Sweet Sounds

Sunday

Favorite Songs and Games for Fall in the Elementary Music Room

Are you looking for ways to get your elementary music students up and moving? Kids love to move and love to play these game songs! I'm sharing some of my favorite ideas for games in the elementary music room, using some of my favorite classroom folk songs!

It's a Fall Bundle! Woohoo! I included my new practice packs for We are Dancing in the Forest (aka The Wolf Song) and Let Us Chase the Squirrel. This set includes beat practice charts, staff reading slides and extra practice cards for using in centers.

Plus as a bonus, I added my Fall Vocal Exploration and my Not So Scary Fall Vocal Exploration. How cute is this scarecrow? My students love having visuals to go with their warm-ups - and I know having visuals helps my ELLs too - it's just plain best practice.

These vocal warm-up slides are super cute and not scary at all! Help the ghost find a place to land, get the jack-o-lantern to his scarecrow and help the bat find a piece of candy!

At any time of the year, my kids are itching for spooky (but not too scary!) songs, and We are Dancing fits the bill!

How do we play?
When we play this game, I have all the students except for one (the wolf) stand in a circle, acting out and singing the song.

After the song, everyone has to freeze and the wolf walks around trying to pick out people that are moving. My rules are simple: Repeat after me! You can blink. You can breathe. But don't argue with the wolf. Or you're out.

And then I have them whisper to their neighbors, "It's only 30 seconds."

Because when the wolf catches you, you sit in the "freezer" (you're tomorrow night's dinner!) and wait for the wolf to have 2 turns. As soon as the wolf picks a replacement wolf, they get to "sneak back into the forest" and play again, because there's a new wolf in town.

How long do I give the wolf to try to find dinner? I play Joshua Fought the Battle at Jericho on the piano - that's the wolf's theme song - and when the song is over we all say, "Shew!" and the game resumes.

I almost get tired of this song by the end of October, because even my 5th graders still request to play the game during their "free-choice reward days." Ha!

My second graders LOVE playing Let Us Chase the Squirrel! I love this song because it has so many musical elements we can pull out - re, half note, slurs, melodic contour - so much good stuff!

How do we play?

Game 1:

I have 2 different versions of the squirrel game that I like to play. The first is the easiest, but it gets wild. I have the students make a double circle, with the inside partner facing the outside partner.

Each set of partners connects hands above their head in a bridge/arch like London Bridge. I will tap one set of "squirrels" on the shoulder to begin the game. Those 2 will release hands and run around the circle, through the "tunnel" that's made with all the hands. When they get back to their spot, they connect hands again and become part of the tunnel for the other squirrels.

It's super simple and the kids think it's hilarious to run through the tunnel. Or scamper like squirrels, whichever you prefer.

Eventually, we rest our arms and I speed it up. When the 2 squirrels are about halfway around the circle, I tap on the next 2, so it's a continuous movement.

Pro Tip: Use a tambourine to signal the next set of squirrels so that they have to listen while they are singing.

Game 2:

This game is the best! If you've ever played 24 Robbers, it's a take off that game. I have students in partners spread out throughout the room and make a bridge with their partner (not making a tunnel this time). We call these students "trees" and then I pick 3 or 4 students to be the "squirrels" and scamper around (carefully! this gets fast!).

When the song is over, I tap the tambourine and they run for a tree. The "trees" can then "close" their arms by lowering them around the squirrel - there is only one squirrel per tree, so that tree is now closed. If there are more squirrels than trees (after the first round, pick more squirrels than trees), then we all say, "Aw! Poor squirrel" to the squirrels that didn't get to a home in time.

Then I hit the tambourine and we go again!

It's a riot and they will play this over and over again! After a few rounds, let the squirrels that have been caught in the tree select one of their tree people to take their place. This lets everyone get a chance to be a squirrel.

Pro tip: After playing this game a few times, change it up and hit the tambourine in the middle of a phrase or at least before the end of the song, so that they have to listen to know when to run for a tree.

More songs with fun games:

Button You Must Wander is a fun song for practicing half note and do pentatonic. My second graders love to pass the buttons around and guess who ends up with the button!

Down Came a Lady has an awesome game - whoever is in the middle of the circle picks a color - if you're wearing that color - you're "out" and walk around the outside of the circle. This is a great song to practice low so and half note!

Additional Songs for the Fall:

The Birch Tree is a beautiful song to teach; I'm hoping to do it as a warm-up round for my choir this year. That starts next week! Eek!

