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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!
GAME ON! - A rhythm-building gaming resource
By Jason Litt
Want a great way to entice some of your boys in your general music class? Try GAME ON!, a gaming themed rhythm challenge that will suit all of your students, especially some of those gamers out there!
In “GAME ON!”, students will see a popular game or game series for multiple consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, etc)
They will then use rhythm cards provided in their “bank” of cards to build out the name of the game in a rhythm they feel best fits the name. There will be a series of one beat spaces to give the students a clue on which cards fit in which beats – be very specific as only a few cards will be chosen out of the bank
Advance the slide and find out the students’ rhythm and see if it matches the rhythm on the screen.
You can use this an assessment for all students or even see if they can identify it in a certain amount of time (10 seconds, 15 seconds, etc). Even try a boys vs girls or team vs team to see who can get it the fastest!
Included are 12 game titles and a printout of triplets, quarters, and eighth note pair cards for your students.
Have a great time with this and GAME ON!
Rhythm Color Lineup (an active listening rhythm game!)
By Jason Litt
In Rhythm Color Lineup, students all receive a baggie of six cards (you can just cut out Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple cards from construction paper) to use to decipher the rhythm being played.
They will then listen to a musical example of a rhythm with notes shown on their colored cards (although their cards will be blank, but be representative of the rhythm)...but they’re not in the right order!
The students will then line up your colors from left to right as you hear the rhythm being played, and check your answer afterward by advancing the slide!
All slides include the embedded sound file in it (with 8 beats of prep before the rhythm example) and you get 10 examples to illustrate for your kids
Have a colorful time with this one!
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!
Among Rhythm ("Among Us" themed Rhythm Practice)
By Jason Litt
A wild request from a Facebook group, here's Among Rhythm, a game where students will perform rhythm "tasks" before advancing through the game to the end.
Students will play this as the "Crewmates" and view a rhythm. Teachers will ask the students to perform the rhythm (spoken, clapped, or performed) and then advance the slide to the next task
There are 20 different tasks with Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Quarter Rests, Half Notes, and Dynamics (also reading rhythms up and down!)
You can play this with mysterious music in the background to set an ambient game mood.
Enjoy!
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!
By Jason Litt
The ever popular StickStations, Artie Almeida's ingenius percussion solution for elementary school students gets a new jam with StickStation Jam '20!
Students will have their StickStations set up with a tambourine, pair of drum sticks, cutting board, and 1 pint paint can). Tambourines and Drum Sticks can be ordered in bulk on Amazon, the paint cans at Home Depot or Lowe's, and Cutting Boards at the Dollar store
You can outfit an enter class for under $100!
In the 10 exercises included, students will be assigned an "A" "B" or "C" line and repeat their "Jam" over and over. Or you could have them read it from the beginning, over to the middle line, and through the ending line.
Or even in a round or canon? Maybe do it backwards? How about the boys on the "A" line, "B" line for girls, and "C" line for the teacher? The possibilities are endless!
The 10 exercises included go through 4 beat patterns, 4 beat patterns with eighth notes and rests, 8 beat patterns, and 8 beat patterns with eighth notes and rests
Have a great time with this!
The Signature Series, Identifying Meter (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
This is a terrific tool to work on meter either face to face or as a lesson in Distance Learning! Students will learn and review about Time Signatures before listening to short examples of a piece of music in either 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8 time.
Students will then have to select the appropriate meter for the example being heard. You can play this student vs student, side vs side, individually, or even as a distance learning assignment!
12 musical examples (from Mozart to Aerosmith) are included with this lesson -- some examples may even surprise you :)
Have a great time with this!
By Jason Litt
Connect math skills into music with MatheMusician! This 120 page Powerpoint (converted into PDF) tests your students on how well they know the durations of basic notation -- whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes. After a brief review, students will see a slide with note values added, subtracted, divided, or multiplied together. They have to use their previous knowledge of notation duration and connect the math together to figure out the answer. I use this in a tournament format with my class. We start off on the left side or right side of the the room and the first two kids stand up as you flash the slide on the projector. The student who gets the correct answer first 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, especially in 5th grade. An alternate printout for students is available without the answer key, just in case you'd like to add it to their workbook. Two slides come on each page. Email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com with your request and I'll be happy to oblige! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. Get your brain in gear!
