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Classical Music Activities | Build a Superhero
By Agee and Row Classical Music Appreciation
"My students loved creating their "Music Superheroes!" while we listened to superhero theme songs! They really enjoyed listening to the classical pieces chosen and were excited to find pieces they had heard before in class." - Music with Mrs. Kennedy
Build a Classical Superhero! Each activity uses the students initial(s) to decode a music-inspired name, instrument, and theme song. Great for a back to school, mini class activity, or a music center.
The objective is to assemble a variety of musical qualities for the hero. Each superhero will have a different story, briefly told through their theme song and other choices. Creative writing or storytelling is encouraged.
Full-color pages for music centers/activities are included, with a variety of design and color options provided. The black & white version is also included.
What's Inside:
By MsNerdWood
Need a fun back to school bingo activity for primary music? Check this out! It's what I'm going to use for part of my first lesson with my primary music classes.
Give each student a copy and be sure to read through it together as a class so that students know what things they will need to find out about their peers. Then have the students go around and find a person that satisfies each criteria. When everyone is done you can share the answers together to learn a little bit about your students. Enjoy!
WRITE THE ROOM - Minecraft Notation!
By Jason Litt
The newest sensation, "Write the Room" has an 8-bit twist as we present to you a MINECRAFT Notation version of the popular game!
In Write the Room, students will all receive a sheet of paper with 9 answer boxes with a Minecraft character representing each box. There will be 9 sheets (placed strategically around the room by you!) that students will have to find and write the rhythm down that accompanies that character. Once all 9 answers are completed, they will show to you to verify that all rhythms are correct!
To play:
Play some music in the background and have the kids roam around the room as fast as they can. Neatness counts! :D
How do you find a winner? Up to you! Top 3, Top 5, best handwriting, fastest pair, fastest group, up to you!
Have a great time with this!
Solfege Imposter ("Among Us" themed solfege lesson!)
By Jason Litt
A game that will keep your kids entertained, engaged, and competitively charged, here's SOLFEGE IMPOSTER inspired by "Among Us"**!
_________________________________________**
_IN SOLFEGE IMPOSTER, YOU WILL SEE MULTIPLE CREWMATES ASSIGNED WITH DIFFERENT SOLFEGE HAND SIGNS.
_
_YOUR TASK IS TO DECIDE WHICH CREWMATE IS THE IMPOSTER BY SELECTING THE CREWMATE WHO IS HOLDING UP THE WRONG HAND SIGN
THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE CREWMATE WHO IS THE IMPOSTER?
_________________________________________
_
Included in this resource are
Have a terrific time with this while your kids study and reinforce solfege!
Brass with Class! (Identifying order of Brass instruments)
By Jason Litt
Focusing on the timbres of the Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, and Tuba? Try "Brass with Class" on and let your kids zero in on differentiation between each... and more!
In "Brass with Class!" will hear the brass instruments in all sorts of orders (immediately following each other's segment) and their goal is to put them in order they hear them. Students will get a brief review in the beginning by playing the examples of a Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, or Tuba.
After reviewing the timbres, go onto the game where the options will be shown at the top and blank spots at the bottom for the instruments to go. Students can either have printed cards with the instruments, write it in on the whiteboard, call it out, or however you wish! I like to do the printed cards on the floor so the students can line them up and I can assess from the top.
Included are
Have some class -- Brass with Class!
By Jason Litt
In a competitive note naming game, you can practice your lines and spaces while getting out a little energy with your students! In Pitch to the Pitch, 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 show a line or a space note (bottom line E up to top line F) and see two or three corresponding circles above the pitch. One of those circles will be the correct pitch -- encourage your students to pitch their ball to the correct answer... whoever gets it the fastest wins (advance it to the next slide to reveal the answer in green)
Have a great time with this and as always, leave questions in the comments if you need anything :)
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
The follow-up to "Rhythm Wind Up and PITCH! and MELODY Wind Up and PITCH!"
______________________________________
This one will get the kids on their edge of their seats!
You will need 1 thing for this particular game:
The students will see an instrument at the bottom of their screen and memorize the timbre of the instrument (should know beforehand what it is and how it sounds!) They will then hear a musical example of an endless loop of orchestral and band instruments playing in all different ranges from low to high (Teacher will click the speaker icon to play)
Take a listen...
....
....
One of the instruments will be the instrument that is on the screen. AS SOON AS THEY HEAR THAT INSTRUMENT, they throw their suction cup ball at the target. The first kid who gets it correct is the winner (and make sure you advance the slide to make the target turn green) :)
Obviously, we cannot play this as a class because of
The amount of suction cup balls tossed at the screen would be insane
Team A v Team B would be a bit more competitive and only two balls would be launched at once
If you don't have a whiteboard/projection screen, you can alternatively have the students raise their hand when they hear it and choose the kid who has their hand up the fastest.
Have a great time with this fast paced game!
Boom-ong Us! (Boomwhacker Imposter)
By Jason Litt
A twist on the "Poison Pattern" game we all know and love, Boom-ong us, will have students all have 1 (or 2 to make it a little more engaging!) boomwhackers.
They will be shown a pattern of 3 or 4 boomwhackers that will be known as the
imposter. The boomwhackers, from left to right, will be played as quarter notes one by one. Then, students will play an assortment of boomwhacker notes one by one on the following slides.
If the IMPOSTER Boomwhacker melody is shown, do not play it! If the students play it (either 1 note, or the entire melody), they will receive a strike. Play the game until all the students receive 3 strikes (or 5 strikes if you wish) as a class or until they get to the end.
