Rhythm Karate - FREE Download! - when the best ideas of others foster the best ideas in me!

Last year around this time of year I looked up at the clock and noticed that my 2nd graders had finished our entire lesson, AND played several of my best games AND we STILL  had 10 minutes left!!!!  ...  I'll admit that I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, but I wanted to try my best to review known concepts because being May, I knew that I would only see my kiddos a couple more times.... AND I wanted to have fun because once again, being May I knew that nothing less than fun would be motivational for my students.

So across the room I spied my set of handy dandy color coordinated rhythm flashcards.  At this school I have the ones created by Denise Gange.  They can be purchased HERE!  

I looked at the clock one more time and I said, "Let's play Rhythm Karate!" Even as I said it, I was remembering the fantastic motivation that happens with Music K-8 Recorder Karate and doing some quick thinking about how to turn my borrowed idea into a fun whole group review of rhythm on the fly....  and what about belts?  I didn't have any!  YIKES!   

 I asked my students to look the first  card over and figure out how they would read it, play it and say it.... 

 Then the entire class played and said the first card.... and the second.... until we reached the end of the first color...   If the performance was sloppy, we repeated it and cleaned it up....   If a rhythm was unfamiliar, I would pause and ask questions until the students could teach each other how to perform the rhythm... As the cards flew by the students got more and more excited and more focused,  Because effort and focus was high, even my students who would ordinarily be left behind were keeping up...   Once a color was completed, we cheered and I wrote down on their seating chart that they had earned their white belt... that's it!  I just told them, "You've just earned your white belt!"  "Hooray!"  At which point they were SOOOOO excited that they literally BEGGED to earn another belt right then!  Did I mention that they were excited?  No physical belts required!  If time allowed, we would do a couple of cards from the next belt and then I'd notate on their seating chart the number of the card where they left off.... easy as pie!  

   

The students were so excited about it that I tried it again  the next day and my partner teacher next door tried it and loved it!  Everyone was on task, everyone was excited and everyone was able to progress at a good pace through the cards.    

The next time I saw them they immediately asked which belt they would get to earn today and in about 15 minutes they were able to read, say and play all of the orange cards (that contained most of the 2nd grade rhythms)  and had started the next set of cards that we were preparing for 3rd grade...

This year we decided to include the activity in our lesson plans for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade... Because of natural mobility, we decided it might be best to start on the first set of cards regardless of grade level.  This is great because it gives some of my struggling students the confidence early on because as the colors change the cards get progressively harder.... Starting from the beginning also helps correct lazy and thoughtless habits of students who really have it but need to practice precision. 

Additionally, when you have a class that doesn't immediately fall under the "karate spell" (I have one out of 12 classes) adding unpitched percussion is awesome!    You will want to have a plan for rhythms that contain notes with longer duration like half notes... How do you want those notes played?  However with a plan in place, it is a great strategy because the karate mindset promotes personal discipline which means that poor instrumental technique can cause a class to have to perform the flash card a second or third time. No more sloppy practice!  

We also started posting the belts earned on our board.  I put a class name and then the belt earned next to it.... They enjoy the posting of results so much that my older students are asking when it will be their turn to play.  I have also created a certificate that classes can post on their doors that will declare which belts they have earned.  

This is a GREAT end of the year review activity! I hope you enjoy! 

Download the certificates for FREE!  below! 

3 belt rhythm karate certificate 

1 belt rhythm karate certificate  

I plan on using this poster with 1st grade

This version is nice because it's not limited to certain colors and you can give out as many as you like. 

2015-2016 Revised Music Teacher Planner - Chapter 1 - Contacts and Communication Log

So after a year of using my planner I love it more than ever, but  now after almost a year of use I have a MUCH better idea of how I would like my planer to actually function.  With that in mind, I have decided to create a revised version for this next year.  I've cleaned up some errors, moved some things around,  added some things and taken out others. I am sharing my edits with you!

If you like the old version fine and would like to continue to use it, please feel free to do so.  You can find the first chapter for download here.

CHAPTER 1 - CONTACTS AND COMMUNICATION LOG

 

Advise about printing:  

The PDF files that are linked here include pages as I have them set up for my own planner.  Your needs may be different than mine so feel free to print more or less of any given page. You will notice that each page is either left or right of center.  This is to allow for binding or hole punching. 

For best results try to arrange your planner so that when your book is open an even numbered page is on the left and an odd numbered page is on the right.  

Please remember that all parts of this planner are intended as a gift to busy music teachers who spend hours of their own time and regularly contribute their own money to the cause of making their music classrooms a haven of learning through music.  If you choose to use any part of this planner please do not sell it.  If you choose to share any part of this planner with others, please share the link to the blog rather than downloading and then mass producing planners for others.

If you find any part of the planner useful or if you have a request or suggestion please leave a comment below.

Video Wednesday - String Vibration video - really cool!

These videos demonstrates VERY clearly how the size of the string and it's tuning affect the size of the sound wave created.  Very cool! 

Baby Steps to Teaching Music Composition - Part 2 FREE DOWNLOAD!

