2018 Favorite Things

As 2018 wraps up, I thought I would write about my favorite things so far this school year.  So many things helped me become a better teacher and person.

Connections- Having lunch with 4th graders on Fridays and sending postcards home to students in any grade when they do something great have been great ways to connect with students at a new school this year.  I love spending time with kids outside of class time to really get to know them.

Tech Tool- Flipgrid.com What a great website for students to be able to complete a project or reflect on their learning by making a video.  My students (and I) LOVE this website.  Check out my full blogpost on Flipgrid HERE.

General Music Prop- I finally got a stretchy band from Bear Paw Creek and I have no idea why I waited so long! These bands are perfect for movement, form, and working together as a team.

Picture Book- Rock What Ya Got by Samantha Berger.  This is an adorable book. From the amazon description:
                  When a drawing of a little girl comes to life, she boldly declares 
                  that she doesn't want to be erased, or put into a picture that doesn't 
                  feel like her true self. Instead, she decides to speak up in a 
                  powerful way. And she has some words of advice: embrace what 
                  you have, love yourself, and "rock what ya got." 

Stay tuned for the first TUESDAY book club post of the year where I show how I use this book as a great lesson to tie in with The New Year, Resolutions, and more. Get the book from Amazon HERE. 

Middle Grade Book- The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden.  This book is a must read for any teacher.  Find out more about this book HERE

Praise for this wonderful book:

"With grace and heart and words masterfully woven, The Benefits of Being an Octopus captures the quiet and loud masks of domestic violence. Braden navigates the complexities of choice and power and the meaning of courage. And how sometimes together, we can find our voice and our strength." -- Elly Swartz, author of Finding Perfect and Smart Cookie 

"This wise book knows we can't always keep the people we love safe. But it also knows that courage and compassion can sometimes turn lives around. You will care so fiercely about Zoey -- the octopus-loving, truth-telling young heroine that you'll want to wrap all eight of your own arms around her." -- Anne Nesbet, author of California Book Award winner, Cloud, and Wallfish

"You are seen. You are heard. You are loved." In a perfect world, every child would know these three absolutes. Ann Braden shares this message with her readers in a funny, poignant story about Zoey, her siblings, their mother, and one very special teacher. An octopus might be the most clever creature, but it can't hold a candle (or eight) to Braden's masterfully constructed prose." –– K. A. Holt, author of House Arrest

Professional Development Book- #KidsDeserveIt and Leader In Me.  Both of these books have helped me grow as an educator so much.  Connecting to students and helping them to form habits that will make them amazing leaders. See this post on a little more about each of these books and how I have been using the tools learned in my classroom this year.

Book Used Most When Lesson Planning- First Steps in Music by John Feierabend.  This book has been a staple in my kindergarten planning this year.  Being at a new school (and only having taught KDG for one year at my previous school) the workout in this book and the sample lesson plans are amazing! My students love the vocal exploration, echo singing, solo singing, movement and more!

Teacher Shoes- ROTHY'S.  Wow are these shoes perfect for teaching! They have 4 styles- Flat, Point, Loafer, and Sneaker.  They are made from recycled water bottles, are washable, and of course- best of all- so comfortable wearing them to teach all day. I am so happy I discovered this shoe.

Favorite Music Ed Blogs- This is just a list, but these are 3 blogs that I frequently reference!

Organized Chaos
Mrs. Miracles Music Room
Make Moments Matter

Favorite Music Ed Podcasts- Love these podcasts as well! I listen sometimes on my way to work, and definitely during long nights at school (such as conferences).

Make Moments Matter
Music Teacher Coffee Talk
The Music Room


Looking ahead to 2019 I already have many books on my list like: Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby, The Teaching Text (You're Welcome) by Douglas J. Robertson, and The Whispers by Greg Howard.  I also have many workshops and conferences to look forward to- like the National Kodaly Conference in Columbus, Ohio and participating in the Link Up Concert with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and my 3rd Grades. When it comes to self-care and doing things for me, rather than my students, I look forward to performing again- reprising my high school role of Miss Jones in H2$ and most importantly, spending tons of time with my awesome family- Brad, Henry and Hazel. Stay tuned this week to see more about my teaching resolutions for this upcoming year, my #oneword, and more! 

The Best Gift of All

No, it's not what you think.  I just wanted to write a short post saying how thankful I am for this wonderful job! Being a music teacher is seriously the best.  Students are wonderful (most days) and we get to sing, dance, and fill students with JOY all while teaching them how to create, perform, and respond to music.

