Poison Game and a New Messenger Game

Wow, this has been a weird week.  We have Monday off for Presidents' Day and then I woke up on Tuesday to a sick two-year old.  Luckily, my husband had an in-service day so he didn't need to write cub plans, but I was home on Wednesday and Thursday with her.  She slept A LOT so during that time I worked on a project that I've been meaning to tackle for a while: my electronic Poison games.  These are all structures like my St. Patty's Day Poison Games, but are non-holiday/theme specific (except I did use pirate clip art, I thought it was fun!):

You can read the directions on some of the ways to play poison by clicking here.

Each of the files contains a PowerPoint version of the game, that has slides like these:

I also included JPEG images of all the slides and directions on how to make more PowerPoint versions of the game, using different patterns.

There are also printable slides to play the game with flashcards, here are a couple examples:

And then I have some Pireat cards, these are to use to keep the kiddos that get out engaged and participating.  When they hear a pattern that is NOT the poison pattern they hold their card up.  If they hear the poison pattern, they put their card down.

The following files are available at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store:

1. ta ti-ti
2. ta rest
3. half note
4. tika-tika
5. ti-tika
6. tika-ti
7. syncopa
8. tom-ti
9. ti-tom
10. tim-ka
11. rhythm bundle
12. so-mi
13. la
14. do
15. re
16. low la
17. low so
18. fa

high do and ti will be posted soon, as well as a melodic bundle.

A while ago I posted about the Messenger and Mailbox game.  You can read that post by clicking here.  I've had some requests for this game in 3/4 meter (and I know I need to do a better job at not neglecting that meter), so I was able to work on that this week too.  It's now up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Here's a little preview:

There's a key to all the rhythm sets:

And then all of the sets are written in both stick notation and with note heads.  They are also numbered for easy sorting.

Next I'll be tackling a melodic version of this game.  It should be ready soon! 

And we're entering one of my favorite times of year, spring!!!  I love all the manipulatives that you can make from the Easter goodies, so I will have some posts up about that and things to watch for in your local stores!! :)

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Beat Strips

Double blog post today, because that's the kind of day I'm having, lol!!  I made two batches of muffins for my kids (blueberry and chocolate), bought two new outfits, so things are coming in twos!!

This is an idea that I got from two of my friends who teach in my district (Jenna O. & Cathy K.).  These are beat strips and are great for rhythmic dictation and notation.  They were a little time consuming to make, but I hope to give you some tips to make it go faster and easier!

Here's the general idea.  Every student gets a beat strip, like this:

This is Jenna's original template, I have redone them, using a different font to look more like a time signature.

From there, I have rhythms that are prepackaged according to grade level (this will vary for everyone, depending on your sequence).  Here's a picture of the beat strip with my first grade "pouch" of rhythms:

Here's the way they look on the chart:

After first grade, students will have more then one "pouch."  So, when my second graders use half note they get the second grade pouch with half note in addition to the first grade pouch with ta, ti-ti and ta rest.  **  Note: I don't call them "first grade pouch" so the kids don't have a misconception if they are behind in the sequence.  I refer to the rhythms in them with the students.  Then, when they put them away, they must return them to the correct baggie, kind of like sorting out legos when you're done building!

 Here's a couple pictures of the first grade pouch with the third grade rhythm baggie:

And here's a couple shots of my fourth grade pouch:

Now, I mentioned I re-did Jenna's file.  Here's the four beat dictation board that I showed above:

What you would do is print these out on card stock, laminate them (so they'll last a long time) and then cut them into the strips that you saw above.  

I started thinking about the Common Core Standards and wanting my kids to do longer dictation/compositions so I created an 8 beat board (below):

 I also wanted my students to write in 3/4 meter, so here's a 3/4 board (3 beat dictation/composition):

And here's a 3/4 meter board that's 6 beat dictation/composition:

 I also made all of the rhythms in both stick notation and notation with note-heads.  You print these out on card stock first, then laminate and cut along the dotted lines (for a class of 30 you print 10 pages of each rhythm):

With the rhythmic elements that last longer than one beat I made light gray lines to show the beats (it's a nice reminder to the students that a dotted half note gets three beats, or a half note gets two beats or syn-co-pa is three sound over two beats). It's important when cutting these cards to NOT cut along the gray lines!! :)

Here are the time saving tips: 

• Print them on card stock, they'll last longer
• Color code them, if possible, according to rhythmic element- this will make assessing them much quicker- you can do a quick glance for color, major time saver during class!
• For a class of 30, you'll need 10 pages of each concept
• Cut them out on the paper cutter AFTER you laminate them
• Look at your curriculum and print the ones you need.  Or print as you go.  Start with the 1st grade set one year and gradually print more
• Recruite some 5th graders to sort them- it's a great reinforcement for them too :)

If you're interested in these cards, they can be found at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  And there you have it, the double post for the day!!!  Have a GREAT Martin Luther King Jr. Day tomorrow!!!

