Apple Tree

One of my favorite songs to do in the spring with 1st and 2nd grade is Apple Tree.  I use this song for ta/ ti-ti in first grade, then bring it back for do in 2nd.  I don't teach kindergarten, so I am typically just presenting these concepts in the spring.

WORDS AND SOLFA                                     RHYTHM
Apple Tree, Apple Tree                                     II  I    II   I
  s   s    m      s    s    m

Will Your Apples Fall On Me                            II   II   II   I
  s      s       l    l       s    s    m

I Won't Cry and I Won't Shout                          II   II   II   I
s     s      m    m  s     s        m

If Your Apples Knock Me Out                          II   II   II   I
s    s       l     l       s        s      d

The game is super fun and I use the song to teach a lot of concepts. For the game, which is played much like London Bridge,  students stand in a circle and the teacher and one other student make a bridge (or arch) by connecting their hands and holding them up in the air. The other students march in a circle to the beat of the song and on the last word of the song "out" the bridge lower arms to trap someone in the bridge.  That person then becomes a new bridge.  You can play where there is always one bridge and it changes every round OR play with cumulative bridges where each time a new bridge is added until all students are caught.  My students prefer the latter.

For first grade I have a SMART file that uses pictures for the rhythm and then we convert to stick notation and compare the lines discovering the 1st line is the only one that is different.  We read the rhythm, memorize the rhythm and do things like partner rhythms (where student A taps the beat in student Bs hand, and student B taps the w/r in As hand), circle rhythms where we tap the rhythm on the shoulder of the person to our right and group rhythms where 1/2 of the class says the tas and half the tit-tis to isolate the differences.

For second grade, we do similar things with Do.  The SMARTfile uses icons to show the contour of the song (mostly s-m-l with only one do at the end).  For this we use the same isolation technique as the rhythm, but each row (I have 4) has a different solfa syllable to sing.  We also fill in the missing or write out a line using both solfa notation and staff notation using manipulatives, magnets etc.

Check out the SMARTboard file here:
Emily's Wix Site

Reminder: Even if you don't have a SMARTboard (or other interactive whiteboard) in your room, you can still get the software if you can get a SMART product key.  I know many teachers who have gotten the software and then projected onto a regular projector screen and had the kids manipulate the files using the computer rather than an actual interactive white board.  They were able to gather data to show their school how useful this teaching tool can be and ended up with a SMARTboard of their own after writing grants, etc.

Special Finds- Music Books From Decades Past that you can still get today!

 I just wanted to share some special finds that have come up over the past 4 years either hidden away in a file cabinet at my school, or found at an antique store.  All of the books mentioned in this post are AT LEAST 35 years old- the oldest is almost 100.

Starting with the oldest, I got for Easter last year (2012) this Third Year Music from from the Hollis Dan Music Course, published in 1915. My mom found it hidden away in a resale shop for $3.99.  The book is split into ROTE singing songs (with accompaniments for the teachers), and SIGHT-SINGING songs.   The sight-singing songs are mostly diatonic, but also typically move stepwise.  Some have lyrics with them, and some just the starting solfegge. (I use them more for 5th grade and 6th).   Some of the songs are cross-curricular and some are used to teach specific pitches or musical concepts, while others just have fun lyrics (many are about or mention fairys) :)  This a great little book- so great, in fact, that it was reprinted last year! You can get all the levels on Amazon here.

The next oldest is the Fireside Book of Folk Songs edited by Margaret Bradford Boni, published in 1947.  This one was found hidden in the back of a filing cabinet in my classroom- a gift from a professor to the past music teacher at my school .  It is split into a few chapters: Ballads and Old Favorites, Work Songs, Marching Songs and Songs of Valor, Christmas Carols, and Old Hymns and Spirituals.  There is also an index in the back listing songs in alphabetical order by song title AND first line.  I recognized a a lot of the songs in this book, unlike the Hollis Dan one- where I didn't recognize any.  All of the songs have the melody as well as a simple accompaniment part.  This book is available on AMAZON if you want to check it out.