It does not have any game that I know of, but its striking melody will settle into your students' hearts. They request it, even though there's no game to play. (teacher win!)

Another beautiful song with a minor feel is Ah, Poor Bird. Ah, Poor Bird really lets their head voice shine. I love teaching this in the fall to my choir - and it's a perfect pairing with Hey Ho! Nobody Home.

Hey Ho! Nobody Home is a fantastic song to teach or practice singing in canon to older students. It has a nice strong macro beat that is helpful when singing with 5 or 6 or 7 parts in canon. And it's a powerful song for teaching dotted quarter eighth note as well.

What are your favorite game songs?
Do you have favorite songs that you like to teach in the fall?

Let’s Connect!

Children's Books in the Music Room: Fall

Fall is the busiest time of the year for my husband and other band directors all over the country. Marching bands everywhere will be blowing and going, competing and performing, practicing their music and shows until they can play it in their sleep.

It's so special to me when former students come back and tell me how much they love band. Band was such a huge part of my life in middle school, high school and college and I'm so glad I passed on a tiny little piece of my love of music to them, in the form of band love. :-)

Today, I'm sharing with a little gem of a book that I found and have added to my yearly rotation of fantastic children's books for the music room! It's a perfect pair with Cobbler, Cobbler so I love to use this book to transition from Doggie, Doggie to Cobbler, Cobbler!

Dog in Boots, by Greg Gormley

Obviously, this book is about a dog, but on the first page you realize it's not just any dog. He's a voracious reader and an incredibly creative pup!

He is reading a book about a cat who wears boots when he gets an idea that he might like a pair of boots, too.

So off he goes to the "shopkeeper" to find a lovely pair of boots. I just replace the word shopkeeper with "cobbler" on each page and it pairs perfectly with our song, Cobbler, Cobbler.

(I realize cobblers mend shoes, but I'm not taking a huge leap when I say they sell shoes, too, right?)

The boots are no good for digging, so he goes back to the "cobbler" to get some better shoes. He keeps going back to the "cobbler" to find shoes that are a better fit.

Isn't he adorable?! The heels are just right for scratching!

This book fits nicely into the Kinesthetic lesson of my Beat unit (which is right after tuneful singing, so a perfect time to assess solo singing voice with Doggie, Doggie. Check!).

The kids love this sweet dog's antics and how he keeps trying to find a pair of shoes that will work for all of the jobs that a dog has. I love the curious puppy, the unpretentious illustrations and the happy ending.

Check out Cobbler, Cobbler and Doggie, Doggie in the Sweet Sounds shop on TpT!

I'm having so much fun sharing these book connections with you. And I LOVE getting ideas in return!

I'd love to hear about any books that you've found helpful in your elementary music room!

Let’s Connect!

Saturday

Kindergarten Magic: Make-Believe in the Music Room

I remember my first day having a classroom of Kindergarteners all to myself. We sang! We danced! We moved to the music! We read a story! We got out the instruments and played! And then I looked at the clock and only 15 minutes had gone by!! Wow!!!

It really was like herding cats that first year - playing game after game, singing song after song and not really diving deeply into anything.

Over ten years later, my Kindergarten classes look completely different (post-Kodaly of course!) but there is still that electric energy at the beginning of the year. Now, I love teaching Kinders and hopefully they love being in my class!

Getting the Year Started Out Right

For most of the first grading period, we are learning new repertoire, practicing procedures and developing relationships with each other!

We have to learn how/when to go to the bathroom, how to get out/put away the instruments, how to raise our hands before asking a question or telling a story. Practice this phrase: "Tell me later."

And that's when most music teachers (myself included) go over types of voices to get the year started right. Then it's off to the races and we run through the concepts like there's no tomorrow! Loud/Soft! Steady beat! High/Low! Fast/Slow! Rhythm/Beat!

And all the while interweaving topics like: Instrument Families! Music from around the world! Listening! Classroom Instruments! Patterns! Audience Behavior! Not picking your nose or putting your shoelaces in your mouth! (gross!)

What makes it all work together like magic?

Make-believe!

Entering the room:

From the minute the step into my class, we pretend. We take a train ride to music land by marching to "Engine, Engine" as we enter the room and our train makes a circle. It only works as well as you buy into it.

Before they enter my room on the very first day of school, I meet them in the hall and say, "We're going to stay in line and make a big circle in the room. Everyone put your arms like this. Stay in line and follow me!"

