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!

Five Favorite Music Freebies

I'm really sorry for another lack of updates, but I promise that my next blog post will have a cool forever freebie you can all add to your collection. Hopefully, that will make up for it!

Today I'm linking up with Noteworthy by Jen to bring you my Five Favorite Music Freebies on Teachers Pay Teachers.


There are MANY out there, so it is very hard to pick just five. Read about the freebies below and then click any of the pictures to download them yourselves!

1) Cowgirl Compositions
I actually found this gem LONG before she was creating other items on Teachers Pay Teachers. I don't exactly remember how I stumbled on it, but I know I downloaded it one of my first years of teaching. It was my first year teaching at a school where students had little to NO experience clapping ANY rhythms. (Even basic rhythms like ta & ti-ti) My 4th and 5th graders had no desire to learn music, because they never had to do much before I got there. This rhythm football really made my 4th and 5th grade boys excited to practice rhythms. Not only because they love sports, but because it was a game and competitive. I cannot tell you how many times we used this game and how many times they would beg me to play it. Cowgirl Compositions now has several others versions of the game that you can download and use in your classroom, as well.
Note: This file is a SMARTnotebook file, so unfortunately you will not be able to use it if you don't have SMARTnotebook.

2) Floating Down the River
Along the same lines, Floating Down the River has a freebie for March Madness. I like this idea because not only does it involve singing, but again it is perfect for my boys who are obsessed with sports. This is such a creative game and what boy will not want a chance to shoot a basket? Now to find some different size balls to play this game next year...

3) The Yellow Brick Road
It's the perfect time of year to use this matching game by The Yellow Brick Road. I like how she has two different versions: one for a whole group activity and one as a center activity. Can you ever have enough activities for preparing and practicing ta and ti-ti?

4) Totally Tuned-In Teacher
My students can never get enough practice on counting BEATS for different rhythms. This year, this has been a major focus. My students have such a hard time understanding that two notes does NOT mean two beats. Plus, my 3rd graders are working on time signatures right now and this would actually tie in well with that. Even though this freebie is 'technically' for Valentine's day, you still could use it any time of year OR you can get one of her other rhythm activity packs.

5) Brittany De Laruelle
Finally, I just have to do a shout out for one of my favorite freebies in my store. I have several freebies, but this one is still one of my favorites. This would also be a GREAT activity to use with your students this time of the year. Not only will your students be able to practice their solfege, but they'll also love the chance to color.

That's all for now! Don't forget to read about all the other freebies back at Jen's original post. You can read about those HERE.

Week 6 - How I Manage a Hectic Holiday Schedule

As I was sitting in church Sunday morning listening to the Psalm, I took a good look at the date. "October 5? That can't be right!" I thought... but it was and that means I have to introduce the Christmas concert audition process this week to the students at one of my schools. The other school is not having a Christmas concert. Instead they will have a 3-5 Winter Concert in January and a K-2 Spring Concert in April. They will then have a Christmas Sing-a-long towards the end of December, but that does not take NEARLY the amount of prep that a concert does. (As you all know)

Now after reading this you probably are wondering how I can keep everything straight. Sometimes I wonder the same exact thing, but here is kind of a glimpse into 'my world'.

My students at Bonduel Elementary always have two separate Christmas concerts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon each year. This year I decided that I am going to do a multi-cultural themed Christmas concert. I'm teaching some new songs, but also throwing in some common songs like Feliz Navidad and We Three Kings. I'm hoping this will appease my audience while still allowing me the opportunity to explore some newfound treasures. (I can tell you more about the songs we're singing and the programs I created in a couple weeks)

I have a very efficient audition process, which takes place during my music time. It includes instrument, speaking, and singing parts all in one day! I have 45 minute classes so I can fit it all in, but at the school with 30 minutes (more like 25 minutes) it normally takes two class periods. If you want to learn more about my audition process check out these two blog posts from last year:
Preparing Students for the Audition
What I Grade on for Try-outs

My students at Fairview Elementary will be continuing on with their lessons on beat, rhythm, solfege, etc. This can be ultra confusing! However, how I work it out I mostly focus on lesson planning for Fairview. Then everything I do with my students at Fairview during the concert prep months becomes my plans for Bonduel after concert season.