Sing It Yourself is a book of 220 Pentatonic American Folk Songs, published in 1978.  This book splits the songs up by the range- it starts with songs with notes in the range of a third or fourth, and goes all the way up to songs with a range of a tenth or 11th.  There is also a song index and a subject index.  many Kodaly favorites are in this book.  There are no games listed- but it does give a list of sources and place of origin for all songs.  Amazon sells this one both in paper back AND as a kindle version! Get it here.


All three of these books I try to use as often as I can.  I have analyzed songs from all of them and put them into my folk-song collection to teach a variety of musical concepts.

Fly Swatter Game- review terms, rhythms, and solfa patterns!

One of my favorite new review games is the fly swatter game.  I saw a version on pinterest for sight-words in reading and have adjusted it for the music classroom.  I have done this game so far to review music symbols as well as rhythm patterns.

I wrote on the board various symbols or patterns and split the class into two teams.  The teams stand in a line and the 1st student in each approaches the board with fly swatter (or foam rhythm heart attached to a popsicle stick) in hand.  I then say a definition of a term (or play a rhythm pattern on a drum) and the 1st to find it gets a point for their team.  Students only get 2 slaps per turn (hopefully only 1) so that they are not just slapping every word, symbol or pattern up there until they get it right.

Sometimes to help with the rhythms,  I have the class repeat my pattern using rhythm syllables.  Not only does this give the slappers another listen, but it also keeps all students fully engaged in the activity the whole time.

For the symbols, I give the definition and then the students slap the symbol and are also asked to name it.

I think I may use rhythm/ symbol/ sight-reading cards stuck to the board (either with tape or magnets) next time because the symbols and patterns tended to erase as students slapped them.   A large laminated poster would work too. Feel free to project these pictures to use for your own version of the fly swatter game.  I found though that it was tricky with the projection because sometimes the bodies blocked the projector light and then I couldn't tell what the students were pointing to.

New Room

Wow! The end of the year is near! I just realized today that even though we have 4 weeks left of school, I only see some of my students 1 more time.  This is due to assemblies, field day, and a wedding I have to attend.  Crazy! I feel like I need more time!

I found out last week that next year I will have a new classroom.  I am excited for this move because overall it should be a good change, but there are still a few worries I have.  I am super ready to redecorate, move furniture, and get everything set up- too bad I have to wait another month until school is out!

Things I am excited about for the new classroom:
1) Total, I have almost double the space.  Technically it is one entire modular classroom set- two rooms connected by a door, but even just one side is about 20 square feet bigger than what I currently have.  One side will be General Music and the other Chorus.

Chorus Side 1

2) I can make as much music and noise as I want and not have to worry about disrupting anyone.  Testing week? Doesn't matter.  Being in a modular classroom outside the gym, it will be very hard for me to disrupt anyone else.

Chorus Side 2

3) I don't have to have chorus in the Cafeteria or Gym! In one of the two rooms, our risers will be set up and chorus will have its own space! I won't have to worry about lunch times, or have students sitting the wrong way on picnic style tables.  Our riser etiquette will be much better because we will be practicing on actual risers every rehearsal!

Chorus Side 3 

4) When orchestra or band is cancelled for whatever reason (teacher sick, high school trip, etc) I will be able to let the students still practice in the chorus room and be able to keep an eye on them through the door.  This year we had disappointed students when they had to stay in General Music because the orchestra or band teacher wasn't there and I couldn't send them to a classroom all the way across the building to practice with out an adult.

General Music Side 1

Things I am worried about:
1) There is not a lot of storage space in these rooms.  I am going to be moving a LOT of furniture and shelving units.  My current room has two sets of counters with cabinetry underneath and I am going to have to find a spot for all of that stuff! Shopping here I come!

General Music Side 2

2) Being outside I am worried I will have less of a connection with what is going on inside the building.

General Music Side 3

3) Bad Weather! Anytime there is a wind warning or thunderstorm warning anything of the sort I have to teach inside the building in teachers classrooms. Also- I hear it is really loud when it is raining because the modular classrooms have a metal roof.

General Music Side 4

It is going to be crazy getting these rooms ready because I will be in Hungary most of the summer but I have 6th graders lined up to help me move stuff (and move stuff for the teacher moving into my current room.) and I have friends and family who I am sure will be willing to help :)

I can't believe school is almost out! Stayed tuned for a song post this weekend!

