Phys Ed and Music Partnership: Artist in Residence

I am beyond lucky to work on a team with an amazing PE teacher.  Beyond being awesome in the classroom, she is awesome because she understands in and believes in the partnership between music and physical education.  She understands that not only is beat important in the music room, it is important in most physical activity.  Not only is physical fitness and ability to move important in the gym, it is important in the music room.

For the past seven years or so, we have worked together on many projects.  However, my favorite annually, is our collaborative artist in residence.  Each year, through the funding of our local education foundation, we bring an artist in residence to teach our classes for the week.  Half our students see the guest for the first two days in a row, and then the other half of the school sees the artist for the next two days.  Then, there is usually a closing assembly.  We also have a family night where students can bring their parents back to experience what has been happening all week.

We have had many amazing artists from Kalani, to the Amidons, to Matt Savage, to Kerri Lynn Nichols.  However, this year's artist, Rene Bibaud is right up at the top of the list!  She was incredibly engaging, she got the students attention from day one, she demanded respect and high levels of performance, and she was an amazing performer herself.

Rene was a member of Cirque de Soleil, performing with her jump rope in the show Quidam.  Throughout the week, she shared many rope tricks and skills with our students.  However, the overall theme of keeping a steady beat was emphasized (and we all know that this is a skill we continue to hammer in K-12!)

Not only did she teach them movement skills, she also reminded students how important it is to try things.  Making a mistake isn't a bad thing.  It reminds us to keep on trying to improve.  

Check out Rene's in these short videos:

Check out Rene's website: www.ropeworkjumprope.com

You're a Grand Old Flag Veteran's Day Music Activity

At the end of October and in early November, I usually try to infuse some patriotic tunes as Veteran's Day approaches.  This week, I worked on "You're a Grand Old Flag" with 1st grade.

Many of my second graders are familiar with this, as the first grade team at my school does a lot of patriotic tunes as part of their morning work. 

After reviewing the melody with students, I introduce the word "PHRASE."  We discover the song has 4 phrases.  Then, I line students up.  With approximately 20 students in each class, I make 4 lines of 5 students.  The students must not only be straight horizontally, but the students must be in straight rows vertically for this to work as well.  As we sing, we march the beat.  However, on the last note of the first phrase, our marching rows turn to the right.  Ta da!  The students now have different rows and are facing a new direction.  At the end of the 2nd phrase, they turn right again, and after the third phrase, they turn right again, facing front. 

This activity not only teaches beat, phrasing, and a patriotic melody, it also looks reallllly cool!  Hope your students enjoy this as much as my kids did!

Cowboy Joe Name Game

Since I traveled to Texas last week to visit a friend, I thought I should share a "cowboy" activity! 

I teach Cowboy Joe to my 4th graders at the start of the school year.  I originally learned in it my Level 3 Orff training, and have adapted it a bit to work for my students.

First, I teach the body percussion, encouraging students to listen to me model the pattern and find where the "trick" occurs.

Once the kids can do the body percussion, I introduce the poem in conjunction with the body percussion.

Then, we turn the body percussion into a clapping came with a partner, changing the snaps to partner claps.

After that, the students are allowed to create their own clapping game and body percussion with their partner to go along with the song.  We share those ideas out.

Then, we make it a name game, going around the circle.  Each student individually replaces Cowboy Joe's name with their name, i.e. Cowboy Tyler or Cowgirl Alicia.  They also replace Mexico with the street that they live on, i.e comes from New Street.  Then, the entire class completes the last two phrases of the poem, inserting their classmate's name on the last phrase. 

If you want to take it to another level, the students can transfer the levels of body percussion to three different unpitched percussion instruments.

Enjoy my favorite "Cowboy" activity.  Yee-Haw!

Popular Music Movement Tracks without Words

When doing beat keeping activities, I prefer to use songs without words.  Some of that comes from my training and some of that comes from observing kids focus on non-text factors better when text is removed. 

Beat keeping "follow the leader" and mirroring occur often in my music room.  I have created an iTunes playlist of songs for these activities.  The students love when I mix in pop songs turned string quartet pieces or piano pop pieces.  So in addition to perkier tempo classical pieces that I use, here are some favorites that are of a different flair that we use in our room.  Maybe your kids will love them as much as mine:

Piano Guys are a favorite.  Some favorite tracks include:
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts
So Happy TOgether
Without You
What Makes You Beautiful
Twinkle Lullaby

From Barrage:
Running Horses
Tico Tico
Sweet Georgia Brown

From Bond:
The 1812
 Victory

From Dallas String Quartet:
Don't Stop Believin'
I Gotta Feelin'
Firework

From Jim Brickman:
Journey
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
When You Wish Upon a Star

From Carlos Nakai:
Songs for the Morning Star

From Vitamin String Quartet:
I'm Yours
Viva la Vida

From 2Cellos:
Clocks
Use Somebody
We Found Love
Ho Hey
The Middle

Glow Beats

The PE teacher and I are working on a Peer Collaboration project this year to track and nurture student beat keeping abilities.  I love working with the PE teacher, as so much of what we do builds off of each other.  We started the year tracking first grades' individual ability to keep the beat (marching the beat in the PE assessment/patting the beat in the music assessment).  Then, we have been doing many of the same activities in both classes to reinforce beat keeping skills, giving the students practice on an activity twice a week between both classes.

We just did a mid-year assessment, and students are showing great improvement.  It is amazing to watch them grow.

As part of this project, we've been designing activities together.  We recently ordered these LED Batons for beat keeping practice.  All students are given a lighted baton, we turn off the lights, and the music begins.  It is the students job to copy the teacher's beat keeping movements to the beat of the music.  The foam sticks provide lots of ways to practice beat keeping, and the GLOWING is thrilling for first graders.  We've expanded this lesson outside of first grade as well, for beat keeping review and it is a HIT!  Katie Perry's song, "Firework," is a favorite beat keeping tune at our school.