Week 6
Kindergarten
The next few weeks I will be assessing students five voices. I do this with a sort of a game. I take a familiar song we know like Chop, Chop or Frog in the Meadow and I call students up to the front of the room (or the back for those shier students). I whisper in their ear the voice I want them to use for the song and they demonstrate it for the class. This helps me figure out if they understand the correct vocabulary and also that they are able to use the correct voice. It is even better because students have to then determine what voice the student used.

Songs we are singing in Kindergarten this week:

• The More We Get Together
• Chop, Chop Chippity Chop
• Frog in the Meadow
• Purple Light
• Pitter, Patter
• She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
• My Aunt Came Back
• Engine, Engine Number Nine
• William He Had Seven Sons
• Pete the Cat Rockin in my School Shoes

1st Grade
After being introduced to beat and rhythm last week, students are continuing to practice seeing the difference between the two. I show students slides of songs they know with the beat and then show them with the rhythm. Students have to determine, which is which. Students this week are also starting to identify one sound beats and two sound beats (ta & ti-ti). We are focusing on the songs Bobby Shaftoe and Engine, Engine for this analysis.

Songs we are singing in 1st Grade this week:

• Bobby Shaftoe
• Engine, Engine Number Nine
• Beat vs. Rhythm Presentation

2nd Grade
Students are working on composing short patterns using the notes we know: ta, ti-ti, rest, and ta-a. We are practicing how to draw these rhythms with the beat. We practiced yesterday by drawing patterns up on the SMARTboard. I also drew some rhythms incorrectly and students had to find the mistakes in the rhythms. They had a lot of fun with that. Especially because I really ham it up and make it seem like I'm just 'positive' I'm right. This practice will be very handy when it comes time to do their final composition project where they use half notes, half rests, whole notes, and whole rests. From past classes I know this is something I need to take more time on. Students get that certain notes are more than one beat, but they don't always show it the correct way in their compositions.

Songs we are singing in 2nd Grade this week:

• Frere Jacques
• Here Comes a Bluebird
• Who's That Tapping at my Window
• Phoebe in her Petticoat
• Rocky Mountain

3rd Grade
3rd Grade is now reviewing the whole note and will be doing a very similar practice to what the 2nd graders are doing this week. The only difference is we will add in the whole note. When students seem comfortable with composing with these notes I'll throw in the half rest and whole rest. We'll practice changing half notes into half rests and whole notes into whole rests. Then students will be ready to work on the composition they were supposed to complete in 2nd grade. I want to make sure they really understand this concept, since in 3rd grade their composition not only focuses on beats, but also throws in half beats! (Yikes!)

Songs we are singing in 3rd Grade this week:

• Au Claire de la Lune
• My Father's House
• The Water is Wide

4th Grade & 5th Grade
Students in 4th and 5th grade are learning about low so this week. They first learned about it using Scotland's Burning, but now are also practicing throwing it in to some other familiar songs. I'm surprised how much fun they are all having with the Chicken on the Fencepost game and the dance for Tideo. One of my 4th graders told their teacher "I don't know what activity I liked more!" How can that not bring a smile to your face?

Here are the activities for you to try:
Chicken on the Fencepost Game

1. Make two circles - all students should be holding hands in their circles. They may complain about it at first, but when they see how the game works they get over it. (One inside circle and one outer circle)
2. Pick two students to be the racers (They should close their eyes while you choose 'openings')
3. Pick a set of hands on the outside circle and on the inside circle. These students will create an archway when the song ends, so the racers can get through to the middle (creating a kind of maze)
4. Racers can open their eyes as the song starts and both circles walk to the beat of the song. When the song ends the students that are suppose to create arches do and the racers try to get to the middle as fast as possible.
5. Repeat!

*Note: You can make it even harder by choosing some fake entrances. These students lift their arms creating an entry, but when someone gets close they quickly drop so no one can enter. Really fun and the kids think it is hilarious.