As we enter the room, I say, "Stay on the train!" and "Can you make this sound?" as I ch-ch-ch and march into the room at a pretty fast clip. (arms in "marching" position of course!)

When we've made a circle-ish shape, I say, "Freeze! Who froze?" and look around for movers. Then I say, "Go!" and ch-ch-ch some more. We freeze/go 4-5 times before I say, "Now like this" and slow the tempo down to a comfortable tempo for Engine, Engine.

Eventually, they will sing with me, but on the first day of school, I let them make 4 slow "chh" sounds and then I begin singing Engine, Engine to our beat. Some will continue to make the "chh" sounds (part-work!) and some will just listen. Either is fine with me.

Pro-Tip: As we go through the year, the marching turns to stomping, so I like to say, "Oh, I just love how you are lifting your knees!" - it really helps turn it into a nice march plus it helps keep it on the beat.

Solo Singing / Singing Voice:

A million years ago when I was teaching band and elementary music (K-12 baby!), I heard a TMEA presenter speak about having a puppet or stuffed animal for the kids to sing to. Even the shy kids would sing to a puppet, or make the puppet sing. It worked so well that I still do this!

Meet Melody! She loves to sing so she hangs out in the music room all day singing with the boys and girls. Occasionally she goes on vacation and comes back with shades or a cute new ribbon. Just enough to freshen it up.

We read a story about elephants by Jerry Smath...

{You could choose any elephant book you like, but this is one I grew up with so it has a special place in my heart. :-) It also has a nice demonstration of "calling" or "shouting" voice.}

...and sing Melody's favorite song, Elephants Have Wrinkles from Movement Songs Children Love - you could also use another elephant song like "Elephants All Over the World."

And then get down to business!

I say, "Melody will do whatever you ask her, if you use your singing voice. Like this. Melody, do a flip! (I toss her high in the air) Melody, give me a hug! (hugs) Melody, do a cartwheel! (spoken voice) Oh no! Why won't Melody do a cartwheel?!"

One kid will always speak up and say, "You didn't use your singing voice!"

Then we take turns around the room (volunteers, not everyone) and they get a chance to make Melody do whatever they want: spray them with water, jump on my head, blow me a kiss, turn off the lights. They come up with the best ideas!

And if they don't use their singing voice, Melody doesn't do it. I usually prompt and say, "Oh! Can you use your singing voice?" If they try again and can't, I simply say, "Sing it with me," and then Melody will act.

Thanks Denise Gagne for this sweet activity I've held onto over the years!

Inner Hearing:

I used to have a huge parrot puppet with a gigantic mouth. It was perfect for practicing inner hearing. "Whenever Sam's mouth is open he sings for all to hear, but when his mouth is closed up tight, he's using his inner ear."

Now I have a sweet puppy dog puppet that does the same thing. He helps the boys and girls know when to sing inside their heads. What do you use for inner hearing?

Transitions & Repetition:

Make-believe is PERFECT for creating smooth transitions in your Kindergarten lessons. I can be in the middle of a sentence and I stop and look at Melody (the elephant) and say, "What? You want to go see your friend Dog E. Dog?" And off we go singing Doggie, Doggie.

Or I say, "Last week Pup E. Dog was at Old MacDonald's farm and something was buzzing. It sounded like this: Bzzzzz! Does anyone know what could make a sound like that?"

Lamar Robertson shared tons of stories in our Kodaly training - he had a story for every song! He loved to tell a story that had the kids singing a song over and over again.

One of my favorite "repeat" stories is for Doggie, Doggie. I tell my students that Dog E. Dog is looking for his bone. I walk around the room and sing-ask each of the stuffed animals or imaginary people about his bone that is missing. Eventually he goes to the "music room" & there it is - right where he left it last week!

The most important thing is that you are engaging their hearts with a story that they can latch onto, instead of jumping from song to song. I polished the phrase: "Now, let's sing __" for YEARS until I figured out it was more fun with a story.

Tips for Make-Believe Success

1. Just go with it! It's all about the improv in the Kindergarten classroom. Whatever the kids say, take it and incorporate it into your lesson. If they're talking too much, I look at one of the stuffed animals and say, "What?! You want to give them a star but you can't give them one until they're quiet?"

Bonus: Check out my popular post on positive behavior management here!

