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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Love Somebody

This is a fun little Valentine's Day song that's great for tika-tika practice and for fa preparation and practice in 4th grade.  Here it is:

I've made a PowerPoint that can be used for preparation and practice of both of these concepts, as well as a fun little activity to go with it.

Here's the PowerPoint's title slide:

Lyric Slide:

A slide with the text compared to the beat:

Iconic representation of the beat, for tika-tika preparation:

Another preparation slide replacing the known concepts (ta & ti-ti) and and leaving the iconic representation for the unknown rhythmic element:

Finally, a presentation/practice slide for rhythm:

Here are the melodic preparation slides for fa:

There are slides for the entire song that show the iconic representation of the melody, like this:

There are slides that put the iconic representation of the melody, with the text, on the staff.  Here's a sample:

The two sets of slides are duplicated, using the known solfége and a "?" for the unknown (fa). One is without the staff:

 And on the staff:

There is also a slide with the stick notation, with the known solfége labeled and a "?" for fa:

Here is a presentation or review/practice slide:

And then the entire set of preparation slides are duplicated but this time fa is labeled:

The "real notes" are also put on the staff with solfége:

As well as the "real notes" with Absolute Pitch names. . . you could even have your kiddos play this on recorder!

And there's a stick notation slide with the complete solfége:

I made an activity for this to reinforce meter. . . that's a "pot" that I often times forget to stir!!  Here's an information slide about it:

Basically, I'll print out the slides below and cut them in half.  Each student will get a letter and but their letters are only "partially" addressed (we all know the P.O. won't deliver them if they aren't addressed correctly, lol!).  In order to make them be addressed correctly they have to add the bar lines.

There are "letters" that contain the rhythm only of the slide (I'll be using this with my 3rd graders for practice):

 And there are letters that have the solfége as well, I'll be using these with my 4th graders:

For my 3rd graders, on the back I will print these "composition/dictation" hearts. I haven't decided if I'm going to let them compose or if we'll do a diction exercise:

 With my 4th graders they will compose on the staff on the back of their letter.  I did NOT include the do-clef, as I want them to draw it in:

You can find this PowerPoint at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I have another fun mailbox game that I will be posting soon for "Somebody Loves Me."  It might require a trip to Target, lol!!  Now I'm building the suspense, huh?! :)  Have a GREAT Monday night!

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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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