Based on my previous post, I am not ashamed to admit that I was thrilled when I was able to help my students travel through a composition process that got them to where they could create work that looked like this.   However, when I consider this work I can see room for improvement in the lesson I present.  

1.  This composition is randomly rather than musically produced.  At this point in the process only a few of my students demonstrate any notion that their piece should start or end on tonic.  This happens because even though they have an instrument (the recorder) that they can use to hear their piece, it is not something they can use well because recorders are loud and they are composing in a room filled with other students also using the recorder to test out their compositions.  

2.  This composition has not been placed on the staff. When I first started taking students through the process of music composition, once my students were able to compose 16 beats of rhythm and then attach a pitch I would hand them some staff paper and hope for the best.... Well.... I didn't get the best... I caused frustration and then we would be out of time, and there wasn't really good way to move further through the process.  

In order to address the first problem I plan on including a mini lesson about the relationship between the scale degrees and the importance of ending on "do" .  I also plan waiting for the full project until my students can play low d, low e and f sharp on the recorder so that we can compose in D Major pentatonic.  If a particular class isn't ready to move that far on recorder, then I will have them create their compositions for xylophone in C Major.  

To address the second problem, I plan is to invite my students to take their chart and transfer their work to the chart below that has a staff.   

I plan on testing both charts and hope to report back here about which one had more success.  

FREE DOWNLOAD!  HERE! 

Baby Steps to Teaching Music Composition - Part 1

I was working on my blog the other day and I had a chance to revisit some of my old posts.  When I came across THIS post, I realized that even though this post is a few  years old, it still rings true for me.  Not only have I continued to begin my composition lessons just like this, but this lesson has allowed me to prepare my students for additional work in composition.  Look out for additional posts about composition in the weeks to come.   

Below you will find the original post from February 2012. 

As a song writer, I compose new music almost every day.    Ironically, despite the fact that I LOVE writing music, it is very difficult for me to teach music composition to my students.  In this area of instruction I consider myself a novice because I think I can do better.... MUCH better!   It's like an itch I can't scratch or a puzzle I can't solve.... I know how I do it, but it is difficult to find the right way to get others started.

Well today, I sort of had an epiphany.  Here it is....... Are you ready?  You've got to prime the pump!

All of the awesome teachers reading this blog with go...."Yep..... we know.... that is not news!  Everyone knows that."  Well, I'm telling you that I knew it, and I've lived it in so many areas of my teaching, but I just didn't really get it where music composition was concerned.


Today was the first day of teaching in a new rotation, so I was THRILLED to be starting off a new lesson on a Monday, so I planned and prepared and prepared and planned.  Then when my 5th graders walked in my brain had one of those teaching "SHAZZAAAM!" moments and I realized that I could do teach a much more interesting lesson that would still hit all of my objectives if I just went with my moment of inspiration.

Here is what I did as I flew by the seat of my pants into a lesson I can't wait to teach again tomorrow!

 1. I first had my students fold a regular piece of copy paper into 16 squares.  I have them fold their paper in half 4 times.

In Houston because of the humidity, sometimes open reams of copy paper go bad and I find myself with 30 sheets of random colored paper.  It's perfectly fine, so I choose to up-cycle instead of recycle.
 It's amazing how much buy-in you can create for a project when there is colored paper and folding involved.

 2. Then I had my students  students create this chart as a review for rhythm duration and relationships.  Each square is equal to one beat.   Since this was 5th grade and I knew I wanted to compose with them, I really pushed them to work quickly.  I explained that this chart was only going to be for their reference, so they should be accurate, but that they didn't have to copy verbatim. I had other notes that this student didn't need.

THIS was my epiphany about priming the pump....
I took the time to remind them of what they already know

 In the old days, I might have stopped there and moved onto something else.... OR I might have turned it into a reading lesson......  Instead....

3.   I asked the students to turn their papers over and we created a small blank staff.  Then as a class we reminded ourselves of the notes we already knew very well how to play on recorder.... We've introduced some of the other notes, but these notes were the notes that the kids in this class felt like they knew....

This class feels comfortable playing GABCD and E.....
 I realized that when I compose music, I use words that I KNOW! 

4.  I had them quickly fold a 2nd piece of paper just like the first. 

5. Before they were allowed to write anything on their paper, we filled out a "blank song" as a class.  They were told to use the rhythms that they knew into the squares in any pattern they wished.  Their only limitations were to make sure that they had room for the notes they chose.... (i.e. no half notes beginning on beat 4).

It was fun to see them figure out that eighth notes were the same
 regardless of whether or not they had a bar or a flag. 

6.  Once we got to this next step they go really excited.  While they were working, I had quickly passed out their recorders so that they would have them on hand.   They assigned each rhythm a pitch......Almost all of them got to the point where they were trying to play what they had written.

7.  Next time they come to class they will have a chance to edit their work using their recorder.  Because we were beginning to run short on time by the time they were assigning pitch there wasn't time for very much exploration.  So next time they come to music, they can edit their work, share it with other students ad write it on the staff.  MAYBE we'll have time to add words.


