Miss Donna 4 Music

Not the basketball kind!

I have never participated in a March Madness basketball related event and since I’m not really a sports kind person I don’t entirely understand it. BUT I know right now it’s all the hype this time of year!

I have my own March Madness going on because I just realized that the end of the 3rd quarter at my school is coming up in a couple weeks which means I am now making plans for the end of the school year already!!! How did this happen?? Where did the year go??

And since I only teach music class once a week, that means I have about 8-10 classes left to cram in all the rest of the things!

Take a deep breath! Focus! What do I need to focus on right now?

I have been busy stocking my TPT shop with some new spring products!

St. Patrick’s Day Activities

Here are 4 St. Patrick’s Day themed resources in my shop right now that you can use in your classroom this month!

Rainbow Rhythm Relay! I actually tried this one out in a couple classes last week and it went really well! I divided the class into 2 teams. Each team gets a blank rainbow with rainbow color strips cut out. There is a 3-color rainbow and a 6-color rainbow available depending on how long or short you want the game to go. On the other side of the room each team had a set of rainbow rhythm cards to match the colors of their rainbow. I choose a rhythm pattern to play for them and one person from each team runs across to try to find that rhythm. If they find the correct rhythms they get to add that rainbow color from the rhythm card to their rainbow. So as the game goes on, they have to pay attention to what colors they already have in their rainbow and what color the rhythm card is they pick up.

The first team to have all their colors added to their rainbow wins!

So it’s great for rhythm listening and recognition as well as teamwork and speed!

Pot of Gold Rhythm Hunt! This one we’ll do next week and focuses on rhythms and note values. And there are 3 ways to use this resource

Divide class into teams or small groups and students can simply sort the gold note value coins into the appropriate pots according to the number of beats. OR make it into treasure hunt game. Divide the class into teams and hide the coins around the room. Give each teams a set of pots. Set a time limit and let teams see how many coins they can find and sort into the correct pots within the time limit. Each coin sorted correctly earns the team a point. The team with the most points wins!

Students can also use the coins to create or compose their own rhythm patterns and then clap or play the patterns on instruments.

And BONUS! There’s actually a 4th way to use this resource! There are large pots and small pots available with the game. The large pots can be used with the game above or can be used in a 4-Corners Game too!

Clovers and Bunnies! This is a fun little activity to practice recognizing rhythms in 3/4 time or 4/4 time! Students will match the bunny rhythm to the correct clover time signature! And there’s a composing worksheet for students to create their own rhythm patterns, then clap or play on instruments.

If you really want to focus on composing, check out Shamrock Composition! This resource has composing activities for rhythm and solfege, on and off the staff for all different levels from Kindergarten to 8th grade that will keep your kids busy, learning and having fun and being creative!

Stay tuned for more March and Spring activities for your music class!