ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM...
Sharing = Success Vanessa Miner, MMEA Elementary/Early Childhood Vice-president
Elementary music teachers are successful in part because they are willing to share lessons, ideas, and advice. I have always known that Missouri has good music teachers. Being the Early Childhood/Elementary Vice President for the last two years, I have realized that not only are our teachers good, they are AMAZING. The following article has tips for including technology in your classroom (for free). Plus, an elementary music teacher, Leigh Schaefferkoetter, from Waynesville School District shares some advice for elementary music teachers to be more successful.
Part I: Technology for Free! by Vanessa Miner
One of my goals this school year is to add more technology to my lesson plans. My school, as many of yours, has had some budget issues. So the sites I have included are free. I have looked at the Missouri Grade Level Expectations (GLE) and found interactive websites to use in the classroom to enhance the learning experience. These interactive sites can be used on an interactive white board during music class or in a computer lab where students can work individually. They could possibly be used for substitute teacher plans.
GLE 1A. Using speaking, singing, whispering, and shouting voices. This website has favorite children’s songs animated. Songs include, “The Wheels on the Bus,” “The Bear Went over the Mountain,” and many more:
http://www.topmarks.co.uk
When teaching the difference between singing and speaking voices, I use nursery rhymes a lot. I was excited to find this website. A Rhyme a Week has nursery rhymes for every week of the school year. For each week there are illustrated rhyme cards that can be used on the IWB. This is also a great way to incorporate the Common Core into your lessons:
http://curry.virginia.edu/go/wil/rimes_ and_rhymes.htm#This_Week
GLE 1A. Apply accurate pitch relationships: SmartExchange is a free lesson plan site for Smart boards. There are many music lessons that can be previewed and then downloaded. There is a lesson entitled “Music Street” that is based on a story by Sr. Lorna Zemke that teaches solfege and their relationship:
exchange.smarttech.com
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GLE 1B. Demonstrate fast and slow *tempo GLE 1B. Demonstrate loud and soft *dynamics Musically Interactive by Andrew Strong is another way that you can reinforce beat for young children. Students can clap or play classroom instruments while watching and hearing the beat:
http://rebeccanesson.heroku.com/sequencer.html Sheeps Beat is a fun way to explore beat and rhythm.
SFSKIDS.org has a sound lab that teaches students about tempo and dynamics. There is a metronome that can be adjusted to demonstrate different tempos. You can select different symbols for a phrase of music and then listen to the changes those symbols make.
Daria (
www.dariamusic.com) is a children’s performer that has an amazing website. Her philosophy is empowering kids by letting them explore the world of music. There are many multicultural activities on the site that are suitable for the classroom, plus there are notes on each activity for children of varying abilities. In the instrument section, children can hear world instruments, have a coloring page, and make the instrument. Supplies are easily found. On each project, there are pieces of music that can be played while the children play their newly made instruments.
GLE 1D. Develop and apply the knowledge and skills to read and notate music Classics for kids had great games for kids to learn more about music and rhythm:
http://www.classicsforkids. com/games
This site is exactly what the name says. There are links to five different interactive sites for kids where students can experience composing: http://interactivesites.weebly. com/
composing.html
Musictechteacher has 140+ games, puzzles about music, music reading, instruments, composers and more: www.
musictechteacher.com
see MINER, pg 27 MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC| Volume 68, Number 3
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