I'm looking forward to seeing how well this works with my class tomorrow.  I have high hopes! As I said, I still feel like a novice at teaching music composition, but I felt much more successful having taken the time to remind my students of what they already know.  Creating something original wasn't nearly such a leap when we remembered all that we knew before.  They were SUPER proud of themselves!
What fun!



The 16 square rhythm chart is a way to review rhythm that I borrowed from my colleague Pablo Ocañas.  

Musical First Aide - a practical guide to teaching music when your personal life is in crisis - Part 3 - take care of yourself

Having a personal crisis is just plain difficult.  Regardless of the nature of the crisis that you find yourself in, here are some tips for how to keep moving through your days with the ability deal with the crisis and be of use to your family.

Take care of yourself

• Give up some things - When things were most crazy, I had to give myself permission to let go of some personal commitments that I am ordinarily deeply involved.  I quit working in the nursery at church.  I quit singing with the my church choir even though its one of my favorite things, it was just a time commitment that I couldn't fulfill.  I also put away blogging for a while, simply because there wasn't room in my brain.  I was reduced to the bare essentials.  Picking them back up now that things have calmed is a joy.
• Pursue normalcy whenever possible - Whenever you can stick to your normal routines.  Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Eat right and exercise so that you don't get sick.  Being sick is something that no one dealing with a crisis has time for.    Going to work was the most normal thing that I did and because I was busy while I was there, it was in some ways a relief.  
• Pamper yourself - When things are really nuts, that 30 minute pedicure or the 5 minutes at the drive through of Starbucks may be the only peaceful parts of your day.  Enjoy them
• Set up communication routines  - Because my dad's illness was our crisis, there were lots of people who love him dearly who wanted regular updates.  In order to save myself from having to repeat myself so often, I created a communication routine so that everyone received the same information in an orderly fashion.  For me, that meant that every day, I spent time writing a Facebook update.  Those updates were a great way for me to process our circumstances but they also allowed me to share the latest news with all of the wonderful people who care for my family.  It turned into the easiest way to get up to date information to everyone.  
• When people ask how they can help, give them an answer!  That was really hard because at first I couldn't think of anything.... but then the laundry started piling up and the $12-15 a day parking started cutting in to the budget.  It's ok.... other people can cook meals and do laundry and help with gas costs.... only you and your family get to walk through the storm.  
• Be with friends - Burdens are easier when they are shared and some folks can help you most by letting you talk.  
• Cut yourself a break - Sometimes when you can't be everywhere and do everything.  Don't waste time trying to justify the choices you are making.  When dealing with a crisis, you can only do what seems right at time.  
• Celebrate small victories - There is joy even in the difficult times and taking time to celebrate those small moments can really brighten an otherwise dark time.  
• Seek the Lord - He hears us when we call out to him.  His joy is our strength.  His strength is perfect and His grace is sufficient.  He heals broken hearts, He still does miracles and isn't surprised by anything. 

Teaching Music - 101 - 5 things to notice when earning observation hours

When I was in college, I wish I had understood the value of an observation.

Before I started teaching I had to spend hours and hours observing in a "live" school setting.  I was working toward my Bachelor of Music degree with a K-12 certification in choral music.  More than anything, I wanted to see the really cool stuff.  I wanted to see a high school choir rehearsing their contest music.  I wanted to see elementary students playing instruments and games. Sadly, it was not to be.... in fact, when I was faced with the actual observations, I endured them rather than experienced them simply because they weren't what I had hoped for.

• I spent time observing reading teachers doing running records as part of her reading class. 
• I spent time observing math centers in action. 
• I spent time in a 6th grade choir class with 95 students who were learning to sing "I believe I can fly"  except they that isn't what they sang....  instead spoke "Ikaahh fly".,,,,,over and over and over again.......without correction...... 
• I spent time in an elementary school where the music teacher had been told that instead of music they were supposed to teach phonics.... so even though the students only had music 30 minutes a week, 15 minutes of each lesson was spent singing a, aah, apple.... b, buh, banana..... exciting stuff.  This made me a little crazy because the other 15 minutes of the lesson were really outstanding and I left always wishing I could see more.
• I even spent time in an early childhood music classroom where the music class had 3 classes at a time!!!!!!  YIKES!  3 classes of pre-k alone with the music teacher!!!!!  

Each of these experiences had their own gritty reality about them.  Because of the way my class schedule fit into their class schedule, I was pretty much stuck with what I had and lucky to get it..... Depending on how your "observation classes" fit in with the rest of your degree plan, you may be in a position where you are forced to be less picky about what and where you observe......  I wouldn't worry too much about it for three reasons....

1.  Even situations that you wouldn't choose for yourself can be very rich in learning.
2.  If you only have a very narrow exposure during observations it will be very difficult for you to contextualize anything.  Music teacher hopefuls benefit from observing in the regular classroom.  Without it, your only idea of what goes on in a regular classroom is what you remember from childhood.... Things have changed!   Music teacher hopefuls benefit from observing in less that perfect musical settings because in real life there are a lot more music teachers who teach in settings that are far from perfect than those folks who have the dream settings.
3.  You can seek out observation hours on your own.  Your semesters are not on the same schedule as ours....So when you are home sometime, contact your old music teacher and set up an observation.