December is a time when teachers as a whole can start to feel run-down and burnt out.  Especially music teachers, with programs, personal performances, and of course family holiday celebrations. However, seeing the smiles on faces when we are paper-plate ice-skating, or seeing the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker for the first time (all those high jumps!), or playing the jingle bells reminds me why I do what I do.

So when you are frustrated this holiday season, and loosing patience either with students or your own family, just pause and think of the smiles, little notes, and hugs, and remember the reason why you became a music teacher in the first place.

Have a great Holiday Season!

Tuesday Book Club- Where, Oh Where, is Santa Claus??

This is a short post today, highlighting one a favorite winter books that I use for movement exploration in K and 1! -

Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Claus?? - Written by Lisa Wheeler and Illustrated by Ivan Bates

First I read the book while students listen and identify movement words (clip-clop, hip-hop, shake, etc.)

Next, I read the book again and we act it out!  Each page has a non-locomotor movement, and then the last couplet of the page, we use a locomotor movement to find a new spot in the room.  We gallop, hop, shake, bear crawl, push and pull, kick our feet, and more with this fun book.

The Locomotor movements for each page are:
Clip-Clop ~ Gallop
Hip-Hop ~ Hop
Flip-Flop ~ Seal Walk (using just arms, drag legs behind you).  If your room isn't big enough OR your students can't handle the seal walk, you can also have them pretend their arms are flippers and walk upright to a new spot.
Pit-Pat ~ Tip toe (like you are walking quick and light on snow)
Thump-Bump ~ Bear Crawl (Crawl with out your knees touching the floor)

During the "Look, Where? See? There!" page I have students sit, so that on the next page, where Santa's feet are flailing, they can kick their feet up in the air like described.  We then stand and HEAVE HO (push and pull) and finally gallop one more time back to our seats as Santa and the reindeer go WHOOSH, AWAY!

Get the book HERE

Themed Winter Lessons for the Littles

I LOVE winter lessons.  The Nutcracker is my favorite (see my Nutcracker post HERE) but really I love all things winter.  This year, being at a new school my winter lessons for K + 1 all have a mini theme that continues our curriculum but is still super fun and relates to the festive season (you will see that the Nutcracker is incorporated into almost all of them though)  Each 30 minutes lesson, similar to first steps, has a vocal warm-up/ exploration time, simple songs, a winter song tale, an instrument or  movement (sometimes movement exploration, sometimes beat keeping movement, sometimes an action song, etc.).

One of my favorite themes from this year was BELLS!

BELLS 
First we say Engine, Engine into the room (my K and 1 do this EVERY class) and I pull out my sleigh bells and tell them we are taking the train to the North Pole.  We say it two times while I play the bells and then have a seat.

Vocal Exploration- Students repeat after me making bell sounds and then some of them get to be the leader.

Jingle Bell Rock- We love to put the folk dance Rural Felicity from Sashay the Donut to this song! It fits wonderfully! 

Carol of the Bells- Next we watch Carol of the Bells by Pentatonix and discuss this other fun Holiday Bell song.  Every time we are preparing for movement, we watch and listen to the song first- sometimes I then change the version and have them notice what is different- sometimes it is the exact same song. 

Next, we get out the ribbon wands and move our bodies to the Transiberian Orchestra version of Carol of the Bells.  I always show the synced Christmas Lights video during this, as well.  I am hoping to get a video of my routine up soon- stay tuned! 

Other great versions to watch and listen to are the Lindsey Stirling version, as well as just the classic carol. 

Finally, I read There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! - I sing this story to help calm our bodies after the ribbon routine. 

Here are some more themes I have done this year with a list of ideas!

SNOW

Winter Wonderland Vocal Explorations - you can get them HERE 

Snowflakes song- with glockenspiels to beat.  Some students can be snowflakes with their bodies while others are playing if you do not have enough instruments for all.  You can also have students experiment and figure out which instruments in your room they think sound like gently falling snow the most. The song I use came from the Game Plan Curriculum, but you could use any snow song you like!
Watch the Waltz of the Snowflakes from the Nutcracker

Scarf movement to Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker 

Frosty the Snowman Book to calm our bodies

In another snow lesson, I do lots of things with laminated cut out snowflakes.  We sing our snowflake song again, but this time do mirroring with a partner having a snowflake in each hand. We also use the snowflakes as Ice-Skates for skating to the Skaters Waltz and for my Plate Routine to the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker (see a video of this routine HERE).  I am thinking of making a new plate routine to a song like Suzy Snowflake or Let it Snow for this lesson next year.

I love lessons on SNOW because they are not related to any holiday and are just fun musical activities to get us moving, singing, and playing instruments. 

NUTCRACKER

Nutcracker Vocal Exploration Lines- there are a few on TPT which you can get HERE

Watch The Story of the Nutcracker in Less than 5 Minutes - I LOVE this version because students get an abridged version of the story, but still see dances!

