October Fun

October is my favorite month!  Not only does it have Halloween, but it also has United Nations Day (which happens to by my Birthday on the 24th) AND it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (I lost my high school chorus teacher/ 1st voice teacher to Breast Cancer my senior year so it is super important to me).  Therefore, I thought I would share a few things I am doing in October to celebrate with my students.

1.  Halloween Rhythm Cards
           Making the rhythm cards Halloween Themed seems to make them much more exciting than my regular ones. :)  The set you can get from my Sharing Site HERE is for prep of quarter rest.  There are ___  for the quarter rests (get it starting Monday 10/21/13... my new home computer doesn't have SMARTnotebook yet).  It may not come up on your computer if you do not already have the MUSIC ED font because that is what I used to make the cards.  If you don't already have it- MusicEdFont is GREAT for making worksheets, rhythm cards, etc.  It has notes, stick notation, piano keys, most musical symbols, handsigns and more!  Great resource for only $25.  You can get it here.




2.  A few of my favorite Singable Halloween Books:
 Shake Dem Halloween Bones- Join all the fairy tale characters for a fun Halloween dance.  Students will love singing along to the chorus and shaking their own bones!    

Dem Bones- great for MRD practice!
(Shake Dem Halloween Bones... mm rrr d)



3.  This Fun Video called the Skeleton Dance- great for a brain break or an extra few minutes at the end of class. Uses a variation of DEM BONES. 

BONUS:
I also typically listen to things like In the Hall of the Mountain King and Dance Macabre.  My 1st graders also use ghost voices, and do Engine Engine like they are Zombies with a low voice, and Ghosts or Witches with a high voice.   That is super fun to watch.    Other fun halloween songs include: Pumpkin Pumpkin (tika-tika), I Heard a Horseman (6/8!), Mrs. White (ta and ti-ti), Which Witch (quarter rest), and of course many more! Share your favorite Halloween songs or activities in the comments section below! Also check out Teachers Pay Teachers and search Kodaly.  Many Kodaly Educators have some great Halloween songs, manipulatives, and games you can buy for a very small price-  All of the items I have gotten so far are VERY worth it!  Look up Lindsay Jervis and Aileen Miracle- both have great stores :)


Hope you are having a great October!  Check out the Wilson Staff in our PINK on our Passionately Pink Day- we raised almost $1,000 so far to donate to Breast Cancer Research Charities!