class, notating the rhythm for the nursery rhyme in Smartnotebook and leading them through a variety of rhythm counting and clapping activities. After that, the students are allowed to randomly select a letter: L for la, S for sol, and M for mi to assign to each “sound”. We discuss syllables and how each sound gets a word or a syllable of a word (more Common Core connections!). When it is finished, I lead the class in singing the song, first using solfege, then transferring the melody to Boomwhackers. With the Boomwhackers, unless one goes very slowly, the melody will not be rhythmically accurate. I am not concerned about that at this point. This is another “follow the cues of the conductor” opportunity and an opportunity to work on eye-hand coordination as they follow the letters, which are color-coded in my Notebook to the Boomwhacker colors. Later in the year (around springtime), the students and I compose a spring class poem. The students brainstorm their favorite parts about spring, and we work together to create a rhyming poem, either in couplets or 4-line stanzas with even-numbered lines rhyming. Again, since this is an activity in learning rhyming and syllables, there is another Common Core connection. We then follow the same steps for Mystery Tune. I add a bonus at the end: I save the files and, over time, transcribe the melody into Finale so I can print a notated copy for each student, which thrills the piano students! Second graders are given their own copies of a poem or set rhythm patterns (including half notes), and create their own mystery tunes, adding the solfege letters of the syllables they are learning. I did apply three rules: they were limited to the familiar solfege (instead of looking at my solfege charts and adding syllables they hadn’t yet
SPRING 2014 |
www.mmea.net
learned!); they had to start with “sol” or “do,” and they had to end with “do.” I did this so that students could get the feel of tonic since they were now introduced to “do” when singing.
My third graders begin recorder, using A, C, and D and through the audiation (“inner hearing” process). I do not teach them notes on the staff, but they learn simple “sol- la-mi” melodies by rote. Their composition activity is through writing acrostic poems. I came up with this idea a few years ago when I noticed the third grade teachers’ walls by their classrooms, which had student poems displayed. When the poems were removed from the walls, I copied them, and the students created melodies with the copies. We talked about how to divide their words into syllables, then they had choices: they could create mystery tunes with A, C, D and play them on recorder, they could use their recorder to play their melodies and then notate them (using letter names), or they could use a C or G pentatonic scale and perform their melodies on barred instruments. Again, once these compositions were complete, I created notated copies in Finale for them to keep, complete with their lyrics.
In fourth grade, the students learned the blues. Students would learn to write the basic blues stanza format and learn the basic chord structure for accompanying their tunes on ukulele or barred instruments. Because of the accidentals, students did not play their melodies unless they opted to learn those pitches. (On recorder, the students learned BAGE and learned notes on the staff). Washington Public Schools also had an old McMillan series, which included a worksheet for a Zuni music alphabet. The students
learned to create their own compositions with the Zuni symbols and their corresponding Western pitches (or the pitch that was the closest proximity). You may not have access to a Zuni symbol sheet, but this can be an activity done in tandem with your art teacher; creating symbols for pitches and creating compositions this way.
Several years ago, Pam Dumey from Cape Girardeau presented a wonderful cross-curricular activity involving diamante poems, from which she developed a composition project. I have adapted this and used it with my fifth grade class. This is a multi-class session project, but in general, I read a story (a Native American story) to my fifth graders. The classes are divided into groups, and the students develop a diamante poem from the story. The students then notate the rhythm; create a three-part percussion piece, and a recorder piece based on the poem they created. If you would like more details on this particular project, please send me an email at
kstaff1@charter.net and I will be happy to provide more information. My students love it! (Notice more Common Core connections?)
With sixth grade, I have developed a chance music composition project using dice. This, too, is a multi-class session project, but the end results are wonderful. Again, if you are interested in more information, let me know, because the steps are too detailed to include here.
For older students, any of these projects can be expanded for higher level thinking strategies. You can get into 12-tone compositions, chance music, Garage Band….the opportunities are endless!
see Stafford, pg 38 15
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