1st Grade Other (Music) Activities

Steady Beat is one of the cornerstones of early childhood music whether you are playing with your Pre-K, Kindergarten, or even First Graders. Have them rise up to the challenge of “Steady as you go!” an amalgamation of classical music designed to have students become steady beat MASTERS!

You will assign students to play either body percussion to show steady beat (head, shoulder, lap, feet, etc) or even a drum, auxiliary percussion instrument, or anything else you can find.

You will then play the audio example of various pieces of classical music by clicking on the “heart” and watch the kids try to find the steady beat – only to be interrupted as the music abruptly changes every 20 to 30 seconds!

Students will have to start over and find the steady beat again as they transition into the next piece.

Have a terrific time finding that beat!

A terrific way to work on soft and loud is with a quick review with our dynamic duo in music, Piano and Forte.

Students will review dynamics in music and watch a short video from Music K8 called "Forte Piano" with the Barnyard Orchestra!

They will then listen to 10 different examples of music (clips that range from 15-30 seconds long) and choose whether they think the music played best fits the term "Piano" or "Forte" by clicking on the screen.

The right answer will illuminate green the next slide.

Great practice for your young ones to begin the year (if you're distance learning) or good general review

Are you as hungry as I am? Let's eat! Identify rhythms in proper nouns with this fun activity. Students will see a food (or foods!) and their corresponding word (or words!) and given two plates on each slide. Have the students identify the syllables in the food and match it to either rhythm on plate number 1 or plate number 2. After kids lock in their answer, advance the slide and reveal the answer! Most are eighth and quarter note rhythms, but some have eighth note triplets and 4 sixteenths group in the examples You can also play it as an assessment and have kids work individual or in teams. There's a powerpoint and PDF included in this package and there are 13 sets of foods go through and can last up to 30-45 minutes depending on what pace you go in the activity. Have a great time and of course, BON APPETITE!

We know percussion instruments are anything that you either hit, shake, or scrape, but how well do you know them? Want to see how well your kids can identify which instruments are which? Try "Pitch Perfect 2!" where a musical example will be played of a pitched percussion percussion instrument. Students will see three different instruments and will have to select one of the instruments they think matches the musical example. On the following slide will be the answer! In this 9 question game, you can play this any way you want -- boys vs girls, team vs team, individually, or have students write answers down on whiteboards or even come up to the board to interact with the powerpoint. Have a great time with this and leave a comment below if you have any questions!

Based off the hit Windows 3.11 game we all knew and loved, Rhythm Sweeper is a progressive game where one slip can end you up on the dreaded mine! This will have your kids reading and mastering rhythms in NO TIME! Students will see a grid of 40 squares on the home page. Each square contains either a link to a rhythm.... or a mine :) I select one student at a time to pick a number. I'll then click on the number and it'll advance to the designated slide. If it's a rhythm, we add that rhythm to the Building Board on the home page. The teacher will click "Back to Game and Building Board" and put the rhythm they just received on the board. As for the rhythms they earned, you can cut out rhythms, write them in dry erase, or have a student keep tabs on the side. Students will now say, sing, or play the rhythm back. Then we repeat! See how it gets progressive? ;) ...until the mine! There are 5 mines in each game, and once the mine is hit, it's GAME OVER! At the end, you can tally up how many beats the class amassed (which is great if you can allow student to add it up as the game has half, quarter, and pairs of eighth notes). Compete against other classes, or themselves! There are 10 files in the pack and each one is completely different (all the rhythms are mixed up and of course, so are the mines) Have fun with this! I keep lively music in the background and have the kids on lummi sticks to play the rhythms back. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment!

So you've taught your kids their three basic solfege syllables (Sol, La, and Mi) and looking for a way to identify the pitches in an interactive game... look no further!

In Solfege Drag 'n Drop, students are challenged to identify Sol, La, and Mi in a series of musical examples. A static example of quarter notes (in groups of 4, 5, or 6) are placed on the "Sol" line, and then the example is played. Students will have to take the pen from the IWB to drag the remaining notes to reflect what was heard in the musical example. It can be dragged above to the "La" line, remain on the "Sol" line, or dragged below to the "Mi" line. After locking in their answer, the teacher will advance to the next slide to reveal their answer.

Although designed for an IWB, students can play on personal dry erase boards, on staff paper, or however you wish. You can even split the class up boys vs girls, team 1 vs team 2, etc, and have a race to identify the correct answer first.

There are 15 examples in the powerpoint ranging from beginner (4 quarter notes) to advanced (6 quarter notes). All examples are MM=100 or below

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below! Happy Solfeging!

Was that Presto or Largo? Staccato or Tenuto? Forte or Piano? Use "Who am I" to reinforce the music terminology you've been working on in your class! After a brief review, 6 musical examples will be played with all examples ascribing to either Presto or Largo, Staccato or Tenuto, and Forte or Piano. Students can do this in a variety of ways: -- On whiteboards and dry erase markers -- Through collaborative grouping or partner activity (using pre-cut cards as an idea -- On a SMARTboard or brightlink -- As a race (maybe boys vs girls, side A vs side B) After the example is played, you can advance the slide in the powerpoint to reveal the answer! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the Q&A or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!