Stretchy Band Routine to the MARCH (show the form!) - I got this idea from twitter :)
     A section - march in a circle
     B section- 4 slow steps in then 4 slow steps out (2x)
     C section- T calls a color and the students holding that color run and switch places
Watch the Russian Dance- I love the version below! My boys are always so impressed!

"Decorate the Room" To Russian Dance.  We "throw decorations" on all the accents, hang ornaments and lights, and more! I just tell a story to fit the music as we are doing it. Kids love it- especially "throwing lots of glitter" during the bridge :) 

WINTER AROUND THE WORLD 

Dreidle Song- If you have time, learn how to play the game! 

"Ice Skating" on Plates to Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker, or the Skaters Waltz

Russian Dance from the Nutcracker- Plate Routine - see a video of this routine HERE
OR Chinese/ Tea Dance from the Nutcracker- Ribbon Routine

This year I also made a Winter Holidays Around The World Choice Board for my students.  It features Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Diwali, and more! Students get to learn about the holidays, hear stories (like a few of those below), and hear/ learn music connected to the holidays.  Students have been loving it this year!  I especially love this Nina's World Episode because it gives the basics of Diwali, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa in a wonderful way! 

The Hannukah Hop! 

It's Hanukkah! It's a time to celebrate family and enjoy festive traditions. As Rachel and her parents prepare the house, grandparents, cousins, and friends travel from near and far to sing and tell stories. Together, they will light candles, play games, and eat scrumptuous holiday foods... and, of course, dance the Hanukkah Hop. The stamping, the hopping, and the bim-bim-bopping is sure to go on all night!

'Twas Nochebuena- A Christmas Story in English and Spanish - 

’Twas Nochebuena and all through our casa, 

every creature was kneading tamale masa...

It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re invited to a Nochebuena celebration! Follow a family as they prepare to host a night filled with laughter, love, and Latino tradition. Make tasty tamales and hang colorful adornos (decorations) on the walls. Gather to sing festive canciones (songs) while sipping champurrado (hot chocolate). After the midnight feast has been served and the last gifts have been unwrapped, it’s time to cheer, “Feliz Navidad and to all a good night!”

Feliz Navidad story book

Use this post for more information on Winter Holidays around the World!

What are your favorite Winter Themes?? 

Students as Teachers- Learning through Leadership in the Music Room

So, the other day I had a student say he could teach the class. He was kind of being a smart-aleck but I decided it might be fun to let him try.  This class was already ahead of the others because they come on days that we don't have off very often so I told him he could teach the following day.  We laid down some ground rules, such as the lesson had to be musical, and allowed him to plan.

How did it go?  Well, he kind of repeated my lesson from the previous day (I see my kids 2x a week for 30 min each) BUT students were still singing and practicing rhythms.  They were having fun.  The best part- it was AMAZING for building relationships with my students.  I sat with the class and only stepped in as Teacher when I felt it was necessary and helped with writing things on the board. Other than that- Mr. C led the class. They all loved it and are now asking when they can be the teacher. I think it may be an experience some of them- and especially Mr. C- will remember for a while.

While, I can't have a different student teach every class- you know, with all the content and standards I need to get through in my short time with kids, this experience got me thinking of how I could have students be the teacher more in my room.  How can they help other classmates learn?  It might not be a whole lesson, but there are definitely ways to allow your students to lead each other and learn together (aside from the usual class jobs, etc).  Some of my ideas are below.

Students lead warm-ups or solfege/ rhythm games that I have already introduced.
Once students are solid on a game, it is so easy to have them be the leader.  Students can lead rhythm tic-tac-toe, human piano, solfege or rhythm echos and so much more.  You can also have students conducting, starting off songs, and leading/ explaining instrument parts! Do you see an expert? Have them share!

Students make a game or teach a favorite song.  Not just the words, but the concepts. For this, students can take a song they already know and think of a fun way to teach it that emphasizes a music concept- whether it be solfege, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, or anything else. As music teachers, we are always doing this- why not let the kids try as well!

Group Projects with a presentation at the end.  Flipgrid?* Lead a lesson? Video for a substitute?  Group projects are a great way to allow students to become the expert on a topic and share with their class.  I love having students research and then teach- especially with families of the orchestra, genres of music, and broad musical concepts like Dynamics or Tempo. Students can present directly OR make videos.  I love having students make videos because they can be used in so many ways. Once the videos are made they can be presented to their class, kids can watch at home, OR videos can be saved as a great sub-plan where the sub plays the video and then the groups dive deeper with their class, thinking of an activity to practice what ever topic was presented on.