3 activities for Who's That - a song for Half Note, d-s, and re

One of my favorite songs to teach is "Who's That (tapping at my window)?"  I use it for so many things.  The students first learn it in 2nd grade when we are working on Half Note and we also use it for the d-s jump in the same year.  It comes back again when we learn re.

Who's                     That                             d               d
    d                           s

Tapping at my         Window                    ii        ii       I         I
   r    r    m m             r     d

Who's                     That                            d               d
    d                            s

Knocking at my       door.                         ii        ii       I         z  
  r        r    m m            d

1) The kids love this song because of the Game (which I use as a singing alone assessment.)  For the game, 2 kids hide their eyes (I have mine go behind the piano) and the whole class sings verse 1 - Who's that, etc.  Then I point to one student who sings (in their best singing voice) verse 2 - I am, etc.   The students who are behind the piano then have to guess who the singer was.  They get two guesses.  If they get it right they stay behind the piano (up to three turns) and if the get it wrong, the person who "tricked them" gets to choose a friend to be the new pair behind the piano.   If a student uses a silly voice, I allow the people behind the piano to guess, but I then ask the singer to sing again in their best voice so I can hear the 5th jump (d-s).

2) I also use this song as an intro to harmony.  (I got this idea from Game Plan 2 and it has a GREAT visual!)   We start with most of the class singing the song with someone on a xylophone or metallophone playing the do-so (and then tremelloing on the so for the rest of the phrase).  After the students get good at this and all have had a chance to try playing, we have 1/2 of the class singing the regular song and 1/2 singing the d-s and holding the so until the end of the phrase.  A few still play on the instruments at this time as well.  This is a great opportunity to talk about breath support and making sure as you are holding a note it is not getting uglier as it gets longer.

3) One of the other activities I do with this song (and many others) is isolating the rhythms OR the solfegge and assigning one of each to a row in my classroom.  Row one may be the half notes, row two the quarter notes, and row 3 the eighth notes OR group one is do, group two is re, group three mi, and group four so.  The students only sing the type of beat/ note assigned to their row and stand when it is their turn.  We sing it on rhythm/ solfa syllables and then on words.  This is an idea I got from OMEA and both the students and I LOVE IT!!!

Under the Sea- a 6th Grade Concert

WOW! My 6th grade chorus is amazing this year! They are truly small but mighty.   There is only about 30 kids in the group but they all really want to be there and do a great job.  We play games, sight-read, and have tons of fun. Because they are so amazing I decided to add in a special spring concert for them this year to give them another chance to be great musicians and share with their parents and communities. It was supposed to be just a glee and orff concert, but after all of their hard work at the beginning of the year I decided to add the whole group in. They got to choose a theme-Under the Sea- and then we learned 6 songs, made up skits, and even had some solos.  Some songs were unison- many were 2 parts- and one was even 3 parts! They really rose to the challenge of the music and made the concert wonderful.  Some parents said it was the best concert they have seen at Wilson - including band and orchestra! I am so proud of them and I will really miss them when they go onto middle school next year!

Below is a list of songs, and how I taught them (sight reading all, sight-reading just rhythm, rote, etc.) Check these songs out! I love all of them! This was a great theme to combine songs the kids knew and loved (but not necessarily pop music) as well as challenge them with other music that they had never heard before. (Note: The 5th grade glee song came from a Disney piano book I have and the Little Mermaid Songs are both part of a Medley).

Surfs Up- Arranged by Roger Emerson- This is a medley of surf songs from the '50s but we only sang the first and last- Surfin' USA and Kokomo.  These were mainly learned by "rote" because many students already had heard the tune.  We did sing the parts as written in the music- lots of oohs and ahhs under the melody- the kids had a lot fun with this one.

Dance of the One-Legged Sailor- Written by Brent Pierce- This was our most challenge piece.  There was a LOT of changing time signatures in this song.  We learned the rhythm by sight-reading, but added in the notes by rote. This song had 6/8, 3/4, and 5/8 so there was a lot of time-signature talk!