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!
By Jason Litt
In this rhythm reading exercise for Boomwhackers, up to 5 boomwhacker colors will appear on the screen (an assortment of notes from the octave, red, orange, yellow, lime, green, purple, and pink)
Each color has a different rhythm and the color will be assigned to that rhythm and repeat as many times as necessary.
When you advance the slide, the rhythms and colors change around, giving everyone an opportunity to play a different rhythm and at a different time during the game.
You can play this a few ways
Included are instrumental accompaniment tracks but feel free to use your own! There are 16 different variations of rhythms and Boomwhackers colors in this resource
Have a great time with this!
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
If you're working on meter in your classroom, here's an engaging lesson that'll test your students' math skills! In Sign of the Times, we do a brief introduction of meter (from there on called" Time Signature"). After the introduction, we talk about how measures (musical sentences) are formed and how composers have the freedom to write different beat patterns in music. The lesson in PDF format (also included is the video along with an editable powerpoint file) continues with illustrations of 4 types of time signatures, and gets into the game format -- a measure with combinations of quarter, eighths, whole, and half notes will appear in the staff and students will have to guess the time signature. On the next slide, the answer will appear. I like to do this boys vs. girls -- they have to use their quick thinking to add up the beats! Some are easy to moderate, but as we progress it gets a little harder! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment... that's the sign of the times!
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!
Melodious Masterpiece (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
Working on melodic direction with some of your upper level students in elementary? Lock your eyes and ears onto Melodious Masterpiece, an activity which engages the kids to think, listen, and use their knowledge to determine the direction of melody!
A melody, the main tune of the piece will be played on each example (10 examples included, ranging from 3 note melodies to 8 note melodies) along with 4 corresponding trapezoids. Students will have to select which trap best represents the melody being played and the answer will illuminate green on the following slide
Students do not need to know lines or spaces of the staff or even note names -- their previous understanding just rests with melodic direction (up and down!)
Can be great as a class activity, boys vs girls, or even assigned as distance learning!
Beat Boxing - Identifying Notation Duration (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
*BUILT FOR DISTANCE LEARNING, BUT CAN USE IN CLASS AS WELL!*
You've reviewed your notation with your students, and you want to make sure they know their quarters, eighth pairs, halves, wholes, etc, right?
In Beat Boxing, it's not the imitation of sounds, rather the students will be given a number of beats… maybe 3, maybe 5, maybe 6, or 2, or 4, and so on. This will be displayed on the powerpoint slide along with boxes of different combinations of beats (progressively, there will be more options as the game goes along)
But, only ONE of them will be the answer to the number shown
Have the students identify which box of rhythms matches the number shown. Quarter Notes, Eighth Note Pairs, Whole Notes, AND dotted notes are in this series (remember, the dot adds half the value of the note that precedes it!)
In addition, there's a REMIX at the end where the boxes are reversed. Ahhh!
Have fun with this and let me know how the lesson goes :)
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!
Jumbie Jam Mania! (Steel Drum Compositions)
By Jason Litt
*** Accompaniment files INCLUDED! *** Have a steel drum/jumbie jam ensemble or just starting one? Give a look at these original compositions for steel drums in "Steel Drum Mania!" Included are 5 original songs all around 1.5-2 minutes long. The Steel drums are all unison (works great if you have 1 octave Jumbie Jams, which they were originally written for!) Each song has sheet music which can be taught by rote along with accompaniment mp3s of various tempi. 2 of the songs are beginner, 1 is intermediate, and the last one, quite advanced. All songs are written to reflect landmarks in Winter Springs, Florida, a suburb of Orlando. These can also be used for any C instrument, so if you dare venture onto an Orff instrument or Recorder, it'll work as well ;) Have a great time!
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!