A time tested rhythm builder in the elementary classroom are popsicle sticks, and this activity, "Stick it to Rhythm!" will reinforce quarter and eighth note rhythms. After a brief review on quarter and eighth note rhythms, students are allocated a set of popsicle sticks. After they make space for themselves on the floor, the teacher will play each example (8 in this pack!) and students have to dictate the rhythm using their popsicle sticks (don't worry, instructions on how to do eighth and quarter notes are embedded in the powerpoint) After letting the students decipher the rhythm, the teacher advances the slide to find out the correct rhythm played in the example. This works great for your youngest grades and all examples are MM 95bpm and under. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave it in the Q&A section or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!

In your primary grades, the voice can have many different timbres. It can be sung as an aria, yelled from the roofed top, whispered quietly, and spoken normally. In "The VoiceSSSS!", we concentrate on the four methods of using our voice, a key in identifying and practicing the methods: S - Spoken S - Sung S - Soft (Whisper) S - Shout Students see a display 1 through 8 to SPEAK on a steady beat (3 background tracks included, from 80 to 100+bpm). As they read these numbers on a steady beat, there will be numbers highlighted in yellow that will be a different characteristic. Some may be sung, whispered, or shouted (have fun with the shouts) :) Each slide is completely different and will challenge your kids as you count them off so they can experiment vocally For the sing, there is no definitive pitch, so I ask them to make up a middle or high pitch on the number given. You can take turns boys and girls, you can play it as a class, or however you wish Some are quite tricky -- kids may have to switch up to 4 different vocal styles by the end! If you have any questions, feel free to comment! Enjoy!

Working on aural theory with your kids? With "Rhythm Mixup" students shuffle up notecards with quarter notes, 2-beamed eighth notes, half notes, and quarter rests to reflect the musical example being played! We start off the first lesson (level 1) with a brief overview of rhythm from Quaver's Marvelous World of Music, and then head right into rhythm mixup. Students will lay out their notation cards (you can either print these out or have the students draw them on a whiteboard, etc), and then a musical example will be played. Students will have to put the notes in the order that they hear the music example -- hence, the "mixup"! Level 2, goes into quarter rests and the students will have to place it appropriately (hint: it's never at the beginning or end of the phrase!) :) Students identify rhythms upon hearing them and use their aural skills to dictate where each rhythm is placed. Make sure to play these several times, especially for the younger ones so they can check their work! Designed in Powerpoint 2007, all animations and transitions should work on machines that support it. A file is included for instructions on how to install fonts. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. Have fun!

Ready to talk about Forte and Piano in any of your grades? Drum it up, Dynamically will get your kids reading dynamics like a pro!

First, we start off with an introduction to Forte and Piano with a clip from Music K8's animated series (included), and then get into the game:

Students are issued hand drums (or djembes, tubanos, orff instruments, rhythm sticks, whatever you wish!) and dynamics are shown on the screen. Sometimes just 4 dynamics, sometimes 6, and even up to 8. The teacher points to the dynamic (optional) as the kids play along on their instruments while the background music (included) helps them keep on beat! After the students master the dynamics, the teacher advances the slide and dynamic shifts get a little harder each time.

Halfway through the presentation are rests (indicated by blank white boxes) to get the kids to count the notes of silence in between.

Have a ball with this and let me know if you have any questions!

Three tracks at various tempi are included (slow for the little kids, and medium and fast for the bigger kids)

Working on the lines of the treble clef staff? Here's a fun way to have your students use their knowledge and solve a puzzle with Mystery Word! The Mystery Word package includes 50 challenging words and/or phrases that are spelled using the musical letters (A,B,C,D,E,F, and G) of the treble clef staff. Blank letter boxes are below the note on the staff for the students to fill in. Some words and phrases are easy, but some get pretty difficult! Included are three files: The teacher version, a PDF file with 50 pages in PDF format to use as a class activity. The student version, a PDF file you can print out with 25 pages, 2 puzzles to each page you can individual give to students. (If printed out and copied back-to-back, it only runs 13 pages per booklet) The answer key (just in case a substitute teacher needs it) ;) You can use this as a warmup to your lesson, or a lesson in itself -- it makes a great substitute teacher plan as well! It gets kids to critically think about the lines of the staff to fill in the blanks... my kids love it as it's fun and challenging. Would love to hear feedback how it's working in your classrooms. Any questions, you know where to find me. Have fun!

This is a competitive pitch matching name in powerpoint format. The learning goal is for 2nd grade students to name pitches as fast as they can (beginner level, just the spaces!) :) We usually play this game 'around the world' style. We start off on the left side or right side of the the room and the first two people stand up and you flash a note on the screen. The student who gets the note correct gets to move onto the next child in the class while the other student sits. That student has to make their way through the entire class before being deemed champion... but they could be beat at ANY TIME! You can mix it up, left side, right side, boys/girls, etc. Kids get ultra competitive!

