We are in the last few weeks of school where I teach music at my church. My private lesson students are all busily turning in their recital videos this week so I can compile them into one big video to share with everyone. And I’m trying to think of fun things for my general music classes to end the school year with to keep the craziness under control! But we’re almost there, the end is in sight!
My private students have been busy preparing their recital pieces, mostly with a spring theme in mind. Pieces like Picking Flowers, Sunshine Yellow, Sunburst Waltz, and even Vivaldi’s Spring from the Four Seasons, all exhibit the joy of spring! We also have a few fun pieces, like Star Wars Theme and Coconut Shuffle, as well as a few more serious but beautiful pieces like Malagueña, Danny Boy, God Help the Outcasts, and When the Love Falls. A wide variety of styles, sounds, and tempos.
My classroom students are definitely ready for summer break! We are all feeling it, even the teachers! At this point, we are all just counting the days and having fun. We’ve been playing several boomwhacker play along videos and body percussion videos, using Star Wars music and Mario music, in light of Star Wars day and the new Mario movie that just came out.
And we’re also doing some Write the Room activities such as, Pirate Write the Room (from Music Educator Resources) and Spring Write the Room (from Becca’s Music Room). In a Write the Room activity, rhythm cards are posted around the room, each with a symbol that matches a symbol on the students’ paper. The students are given time to wander around the room to find the cards, then match the symbols and copy the rhythm on their page. There are melody versions as well to practice solfege patterns or staff note reading.
Another great idea from Becca’s Music Room is Kookaburra 4 corners. You choose 4 Australian animals and post their pictures around the room. The kids sing the Kookaburra song while moving around the room. By the end of the song, they choose a corner. I spin my Wheel of Names (or in this case, animals) and whichever corner the wheel picks, those students are out. My version became 7 corners because there were so many cute Australian animals to choose from I had to use them all!
Next week in music class will be a game week where I set up various music games around the room (card games, board games, action games, etc.) almost like a carnival-style.The kids can wander around the room in small groups choosing what game they want to play throughout the class time. Our last week of music class is always Donkey Konga, which the kids LOVE and beg for throughout the entire year! If you don’t know what Donkey Konga is, stay tuned for the next post!!
Miss Donna 4 Music 