MelodySoup Video Wednesday! - Week 2

Here is another great video about being an ensemble and studio musician.  I like it especially because he speaks about being prepared and humble.

Terrific Tips for Tuesday! - Organizing pencils

So after 13.5 years of frustrating pencil management experiences I've finally come up with a plan that I have successfully maintained this year AND that is flexible enough for me to adjust according to the needs of  my students and the time constraints we are dealing with on a given day.
1. I've got sooooo many pencils! 
I can have up to 3 sets of (40) pencils in "active duty" at all times with at least that many in reserve in case we have a pencil emergency.
2. You pick two
I have my students either stay in their existing line from the door, or get in a line.  The line of students faces the pencil station.  The first person gets two pencils.  They walk to the end of the line and hand off their second pencil to the person at the end.  This works REALLY well for me.  It might not work in every classroom set up, but it has turned out to be my preferred method of getting pencils out.
3.  DRAWERS are awesome because they can't get lost!
When I kept my pencils in a box on a shelf, the box would wander off as we needed it, and then we spent time looking for the pencil box instead of using the pencil box.  With these drawers, the "pencil box" is always ready to go! I have 3 sets of these drawers set up side by side.  Each set is labeled with a different type of supply.  As you see, I have a drawer labeled sharp # pencils and one labeled flat pencils.....These drawers don't work the way that I imagined they would primarily because my students and I don't have time to sort pencils as we clean up......SOOOOOO.....

2. Make the students do the work
As it turns out, sorting pencils that need to be sharpened, or are in need of erasers is a perfect act of community service for students that they can perform during class instead of doing the "fun" thing.  I like the sorting job because it can be done without the pencil sharpener so it doesn't interfere with instruction.
3.  Pencil sharpeners are evil! 
I almost never allow myself or my students to sharpen pencils during class.  I do it when I have to, but I never like it..... The sharpener is too loud. The sharpener is too expensive.  The sharpener is too tricky.  The sharpener is too tempting......Instead, if I have a student in need of a fresh pencil, they can visit the sharp # pencil drawer.  Their pencil that needs attention goes in the flat pencil drawer and we move on.
4. It just takes 5... 
At the end of class when my students are in line waiting for their teacher, during that small breath..... of time when one class is walking out and the other is waiting to enter  I can usually snag a good helper to sharpen 5 pencils. Just 5.... that's all....They are done before the last person in line has even crossed the threshold and it's done.  There are small snatches of time in all of our schedules when we find ourselves with 1-2 students in need of something to do....I almost always ask them to sharpen a few pencils for me. Even though I don't allow the pencil sharpener during class, I almost never have to sharpen pencils myself.
5. Drop it at the door! 
I have a habit of raiding the Dollar Tree regularly to acquire my pencil bags because they are my favorite type of supply holder. I like them better than boxes because they can be dropped without complaint. I don't want to take up any more time picking up pencils than I do passing them out.  So I keep a pencil bag on a hook by the door.  When it's time to go, my pencil helper stands by the door and as students exit, their "ticket" is my pencil.  Those "used" pencils now become the pencils that are sorted into sharp or flat drawers depending on their condition.
6.  Pencils are a privilege!
I can read crayon as easily as I can read pencil.  If I notice any misuse of the music classroom pencils then that student can write with a crayon.  

Marvelous Mondays - Music Vocabulary Foldable

Here is a vocabulary activity my 2nd graders did this fall that they were very excited about.

At the time we did this activity my 2nd graders had internalized enough of these words that before this activity, everyone in the 2nd could easily demonstrate and identify loud, soft, fast and slow, and when presented with dynamic words they could work together to puzzle out definitions, but only a few were using the dynamic words in context.  So I knew we had LOTS of room for growth.  I wanted everyone to use those words and I wanted to add some new words to deepen our understanding of dynamics while introducing new words for tempo.



1. We folded our paper in half 4 times

2. Then we listed headings: loud words, soft words, fast words, slow words

3.  We talked about the words we knew

4.  As we came up with the dynamic words we knew, we would add them to our list

5.  When we got to crescendo / decrescendo I wrote the symbols on the board, we developed our definition and then we learned the word.


















6.  Then we watched this quick video to remind ourselves of how each word sounds.  I debated with myself about using a variety of listening selections, one for each word, but I think that would have been too much too soon in this case.



I think maybe because 2nd graders still very eager to learn and because they are learning so quickly, my students were not just thrilled with the video and what they knew, but they were begging me to tell them what words should go in the other blanks.

7. I explained that although they had heard me use these words, seen them on my walls, and even listened to music that could be described with these words, all of these words were new.

8. Then we very carefully built the other side of the chart.  We started with allegro and adagio. By the end, they had ALL filled in every square.  I've never had such young students work so persistently at a "note taking" activity before.

When they finished, we watched:



They loved it!  AND even more important, I have noticed a nice increase in the use of music vocabulary words.

January YUMMY Award - Over the Rainbow

 

January 2013

"Over the Rainbow" Author: E.Y. Harburg, Illustrator: Eric Puybaret, Performer:
Judy Collins, Composer: Harold Arlen

This book is just lovely!  The opening verse of the song is one that most haven't heard before and it makes the song that we all know and love even more special.  Judy Collins goes on to sing  and "I See the Moon" and "White Choral Bells".    

I plan on having my choir sing "Over the Rainbow" this spring and look forward to sharing this book with them as part of their introduction to the song.  

Melodysoup Video Wednesday!

Here is the first video in a series of Music Career videos.  Musical career information for older elementary students is tricky to find.  This is a great video that I look forward to using with my 5th graders this spring.  I hope you enjoy it!  This video is about Music Therapy.