He’s A Pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl- Music by Klaus Badelt, Arranged by J. Linn- This song was played by the Orffestra and they read all of their music.  A few of the newer or younger kids sometimes have to write in the note names but they do a great job of reading.  We made the song ABA and only played the most recognizable parts.  They played memorized on the xylophones for the concert and did great! (Note: For this song I got piano music and had most of them play the melody and then few play the bass line on the Bass Resonator Bars or Bass Xylophones).

Seagull, Seagull- Arranged by Susan Brumfield- This song is a great diatonic sight-reading song because truly it is MOSTLY pentatonic with just a few fas and tis.  It is a partner song, but one of the two songs sung together also has parts.  The song builds for each verse- 1st verse is one melody in unison, 2nd is same melody in parts, 3rd is the partner melody in parts, and then the 4th is the 1st melody in two parts and the 2nd in one (it is not written but if you were really ambitious you probably could have the final verse in 4 parts).   For the 1st verse we sight-read using the Smart-board labeling key solfegge, but not all and sang as a group.  For the other verses we read directly from our music- again writing in key solfegge making notes about steps, skips, scales etc.  We did not add words in until all verses were solid on solfegge so the kids REALLY knew the melodies before words were added.  For a few weeks we also played around with who sang what- as they all had read all parts.  We nailed down who sings which part about a month before the concert.  The orff group also played the percussion for this one! After this songs introduction they all started to act like the "Finding Nemo" Seagulls saying "MINE" over and over- the parents definitely got a kick out of it :)

Umbrella Beach- As performed by Owl City- This was a cute solo two of the girls prepared.  They auditioned for me  and then were required to get the accompaniment karaoke on their own.  I just plugged an Ipod into my speakers when it was their turn.   All students had the opportunity to try out with a solo, but only two groups took on the extra challenge.

Hands Cross the Ocean: Partner song with Tum Balalaika- Original words and music by Jill Gallina- This is a very pretty partner song about peace around the world.  This was our minor song for the concert.  The students learned each section by rote, but were responsible for knowing when a melody repeated and which part it was- melody 1 or 2.  

Never Smile at a Crocodile- Words by Jack Lawrence, Music by Frank Churchill-  This was the 5th Grade Glee song.  They made up an adorable skit about being stuck inside the belly of a crocodile and then sang the song and performed their dance.  They made up all choreography (with my guidance) and did a stupendous job!

Kiss the Girl from The Little Mermaid- Music by A. Menken, Lyrics by H. Ashman- This was another solo group.  The 3 girls did a great job and even made up some of their own harmonies to go with the song.  It was great!

Yellow Submarine- Words and Music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Arranged by John Leavitt- This was another one the students basically already knew but we added most of the harmony as written in the arrangement.  The people who sang the harmony on the chorus sight-read their part.  There were also some spoken lines in this one to introduce the song.  It was very cute!

Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid- Music by A. Menken, Lyrics by H. Ashman, Arranged by R. Emerson- This was our 6th Grade Glee feature song. They made up the dance at recess and it was really cute! They have me tempted to start a middle school Glee and high school show-choir eventually, but I don't have the time right now (or the money...)!

Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid- Music by A. Menken, Lyrics by H. Ashman, Arranged by R. Emerson- This one was definitely known by all students before we started and was of course our finale.  We had some awesome students sight read the harmony as written, which was a lot of echos and interjections.  Under the sea was introduced by a very cute skit the 6th grade glee made up where a boy was washed up on the short of a deserted island and met Ariel.  They then sang just a verse of the Train Song "Mermaid" and Sebastian met them at the end to remind Ariel that Under the Sea is where she should be!  Our Sebastian started off the song as a solo and the chorus joined in 1/2 way through the first verse. Both Glee Clubs danced as the chorus sang. It was a great way to end the concert!

Now we are looking forward to our Spring Musical which is a combined effort of both the 5th and 6th grade Chorus groups.  We are performing "The Granny Awards" this year and the kids are doing a great job getting ready! It is going to be a great show!

New Dress A Day

Just thought I would share some of my other hobbies with you all!  Aside from teaching I also love to alter clothes and sent in pics of a dress I did to the fabulous remake blog Newdressaday.com.  Check out my dress and stay tuned for a music ed post coming soon!

Link to my remake: http://www.newdressaday.com/2013/04/21/emilys-ndad-creation/#disqus_thread

Here is one of the before pics