Five Favorite Pins of February

Today I am linking up with Aileen Miracle to share my 5 favorite pins of February.  Be sure to check out Aileen's blog to read about her favorite pins and the favorite pins of many other great music teacher-bloggers out there!  Click the title of each pin to be taken to the pin itself or the website it links to and be sure to follow me on pinterest- I have MANY music education boards from classroom organization, to rhythm ideas, to instrument families, and more. :)

1. Concert Curtain Decoration
I had been having trouble thinking of how to decorate the gym/ auditorium for my spring concerts this year, as 5th and 6th grade are on the same night but with different themes.  I then came across this pin and LOVE it!  My themes this year are "Under the Sea" for 5th grade and "Music through the Ages" for 6th and I think this idea can incorporate both beautifully! I plan on making the treble clef and lines of the staff in different shades of blue and then hanging music symbols, fish, and more!

2.  Felt Staff

I had heard about these before and kind of forgot about them but I hope to make a class set soon.  I LOVE that they have pockets to hold ledger lines and the notes.  So easy and the notes "stick" to the staff.  Right now I have plastic boards or laminated paper staffs and while it is fun to use table scatter or silly erasers as notes, it is tricky to store all of that in my room.  Felt staff sets could be stored easily and I could even make themed notes if I got really ambitious. 

3. Hand Staff (X2) 

Note: There are 2 links in the title.  I use Hand-staffs all the time for quick assessment but these two ideas make it much more concrete for students.  Just pointing to a finger may be abstract for some students, so using a glove with a floating note AND posting a hand on the board at the edge of the staff might really help students to understand. 

4. Instrument Jeopardy

I just did an Instrument Families review unit with my 6th graders and this was a super fun way to get them excited about it.  This file is also editable so if you want to add in your own questions you can.  I was also super excited about the website this was pinned from because Ashley Queen has a lot of great stuff that you can download and use FOR FREE shared on her blog as well as a great Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

5. Magic Pen and Fading Ink for Music Teachers

What a fun pin!  I am always looking for ways to update my SMARTfiles so that my students aren't always doing the same thing over and over with the SMARTboard.  This blog post by Cherie Herring teaches you how to use the magic pen to spotlight a section of a file (the rest of it darkens) to bring focus to a specific element on the page, enlarge a section of a file, and use fading ink.  Not only does she teach you how to use the Magic Pen and Fading Ink, but she discusses the frustrations music teachers might have and how to overcome them.  

I was really excited about finding all of these pins! Thanks to Aileen at Mrs. Miracles Music Room for hosting the linky party!