Presentations: 1 , 2 Practice on the CONDITIONALS label Here are some songs in the 2nd. Conditional: Excerpts here Songs in diffe...
We'll help you train your ear with songs like "The Jaws Theme," "Greensleeves," and more.
Song Index
Look at the essay about life skills and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.
I went to bed the other night and a song popped into my head about subjects and predicates. So naturally I grabbed the phone and made a qui...
A great writer once said, when asked by a fan how to write, βIf you want to write, write.β I have always been a writer, I have not always been a published writer. Writers love words, poems, songs, stories, puzzles, etc. Writers also read, often we read so much we think we can write. Some [β¦]
John Atkinson, a cartoonist from Ottawa, Ontario, draws with the wrong hand. Read more about his process β and take a peek at his work, which youβve likely seen around the web or in theβ¦
Singing rounds for the classroom ought to be easy and energetic. Haida, an Israeli song with only two lines, fits the bill! FREE DOWNLOAD
Rock a bye Baby In the tree top, When the wind blows, The cradle will rock.
Why do young children often do much worse on writing tests at school than they do at home? This is a very frustrating thing for many...
I have posted before about the end of the school year and how I sing camp songs with my kiddos. They love it and can't wait for the end of April to start singing these crazy, silly, hysterical songs! It has become a much anticipated tradition! Here are a few I recently learned and my students love! 1. Alligator This is serious fun here, folks! Dramatize the first call and response part and then really let loose with the craziness on the "alligator" chorus part. You can see it in action on the youtube video below the music. 2. Big Camp Mambo I love (almost) anything with syncopation and this one has it in spades! 3. Boom Chicka Boom This is the first one I always teach them and I can't tell you how much they LOVE it. The sillier you are, the more they will love it! We start with the traditional while performing a patsch, clap pattern, then we do their favorite "styles": Girly style (high voice, pretend to fix hair, put makeup on, fan your face, etc.) Muscle Man (make bodybuilding gestures and use "Arnold" voice.. y'know what I mean!) Underwater (speak the chant and move pointer finger up and and down on lips very fast) Baby Style (a goo goo ga goo goo ga... high baby voice) Barnyard Style (I said a moo chicka moo... I said a milk chicka moo, chicka milk, chicka moo) Surfer Dude (I said a dude chicka dude.. I said a whoa, chicka, narly, chicka wave, chicka dude) Opera Style (use your imagination) Grandpa Style (use your imagination, yes, again) Parent Style (I said a room, go to your room... I said a room, go to your room, don't come out until next June) Star Wars Style (OH, they LOVE this one and I always end with it! I said a zzzzt chicka zzzzt... I said a Luke I am your Father, join the dark side chicka doom.. end with "Jedi" instead of "uh huh" and "Dark Side" instead of "oh yeah" and then I end with "The Force Be With You". WINNER!!!
Joseph Campbell's definition of a hero.
