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By Jason Litt
The follow-up to "Rhythm Wind Up and PITCH! and MELODY Wind Up and PITCH!"
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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!
Triplets Rhythm Lesson Using Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
By Creating Musical Literature
Use this lesson based off of Eric Carle's book to teach triplets to your students. Use the chant every time that the book asks the question of whether or not a certain animal has a mother. Students can keep a steady beat, play the rhythm or do both, depending on the grade level. Can also be used to reinforce rhythm vs. steady beat. Additional worksheet provides practice in writing triplets. Adaptable for grades PreK-3rd grade. Perfect for a Mother's Day themed lesson!
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One "Minor" Imposter ("Among Us" theme chord quality identification)
By Jason Litt
A game that will keep your students entertained, engaged, and competitively charged with identifying chord quality, here's One "Minor" Imposter inspired by "Among Us"!
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IN ONE MINOR IMPOSTER, YOU WILL LISTEN TO 2, 3, 4 EVEN 5 CREWMATES PLAY MAJOR CHORDS ONE BY ONE. ONE OF THE MAJOR CHORDS IS ACTUALLY NOT THE MAJOR CHORD PERFORMED!
YOUR TASK IS TO DECIDE WHICH CREWMATE IS THE IMPOSTER BY SELECTING THE CREWMATE WHO PLAYED THE MINOR CHORD INSTEAD OF THE MAJOR CHORD
HERE WILL BE ONLY ONE CREWMATE WHO IS THE IMPOSTER
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In each example is a piano/guitar/harpsichord mix with different background percussion tempos to keep the kids engaged. Each crewmate, lined up on the powerpoint (1, 2, 3, etc) will be representative of the musical example played.
Included in this resource are
Have a terrific time with this while your kids study chord quality!
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!
BlockChain RHYTHM! - A fast-paced listening game!
By Jason Litt
This is a great resource to get your kids to work collaboratively as a team (or by themselves if you wish) to identify rhythms as they hear them!
In BlockChain Rhythm, students are given a set of 4 cubes with quarter notes, eighth note pairs, and quarter rests written on them (this is optional, but if you have these, it makes it a challenge for them if you have time to write them out!).
After hearing the rhythm example, they must "rubix cube style" arrange the rhythm that they heard in the right order that it is played. However, the first one to do it the fastest WINS!
Alternatively, you could play this by having the students write it down, have notation cards, or any other method you prescribe. Students can work together in teams of 1, 2, 4, or however may you wish.
To do it as a race: if you have a large and elongated classroom, try setting the blocks 10-15 feet away from the students. Students then have to run one by one and build each beat, go back and tag the next student, and build the second beat, and on and so forth until all four beats are completed.
There are 12 4-beat rhythm examples included in this. All you need to do is play the example and advance the powerpoint slide to show the correct answer!
Have a great time with this!
Instrument Pick-em (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
Reviewing the families of instruments with your kids? In Instrument Pick-em, students will hear a musical example of a woodwind, brass, percussion, or string instrument. They will then see a multiple choice listing of an assortment of instruments. They will then have to decide which instrument on the screen best matches the example being played.
Great for class, boy vs girl, individually assigned, or even for Distance Learning!
Have a great time with this and let us know how it goes in the comments :)
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!
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 ;)
Rhythm Lineup 2.0, great for Aural Theory (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
Quarter and Eighth Note pairs are the foundational elements of elementary music -- let's work on our aural skills with **Rhythm Lineup 2.0!
**Students will have a baggie of cards (or alternatively they can write them down on a whiteboard or make their own cards) and hear a rhythm played. They will have to use their cards and place the cards down on the floor in the order that they are heard.
After the example is played, I usually give them another listen to 'check their work' or go back and fill in the missing gaps. Then on the next powerpoint slide, the answer appears one beat by one beat. Check your answer and celebrate if you got it correct!
Can be applied for distance learning as well! Kids can just use sticky notes and write down three eighth note pairs and 4 quarter note pairs and play along!
Included are 10 examples with brass and woodwind instruments. Have a great time!
To Tell the Truth! (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
Can your kids tell the difference between what rhythm is shown and what rhythm is played? Test it out with To Tell the Truth!
Students will see a rhythm on the screen and then a rhythm will be played. Does the rhythm played match the rhythm on the powerpoint? Students will use popsicle sticks (or whiteboard or can do it individually at the screen) to show their answers and the answer will then appear on the screen as you advance in the powerpoint - True or **False!**8 musical examples are included with 4 beat all the way to 7 beat patterns of Quarter and 2 paired Eighth Note rhythms.
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!
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
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)
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
With Halloween (or in general... anytime is good) around the corner, Candy Rhythms are a tried and true way to engage students to introduce them to aligning syllables. Mix it up a little with Candy Rhythm Matchup!
In this lesson, students will see a rhythm on the board that matches the name of some of their favorite candies. They will then have a choice between 2 or 3 different candy brands and will have to choose the best match for the rhythm shown
The answer is outlined in green on the following slide. You will get 10 rhythmic examples in this mini-lesson
Have a great time (and avoid those cavities)...
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!
Leaf it to the Rhythm - Autumn-Themed Rhythmic Identification!
By Jason Litt
Getting ready for fall and working with your younger kids to identify rhythms can be easy with "Leaf it to the Rhythm"!
In this lesson with 12 rhythmic examples, students will see an item that you would typically see in the fall (i.e. - Migrating Birds, Columbus Day, Rake, Jack o Lantern, etc) along with 3 rhythms below.
Which rhythm best fits the item? Have the students choose the rhythm that best matches (you can either do this as teams, have the students select it at the whiteboard/projection screen, or even race to hit it first!), advanced the slide, and then find out the correct answered illuminated in green!
Examples have series of quarter rests, quarter notes, eighth note pairs, and triplets. Terrific for reinforcing rhythms in the younger grades but can definitely work to pass some time in the older grades as well!
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: