February has been a crazy month! I’m glad it’s almost over because I am about to lose my mind!
For the past couple months I have been dealing with some family issues that have been taking up a lot of my time and my brain cells. A music teacher friend of mine offered to take my music classes for me for the month of February and I am SO grateful!!! I’m still teaching the handful of private lessons that I have but having her take my music classes for K-8 was a God-send! I was barely functioning as a music teacher in January and February has been even crazier. But I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
Even though I have missed my music classes and have been super busy with family stuff, I have still found time to work on my TPT products which I am excited about. Lots of fun stuff for February and March!
I started off February with Groundhog Day Rhythm & Melody, a fun activity with cute little groundhogs and rhythms at every elementary level. Melody letters are also included to be played on recorders or glockenspiels and xylophones. I love doing this one to start the month off!
Then I added I Love Music-Write the Room and Mailbox Match! I Love Music is a “write-the-room” activity that focuses on reading notes on the treble staff. It’s great for getting kids up and moving around the room and practicing their note reading. Some music staffs have only one note, some have up to 5 notes, depending on the level of your students. Mailbox Match is obviously a matching game where students are, again, practicing note reading, but this time spelling words on the staff, so it takes note reading to an extra step.
I also added a new rhythm game that focuses on time signatures 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8 called Rhythm Train. Each train engine has a time signature and each train car has a rhythm. Three different game versions are available with this resource. Whether you are simply matching the rhythm to a time signature or seeing how many train cars you can add to one engine or looking to compose a simple rhythm pattern, it’s lots of fun for a variety of grade levels.
If you’re practicing recorders in your class, Recorder Zoo is another “write-the-room” activity to challenge your students. Cute zoo animals and recorder notes on the staff display around the room and students, with their worksheet have to decipher the letters and then play the pattern on their recorders. So they are practicing note reading AND recorder playing at the same time!
On the Sunday school product front, I also created another fun Bible story resource: The Story of Creation! You can use this resource to teach the story of creation in Genesis or to supplement another curriculum. It has story pages straight from Scripture, coloring pages to create a booklet, a fun trivia-based board game, and a few simple worksheets.
So yeah…I’ve been a little busy. I’m in a season where I’m not teaching as much but I’m creating teaching materials so I still feel that connection to the classroom. And I have LOTS more on the way for March with St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Spring arriving! I can’t wait to share them with you!
P.S. A lot of my newer resources also are suitable for homeschool parents and non-music subs as well! So even if you don’t know anything about music you can still use my resources to learn and teach your students about music!!
Miss Donna 4 Music 