Fun with Boomwhackers and Treble Clef Frisbee

In 5th grade we are still getting ready for Recorder Karate! (see previous post on Treble Clef Centers)

Today in 3rd -5th grade we started the class with a Boomwacker activity! I love the boomwackers and am always trying to find fun new ways to use them. I found this slide on Mimio Connect that had Twinkle Twinkle Little Star color-coded for the boomwackers.

Here it is, but the class had already assigned the hand-signs. We use John Armstrong's chart (you can see it written in black to the right) to assign the hand signs.. I put the chart up in the correct key and they follow it over to each note to assign the hand sign. 

We then played the boomwackers and sang the hand-signs: 

 

Then we erased the handsigns and assigned the treble clef note names. We discussed how the treble clef note names don't change no matter where the handsign chart is- they are always the same! 

 

 In Fifth Grade we also played Treble Clef Frisbee today!!! It is so much fun!

Centers: My first attempt

On the oh, so lovely Pinterest I have seen a lot of music teachers doing "Centers." I loved the idea but it was never possible for me the last two years because I only saw each class for 25 minutes. This year I see them less often, but for 40 minutes. I've went around and around with myself on how I can make centers work in my room. I tried it for the first time today and I think it went very well! Here was my time frame with 3 centers.

5 minutes: Explaining the center and drawing a stick to choose center
10 minutes: 1st Rotation
10 minutes: 2nd rotation
10 minutes: 3rd rotation
5 minutes: clean up and line up
- I used my lovely slide whistle to signal transition time!

I did it with 5th grade because we are reviewing Treble Clef note names before we start Recorder Karate (if you don't know this curriculum you should DEFINITELY check it out! I love it!)

My center were simple:

Center 1: Treble Clef Note Names with Dice
1: Find the A on the treble clef
2: Find the B on the treble clef
3: Find the C's on the treble clef
4: Find the D's on the treble clef
5: Find the E's and F's on the treble clef
6: Find the G's on the treble clef

Center 2: the Name that Note iPod app: we have a school set of iPod touches that I love to find great apps for!

Center 3: Treble clef Flashcards: Pair off into 2's and time each other (I borrowed stop watches from the PE teachers) If they got below 30 seconds they got a prize from my prize bowl!

The kids really enjoyed it and I will definitely do it again.
A few reflections:
*10 minutes is probably a little long I could take it up to 4 centers and go for 7 1/2  minutes.
*Try to find some centers that you can assess with- they have to have an ending product!
*They love it when they get something for doing a good job! :)

Above and Beyond Kids

I'm very lucky at my school. I have a lot of students who like to go the extra mile, challenge themselves further and enjoy being provided with little incentives!

Last year I did a "riddle of the week" with these riddles from Music in Motion 

I posted it on my "FYI" bulletin board outside of my classroom. They submitted their answers and I drew one every Friday and that person recieved a prize from the "Prize Bowl" in my office. It has candy, pencils, erasers, little toys, basically things I get at the book fair with my extra money the PTA gives me, or things I find in the dollar bins at Target and Michaels!

The excitement from the Riddle has died down so I decided I needed something new and fresh... I went to pinterest! What a great place to spark new ideas, or steal ideas from!

Here is what I came up with!

My plan is to give everyone with a correct answer a prize from the "Prize Bowl" and change the musician each month. This is fun because the kids have to really go the extra mile and research who the musician is. 

Classroom Management "noteworthy behavior"

Classroom Management is something I strongly believe in. I only see my students once every 4 days so I need them to know what to expect when they walk into my room. I think finally, after almost 3 years, they do! I have a system in place I call "noteworthy behavior."

I have three stars on my whiteboard.

If a class isn't following directions or doing what they're supposed to be doing, I take a star down. They can earn their star back if they start following the expectations again. At the end of class I record how many stars are left. At the end of 10 classes which ever class in the grade level  had the "most points" gets a reward activity.

It works well and the kids love it! The teachers are supportive at varying degrees. For example, some teachers believe a "1" is unacceptable. Other teachers don't even ask when they pick up their class. However, in my classroom they love it, and always work harder the next cycle if they don't earn the reward activity.