 No matter what subject area, or setting you are told to observe, if you are prepared for your observation, then any observation can be turned into pure GOLD!

The golden observations happen  when you realize that the real power behind any observation is not about the subject matter or setting at all..... An observation is best viewed in light of how the people in the room are behaving and how they are interacting with each other, their environment and their task. 

1.  Notice the children  - Who are these creatures?  The BEST way to be a good teacher is to understand who your students are.

• Are they enthusiastic?  
• Are they interested?  
• Are they on task? If they are not on task, can you identify a cause?  (i.e. time of day, seating arrangement) 
• If redirection is needed, what sort of redirection do they respond to?
• How do they interact with the teacher? 
• How do they interact with their peers?  
• What seems to motivate them? 
• What humors them?  
• What frustrates them? 

2.  Notice the teacher - Notice greatness.  Your focus as the observer should focus on their good habits because those are the ones you want to take with you when you leave.  

• How does the teacher speak to the children?  
• Does the tone used, elicit the desired response?
•  What is this teacher doing that works?  
• What routines are in place that help facilitate a smoothly run class?  
• If the lesson starts to veer off track, or gets stuck....what does the teacher do to keep things moving?  
• What adjustments does the teacher make?  
• How does the teacher address discipline issues?  

3.  Notice the environment -  Acknowledge the silent contributor.  As the observer, rather than concentrate on what is wrong with the space, focus on what steps the teacher and the students do to adapt to the space. 

• Is the room well lit and of comfortable temperature?
•   How has the teacher addressed these issues if they are not optimal?  
• Is the room cluttered or neat?   Are the students able to navigate easily?  
• Can they find the items that they use?  
• If another person enters the room, what is their impact on the overall focus? 
•  What sorts of things are posted in the room that the students or the teacher actually refer to
• What sorts of things are posted in the room that seemingly have no purpose?

4.  Notice the teacher-student collaboration - Collaboration is the maker or breaker of any classroom experience.  As the observer, start honing your ability to observe how the social interactions within the classroom affect the learning outcomes.  

• What is the culture of the classroom?  
• How does the teacher include everyone?  
• How do the children treat each other?  
• Are tasks released to the students or is the teacher doing all of the work?  
• What questioning strategies does the teacher use to keep everyone invested in the lesson? 
• What jobs and responsibilities do the students have in order to facilitate the class culture? (i.e. line leader, or study buddy) 

5.  Notice quality - what were your favorites? 

• What transitions worked best? 
• What activities worked best? 
• Where was the source of motivation? 
• What strategies were used to facilitate independent practice?
• What methods were used to help students demonstrate their knowledge? 

Musical First Aide - a practical guide to teaching music when your personal life is in crisis - Part 2 - Managing the Crisis

This was a tough year for my family.  Between December of 2013 to March 2014 my dad spent 120 consecutive days in the hospital.  Most of those days were in ICU.  I'm pleased to say that he is doing VERY well today, but it has been a long and difficult journey.    As I look back on this year I can say that there were several things that happened before, during and after the crisis that allowed me to continue to teach in the midst of the chaos.  I'm sharing these in hopes that these posts might help those in difficult circumstances.  

  

Here is a link to Part 1 - Planning and Preparation

  

Managing work responsibilities while in a season of crisis!  