For your printouts and powerpoints, this pack of notation has everything -- Wholes, Halves, Quarters, Eighths, and Sixteenths. The notation is vectorized and transparent, so it will fit alongside any background in powerpoint There are word files with notation templates included as well, if you'd like to print multiple of one note You can use these to make flash cards, rhythm building, and much more!

In 2nd Grade, we start learning about high and low notes and how they are represented in notation by being placed on the staff.

In stick it to the staff, we have students all sit on the floor with a pair of lummi sticks and sight read rhythms based on where they are put on the staff.

If they see a quarter note on the "E" line, they will click their stick above their head, if they see a quarter note on the bottom "F" line, they will hit their sticks on the ground.

This is a video game format, and includes 10 levels of sight reading rhythms (about 100 different rhythms!) starting out with basic quarter notes, adding in eighth notes, half notes, quarter rests, and rounding out with dynamics.

The class is awarded 50 points (you'll see the HI SCORE image embedded in the powerpoint) each time an example is playing correctly in unison. A fun and competitive way for your younger kids to practice sight reading rhythms!

I usually put a background track on (about 90-110bpm) so the kids can play along :)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Use this songtale to review everything that you read about in the book! Using the same melody (with minor modifications due to changing lyrics) that I composed for Little Blue Truck, sing about how Little Blue discovered a new friend living on the farm, with the help of the other farm animals. Great way to review musical form as well, since the song is in ABA form. For grades PreK-2. Ukulele chords included to help you accompany.

REMINDERS

1. If you have any questions about this product or any of my products, feel free to email me at creatingmusicalliterature@gmail.com

2. Your purchase of this product is for SINGLE USE ONLY. Please purchase additional licenses to share with other teachers. Copyright © 2023 Creating Musical Literature. All rights reserved.

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Need a fun extension activity for this book? This chant, which should be whispered, adds another layer of engagement rather than simply listening to the story. Chant quietly along, and use it to teach whisper voice. Use with grades PreK-1st grade.

REMINDERS

1. If you have any questions about this product or any of my products, feel free to email me at creatingmusicalliterature@gmail.com

2. Your purchase of this product is for SINGLE USE ONLY. Please purchase additional licenses to share with other teachers. Copyright © 2024 Creating Musical Literature. All rights reserved.

3. Leave a comment down below in order to earn TeachShare credits! I would love to hear how you and your students have been enjoying my products!

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LET'S CONNECT ON SOCIALS!

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Practice and review the mi-re-do pattern using this fun lullaby to go along with the book, Dream Snow by Eric Carle. Have students sing or chant the lyrics, then add in Orff instruments and triangles! Use with grades PreK-2.

REMINDERS

1. If you have any questions about this product or any of my products, feel free to email me at creatingmusicalliterature@gmail.com

2. Your purchase of this product is for SINGLE USE ONLY. Please purchase additional licenses to share with other teachers. Copyright © 2022 Creating Musical Literature. All rights reserved.

3. Leave a comment down below in order to earn TeachShare credits! I would love to hear how you and your students have been enjoying my products!

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LET'S CONNECT ON SOCIALS!

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Looking for a good way to introduce the solfege do syllable? This is a wonderful solfege lesson where students can chant/sing solfege syllables while keeping the steady beat on their noses! Use the beat chart to decode for rhythm syllables and the song to learn how to sing and hand sign the do solfege syllable. Adaptable for grades PreK-2nd grade.

REMINDERS

1. If you have any questions about this product or any of my products, feel free to email me at creatingmusicalliterature@gmail.com

2. Your purchase of this product is for SINGLE USE ONLY. Please purchase additional licenses to share with other teachers. Copyright © 2022 Creating Musical Literature. All rights reserved.

3. Leave a comment down below in order to earn TeachShare credits! I would love to hear how you and your students have been enjoying my products!

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LET'S CONNECT ON SOCIALS!

INSTAGRAM: @creatingmusicalliterature

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Use this newly published Eric Carle book to teach gratitude while learning and decoding ta and ti-ti rhythm syllables as well as so, mi, and la solfege syllables. Choose either the song or chant that the children can speak/sing along with the book at specific times during the title. Then, have them decode for either rhythms or solfege syllables. Adaptable for grades PreK-2nd grade.

REMINDERS

1. If you have any questions about this product or any of my products, feel free to email me at creatingmusicalliterature@gmail.com

2. Your purchase of this product is for SINGLE USE ONLY. Please purchase additional licenses to share with other teachers. Copyright © 2024 Creating Musical Literature. All rights reserved.

3. Leave a comment down below in order to earn TeachShare credits! I would love to hear how you and your students have been enjoying my products!

_________________________________________________________

LET'S CONNECT ON SOCIALS!

INSTAGRAM: @creatingmusicalliterature

PINTEREST: @creatingmusicalliterature

FACEBOOK: @creatingmusicalliterature