There is a countdown meter on the bottom to show the class how many rounds they have to complete before the end. If they finish it without using all 3 of their strikes, they win!
Play by itself, with you accompanying, or with the background drum beats provided (tempos in the 80s to 110s)
Have a great time with this!
RHYTHM FOUR CORNERS! (Class Rhythm Game)
By Jason Litt
RHYTHM FOUR CORNERS!
· To play Four Corners, ensure all students understand quarter notes, eighth note pairs, half notes, and quarter rests.
· Number each side of the room 1, 2, 3, and 4 (or alternatively, color code it green, blue, red, or purple with floor tape)
· They will hear a 9 second timer. Students will have a chance to walk to one of four corners and stay there for the duration of the round.
· On the next slide, the rhythms will appear in each corner and you will play back one of four the rhythms (provided on the Teacher Guide powerpoint). You can use that or you can play a rhythm of your choice (up to you!)
· The students will have to guess which rhythm the teacher played by showing it with their fingers (1, 2, 3, or 4)
· The teacher then reveals to the students which rhythm it was (#1, #2, #3 or #4) and the students who are in that corner are OUT!
· Keep repeating until no kids are left!
Included are 18 examples (you can switch it up each time and do different rhythms each time), the teacher guide, the 9 second timer embedded in the powerpoint file, and instructions
Boom in a FLASH! (Boomwhackers against the clock!)
By Jason Litt
Want to engage your competitive 4th and 5th graders (and even some younger grades) towards the end of the year (or any time of year for that matter?) Try on this brand new game "Boom in a FLASH"
In "Boom in a FLASH", students will see one Boomwhacker color appear on the screen (PowerPoint presentation). The student who is holding that Boomwhacker must play the note (on the ground, hand, elbow, desk, whatever have you!), and then they automatically advance to the next slide...
... to another color!
Keep it going, keep reading because... they're being timed! They will have 30 seconds to amass as many notes as they can (timer included) before the time runs out and they look at their high score (which is kept below).
There are 4 "50" score levels in this presentation. All you do as a teacher is start the clock, start the presentation, and manually press the "next slide" button to advance each time they get it correct. Tally up the points at the end for the high score!
You can play this....
It sure gets these kids paying attention (because they're held accountable for playing their note when their color is up!).
By Jason Litt
Reviewing the four families of instruments with your kids? This may be the game format you're looking for! An authentic jeopardy game board with categories for Brass, Percussion, Woodwinds, and Strings 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. A text answer will first be visible, but if you advance the animation, the instrument 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 Bassoon?" "What is a Trumpet?" "What is the Timpani?" 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
The Symphony Orchestra just performed and Steve the Sanitation Engineer has a cart full of leftover notes from the concert. His primary job is to recycle them quickly to turn them into more music. In this game, your students will see a note appear on the screen and have to say how many beats are shown. After the student gets the correct answer "4 beats", "2 beats", "7 beats", etc, the powerpoint slide advances, and the animated note gets thrown into the Rhythm Recycler! For all of their hard work, they earn cold hard CASH! Keep track of the cash in the upper right hand corner of the power while students reinforce understanding notation values. You can play this as a class, individually, boys vs. girls, class vs. class whatever you wish! I usually play this as a class and have each student individually go behind the projector and yell the beats, and let the next student come up. I put on a 3 or 4 minute timer with background music and they'll see their finally tally of cash at the end. Very cool and VERY competitive! Engaging lesson to the max! All of the animations are embedded inside the powerpoint, and works with Microsoft Office 2007 and up. Also included is the PDF file just in case you want to use that instead. There's also a non-standard font included which you need to install if you use the powerpoint and there are directions included in the ZIP file how to install. If you have any questions, please let me know by sending me an email - jasonlitt@gmail.com. Have fun!
By Jason Litt
This is an interactive game to get your kids reading rhythms, moving their bodies, and exerting their energy! We take spaces on the staff and assign them an action (bottom space F, stomp, second space A pat, third space C clap, fourth space E snap). You are welcome to play background music (any music with tempi from 120-140 is acceptable), and you give 4 beats of prep and the students must decipher the rhythms with their percussive body rhythms. There is a "Hi Score" counter at the top for the class to see how well they are progressing and it becomes quite competitive between grades and grade levels. It starts off fairly easy with quarters in the first few rounds, but then gets into eighths, rests, dynamics, crescendos, much more! Have fun with this, it's a hit!
WRITE THE ROOM - NFL Notation Edition!
By Jason Litt
The newest sensation, "Write the Room" has an athletic twist to surely get your 4th and 5th grade boys engaged too as we present to you an NFL Notation version of the popular game!
In Write the Room, students will all receive a sheet of paper with 9 answer boxes with an NFL logo representing each box. There will be 9 sheets (placed strategically around the room by you!) that students will have to find and write the rhythm down that accompanies that logo. Once all 9 answers are completed, they will show to you to verify that all rhythms are correct!
To play:
Play some music in the background and have the kids roam around the room as fast as they can. Neatness counts! :D
How do you find a winner? Up to you! Top 3, Top 5, best handwriting, fastest pair, fastest group, up to you!
Have a great time with this!
By Jason Litt
This is a competitive solfege naming game in powerpoint format. The learning goal is for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to name solfege hand signs as fast as they can. 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. Despite the previews, the solfege symbol has a blank below it, and on the next animation it will appear. 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, especially in 5th grade.