1. Don't drive yourself when you get bad news!   My dad was in the ICU but stable, so I felt OK about being at work.  My brother was with my parents and  I was scheduled to take the day off a couple of days later when my mom would need a break from the hospital.  At lunch I realized that I had missed several phone calls and a text from my mom indicated that my immediate presence was needed at the hospital.  In addition to being upset and in a hurry, I was more than an hour away from the hospital.  I informed my administration about what was going on and then got in my car.  I drove about a block when I realized that being behind the wheel was REALLY a bad idea for me.  I was able to contact a friend who drove me to the hospital.  I got there safely and therefore avoided additional crisis.  Don't drive yourself when you get bad news!    
2. Understand your Human Resources Department!    In addition to being experts about everything you need to know about insurance, leaves of absence, disability, donated sick days and what happens to your pay check when you miss too many days, they also have information about resources such as family counseling and various avenues of assistance that are available to employees in crisis.  My dad had a turn for the worse right before the winter holidays.  One of the last things that I did before the administration offices closed was take the time to speak with one of the folks who would help me take a leave of absence if it was eventually needed.  Because I knew I would be off for two weeks no matter what happened, I needed to start the ball rolling early.  
3. Get creative with how you use your days.  - In December and January especially I spent a LOT of time at the hospital, and as much time as I was there, I also knew that I wanted to stretch out my days as long as possible.  I took LOTS of half days especially when my dad was in ICU because the ICU was closed from 6:00-10:00 a.m. anyway, so it didn't make sense for me to be there when I could e at work saving days for another week.    When my dad was awake, he was happiest and calmest when we were with him.  We were happiest and calmest when we were with him, so it worked out best if we were all together.  I also found it VERY helpful to take advantage of weird days at school.   Music teachers everywhere know that specials are often the first classes to get hit with the "weird schedule" stick at school.   While my dad was in the hospital, we had our annual visit from the local dentist and our annual PTA fundraiser grade level pep rallies.  Both events took place during what should have been my teaching time.  However, when you are facing a crisis, your time is worth gold, therefore, I very happily took the days and spent them with my dad while I  let my sub sit in on the dental hygiene lecture and listening to the fund raiser pep rally 6 times.    Don't waste your time at school NOT teaching! You might need that day to take your turn at the hospital.  You might need that day at home to do laundry and to prep upcoming lessons.  Do what you need to do!  
4. Time is precious so prioritize.  -Because I didn't choose to take a leave of absence, I was at school 1-2 days a week during the toughest times.  When I was at work, I felt like I could work all day but I had to be very choosy.  What was I doing?  I was creating GOOD sub plans, I was teaching the tough stuff and I was letting the small stuff go.  While in the hospital waiting room, I submitted my grades, wrote emails, did any computer prep work I could do and wrote lesson plans.  This helped me to keep things going at work but more importantly, it kept my mind occupied during the LONG LONG LONG LONG hours of unknowns and waiting!    "Let it Go!" was sort of my theme song.  Music teachers are sort of control freaks and when things got crazy at home, I couldn't control everything anymore so there were things that I had to let go of.... which leads me to my next point...
5. Receive help gracefully!!!!!  My co-teacher, my specials team, my grade level teams and my administrators were absolutely amazing.  They were so faithful to help out.  Of course, I can't even begin to tell you the hours that my co-teacher spent making sure that I had all of my bases covered.  I can't tell you because she didn't burden me with that stress... THAT is how awesome she is!!!!    I pretty much had to dump an entire choir concert and full day multiple stop field trip in her lap.  She was a champ.  She stepped up and took charge.  My team helped cover my classes when I had to leave and a sub wasn't available.  My team leader helped by being another "heavy" at our concert.  He even served as MC during the concert.  It is a role that I would usually fill, but although I managed to attend and conduct the concert, I was not REALLY there, don't actually remember the concert and wouldn't have been fit to hold the microphone, let alone speak coherently.  We muscled through that concert as a team.  One of the 5th grade teachers was even on stand by as an emergency conductor.  She attended the last week of choir rehearsals, learned the music and was ready to step in if needed.   My administrators also worked with me to find solutions to make sure that when I was in need, my students didn't suffer. 
6. Communicate - Depending on your type of crisis, you may not want the world knowing your business, but you do need to communicate with you co-teacher or team leader and admin.  They can't help you or problem solve with you if they don't know what is going on.  Be sure and let them know if it's ok for others on your campus to know your news.  You have the right to be private if you choose. 
7. Don't procrastinate - None of us know the future.  If you have time to make that phone call or 5 minutes to order your recorders then do it today!  There are so many things beyond our control that we have to wait on, so at least at work, don't put things off, you might need tomorrow to do something important. 
8. Record yourself -  A picture is worth a thousand words and a poor quality, in a hurry, on the fly video is worth a million.  With the iphone in your pocket you can make a pretty great video. You can demonstrate choreography you can teach a descant....AND you can talk faster than you can type..... There were a couple times when I needed to move quickly that a video on the music ipad was the fastest way to communicate with my co-teacher and sub.  I'm glad that those videos have since been lost, but they worked better and were faster than anything else.  
9. Embrace flexible scheduling - Sometimes, you can ease your stress significantly by making adjustments to your calendar.  Move performances, trade performances with another department, or even cancel.... it will be ok..... really..... it will be ok.....  
10. Keep it simple.  No one will take away your music teacher card if you simplify.  In fact, if YOU simplify, then perhaps your students will shine brighter!  It is after all about the students. Do something they already know.  Choose a program you've done before.  Decide not to have speaking parts and just sing.  Decide to wear holiday outfits from home instead of music room costumes.  There are LOTS of ways to shave the fluff out of your music class.... The fluff may be what you love the best, but when there is a crisis, you might drown in fluff, so get rid of it.
11. GREAT Sub plans are SUPER Important - This year has confirmed in my heart something that I've been known to be true for a long time.  There is no such thing as a silver bullet sub plan.  Sub plans are not something you can turn in to the office before the first day of school and expect them to hold any instructional water.  They must be changed and updated regularly so that they fit into and can somewhat approximate where you are in your road map.  You can certainly move things around so that the sub isn't teaching the tough stuff, but when our lives get crazy, we run out of easy stuff for the subs to teach and we just have to let go of getting to teach the tough stuff ourselves and make sure that our sub plans are excellent.  With that in mind, there are some excellent resources available.  These two are my favorite resources to use if I have a need for something easy, quick and prepared.  

I have also written a post about how to develop good sub plans HERE!  

MelodySoup Video Wednesday! Japanese shamisan

Try This Lesson! - Tempo Listening Lesson

I find that it is REALLY a very difficult help students to understand tempo, but to be able to use the tempo vocabulary when describing music.  My co-teacher and I tried something new this year.  We developed a listening lesson that allowed students to compare various tempos side by side.  