Here is a video of what this game looks like:


Tideo Dance

1. Students partner up
2. One partner creates an inside circle with their backs towards the middle of the circle
3. Their partner lines up with them creating an outer circle with their faces towards the middle
4. Pass one window - students on the outside move one person to their right
5. Pass two windows - students on the outside move one person to their right
6. Pass one window - Students on the outside move on person to their right
7. Jingle at the window - All students pat their legs quickly
8. Tideo - All students clap, clap, pat with the partner they are with
9. Tideo, tideo - Students slowly swing their partner
10. Jingle at the window - All students pat their legs quickly
11. Tideo - All students clap, clap, pat with the partner they are with
12. Tideo, tideo - Students slowly swing their partner
13. Jingle at the window - All students pat their legs quickly
14. Tideo - All students clap, clap, pat with the partner they are with
15. Then repeat until you are lined up with the partner you started with (or whenever you want to stop)

*Note: I normally have my students repeat the dance by switching places with their partner. That way everyone gets a chance to try both parts.

Here is a video of this dance:

*Note: The version I learned of this song does the swinging partner two times, but you could do it just once like in the video

Songs we are singing in 4th Grade & 5th Grade this week:

• Scotland's Burning
• Canoe Song
• Chicken on the Fencepost
• Lil' Liza Jane
• Tideo

What's Happening Wednesday - Week 5

Here is a glimpse into my week:
Kindergarten
This week we will continue to work on our five voices. However, this week will be more about students demonstrating and naming voices. We will do a couple examples by singing songs like we did last week, but I'll also pick students to demonstrate the voice and students will have to guess the voice used. This helps me assess how well students are actually getting this concept and how much more time needs to be spent on this. Some classes pick up on the five voices in a matter of just 3 or 4 lessons, others could take several months.

Songs we are singing in Kindergarten this week:

• Chop, Chop Chippity Chop
• Frog in the Meadow
• She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
• My Aunt Came Back
• Engine, Engine Number Nine
• William He Had Seven Sons
• Puff the Magic Dragon

1st Grade
We have kept the beat to several songs the last few weeks and now we are finally going to be introduced to following the way the words go. We are going to take a look at Cobbler, Cobbler and look at how when we follow the words we end up with long and short sounds. Not only will I be using the song files linked below, but I will also be using my Beat vs. Rhythm Presentation, which you can find a link for below as well.

Songs we are singing in 1st Grade this week:

• Cobbler, Cobbler
• Lucy Locket
• Apple Tree
• Bee, Bee Bumblebee
• Bobby Shaftoe
• Beat vs. Rhythm Presentation

2nd Grade
This week students will be learning about our new note: ta-a. We will start by looking at Frere Jacques and finding all the long notes, but will then practice finding the rhythm in the other songs we know. If we have time, we'll play the half note game that is included in my Frere Jacques file.

Songs we are singing in 2nd Grade this week:

• Frere Jacques
• Here Comes a Bluebird
• Who's That Tapping at my Window
• Phoebe in her Petticoat
• Rocky Mountain
• Au Claire de la Lune
• My Father's House

3rd Grade
Will continue to review half notes. We will not only take a look at the songs they know and put the half notes where they belong, but we will also practice clapping these patterns.

I'm also doing an activity with chair beats. I got this idea from a colleague and I'm going to give it a try. I put four chairs in the front of the room and explain that each chair represents a beat. Then I arrange students in the chair to represent different rhythms. One child in a chair is a ta. Two children sharing a chair is a ti-ti. One child stretched over two chairs is a ta-a. Empty chairs are rests. I'm having students create the rhythm patterns I write on the board to fit the chairs, I'm also putting kids in chairs and having them figure out the rhythm. Hopefully this will help with some of the beats of different notes.

Songs we are singing in 3rd Grade this week:

• Frere Jacques
• Here Comes a Bluebird
• Au Claire de la Lune
• My Father's House
• Who's That Tapping at my Window
• The Water is Wide

4th Grade & 5th Grade
I'm finally past reviewing ti ta ti and we are now working on introducing low so and low la. Scotland's Burning is a great song for introducing low so and we will take a look at that this week. We are going to sing the song and start to recognize where the notes are going up and down. We will then do the same thing with the other songs that we are learning.

