Mini music summit 20- 01- 24

An online music conference where 3000+ elementary music teachers joined together with a music teacher community from Columbus, Ohio. The overall goal of the Music Teacher Community who delivered the mini summit is to produce accessible music content specific for elementary music teachers, to fill a need as professional learning in this area is thin on the ground in the US (same as in Australia). The philosophy is one dear to my heart, ‘Teachers learning with and from each other’. I’ll share three sessions I found particularly useful, the first in relation to implementing groupwork in the music classroom, the second, engaging primary (3-6) music activities, and third session outlines how much learning can occur using only one simple song, targeting K-2 classrooms…

Activity centres in the music room

Aileen Miracle- Unified Arts Curriculum Supervisor

aileen.miracle@yahoo.com

www.aileensmusicroom.com

Choice centres allow students decide which activity centres they complete. Students rotate around centres throughout the lesson. Centres are useful small groups for teacher to assess, determine which students are struggling, a focused time to provide an intervention, and post-test students.

These are the types of centres teachers may draw on. Manipulatives, technology, instruments and assessment.

Melodic centres for sol, mi, and la, may involve students composing a pattern using so, mi, la manipulatives. Step between sol fa nd sol mi, so place manipulatives a little further apart to show this.

Technology centre- melody maker (software). Use green, yellow, blue in any order they want. Add harmony, lyrics as an extension activity.

Manipulatives- an example are plastic bottle caps. Note reading on the treble clef staff. Students write words with bottle caps, like FACE, BED, BEAD, etc. Caps (collect from milk bottles) and dip trays from Amazon. Place bottle tops facing upwards, in sorting tray. Students need to work out the letter notes then form simple words with bottle tops.

Centre obstacles to beware of- these may include noise (talking, instrument noise), control, materials (getting everything ready for the lesson), behaviour (class management and time) and space (organising the classroom to maximise space).

Noise- put centres around edge of room. Have no more than 2 centres. Consider the noise level of individual instruments eg Wood blocks particularly noisy. Materials- start small, use manipulatives you already have. Repurpose and use across all grades.

Behaviour- think through groupings. Figure out groupings beforehand to separate challenges and spread collaborative workers. Space- be creative, duplicate centres across grades to work smarter, have a smaller number of centres.

Staff wars- a popular software game with students which helps them learn the names the musical notes in a game format.

Note reading on the treble clef staff. Students play simple songs on barred instruments like recorder. Use YouTube clips for students to practise play. Google forms are useful and time-efficient for collating data for assessment tasks (which should be brief).

Voice and Choice-

Mollie Schwartz: Elementary music teacher

This session focused on 3-6 students and activities suitable to engage them in the music classroom. Students are ENGAGED when they are EXCITED about what they are learning. Offering choice to your students is a great way to keep them motivated and interested in learning music. The presenter shared projects/ activities they use with 4th and 5th grade that offer voice and choice in the music classroom. Choice is important. Let students have a voice, set goals, learning projects. Leading to a new love of music projects. Its not enough to know your discipline. We need to engage, inspire. Great things happen when students given choice to explore their own interests. Necessary for learners to attach new information to already known information. Classrooms of creativity, choice, discovery.

How to offer more choice in classroom:

Have goals, keep track of them in google classroom. Choice in materials. Let students pick what instrument they wish to use. Performance can be small group, individual performance. Have students choose how they wish to perform it. Allow time for I’m wondering questions. Figure out the answer together. Give them time to ask and be curious. Show and tell projects- a chance for students to bring their world into the classroom. e.g. students favourite songs.

A great whole class activity for Year 5 is make a “Soundtrack to my life” where each students fills three slide masters on a template. Every student fills up same slideshow. Type in student names. Copy and paste slides. Students look for their name and need to fill in 3 slides.  Some way to push out slides to students. Make a shareable link. Ensure kids can access. Put it in free QR code generator.

Mollie provided the activity outline above for teachers:

Preview all songs/ videos in advance of sharing to ensure suitability re appropriate content.

1 slideshow per class. Google accounts follow them to high school. Cool to look back on fave songs of the past. After students’ present their 3 slides, the song is played, class listens then the class chats about any connections they have with song/ feedback for student.

 Music can make us feel very emotional, makes us vulnerable.

Ukelele: Teach them the basics, how to hold instruments, chords then students scroll through slideshow and choose their fave songs to learn, practice independently.  Pick a favourite to perform for the class. Students choose their own songs, and how to present songs in their own way for the class.

Year 4 project:

Write a song using open strings. GCEA. Song writing with measures and barlines. Slowly build a class song (class example), then students make their own. Add words, percussive element. If no ukeleles, this type of choice project could be done with recorders eg using 3 notes B A G. Then they perform it, or video/ record on See Saw.

Mollie is available Instagram : @mollieteachesmusic, Tiktok: @sweetlymollie

Unleashing the potential: one song, many ways engaging activities for primary/ elementary music classes

Debbie O’Shea- Elementary music teacher/ Crescendo music principal- Queensland, Australia.

Debbie dived deep into the power of a single song, demonstrating its versatility through a variety of engaging activities. With student wellbeing, fun, and intellectual stimulation at the forefront, this session provided practical strategies for building musical skills and concepts in the primary/elementary music classroom. Debbie generously provided her slides from her presentation, below. Thank you Debbie.

The song she focused on was the Kodaly song, bounce high, bounce low. She suggests substituting childrens’ names when singing the song. Focus on posture, perform with varying dynamics, keeping a beat and it is a useful transition activity. Make it harder by students singing one bar each, one beat, one note each. Focus on singing. Beat keeping important skills. Use it as a transition. Sing one bar each person around the group.

Use balls, pass the ball on the bounce/ beat. Catching the ball is much easier for little kids. They all love a turn and wish to hear their names. Pass the ball on the beat or bounce and catch around the circle. Bounce and catch in time to music/ across the circle. When they catch they sit down, at the end everyone is sitting.  Make sure actions show the metre.

Writing activities related to music: Important we do writing. They need to write, we can vary the medium. Kids love whiteboards, you can erase your mistakes easily. Pencil and paper. Make adjustments when needed. Refer to slide activities where students add missing bar lines, notes above lyrics, missing notes, finding errors, adding metre marking (bar lines). Use solfa and letter names.

Human piano activity:

Divide class into 3 groups. Aim for beautiful legato singing. Do it inner hearing. To audiate (imagine the sound) an important skill for musicians. Eg inner hear every second bar. Create ahuman piano. 3 children out front- low, med and high to show different pitch. Chn out fromnt can sing own note. Different children point to a kid, and sing their note. Improvise and create their own little melodies.

 Hoops- one for each note. 3 hoops. Two hoops further away to show distance between notes.

So-la catch the ball and sing as ball is caught. Leads to improvisation and creativity. A fun way to sing so-fa melodies. Ways to practise rhythm elements. Individual students can perform a canon with themselves, fairly advanced. Sing taas, inner hear the ti tis.

Conducting is important. A musical skill that shows strong and weak beats. Singing in canon. 2 beats, 1 beat apart. Sing with a rhythmic ostinato. Repeat 2-3 times so you feel the ostinato. Sing with a melodic ostinato. Sing in 2 groups, 1 group singing forward, one group singing backwards. Use instruments or body percussion with different timbres eg claves and finger cymbals. 2 groups 1 sing, one perform the rhythm.

Debbie has other great ideas on her website below:

The conference was well worth sleep deprivation (time zone differences) in which to participate!