First we asked our students to divide a piece of paper into sections.  Students ended up with a paper that contained more sections than they needed, but the extra space allowed for us to create a title for their work and we also had room to add additional words if we chose.  

We first asked students to write the word "presto" in the box.  We then asked the students to listen to an example of presto music and to draw "what they heard".  Some students drew instruments,  Some students drew various sorts of lines and other students wrote words that came to mind. 

After we completed our first word, we added our second word and asked the students to write the word "moderato" in a square of their choice.  Once again, we asked the students to listen to an excerpt of music that was "moderato" but this time we told them that their drawing should sound different.  

After the students had collected several words and drawings of words the really powerful part of the lesson was when we asked them to share what they had drawn for each word.  

Finally, mixed up the pieces and played different excerpts than what the students originally responded to and asked them to discern the tempo.  They not only did a really nice job, but they have continued to use the words to describe music which is  the real goal of the process.   I found that students who drew lines in different weights tended to be able to verbalize the various tempos better.  I think this happened because they were actually moving their crayon in tempo with the piece being played.  

  

When we show these videos to the students we create links through safeshare. :)  

Presto

Moderato

Andante Cantabile

Allegro

Largo

Teaching Music 101 - 3 Things to Consider When Choosing a University

Just recently I found myself in a conversation with a young lady who was trying to make decisions about where she should pursue a degree in music education.   Here are some ideas I hope she will consider as she looks for the best place to study.





If you enjoy this article, please feel free to read the first article in the series  Teaching Music 101


Most people first need to consider price and location.  However, when you get to the point where you are comparing two or three options that will work, you may need to consider a few things more carefully.  This is not an exhaustive list of things to consider, but a list of things that you might not think of initially that can make a HUGE difference in your experience at college.  Remember that no matter what school you choose, the quality of education you receive is most dependent upon you and your willingness to work hard and take advantage of the opportunities you gain as a result of your hard work.

1.  Piano Requirements - In these days of very expensive degrees,  most universities are looking for ways that they can trim can cut costs for students.  Music schools are no different. However, your goal should be to receive a degree that actually prepares you for real life.  I think that schools who cut down their piano requirement are doing a disservice to their students.  

•   In real life, the music teacher is often the only pianist on campus. 
•  In real life, no one will have time to come in and accompany your choir AND you won't have  the $$$ to pay them even if they have time to help you....
•  In real life, sound systems fail but the piano in the corner of the cafeteria will still play. 

With that in mind, you should choose the school with the program with the most rigorous piano requirements for music education students whose primary instrument is NOT piano.  Request the information from the schools you are interested in.  For example: If one school requires 4 octave scales in just major and harmonic minor while the other requires you to also play melodic and natural minor, choose the one that requires all 3 minors. It's more work, but you'll be better for it.  The required repertoire should be varied and challenging.  Choose the most difficult piano barrier so that when you have met the requirement you actually have employable skills.  That little bit of extra piano will pay off and is worth the extra hours and you have to pay for and the extra work you have to do to get it!  

When I was going to school, I didn't know to look for such a thing because I thought that all the universities somehow got together and decided upon the same piano requirements for their music ed majors.  Not true!    I went to a small private school called Howard Payne University.  Our piano barrier was quite challenging and my piano professors were AMAZING!  Dr. Wallace rocks!!!!    When I shared my experiences with friends of mine who attended larger state schools, I was shocked to find out how little those students had to accomplish in order to pass their piano barrier.   I am NOT a pianist, but I left school ready to play what was needed and although no one would ever let me accompany if someone else with more skill was available, in a pinch, I can muscle my way through.... I would not be able to do that at all, had my university piano program been less rigorous.  I also want to say that I've never ever heard a music teacher say that they wished they had taken LESS piano! Everyone I know wishes they had had more!  

2. Observations, Music Ed Classes and Student Teaching - If you are hoping to be a music teacher it is important to choose a University that has both an EXCELLENT school of music but also an EXCELLENT school of education.  Your music education classes should prepare you well to pursue a variety of methodologies and prepare you to meet the needs of students in a variety of settings.  When you leave with your Bachelor's Degree in Music Education, you should know what to teach to who and have a good grasp on how a variety of methodologies would accomplish the task.  This is especially important since you may find that you are the ONLY music teacher on your campus, and there may not be anyone around for you to ask.... You NEED to know your stuff!    
Choose a University whose school of music and school of education have a good partnership and collaborate well.  You don't want to be half way through your education and find that you are in the midst of a conflict.  Both of your schools, your school of music and school of education should be accredited nationally and should be current in their pursuit of best practices, educational philosophy and research.   Pay close attention to schools of education who have strong Early Childhood programs in place have solid coursework in child development.    Early childhood is a very important and often overlooked reality of being a music teacher.  At least in Texas, the certification for becoming a music teacher is PK-12.  This is a REALLY wide range.  Most of the music teachers I know have to put more effort into planning, preparing and executing their Pre-k and kinder lessons than the rest of their day.  Therefore some focus on early childhood would be time well spent.
You won't begin your education classes until later, but it would be a good idea to find out about how observations and student teaching works.   You should choose a school that provides the most opportunities for observation and for student teaching.  Find out what partnerships are in place between your university and local school districts and even neighboring metropolitan school districts.  Some schools are more flexible than others about where you observe and student teach. Make sure that you understand their policies.  Additionally, be prepared to work with your education faculty to arrange observations in actual music classrooms.  I found that unless I spoke up, they would schedule me to observe whatever class was available, but I REALLY needed to spend the majority of my time in the music classroom.    

