Image Map

Monday, April 7, 2014

Category Rhythm Project

I'm currently working with a group of my 4th and 5th graders on a fun mini-project. We just got done learning about ti-ti-ri and ti-ri-ti, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between these two. We focused on a lot on which note gets a little bit more time. We practiced singing songs and figuring out if it gets a ti-ti-ri or a ti-ri-ti.

Now for some added practice I had the students split into small groups (no more than 4 people to a group and students can work on their own if they choose to). As a group they had to come up with some sort of category. It could be anything from sports to candy to states. However, once they picked their category they had to come up with words to go with each rhythm they know (1 for ta, 1 for ti-ti, 1 for ti-ti-ri, 1 for ti-ri-ti, 1 for ti-ri-ti-ri). Each word had to do with their category. I was really impressed with some of the categories students chose:
  • mythology
  • states
  • books
  • sports
  • junk food
  • fruit

The second day, students created nice posters to go with their category and rhythms. Students were expected to write the rhythm, write the word that goes with the rhythm, and draw something to go with each word on their chart.

Here are some of the finished products:
2014-04-04 17.40.50
2014-04-04 17.40.57
2014-04-04 17.41.09

I'm really proud of their hard work. I'm looking forward to displaying these at our Spring Fine Arts night at the end of April!

2 comments :

  1. Hi Brittany! What an adorable idea! I love the posters they made - I bet they have so much pride over their work! So cute!!! Great rhythm reinforcement practice. I bet you could even turn this into a composing activity! They could compose patterns in their groups under set guidelines you give them - 4 beat pattern: twix, twix, jollyrancher, twix - etc. and then perform them on drums or pitched instruments set up in pentatonic scale. Oh that candy one is making me hungry! Thanks for sharing your cute project!!! :) "Sing"-cerely, Tina Jones

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tina!

      Thanks for the comment on my blog post. I had the same thoughts about compositions to go along with the activity. Unfortunately, I don't know that I'll have time this year, but it will definitely be in my mind for the future. :-) I especially like the idea of having them then add pentatonic tones to their compositions.

      Have a musical day!
      Brittany

      Delete