2. Keep it going! Next week is week 6 at my school and I have a student who has said in every class, "Shh! Don't scream! It hurts Melody's big ears!" I said that the first day to help with random screaming that tends to happen when Kinders get excited - and now I don't have to say anything! Plus I have older kids who still ask about Melody and how she's doing.

3. Keep it simple! Don't try to do it all in one day. Start small and simple and just get the creative juices flowing. Before long, you'll be adding in little make-believe bits without even thinking.

Need more Kindergarten resources for your classroom?

Check out these Kindergarten resources in the Sweet Sounds shop on Teachers Pay Teachers!

How do you use "make-believe" in your classroom?

Let’s Connect!

Sunday

Children's Books in the Music Room: Swirl by Swirl and LMNO Peas

It's time for another edition of Perfect Pairings! Yay!

Books are a great way to build creativity and confidence in your students. Books are also great for connecting songs to other content areas, like science and social studies!

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Sidman and Krommes

"Swirl by Swirl" is a piece of artwork! My students LOVE the details of all the different spirals found in nature. This is a perfect pairing with any snail song, including my favorite, Snail, Snail.

On the 4th or 5th week of Kindergarten, we stand in our circle and connect hands. "Hold on and never let go!"

I take one end of the circle and start walking around the room like a snail would, meandering around the different areas of the music room. While we walk I sing Snail, Snail and move my feet to the beat. Almost always, the students join in with my feet. We end up back in the circle and sit down.

The next week (or later, if behavior issues prevent it) we sing the same song again and this time at the end, I spiral us back towards the center. ALWAYS spiral the kids so they are facing outwards, so there is less funny business. Can I get an amen? (Thanks Phil for that tidbit!)

I literally just keep taking steps towards the middle until the "tail" of the snail is in place. Then I stop and ask, "What shape are we in?" Most of the time they answer "a snail!" and I say, "You're right! And a snail makes a spiral shape. Everyone say 'spiral.'"

Then I let go and duck under their hands to the "tail" student, and say, "Let's unwind our spiral." And off we go, back to the circle. Then we sit and read this wonderful book, taking time to savor each picture. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Later we can practice tapping the beat and making a spiral with our smart board pens! It's so much fun!

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

LMNO Peas is a fantastic alphabet book! I love it when alphabet books go beyond your normal "A is for Apple" and I love it even more when books about "community helpers/jobs" go beyond the norm as well.

And I can't forget to mention that Keith Baker has another "peas" book - of course! I can't wait to check out 1-2-3 peas and Little Green Peas.

The peas are so sweet and the illustrations are perfect!

These are my favorites:

B - bikers in a race!

C - climbers and campers and he's a circus clown!

G - gardeners, gigglers, givers and takers

K - kayakers

P - parachutists (and a whole page of unique parachutists)

Y - yogis in a pose

Z - zoologists

Talk about some great vocabulary and creative ideas for who the peas are. And at the end it asks "Who are you?" and we get to do a sweet discussion of "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

This is a great transition song from Peas Porridge Hot to another song, or you can sing it after the book.

What books do you use in your music classroom? I'm always looking for new ideas so please feel free to comment below!

Check out the first edition of Perfect Pairings here!

There's something new in the Sweet Sounds TpT shop!

Check out this Bounce High resource for prepping, presenting and practicing La. :-)

Have you used Bounce High, Bounce Low in your classroom?

Let’s Connect!

Wednesday

Talk Like a Pirate in the Music Room

Arrrrr Mateys! Do you celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day in your classroom? (September 19) Will you dare to speak like a pirate all day in your classroom? I won't! But I will be singing some "pirate” chanteys.

My favorite pirate resource is my "Turn the Glasses Over" set! It was one of my first products and it remains one of my favorite resources.

After learning the song and playing the game/s, we practice reading and writing and improvising our rhythms and melodies.

Review known rhythms!

Read & play new pitches!

...and a challenge with the flashcards!

Here are some of my other pirate favorites!

This game is a fantastic brain break or large group game. I use it for assemblies, substitutes, or when I have double classes because there's no subs available! It's super easy for a non-music sub, but a music teacher can use the extension activities and bring it up a notch.

My students LOVE Bobby and Lucy and Kitty - these songs are fantastic for practicing La and our known rhythms ta and tadi.

You can get Turn the Glasses Over in a bundle here or here (low so bundle) in the Sweet Sounds store on TPT.

It's not a pirate song per say ... but you can probably get away with this one, too!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Let’s Connect!