3.  Performances, Private Lessons Ensemble Opportunities -  As a music education major you should look for schools that have room for you to have opportunity to join the best studios and to participate in the advanced or elite ensembles and performances.  Sometimes schools are forced by the limits on their performance space and their calender limitations to give a significant priority to their performance students.  That is understandable and arguably the right thing to do for those performance majors , but depending on how you want to use your Music Education degree in the future, you may find that you really need to be a part of those more performance based elite opportunities.  There are schools that have plenty of room in their advanced programs for both performance and education majors.  There are schools that simply don't. You should find out about how private studios are formed and how ensembles and performance opportunities are cast before you enroll.   Are some auditions open to only certain majors?  Are some auditions open to only certain studios?  Do music education majors have the opportunity to give a senior recital?  (I think they should.) Choose a school that will give you the best opportunity to perform both in ensembles and as a soloist.

If you are a music teacher, please share a tip or advice that you wish you had known before you started your degree in the comments section! :)  

Teaching Music 101 - 5 tips for students who want to become music teachers

Occasionally, I get find myself in conversations with high school and college students who are hoping to become music teachers.   Recently, this seems to happen more often.  Here are the things that I tell my young friends when I have the chance.





Disclaimer:  Remember, these tips are especially for students hoping to become music teachers because that is the career that I know the most about.... 

1.  PRACTICE PIANO!!!!   - It doesn't matter what instrument you hope to specialize in while in college.  It doesn't matter that you have taken piano lessons since you were 3.  It doesn't matter that you've never even seen a piano. Please practice!  Practicing piano is important for these reasons

• If you actually are an accomplished pianist, you can find work while in school and will be able to pursue really cool opportunities that will set you apart from other students. Those with the best skills entering in as freshman will be ahead of the game! 
• If your piano skills are lacking - NOW is the time to get on the ball.  Most music degrees carry a piano requirement and in order to continue with your study you will have to pass a piano barrier. Don't let a lack of piano keep you from pursuing something you love, when a little hard work and dedication can get you to where you need to be.  

2.  BE INVOLVED!!!!  - Participating in musical ensembles will help you with the basics.  Often, there are opportunities to compete in a Solo and Ensemble setting or as a part of of an All-Region, or All-State competition.  Pursue those opportunities as an avenue to scholarship money.   The distinctions you earn as part of an ensemble or as a soloist can have a huge impact on the opportunities available to you as an entering freshman.  

3.  WORK WITH CHILDREN!  - As it turns out, spending every day with a room full of children is harder than you might imagine.  When you are working on your music education degree, there will be classes embedded in your program that try their best to prepare you for the realities of the classroom.  However, nothing can replace real live "boots on the ground" experience.  Seek opportunities to work with children's choirs at your local church.  Get a summer job at the YMCA  as a camp counselor.  Babysit.  Figure out how to redirect children without exasperating them.   Sing with children.  Teach the children in your life a song.  

4.  LEARN A NEW INSTRUMENT!!!  - More instruments mean more opportunities.  Take lessons now so that later, you won't be clueless.  University level private lessons move fast.  If you are a complete beginner you may find yourself REALLY squeezed for time.   

5.  LEARN YOUR THEORY!   - When I got my first letter from the School of Music that I had enrolled, it contained a list of things that would be included on my entrance exam that they use to place incoming freshman.  I literally had to take my letter to my choir teacher and have him explain things to me.... I was not a theory novice, but neither did I have what I needed to make a good start.  If you have access to an AP Theory class at your high school, take it.  If not, then take advantage of the internet and catch up. Between websites like musictheory.net and youtube, you should be able to create a good start in theory for yourself.  

FREE! 1812 Overture by Tchaivovsky - Listening Map

My students REALLY enjoyed this listening map!  Now that it is part of my google docs collection, I can easily share it with students.  I think it has been their favorite so far.  Enjoy!
Download listening map for FREE! 

FREE! Swan Lake Listening Map

I love studying composers with my students.  Tchaikovsky is definitely a favorite, but when time allows, I dearly love sharing more than just the music from the Nutcracker with my students.  When I have time, I like to share several other pieces with them including the Swan Theme from the Swan Lake Ballet Suite.  I created a listening map using PowerPoint to go along with the piece.  When I shared it with my students I projected it and had them use a pointer to locate certain features that they thought were important.  After we had listened to the piece using the listening map, we then moved to the music to accompany our exploration of the traditional ballet positions.  The students had a wonderful time and loved getting to be real ballet dancers. 

