told how many beats are in the example and then a four beat percussive introduction is played. Students will be asked to dictate the quarter notes AND quarter rests in the musical example. The teacher can play this again for reinforcement (but for kids in upper grades, playing it only ONCE can be a challenge!). There are 12 examples, each one getting a little more difficult than the last! You can run this activity in many ways: - Student can write on whiteboards with dry erase markers - Pairs of students can team up in a race to spell it out - Use as a whiteboard/smartboard/IWB activity - Print out cards of quarter notes and rests and have them line it up on the floor - Any other way you find creative! Enjoy this with your class and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Composition and Instrumental Lesson Using Click, Clack, Boo!
By Creating Musical Literature
Play and compose using this Halloween classic from Doreen Cronin! Using the words "crunch", "creak", "tap" and "quack" in the story, have students play a variety of instruments (hand-held percussion) along with the verbs while you read! Then print, cut out, and laminate the composition cards and have the students compose their own musical soundscapes!
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Rhythmania! - Identifying modified notation (Primary Music)
By Jason Litt
This is a terrific lesson for your younger kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade who aren't familiar with standard notation just yet! In Rhythmania, students are given two separate rhythms on the powerpoint. The teacher will play the rhythm back (embedded mp3 files included) on the powerpoint and the students will have to identify which rhythm the teacher played.
I cut out "1" and "2" cards and have the kids hold it up, or you can have them answer as a class, write it on whiteboards, or even race to see who can get it first! After the answer is locked in, advance the slide to see the correct answer!
In this lesson, you will see 7 different examples all of different "Levels". They are named levels like "3rd grade level", "high school level", "pro level" and such to get the kids thinking as it's a huge challenge. And of course, if they get it correct, how smart do they feel? :)
Have fun with this and if you have any questions or comments, please leave 'em below!
By Jason Litt
We know percussion instruments are anything that you either hit, shake, or scrape, but how well do you know them? Want to see how well your kids can identify which instruments are which? Try "Pitch Perfect 2!" where a musical example will be played of a pitched percussion percussion instrument. Students will see three different instruments and will have to select one of the instruments they think matches the musical example. On the following slide will be the answer! In this 9 question game, you can play this any way you want -- boys vs girls, team vs team, individually, or have students write answers down on whiteboards or even come up to the board to interact with the powerpoint. Have a great time with this and leave a comment below if you have any questions!