Songs we are singing in 4th Grade & 5th Grade this week:

• Scotland's Burning
• Canoe Song
• Chicken on the Fencepost
• Lil' Liza Jane
• Tideo

What's Happening Wednesday - Week 3

Here is a glimpse into my third week of school:
Kindergarten
Students are continuing to sing through the rules songs that I talked about in my post last week. We are also continuing to have experiences keeping the beat. This week I start allowing students to choose different beat motions. I always crack up at some of the choices students make for keeping the beat. We have the typical ones like clapping our hands, walking to the beat, or patting our head. But we also have some not so typical ones: shrugging our shoulders, blinking our eyes, or (a new favorite) swaying our hips back and forth.

Students this week will also continue to work on echoing short phrases. I use a lot of echo songs in the first couple months so that I can assess students ability to match pitch and echo short phrases. (One of our Kindergarten learning targets)

Songs we are singing in Kindergarten this week:

• No More Pie
• Chop, Chop, Chippity Chop
• She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
• My Aunt Came Back
• Engine, Engine Number Nine
• William He Had Seven Sons
• Frog in the Meadow

1st Grade
The goals for 1st grade are being able to keep the beat to various different songs. Thsi will prepare them for recognizing notes that are longer and shorter, which then leads into ta and ti-ti. Normally by Halloween time students are able to recognize the difference between two sound and one sound words and clap rhythm patterns for ta and ti-ti.

Songs we are singing in 1st Grade this week:

• Engine, Engine Number Nine
• Cobbler, Cobbler
• Lucy Locket
• William He Had Seven Sons
• Apple Tree

2nd Grade
2nd graders are singing many songs with half notes and whole notes in them. In a few weeks we will learn about the half note and start working on creating patterns using quarter, eighth, and half notes. However, I'm introducing a lot of these whole note songs because we do learn about whole notes in 2nd grade, as well, and all of them use half notes, so we'll be able to practice our half notes even without learning about the whole note.

Songs we are singing in 2nd Grade this week:

• Au Claire de la Lune
• Frere Jacques
• Here Comes a Bluebird
• My Father's House
• Who's That Tapping at my Window

3rd Grade
In 3rd grade we are reviewing all the notes we already know. We are singing various songs that use half notes and whole notes since we just learned about these at the end of the year. I also love that some of these songs the 3rd graders already knew because they sing them so beautifully!

Songs we are singing in 3rd Grade this week:

• Au Claire de la Lune
• All Through the Night
• Frere Jacques
• Here Comes a Bluebird
• The Water is Wide
• My Father's House
• Who's that Tapping at my Window

4th Grade & 5th Grade
4th & 5th graders just learned the Alabama Gal dance last week. It was a LOT of fun and students are hoping to be able to get to it this week, too. Because of that this will be the reward students earn if they are following directions and working hard in music class.

My 4th and 5th graders are at two different places. I have some classes that have already learned all about ti ta ti and other classes that have not. This is definitely a challenge, so the goal is to get all the classes on the same page and really understanding how to clap rhythms using ti ta ti.

To work on practicing ti ta ti rhythms I have been working on using the rhythm games provided at the end of my Alabama Gal and Shake the Papaya Down rhythm files:


Yesterday, I picked one student to come up and play the rhythm on rhythm sticks. The goal for all the other students was to decide if they did it correctly or incorrectly. Students did a pretty good job of this and even picked up on minor incorrect patterns. (For example: adding a slight rest in between patterns, giving one note not enough time or too much time) I was really proud of how respectful they all were and how no one had to feel bad if they clapped a rhythm incorrectly.

Once all my classes are ready to move on from working on ti ta ti we will begin to take a look at low so and low la patterns. (We started to work on this last year)

Songs we are singing in 4th Grade & 5th Grade this week:

• Shake the Papaya Down
• Alabama Gal
• Scotland's Burning
• Canoe Song
• Chicken on the Fencepost
• Lil' Liza Jane
• John Kanakanaka

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:



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!

Wishlist Wednesday - Big TpT Sale!

