The Kentucky Music Educators Association conference was this past week and there were some great presenters this year! Let's take a minute to share a few of my favorite new tips and tricks!
First, if you don't attend the yearly state music educator conference, I encourage you to start making plans for next year. Not only is it one of the few opportunities for professional development in your content area, it is also a great chance to connect and collaborate with other music educators. Many years, I learn more from dinners and coffee dates than I do from the presenters!
If your school won't allow you to take days off, it might be worth it to go in the evenings or just to the weekend sessions, depending on the location and price.
I'm in the middle of the 5th grade musical (and about to jump into the 4th grade musical just before we finish the 5th grade show), so this year I wanted to collect a few ideas to incorporate into what I already have planned for the next few weeks when my musicals overlap.
It was fun and full of movement (of course!) but it was also very practical. There were some great thoughts on using basic piano activities to teach simple rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic concepts.
GEM (Great Educational Moment): My favorite activity from the Dalcroze session was a movement activity for harmonic analysis. Students walk forward while the teacher plays a I chord in any key. When students hear a V (or V7) chord, they walk backwards. So simple and yet what a great tool for teaching harmonic recognition!
After students have mastered this, you can add a IV chord and have the students walk sideways when they hear the IV chord (using the pattern I V7 IV V7 I). And later, you can bring it back and add a vi chord and have students turn in a circle when they hear it. How cute is that?
I love that even the beginner pianist can manage those chords on the piano while assessing (and managing the behavior of) their class. This activity can be done (on a basic level) with Kindergarten and first graders, and all the way up to third or fourth grade (or higher!).
GEM: My favorite tip from Jeremy was a transition from Bobby Shafto to another song. The teacher shows the rhythm of the song on the screen/board with a picture of a lighthouse. "Oh no! The lighthouse is broken - it's giving out the wrong signals today!" The teacher taps the wrong rhythm on the drum or flashes with a flashlight (love this!) and the students have to identify the incorrect rhythm and tell what the correct rhythm was supposed to be. The next screen is the (incorrect) rhythm that the teacher tapped, so the kids can see the new rhythm.
Usually, when I do error detection, I have the incorrect rhythm on the board and I have the students correct it. I loved this take on error detection, moving from the correct rhythm to a new song.
One of the last sessions I attended was a hand-clapping games session taught by Dr. Martina Vasil, from the University of Kentucky. She had some great hand-clapping games as well as some tricks and tips for classroom management and taking a hand-clap game to the next level.
GEMs: One of my favorite "tricks" was having the inside circle sit down (in the middle) while instructing a double circle game. By having the inside circle sit, the outside circle can clearly see where they are going and who is supposed to be moving. Brilliant! After the outside circle practices their movement, all players stand and the game continues.
Another fantastic tool was the use of a drum to control the tempo of a game. Martina was able to add interest to the repetitions by adding accompaniment and changing the tempo. I loved that it was a non-verbal cue, but still a musical (listening) cue.
Oh, I almost forgot my favorite! For mixer/name games, Martina mentioned that she never had time to get to all 30 students (truth!). So, after teaching the game (teacher model), she would let 3 students have a turn. Each week, 3 different students would have a turn. After the kids knew the game well, she would break them into groups and have small groups all play at the same time, while she controlled the chaos with a drum. I can't wait to try this next week!
Since it was the third or fourth time the class had played, she gave a "theme" to each group. For our song, Jump In, Jump Out, students "introduce" themselves by saying something they liked. With students in small groups, Martina gave each group a theme like "favorite food," "favorite movie," or "favorite vacation destination." I loved that extension and I think it will add a little life to some of my tried and true name games/mixers.
Do you have plans to attend your state's music educators conference? I'd love to hear from you!
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