I LOVE BOOKS!!! Yes, the paper kind.. I'm a little anti-digital when it comes to the printed word! I also love using them in the music room; they are a perfect vehicle to teach, review, sing, create, and play around with! Here are a few favorites; each one of these is a picture file you can download, print, and use! *A note about organization; begin to make an excel spreadsheet or word doc that includes grade levels you would use the book with, what skills/concepts can be taught, and when you might use this during the year; for example, when I introduce rests with kindergarten students in the spring after experiencing it, now we're ready to label it, I will put in my Kindergarten sheet, "Wide Mouthed Frog", SPRING, quarter notes, eighth notes, rest, LABEL rest, song, rhythm, Orff instruments. This helps me to keep track of not only what concepts/skills I can work on using that book, but when I might want to use it! Also, print a copy of the lesson, fold it and place it into the front page of the book! Sorry the Mitten in the Snow visual organization page is out of place.. couldn't move it and it's late.. :)

Hi, Jane here from SillyOMusic! Today I want to share a song that I (and pretty much every other Korean person) sang as a child, Santoki.

Free sheet music with pdf and song request form.

Loch Lomond

I love this time of year in my classroom because it signals the beginning of a delightful string of holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! The music of Halloween is especially fun̷…

So, have you ever had an idea that just bugged you until you sat down and got it started? Well for the last couple of months it has been PUNCH CARDS. Sounds weird, huh? I have several decorative hole punches. One punches hearts, another music notes and another a little star. I've wanted to find a way to incorporate them into my workstations rotation and I think I've done just that! These are the Instrument Family Punch Cards. Around the edge are the names of instruments. Each card asks students to punch the name of all of the instruments in a specific family. What a fun way to do student assessment! My plan is to use the Instrument Family Punchers with 3rd graders. We do a BIG unit on instruments of the orchestra. This in combination with the instruments exit tickets will be a great way to do formative assessment. With fourth grade I do a general review of instruments and add some spelling games during line-up time or if we have a few minutes left at the end of a period. I think I'll try out the Punch Out the Mistakes set with them. They have to find the five misspelled instruments, write them with correct spellings on the back of the card and punch out the incorrect spellings. I've also created some cards to help students differentiate between words that describe dynamics and words that describe tempo. These are a little bit tricky for some students. I'm looking forward to seeing if a little extra time on the topic will improve their understanding. Take a look at those HERE. You can get these punch cards at my TpT store. I'll be adding them to my other stores later. I'll be creating some for note identification, pitch identification and rhythm identification. Can't wait to get started on these! Do you have any ideas for things we can punch in the music room? Pin this idea for later:

Let Us Sing Together

Today I thought I'd share a very nice YouTube video of Vivaldi's movement Winter from his Four Seasons. I think Vivaldi is probably my favorite composer because I love the violins. I hope you and your children take a few minutes today to enjoy the music of winter. (You may need to click through to the actual post if you are reading this in an email or reader since the videos and Amazon links don't always show up for some reason.) If you are interested in learning more about Vivaldi, you can see my mom's Vivaldi composer study here. And if you are interested in purchasing a Vivaldi CD from Amazon, here are some to get you started (We own the first one and highly recommend it.): I have also put together a free PDF notebooking page for Vivaldi. You can download it here at Lulu. And if you haven't seen my winter themed art, handicraft and nature study kit, check it out here! I only have a few left and only have a few more days left to sell them.

Finally! The Taxonomy of my Music is complete! While I’m working on my Digital Art assignments I enjoy watching my favorite TV shows. I bring this up to help you get a sense for how long it t…