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Valentine's Day Games

Valentine's Day?!!  What?!!  I know, I know, I'm as bad as all the stores but let me explain: I have concerts coming up this springs.  My third graders have a concert in February and my 2nd & 3rd graders have their concerts in April.  This is in addition to my choir, drums & tone-chimes having two more concerts (one in March and one in May).  Because of this I HAVE to be a planner.  So, because I know that my February is going to be heavily concentrated on concert prep for third grade and extra-curricular groups I'm getting some of the planning out of the way now.

Before Christmas I made a Christmas tree PowerPoint activity that my kiddos loved and from the feedback on Teachers pay Teachers, a lot of other kiddos enjoyed it as well.  Now, my school is a "healthy-focus" school: we have a huge movement program, a school garden and a very regimented list of things kids can and can NOT bring for snacks.  Because of this, I can't do my fun Brach's Candy Heart melodic dictation that I usually do.  (I guess in the long run it save me some $$. . . but it forces me to think outside the box).

So, I created these Power Points that are tailored for each grade level.  A couple grade levels have two Power Points.  I know that some schools in our district are on a 4 day rotation so they haven't gotten through some of the melodic and rhythmic concepts yet (but will soon) so I made two version to fit both  needs.

Here's the general idea: the class will be broken into two teams.  The two teams will visit three different shops to collect Valentine's day presents.  If the team answers the slide correctly they collect the card associated with that slide.  These cards can be put on a tally board on an easel/white board or you can give each team a basket in which to place their cards.

Let's walk through the PowerPoint:

Here is the main slide:

By clicking on the text or picture it will being you to a "menu" slide for each of these shops.

Here's the Candy Shop's "Menu."  By clicking on the box of candy or the number, a melodic slide for the team to read will appear:

Here's the Flower Shop's "Menu."  By clicking on a bouquet of flowers or the number, you will be directed to the corresponding "theory" slide for the team to answer. (These slides vary with the grade level and are based on the Common Core Standards and some of the "nuts and bolts" things that students don't necessarily "perform" but need to know):

Here's the Stuffed Animal Shop's "Menu."  These will direct you to a rhythm slide for the team to perform.

Here are some examples of 1st grade slides:

I did two version of the 1st grade PowerPoint, with the only difference being the melodic slides.  My classes have NOT been presented with so-mi yet.  So, I created a PowerPoint that uses "High/Low" and one that uses so-mi.  Here's an example of a so-mi slide:

Here are some examples of 2nd grade slides:

 Here are some examples of the 3rd grade PowerPoint that uses tika-tika and do-pentatonic:

In the other 3rd Grade PowerPoint, the red "theory slides" are the same but the rhythms used include ti-tika and the melodic slides incorporate low la:

Here are some 4th grade slides:

Here are some 5th grade slides:

Finally, here are the "tally" cards that correspond with each of the slides.  If you use this with multiple grade levels, you only need to print out one set of cards as they can be used with each grade.  When a team performs or answers a question correctly, they get to put that card on their side of the tally board or in their basket.  The goal is to collect as many of these as possible.  The cards also serve as a good was of keeping track of which  slides have not been taken yest.

I can't wait to play this with my kids, they loved the Christmas tree game and it was a fun way to keep them engaged and motivated when they were so excited about the upcoming holiday!

If you would like one or more of these sets, they are available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

1. First grade (high/low melodic slides)
2. First grade (so-mi slides)
3. Second grade
4. Third grade: tika-tika & do pentatonic
5. Third grade: ti-tika & low la
6. Fourth grade
7. Fifth grade

While uploading these today to Teachers pay Teachers, I noticed that they are trying to limit the size of the "Free Files" that teachers can post.  This is, they are frowning on giving away files that are more then 10 pages (2-5 pages is what they recommend).  I will continue to post freebies from time to time but starting in February I will be giving away a "monthly freebie."  Because this will entail me emailing it to you, I don't see that this freebie will fall under those restrictions.  If you follow me, you will receive a note from me in your Teachers pay Teachers "inbox" on how to obtain that freebie. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

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