Fourth grade is currently working on a project where they choose a big musical concept (dynamics, tempo, mood) and make a "music  minute" video a la Megs Music Room on youtube and then also have to come up with an activity to help reinforce the information learned in the video they made. They may make a video on Tempo (including accelerando) and then make up a routine to In the Hall of the Mountain King.  Or make a video on how to remember lines and spaces on the staff, and then have their class do staff relays to review. They are LOVING it. 

PS. If you haven't watched any Megs Music Room videos- do it! They are great!

Student teachers for younger grades. Your students will LOVE coming into a younger grade and teaching a song or concept that they remember from the past.  See if they can come in at recess- or even (gasp!) miss a part of another subject to come in and teach a favorite song and game that goes with it.

Enjoy these ideas and let me know yours below!
*See more on FLIPGRID here

#FlipgridFever Using Flipgrid in the Music Room

Ya'll! Have you tried Flipgrid?  If not- you need to NOW! It is seriously the best! It is so easy to use, and it's FREE!

What is flipgrid?  Flipgrid is a website where you can make "grids" for each class and then topics within each grid where students can record videos. Once they are done with the video, the are asked to "snap a selfie" and can add stickers to it.  This is what others see when they pull the grid or topic up. I have a grid for each grade, and then topics within each grade to break it down even more.  You can set the privacy settings differently for each topic.  Grids can be public, accessible within a certain email domain, or even accessible only with a code. 

I use it mostly for projects.  Some projects my students have done with flipgrid are Parodies, instruments of the orchestra, and more.  For the parodies, students wrote a parody and then recorded it using flipgrid.  Then others had the opportunity to respond to the parody to guess which original song was used.  This was a 5th grade GM project and they loved it. Some ended up just singing their song, while others got really into the video aspect and made up dance routines to go along with their music! 

For instruments of the orchestra, 3rd grade students worked in groups to research a family of the orchestra then used flipgrid to record a mini-lesson describing their family.  They could also upload attachments like slideshows or google docs to accompany their lesson. Students then watched the videos and learned about all the families of the orchestra from the experts in their class!  This was great before our trip to see the Columbus Symphony! After the field trip, we were able to record reaction videos saying our favorite songs or other favorite parts of the concert.  While everyone can respond and reply to videos- the teacher can always set each grid or topic so that approval is needed before a video is posted AND teachers can leave private feedback/ grades. 

I also use flipgrid to allow students to give each other shout-outs when they do something awesome or kind in class.  Each student recorded a video of just their name and then others can reply to this name video with a shout-out.  Students shout-out to each other for great singing, kind acts, awesome instrument patterns, being a good sport, and more. This has been a great way to build community in each class and grade.

Many music teachers use flipgrid for playing tests as well.  It is awesome for recorder karate and rainbow ukulele (or similar programs).

In addition to all the awesomeness from above, guests can be invited now! Make a highlights topic or grid and invite guests to view while keeping most your grids/topics private to the class.  This is an amazing feature that I am so excited to be using.  It is a great way to show off to parents and community members what is happening during music without making EVERY video or topic public!

If you want more ideas on how to use flipgrid you can check out their blog OR their "Disco" (discovery) Library where teachers from all over have posted grid topics they are using in their class.  You can search by keyword, subject, and level (elementary, middle, high, etc.). There are some awesome music topics in the DL. I found a 2 minute opera scene topic that my students will be doing soon!

Do you have #flipgridfever? Be sure to add me as a #gridpal!

Tuesday Book Club- In the Hall of the Mountain King

It's October! It's Fall! It's My Birthday Month!

One of my favorite stories to do in the fall is "In the Hall of the Mountain King".  The version I read is adapted from Henrik Ibsen by Allison Flannery, Illustrated by Vesper Stamper and, of course, includes the music by Edvard Grieg.

When I introduce this story/ song, first I show the doodle chaos video.  Students LOVE this video.  As we are watching I ask them what they notice about the song. Because the movie is kind of funny, I am sure to remind them I want to know what they notice about what they HEAR not what they see.  We talk about dynamics, tempo, orchestration and more in grade level appropriate terms.

After we watch the video, I then read the book.  We have a short conversation about how the story might fit with the music and then, the fun part, we get to act it out.  I read the story again, as students are up and walking through the forest, entering the castle, looking around, and then running from the Mountain King (all to the rhythm of the song).  If it gets to crazy, I tell the students that we need to hide frozen like a statue in an open doorway of the castle and we freeze silently and look side to side to make sure the King doesn't see us.

Students, and I, LOVE this activity and ask for it again and again and again. Have fun!

Get the book HERE