For other pitch activities you can do at home check out this one! Kids guess what object they hear!
Percussion Ear Training That You Can Do At Home (VIDEO)
Ear training is the method of learning to recognize specific notes or chords just by hearing an interval. Percussion ear training is going to test your student’s ability to recognize sounds they hear every day as well as some that may or may not be unique depending on what you select.
Ear training is the method of learning to recognize specific notes or chords just by hearing an interval. Percussion ear training is going to test your student’s ability to recognize sounds they hear every day as well as some that may or may not be unique depending on what you select. Here is a fun way to do this activity at home!
For other resources of Ear Training, check out this post!
Read Bugs with Teacher Kim! (VIDEO)
Read Bugs with Teacher. Kim!
Read moreHow To Use Body Percussion To Create Weather Sounds With Students
This is an ideal lesson to use when teaching a Weather Unit to your students. Find the lesson plan below!
“LET IT RAIN”
MATERIALS NEEDED: You and your students PREP TIME: 0
DURATION OF LESSON: 25 -30 minutes
VOCABULARY: Percussion, Sound Effects, Rhythm Pattern, Tapping, Clapping
Introductory Activity: Teach the song “Rain, Rain Go Away” with students.
Practice having students first watch and then try and imitate using a steady beat by either clapping or tapping their legs.
SITTING ACTIVITY: 10 minutes (Rhythm Integration w/Language and Math Acquisition) Integrated Music and Games
MAKING RAIN and following directions without verbal cues.
· Ask students first to stand in a circle shoulder-to-shoulder. You will be standing inside the circle.
· To demonstrate your directions, ask the students to model or copy your action or sound as you perform them, otherwise known as “do-as-I-do.” Students are not to start the action/sound until you have walked directly in front of them.
· Select one student to begin, use eye contact as you start a motion such as tapping the top of your head lightly. This signals the student to begin. When that student copies your motion walk to the next student, then the next student, and so on. (Some students will usually start immediately so I am careful to re-iterate that they are not to begin the motion or sound until I am directly in front of them.)
· After walking around the circle, every student should be tapping his or her head softly also. At the same place and student where you began, using contact to signal, change the motion by rubbing your stomach making sure they understand they can only change actions when you are right in front of them. (This means that half of the circle at one point will be actively engaged in one motion while the other half does the new motion).
· As all students are now rubbing their stomachs, after you’ve successfully walked around the circle begin to make each of the following the sounds:
ACTIVITY: Perform each of these movements and sounds sequentially as you move around the circle until each student is participating.
1. Rub your hands together as if you’re trying to get them warm and walk around the circle.
2. Take two fingers and tap them against your other two fingers and cluck the tongue intermittently.
3. Tap your hands against your thighs.
4. While still tapping hands on the thighs, stomp your feet by jogging in place.
5. While still tapping your hands and jogging in place, add an intermittent clap of your hands here and there for the effect of thunder.
At this point the rainstorm should be in full effect and as it peaks we will reverse the patterns and wind it down.
6. Continue to move around the circle and first remove the intermittent clapping.
7. Secondly, continue to move around the circle but discontinue the jogging.
8. Thirdly, continue to move around the circle and change to:
9. Students snap and cluck.
10. Students rub hands.
11. After this last motion of rubbing the hands together, blow softly as if almost whistling to imitate the sound of the wind. There should be soft blowing and whistling sounds and when you find an appropriate moment signal everyone to stop by sitting down quietly.
12. OR: After this final pass around the circle please find a space within the circle and at an appropriate moment by example, stop all sound and rest in silence for a moment.
REFLECTION: After answering the following questions, revisit one of the first activities, and new vocabulary
QUESTIONS:
1. What did you hear?
2. What actions made which sounds?
3. Could we have made that sound with just one person? What about a few people?
4. Was it music?
5. Is percussion always a sound-pattern or rhythm?
Ask students to listen to the rain the next time it rains and to hear the different sounds and see if they sound similar to what you just created as a group. Look to the chapters on making shakers and sound effects for similarly related topics.
CONCLUSION AND GOALS:
1. Students understand that through working together we are able to achieve success.
2. Students understand that a weather like rainstorms have patterns.
3. Students understand that “percussion” is anything that shakes, hits, taps or strikes against something.
Follow up: Read a poem about rain. Ask the students to imitate the rain sounds that they used in our rain exercise to “illustrate sound effects.”
The African Rock Game
The African Rock Game takes a pattern and repeats it over and over for students sitting in a circle. This is a great for circle time, to use while learning the alphabet and so much more.
I sing the song Obwisana with the game, but you can choose any sone really.
To adapt for young learners, first have students sit in a circle and pass out two rocks. After going over “No Throwing” rules, let them pound them together and make noise. I call it a "Rock Concert" :) Have them rub the rocks together - it sounds soft (piano) and like the water where they come from. Pound them on the ground and they are a concert again. Then teach them Obwisana (of any other song) and pass the rocks to the beat. Here is a tutorial the I found online to explain better.
For extension activities using rocks, you can:
1) Sing ABC or any song and have them pound the rock on the ground or click them to specific letters or words.
2) Paint the rocks with letters
3) Students can break into small groups and create their own rock passing game to share with the class.
For more ideas on this game, click HERE. I hope this helps!-
Ami
How to Make A Sound 'Memory' Game
Learn how to make a Sound 'Memory' Game!
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Sound Walls are extremely important to the overall gross motor development of all preschoolers. Learn how to make one here!
Read moreWind Chimes Teach Sound Exploration
Students created wind chimes to learn about measurement, physics, and team work.
Read moreA Simple Musical Ear Training Lesson That Impacts Language Arts
What is ear training and why is it important? Ear training is the process of learning to play your instrument, writing it down, and identifying mistakes in music and then fixing them ALL BY EAR. Does this sound familiar? Yep, we teach students to do this all the time when we teach spelling, sentence structure and grammar. Here is simple activity you can use with your students!
Read moreHow to Make Boom Whackers
There are so many things you can do with Boom Whakers. They are a great way to teach rhythm, patterns, compositions, color recognition, sentence structure etc. Don't want to pay for them? Well, you can make them yourselves (or with your students) and turn it into a measurement and pitch lesson!
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