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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!
Shamrock ROCK! (40 rhythm reading practice icons with Music!)
By Jason Litt
Getting ready for St. Patty's day, we bring to you Shamrock Rock!, a series of rhythm reading exercises for your elementary aged kids!
Each series of Shamrock Rock! has 10 rhythmic examples (in 4 different levels, 40 exercises in all) of quarter notes (1 four leaf clover), two eighth notes (2 smaller four leaf clovers in the place of one beat), and a quarter rest (pot of gold)
A link to music is provided for you below to listen to in the background while you perform these rhythms on boomwhackers, rhythm sticks, orff instruments, auxiliary percussion, body percussion, tubanos, handbells, or more!
2 Hours of Irish Jig Background Music!
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:
Steady as you Go! (Identifying and maintaining steady beat)
By Jason Litt
Steady Beat is one of the cornerstones of early childhood music whether you are playing with your Pre-K, Kindergarten, or even First Graders. Have them rise up to the challenge of “Steady as you go!” an amalgamation of classical music designed to have students become steady beat MASTERS!
You will assign students to play either body percussion to show steady beat (head, shoulder, lap, feet, etc) or even a drum, auxiliary percussion instrument, or anything else you can find.
You will then play the audio example of various pieces of classical music by clicking on the “heart” and watch the kids try to find the steady beat – only to be interrupted as the music abruptly changes every 20 to 30 seconds!
Students will have to start over and find the steady beat again as they transition into the next piece.
Have a terrific time finding that beat!
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
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!
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!
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!