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The "Big Kid" Rhythm Bundle (Grades 3-6) **30% OFF!**
By Jason Litt
Included in these rhythm bundle are 25 resources that you can utilize in grades 3-6. Games, dictation, worksheets, races, and more are in this bundle as the resources discuss longer rhythmic patterns, sixteenth notes, triplets, and long durations of rests.
Definitely a semester filler in here, terrific for reinforcing your 2nd half of the year with some of your upper grades, and with 30% off when bundled together, it's a sale you can't beat!
Presto Pitches (Space Version, F-A-C-E)
By Jason Litt
This is a competitive pitch matching name in powerpoint format. The learning goal is for 2nd grade students to name pitches as fast as they can (beginner level, just the spaces!) :) We usually play this game 'around the world' style. We start off on the left side or right side of the the room and the first two people stand up and you flash a note on the screen. The student who gets the note correct gets to move onto the next child in the class while the other student sits. That student has to make their way through the entire class before being deemed champion... but they could be beat at ANY TIME! You can mix it up, left side, right side, boys/girls, etc. Kids get ultra competitive!
By Jason Litt
In 2nd Grade, we start learning about high and low notes and how they are represented in notation by being placed on the staff.
In stick it to the staff, we have students all sit on the floor with a pair of lummi sticks and sight read rhythms based on where they are put on the staff.
If they see a quarter note on the "E" line, they will click their stick above their head, if they see a quarter note on the bottom "F" line, they will hit their sticks on the ground.
This is a video game format, and includes 10 levels of sight reading rhythms (about 100 different rhythms!) starting out with basic quarter notes, adding in eighth notes, half notes, quarter rests, and rounding out with dynamics.
The class is awarded 50 points (you'll see the HI SCORE image embedded in the powerpoint) each time an example is playing correctly in unison. A fun and competitive way for your younger kids to practice sight reading rhythms!
I usually put a background track on (about 90-110bpm) so the kids can play along :)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!
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!
By Jason Litt
Ready to talk about Forte and Piano in any of your grades? Drum it up, Dynamically will get your kids reading dynamics like a pro!
First, we start off with an introduction to Forte and Piano with a clip from Music K8's animated series (included), and then get into the game:
Students are issued hand drums (or djembes, tubanos, orff instruments, rhythm sticks, whatever you wish!) and dynamics are shown on the screen. Sometimes just 4 dynamics, sometimes 6, and even up to 8. The teacher points to the dynamic (optional) as the kids play along on their instruments while the background music (included) helps them keep on beat! After the students master the dynamics, the teacher advances the slide and dynamic shifts get a little harder each time.
Halfway through the presentation are rests (indicated by blank white boxes) to get the kids to count the notes of silence in between.
Have a ball with this and let me know if you have any questions!
Three tracks at various tempi are included (slow for the little kids, and medium and fast for the bigger kids)
By Jason Litt
So you've taught your kids their three basic solfege syllables (Sol, La, and Mi) and looking for a way to identify the pitches in an interactive game... look no further!
In Solfege Drag 'n Drop, students are challenged to identify Sol, La, and Mi in a series of musical examples. A static example of quarter notes (in groups of 4, 5, or 6) are placed on the "Sol" line, and then the example is played. Students will have to take the pen from the IWB to drag the remaining notes to reflect what was heard in the musical example. It can be dragged above to the "La" line, remain on the "Sol" line, or dragged below to the "Mi" line. After locking in their answer, the teacher will advance to the next slide to reveal their answer.
Although designed for an IWB, students can play on personal dry erase boards, on staff paper, or however you wish. You can even split the class up boys vs girls, team 1 vs team 2, etc, and have a race to identify the correct answer first.
There are 15 examples in the powerpoint ranging from beginner (4 quarter notes) to advanced (6 quarter notes). All examples are MM=100 or below
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below! Happy Solfeging!
Turn up the Aux! (Identifying Auxiliary Percussion Instruments)
By Jason Litt
Percussion instruments are anything that you either hit, shake, or scrape, but that's not limited to just drums, rhythm sticks, and Orff instruments! Want to see how well your kids can identify which instruments are which? Try "Turning up the Aux!" where a musical example will be played of an auxiliary 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 10 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!
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
A time tested rhythm builder in the elementary classroom are popsicle sticks, and this activity, "Stick it to Rhythm!" will reinforce quarter and eighth note rhythms. After a brief review on quarter and eighth note rhythms, students are allocated a set of popsicle sticks. After they make space for themselves on the floor, the teacher will play each example (8 in this pack!) and students have to dictate the rhythm using their popsicle sticks (don't worry, instructions on how to do eighth and quarter notes are embedded in the powerpoint) After letting the students decipher the rhythm, the teacher advances the slide to find out the correct rhythm played in the example. This works great for your youngest grades and all examples are MM 95bpm and under. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave it in the Q&A section or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!
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!