Since I have put this slide show into google slides, now I can share this slideshow with my students on their devices that they bring to music upon request.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. 

To view the slideshow listening map click HERE

Liebster Award - Find some great music blogs here!

Thank you Jennifer  from In My Music Class  for nominating me for the Liebster Award!  I love to blog and only wish that I had more time to enjoy it, so I really appreciate the award. 

By the way, if you are interested in some really great ideas,
Jennifer has shared some very practical "boots on the ground" ideas from her music class in her blog.  I especially love her sub plan idea because it both simple and effective when you aren't blessed with a music sub.  To check out her post, follow the link HERE !

The Liebster Award was created to highlight blogs with growing audiences. The rules for receiving this award are:

1. In your post link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and a 'shout out'.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer. (The questions I have answered please)
3. Nominate 11 people (Blogs with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post. 
4. Let your nominees know and provide them with a link back to your post (so they can see the rules)
5. No nominating the person who nominated you, however send them a thank you :)

These are the questions that are set for me to answer...

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
In 2010 I wanted to start a website.  I tried to learn how to create a website from scratch and since I had a URL and a willingness to work, I created  Melodysoup.com.  It took me several months and lots of hard work to figure out that I really didn't want a website, I wanted a blog. So Melodysoup blog was born as an offshoot of my website that really doesn't have anything on it except a link to my blog.  Through trial and error I began to blog seriously and regularly in January of 2012.   The development of my blog corresponds with a time when I was at a new school and really feeling the loss of a great teaching partnership that up until that point in my career had provided a wonderful outlet for professional collaboration.  The blog was motivated in great part both by my need for professional collaboration with other music teachers, but also as a way for me to help out music teachers who might be like me and in need of a professional cohort.  

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Soup - I love teaching music and I love gaining insight from a variety of philosophies, ideas, and perspectives.  When I throw all of those sometimes quite divergent elements together into a beautiful mixture of techniques and experiences for my students it is sort of like a delicious soup made from all the great and sometimes random ingredients from my well stocked musical pantry.   As a result, my blog doesn't really embody any one particular musical method and hopefully as a result, everyone can find something useful in my posts.  

3. Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey you wished you knew before?
I wish I had understood the difference between content posts and opinion posts.  As a music teacher there are times when I am searching for content.  If I can find the content I need on a blog then I am totally there.  Opinion or editorial posts certainly have their place, but as far as blogs about elementary music blogs are concerned, the best posts that really drive traffic to my blog all contain real content.  

4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging?
I write music.  It is my favorite of all of my favorite things which means that I love writing music ALOT!!!  

5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?
The time that I dedicate to my blog totally depends upon what is going on at school.  In the summer I try my best to work on my "BIG" projects like my word wall or my planner posts because those take lots of time.  I also try my best to get several posts scheduled so that I can have time to start school in August.  I feel REALLY great if I'm able to post twice a week, knowing that when things get nuts at school, then once a week will be a miracle.  However, I always have multiple drafts in process and I write something every single day because some posts are just more involved than others.  In a typical week, I'll check on my blog for stats and comments every day.  I do this primarily to make sure that there aren't any spam comments that need to be taken down.  I'll write a bit, but typically write heavily two to three days a week.  (1 hour a day on average) 

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
FREE Downloads!!!  I like to create things and I like to share them.  

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
I am inspired to write a post when I try to find something online and i can't find what I want.  I'm planning a post on listening maps soon.  The reason behind the post is because I needed a particular listening map and there were none available, at least not the kind I wanted.  So, I have created my own and will share it soon.  That same feeling of not being able to find what I wanted has inspired my word wall posts, my teacher planner posts, and all of my free download posts to date.  

8. Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

Free Downloadable Rhythm Cards 

Useful, Useful, Useful and FREE FREE FREE! 

9. Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have been postponing it for a while now?
I plan on putting together a series of posts about how to create a black light show.  I inherited the black light show and cannot in any way take credit for the genius that it is, but it sure is fun and before I inherited, I had never heard of one or seen one, so I spent a great deal of time looking for information online and didn't find anything.... So it seems like a good subject for a post.   

10. What's your favorite aspect of blogging?
The collaboration.  My post about a Musical Word Wall  is both the most work I've ever done for a blog post but also the most collaborative.  The response to this post was huge and everyone had requests for words that they would like to see included.  The list of words got longer, the existing words got edited and on the whole, the entire thing was better and more useful because in the end, it was a resource created collaboratively.  I think that is blogging at it's best!  

11. Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you be most likely to try yourself?
In my lesson plans for last week I actually included a link to the Nutcracker Movement Activities because my 2nd graders were studying Tchaikovsky and I wanted a quick way to remember what we could do as a movement activity for the Chinese Dance. It was great and my students loved it!  

Musical Musings with Mrs. Lukow

Treble in the Classroom 

Pursuit of Joyfulness 

Sew Much Music 

Make Moments Matter 

Sweet Sounds from the Music Room

Rhythm and Glues 

Make Music Rock! 

Dover Elementary Music 

Emily's Kodaly Music 

You may notice that some other music education bloggers have suggested these blogs too!  That is because they are awesome!  :)