So, I've created my first concept specific packet for Teachers Pay Teachers. This is something that I have been debating to do. I want to make products that are accessible and usable for teachers, regardless of their training, experience or background. But I'll be honest that my products are created with the KodΓ‘ly metholodogy and sequence in mind. That being said, I also don't want to undermine or sell products that you really need to create on your own when taking a KodΓ‘ly level. I know, sounds kind of mean and selfish. Let me explain. I did my levels at Portland State (four years worth) and then two more (level II & III) at Colorado State University and I'm going to be teaching level II this summer at CSU. At Portland State I learned pedagogy from the brilliant, amazing Susan Brumfield. Then at CSU I had Sue Liethold-Bowcock and Ann Eisen, who, too were amazing and wonderful. Each of these teachers presented things in a different way. Some of the things that they taught me are amazing and I use them each and every year. There are other ideas that I pull out from time to time (you know what I mean. You go back to your notes or you go to a workshop and you recall something from levels and you say to yourself "oh yeah! I forgot about that activity or song!!") And other ideas flopped because either I was so overwhelmed with everything going in my brain that I forgot how to do the activity or I wasn't sold on it and in turn my kids didn't "buy it." Each of us are going to develop our own style and ways to prepare, present and practice melodic and rhythmic concepts. You get all these tools and ideas in levels, from your teacher and from your peers. Some are going to work beautifully and some need to be adapted and tweaked to meet the needs of your kids. When I started thinking about creating concept specific files I didn't want to give away my concept plans or some of my specific preparation and practice activities because I know that the plans HAVE to be specific to you and that some of the things I do you have to see in action because they are too complex or complicated to explain. You have to choose your song literature, you have to choose the activities that you like to teach (because face it, you won't sell it to your students if you don't like it). And with the activities, it's back to the old saying that there's more than one way to skin a cat. There are a gazillion ways to prepare and practice each concept. Each are wonderful and amazing and quite frankly creating and selling a file of things that I do that are concept specific overwhelmed me because of how vast of a task that would be!! So, I decided to go to the bare bones of ways that each of us prepare and practice elements and make things that really exam at the critical attributes of that element. So, the meat of this file is 10 PDF files (that you can run like a PowerPoint, the instructions are included or that you can convert into a PDF) that are adaptable so you can use them for either preparing, presenting or practicing Ta & Ti-Ti: There is notation for 15 songs and chants and games, if applicable. And I included my ta & ti-ti flashcards. Here are the songs that are included (I know, three of the songs are in the Bee Bundle, and these are similar but made specific for ta & ti-ti): There are also worksheets (I'll show you a couple more down below): Here's an example of one of the PDFs, they are all set up exactly like this, so you can choose what to use out of the file. There is a lyric slide: Then a beat slide(s): Then a rhythm prep slide with iconic representation: Then the presentation slides. This notation presents ta and ti-ti written both with and without note heads: Then immediately applying this knowledge to the song: Then reading it, this can be for immediate practice (same lesson as presentation) or later practice: And then one more time with note-heads: For every PDF there are two matching worksheets (which are in color and black & white): There is one that is a rhythm chart: To go with this, for practice after ta & ti-ti I created rhythm strips. There are multiple rhythms. I suggest in the file to print each set of rhythms out on different colored papers. Cut along the lines and then I tell you how many of each rhythm pattern to have in each set that you will then put in an envelope. This way, you can use the same set of envelopes with all 10 songs (rather than cutting all these strips and tailoring them for each song) AND the color coded strips make it REALLY easy to assess. As you look around you class to see who has the correct rhythms all you have to do is look at the color: There is a writing worksheet for that goes with each of the 10 songs in PDF form: And then I included rhythm preparation cards. I have to say that these are one of my favorite visual ways to prepare ta & ti-ti. (There are cards that match each of the 10 PDFs and the hearts for the chart). The idea is that the hearts only are in the chart. The class (or you could use this as a station) derive the way the words go. This is an example of "Jean Jean": (this is my big chart, it can actually hold 16 beats:) After your kiddos know ta & ti-ti, we then use this in early practice to go from the iconic to the symbolic representation. As you can see, the first line has been replaced (I usually just stick the cards on top and then sort them later): And here the whole song has been replaced: I also use the hearts on a chart like this. There are paperclips that I inserts into slots that I cut using an exacto knife that hold the cards in place: Same idea, then the rhythms replace the icons: This is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Have a GREAT weekend everyone!
Sing, sing, sing! I want my students to experience beautiful, in-tune singing and I am always on the lookout for songs with solos. I know students are more successful in pitch matching when they sing unaccompanied and have opportunities to sing alone. While I use several songs with solos in the primary grades, I don't use as many in the older grades. Here is one that has been very successful with my older students. I often start with several knots tied in the rope so that a few students are singing the solo, (which cuts down on the initial fear factor for the singers.) I learned this song from my wonderful Level III teacher, Liz Arcaro. Once a student has sung a solo (or duet, or trio, depending on how many knots I tie in the rope,) they go to a barred instrument and accompany with a simple bourdon on C and G. What are some of your favorite songs with solos?