By Jason Litt
In your primary grades, the voice can have many different timbres. It can be sung as an aria, yelled from the roofed top, whispered quietly, and spoken normally. In "The VoiceSSSS!", we concentrate on the four methods of using our voice, a key in identifying and practicing the methods: S - Spoken S - Sung S - Soft (Whisper) S - Shout Students see a display 1 through 8 to SPEAK on a steady beat (3 background tracks included, from 80 to 100+bpm). As they read these numbers on a steady beat, there will be numbers highlighted in yellow that will be a different characteristic. Some may be sung, whispered, or shouted (have fun with the shouts) :) Each slide is completely different and will challenge your kids as you count them off so they can experiment vocally For the sing, there is no definitive pitch, so I ask them to make up a middle or high pitch on the number given. You can take turns boys and girls, you can play it as a class, or however you wish Some are quite tricky -- kids may have to switch up to 4 different vocal styles by the end! If you have any questions, feel free to comment! Enjoy!
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
Tracking your students, classes, and sections of your groups have never been easier with music tracking powerpoints! Included are 10 files, all different templates of tracking such as leaderboards for classes, boys vs girls charts, a thermometer powerpoint, and various high score templates All you need to do is plug and play -- put names, classes, however you wish and save it as a different file! If you need any creative ways to track student or class progress, feel free to email or leave a comment. I truly hope this visual aid brings some flare to your classrooms!
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!
By Jason Litt
A fun activity to play with kids of all ages! Check out these Italian names and guess whether it’s a PASTA or a COMPOSER! See how many you get right! Some of these are quite tricky while others are pretty obvious :)
Jump through Hoops! (Rhythm Dictation)
By Jason Litt
This will sure to get your class energized and all you need is about 8 hula hoops! We group all the boys on one side and all the girls on another side (or you can do team A + team B) In front of the teams will be 4 hula hoops (representative of 4 beats of music). Kids will be called up in groups of 2, 3, 4, or more and listen to the musical example. After they hear the example, they have to act as the quarter and eighth notes in the example and spell it out from left to right! It's a hot mess, but it sure gets the kids to work together! As soon as the first team gets the right rhythm, advance the slide and show the answer! Each slide will contain how many students will be in the group, the musical example, and the hoops shown. Up to 2 students (2 eighth notes) can be in a hoop, 1 student (will represent a quarter note) alone in a hoop, or a blank hoop (0 students) for a rest. Have a great time with this the KIDS LOVE THIS!!!!!!
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!
Throw Re Mi - Identifying Solfege Sylllables!
By Jason Litt
In a competitive solfege syllable naming game, you can practice your do-re-mi while getting out a little energy with your students! In Throw Re Mi, students will be split into groups (boys vs girls, colors vs colors, teams vs teams, however you wish) and one representative will stand in front of the whiteboard to represent their team. They will both use one suction cup ball to play the game (can be found at the dollar store or Target for a few bucks!)
They will be shown a solfege hand sign and see two or three corresponding circles above the hand sign. One of those circles will be the correct syllable (DO or RE, MI or TI, FA or LA, etc) -- encourage your students to throw their ball to the correct answer... whoever gets it the fastest wins (advance it to the next slide to reveal the answer in blue)
Also included is in an advanced round, called Throw Re Mi - Remix where it's flipped. The solfege hand signs will be on the top and the syllable on the bottom!
Have a great time with this and as always, leave questions in the comments if you need anything :)
By Jason Litt
Reviewing solfege with your kids? This may be the game format you're looking for!
An authentic jeopardy game board with categories for "Give me a Hand", "Take a Look", "Scale it!", and "Extended Solfege" on the title slide. Students can elect to pick $200, $400, $600, $800, or $1000 answers. After clicking on the amount, the answer will appear on the next slide.
Give me a Hand - A description of the hand sign and students will have to guess which syllable
Take a Look - Students will see the sign and have to guess which syllable
Scale it - The following and preceding notes in the solfege scale
Extended Solfege - Lowered and raised versions of common solfege
A text answer will first be visible, but if you advance the animation, the solfege sign/syllable will enter the slide if your kids need a hint. Students (keeping in true Jeopardy! fashion) can answer in the form of a question
"What is a Do?"
"What is a Ti?"
"What is La?"
After the money is awarded (You can split sides of your class, boys vs girls, class vs class, however you want it!), there is a link in the bottom right hand corner to go back to the title screen and game board.
After extracting the ZIP file, make sure to install the Jeopardy! font included, or else you'll see random characters all over -- not good eats!
Email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com or leave a comment if you have any questions. Happy Jeopardy...ing!
By Jason Litt
Reviewing solfege with your kids? This may be the game format you're looking for!
An authentic jeopardy game board with categories for "Give me a Hand", "Take a Look", "Scale it!", and "Extended Solfege" on the title slide. Students can elect to pick $200, $400, $600, $800, or $1000 answers. After clicking on the amount, the answer will appear on the next slide.
Give me a Hand - A description of the hand sign and students will have to guess which syllable
Take a Look - Students will see the sign and have to guess which syllable
Scale it - The following and preceding notes in the solfege scale
Extended Solfege - Lowered and raised versions of common solfege
A text answer will first be visible, but if you advance the animation, the solfege sign/syllable will enter the slide if your kids need a hint. Students (keeping in true Jeopardy! fashion) can answer in the form of a question
"What is a Do?"
"What is a Ti?"
"What is La?"
After the money is awarded (You can split sides of your class, boys vs girls, class vs class, however you want it!), there is a link in the bottom right hand corner to go back to the title screen and game board.
After extracting the ZIP file, make sure to install the Jeopardy! font included, or else you'll see random characters all over -- not good eats!
Email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com or leave a comment if you have any questions. Happy Jeopardy...ing!