Thursday 2/27 and Friday 2/28 Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a big sale to celebrate having 3 Million teachers selling on their site. In order to celebrate, they are throwing a 10% Off sale on EVERYTHING on their site. Along with this, many teachers are putting their entire stores on SALE for 20% off. The total saving is 28% on EVERYTHING! Super exciting! In order to get the additional 10% off you need to type TPT3 in the promotion code area at checkout.

Banner made by Ashley Hughes & Kimberly Geswein

Tonight I'm sharing my Wishlist as a link up with Amy Abbott at Music a la Abbott. Find out about other music teachers having sales by clicking the picture below and reading all the posts that linked up! :)


For the linky party we were asked to share one thing from our store, one thing from another music teacher's store, and one non-music teacher's store item.

First from my store, I would recommend grabbing my Rhythm Basics Bundle. This is a HUGE bundle with all sorts of activities, songs, and lessons for teaching rhythm versus beat and ta & ti-ti rhythm patterns.


I couldn't pick just one music teacher item, so here are a couple things I would suggest checking out.


The first is the March Music Note Reading Fun. I actually bought this a couple days ago, but it is truly fantastic and I would suggest going out and buying it. The leprechauns are so cute and I know my students are going to love practicing note reading with these fun worksheets.

Speaking of worksheets, Tweet Music also has a great product I just bought a few days ago. She put together a whole pack of worksheets for various grade levels and covering all sorts of music topics. Again, some adorable worksheets that you should check out!

One thing I haven't bought and is on my wishlist is the Build a Snowman [so, mi] Game by Aileen Miracle. She offered a harder version during the Facebook Frenzy in December, but I just did not get around to looking at everything until this month. I finally looked at this game and realized it is WONDERFUL. I'm really looking forward to using it, but I want the so, mi and the la versions for my younger students who are just learning these concepts.


Non-music wishlist items... also hard to choose. I always have so much clip art I want, but here are a few that I have my eye on. (Click the pictures to find the item for yourself!)


Well that is it for now! I hope you enjoy the sale! I'd love to know what is on your wishlist and what you are looking forward to purchasing.

Back in the Swing of Things...Almost

We started back at school January 2nd after the Holiday Break, but it has taken me until now to finally feel back in the swing of things.

Why? Because after Thursday and Friday we had an arctic wind hit Wisconsin where we experienced down to -65 degrees Fahrenheit at times. It was so cold many buses weren't working and one of my school districts cancelled school for THREE days in a row!

The cold weather definitely has made it difficult to get back to business and focus on the task at hand. This is my 4th year of teaching and I have to say that though it doesn't always get easier with each year, I do feel much more focused and have a clearer idea of what I want to accomplish each year.

This week I'm going to share two things I'm doing in my classroom as part of Steph's 2/4 Tuesday Linky Party:

1) Introducing Low Do using Peas Porridge Hot:
Now that we are back from break and done with concerts it is time to add another note to Music Street. For my 2nd graders the new note was low do. To teach about low do I put together an interactive powerpoint where students reviewed notes they knew and learned about low do.



They even got to learn about the Do Key!

Then for extra practice students used the staff dry erase boards to write the notes on themselves. This was great for me because it allowed me to see how each individual student was doing. It also helped me see if it was a large group that needed the extra practice or just one or two.

You can get the file I used for teaching Low Do in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store HERE.

2) Reviewing Half Notes
I've also been spending some time working on counting half notes. To continue practicing this I have been using Lindsay Jervis's Dashing Through the Snow game (click the picture to buy it yourself).

She has a similar rhythm game for Valentine's Day HERE. My students love this game, but for right now I'm having them play it a little bit different than the way it is described. My 2nd graders just learned half notes, so instead of racing one by one I am having students work in a group. I clap the rhythm and as a group they try to find the answer. If their group gets the correct rhythm after I clap it three times I give EVERY group with the right answer a point. Eventually I will make it more difficult by clapping it less times or making students work individually, but this seems to be a simpler way to make the game work and they still really enjoy it.

I hope you find these tools and resources helpful! :)

Just a quick reminder that I am holding a 100 Teachers Pay Teachers Followers Giveaway, as a celebration of reaching 100 followers on my Teachers Pay Teachers account. For more details on how to enter you can click the picture below:

100 Teachers Pay Teachers Followers

a Rafflecopter giveaway