Solfege Practice Stations

Those of you that follow my Facebook page probably saw a post I made last week to show my students working on some fun stations. I thought I'd take a few minutes to share what these stations were all about.

My 5th graders just finished learning about fa and ti, so they finally have the whole major scale done. They are going to be assessed on these concepts tomorrow, so to prepare we worked on some stations to be an interactive review. Here are the stations I came up with:

Station 1: I-pad or Laptop Station - Pirate Pairrrrs - Ti Game

At one of my schools, I have ten i-pads that I can use in my classroom. I like to utilize them when I can, but because my other school has limited access to i-pads, stations seem to be the easiest time to utilize them. On the i-pads I downloaded my Pirate Pairrrrs file and students opened the file in iBooks. Students were then able to interact with the file just like they would on the SMARTboard, but they didn't have to take turns! My students really enjoyed racing each other or seeing who could get the most correct.

At the other school, the 5th graders have laptops. I had them download the file, as well, and they played it as a normal PDF. Again students each had their own copy, so they didn't have to take turns and could really see how much they knew. I love how this file is already ready for students, so they don't need me to tell them if they are correct or not, the file does the work for them.

You can get the Pirate Pairrrrs games in my store HERE.

Station 2: Writing Station

The writing station was a great opportunity for my students to really practice writing solfege on the staff. Each student got a dry erase staff, a dry erase marker, and a sock (for an eraser). Along with this I created simple cards on paint that I printed out. These cards had one side with a do key and one note written out on the staff. Then the pattern I wanted them to write. Students would draw the do key and note on their staff and then complete the passage by writing the notes correctly on the staff. Then they could flip over their card, where I wrote the answers. Again, a great self-led station because students could be learning from their mistakes and practicing writing notes. No help from the teacher necessary.

Station 3: Solfege! UNO

This game was created by Amy Abbott and you can purchase it HERE. My students really enjoyed this little mind break they got from playing UNO with all solfege hand signs. The students really did not have to apply much knowledge at this station, but I was ok with that because they still were seeing the hand signs.

Station 4: Pumpkins for the Pie

This is one of the sorting stations students went to. On the pumpkins are solfege patterns written on the staff. Students had to match it with the pumpkin pie that had the same pattern written out on it. To make it easy for students to check their answers, and to keep it student led, I wrote the answers on the back of each pumpkin.

Station 5: Solfa Land

From listening to my students afterwards, this was probably the favorite of most. This game is played a lot like Candy Land. After choosing playing pieces the first player picks a card from the top of the deck. They figure out what hand sign or note they have and move to the closest space of that note. Who ever gets to the end first wins. You can purchase this game in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

BONUS: Not only is this game board included, but I also made a game board just for mi, so, la and a game board for do, re, mi, so, la. I figured my littler ones would enjoy playing this game later on this year, too. You get ALL versions in just one download -->HERE.

Station 6: Baskets FULL of Solfa

The final station I call Baskets FULL of Solfa. This sorting game is pretty easy and again could work for many different grade levels. Just print out the apples and baskets that you are most likely to use. Students put all the baskets out in front so they can see them all, then they figure out the note on the apple before placing it by the correct basket. You can buy this game HERE.

Hopefully you enjoyed this post about some fun station ideas. I absolutely love using stations in class. It is great to see my students working all on their own with very little assistance from me. Plus, they love it and have so much fun learning more. What are some of your favorite stations?

What's On Your Wall - Link Up Part 2

Yesterday, I shared what my first classroom looked like. Today I'm going to share my second classroom, which is owl themed. Again I'm linking up with Tracy King A.K.A. The Bulletin Board Lady.



The back of my room is normally the first thing I decorate. I have two bulletin boards with tack-able wall around it.


The one bulletin board reads "Can You flap owl the rhythms?". I have a background of bright green fabric that I purchased last year. The print outs can be purchased from Jena Hudson at Sew Much Music. I made the tree branches and trunk from brown butcher paper. I crinkled it up a bit to give it a more natural look. Then for the border I used crepe paper streamers.
I highly recommend using crepe paper streamers for a border. I was originally going to use a burlap roll for the border, but it only covered half of the border and was about $30, so I didn't want to buy another one. Then I was walking around thinking of another option when I saw the streamers. I wasn't sure how well it would work or how much I would need, so I snagged three of them (because I didn't want to take a chance that I'd have to go back) for $3 and headed out. To create the border I just twisted and bunched while stapling along the way. It is a bit thin doing just one time around, so I went around 3 times. I love how much it actually looks like leaves from far away. (Even going around the bulletin board three times didn't even use one roll.)

Above this bulletin board I have more clip art from Whimsy Clips. After printing these cute school owls out, I added music related symbols and terms to make them fit in a bit more.



The other bulletin board reads "I Give a HOOT about Music". I purchased this bulletin board from Cara at Miscellaneous Me. This is a cute and simple advocacy board.


Now for the front of the room:


This adorable banner was a find from Music with Miss W. This banner says Making Music Owl Together. It is such a simple yet eye catching element to the front of my room.


My kodaly hand signs posters were made by me. If you are interested in them, let me know! I may add them to my shop.


I used the burlap roll to make my Positives Only clip chart into a tree. If you want to read more about how I use my clip chart in my classroom read THIS POST. If you are interested in using a positives only clip chart and/or would like to purchase this one or my cupcake themed one, please let me know.


Finally, I have my Music Street and Rules on the whiteboard. My whiteboard here is magnetic, so the leaves are on magnets and can be pulled off to put in cute little owls that represent the solfege. (Leaves are clip art from Little Red and owls are clip art from One Stop Digital.)





One side of my classroom has all these nice cupboards with my vocabulary posters. You can purchase these posters in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.


Finally, check out my door. This door was made using clip art from Whimsy Clips and Glitter Meets Glue


Ok, well that is all for now! Hope you enjoyed seeing all the pictures. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my room in the comments below!

What's On Your Wall - Link Up Part 1

So I've been dying to show all of you my rooms this year. I have to say I think this is my first year teaching that I'm proud of BOTH schools decorations. I teach at two very small rural schools and normally run in to all sorts of issues when it comes to preparing for a new school year. This year was no different, but I pushed through and am so happy with the final look. I'm linking up with Tracy King A.K.A. The Bulletin Board Lady to give you a picture tour of my classrooms.



Since, I have two separate themes I've decided to show you my rooms in two separate blog posts. This is the final product at School One.

At school one, I went with a sweet treats theme. I started by decorating the wall in the back of my room. It isn't tack-able, but it is ugly and warped. The wood has lots of scratches and chips in the paint. It is also one of the FIRST things you seen when you walk in the room. That is why it just has to be covered. The finished product is two 'bulletin boards'. The first one is one designed and created by me:

The background is aluminum foil, the border is cupcake liners, and it reads LIFE is SWEET in MUSIC CLASS. I used Wake Me Up font from KG Fonts and clip art from Whimsy Clips with music notes added to them. I absolutely LOVE the way this turned out and it really catches people's attention.


The second 'bulletin board' also has aluminum foil as a background, but then uses tulle as a border. (Tulle was on sale for less than $1 a yard, so I just HAD to get some) The bulletin board reads "MUSIC Makes me a SMART COOKIE". You can purchase this bulletin board from Cara at Miscellaneous Me.


My side wall is a giant temporary wall, so it is entirely tack-able. I covered it with four bulletin boards.


First, "A Recipe for Great Singing" bulletin board from Treble in the Music Room. I also purchased the same clip art, so I could fill in some of the spaces. You can purchase the clip art she used HERE.


Second, "The SCOOP on the LINES and SPACES" bulletin board. I created this bulletin board myself. It is not currently something for sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but if you'd like to see it I may consider putting it there.


Third, "SWEET HARMONY TOGETHER" bulletin board is just a bulletin board of all my instrument family posters. You can purchase these posters in my Teachers Pay Teachers store - HERE.


Finally, my vocab wall is more vocabulary posters from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.


The front of my room has my classroom incentive chart. (You can learn more about that HERE.) The Baking Up Success bulletin board will be where I keep track of progress this year. After reaching the top of the chart each grade will have a cupcake added to their chart.


Cupcake Lane is made up of wrapping paper as a background with electric tape as a border. The cupcakes are held up with velcro, so I can switch them out. This is another item that is not currently for sale, but if I get requests for it I may add it.


My hand signs poster is almost an exact replica of THIS FREEBIE in my shop.


Then my door is sweet and simple with clip art from The Enlightened Elephant.


PHEW! Hope you enjoyed all of the pictures. If you liked this post, look forward to Part 2 with school number 2! (Updated: Click here to check it out!)

Super Sale Instant Replay

I'm really excited that TpT is having a quick sale tomorrow. I was on vacation during the last sale and so I missed out on a bunch of goodies!

Tonight I'm linking up with Aileen and Amy to update you on my store since the last sale PLUS tell you what I can't wait to get my hands on during this sale.

First, since the last sale I've been working hard on several different files. The biggest update is this set of rhythmic interactive games. This fun game will be a great review in your classrooms and I can't wait to try it with my students this week. You can check out the bundle in my store by clicking the pictures below (Note: I'm adding to this tonight still, so make sure to check back often to see if I've added more individual games):


Now for some things I'm hoping to snag from the sale. I have a sweet treats/bakery theme at one of my schools this year and I could find multiple uses for this cute clip art. You can add these things to your wishlist by clicking on the pictures:


That's all for now! Have a great night and happy shopping!