3rd Grade Music Composition Resources

Word search activities offer many benefits for students. They can help students learn new vocabulary, improve spelling skills, and develop problem-solving abilities. These word search activities are great for reviewing musical concepts in a fun and challenging way! Word search activities also make engaging brain breaks and bell-ringers.

One composer. Ten words. Three styles. Pick & print your favorite! Use a timer for a race through musical history or as an independent activity.

♫ "Study Bach. There you will find everything." - Johannes Brahms ♫

More Johann S. Bach Resources!

Johann S. Bach Bundle

Johann S. Bach Music Note Matching

"Adagio" Listening Sheets

Bach Fun Pack!

"Little Fugue" Listening Sheets

Bach Composer Pack

Bach Composer Activity Pack (Pre-K+)

Bach Family Bundle

Brandenburg Concertos Listening Sheets

► We know you'll love helping students create meaningful connections to classical music, so we are happy to share these free listening activities with you today!

The NFL season is BACK! Your older grade level kids will love RED ZONE

RHYTHMS!

Students will see an NFL team and their corresponding mascot and the students will have to spell out the team and mascot combo with that's right... RHYTHM!

The students will have to decipher the rhythmic syllables using triplets, eighth note pairs, and quarter notes. The rhythm will be shown on the animation on the next slide.

• You can either have the students notate it out on whiteboards...
• make rhythm cards or tiles
• have them write it on the board
• make it a race between A team vs B team to spell it out
• or however you can imagine!

There are 14 teams with 14 unique rhythms that the students will have to decipher. Here comes the kickoff!

The next level in the Rock'n'Rollin' method books! In R'n'R 2, we transition from a simple 3-line staff, to a full 5-line staff. The book focuses on getting students used to reading and playing on the 5-line staff. Other concepts in the book include stickings and rudiments, time signatures, rests, and introduces note and rest names like Quarters, Half's, and Whole's. Color is still used throughout the book to help with the transition on the staff.

The book itself is 100 pages and includes various activities, pages for composition, and a practice tracker in the back. At the end of the book, students may also fill out the Awesomeness Certificate to show they've completed the book!

Please note, this book is licensed for you to make multiple copies for teachers and students. You may duplicate as needed!

Word search activities offer many benefits for students. They can help students learn new vocabulary, improve spelling skills, and develop problem-solving abilities. These word search activities are great for reviewing musical concepts in a fun and challenging way! Word search activities also make engaging brain breaks and bell-ringers.

Fourteen terms related to string instruments are hidden within this word search! There is one puzzle included with four color variations, including an ink-friendly grey scale design. Choose your favorite! Answer key provided.

► It can be hard to keep track of all the dates and eras in classical music history, so we created this freebie to help you out! Grab this six-page guide of composers sorted by musical period. Birthdates, birthplaces, and their famous compositions included. Get this instant download delivered right to your inbox!

Cup rhythms are terrific for your students of all ages! Inexpensive plastic cups from the dollar store, Target, or others make excellent substitutes for percussion instruments and in unison played together, solidifies steady beat, rhythm acuity, and gets everyone playing as an ensemble!

In this arrangement of Imagine Dragons' hit from 2022, the newly released "Bones"!

students will read each corresponding colored section along with the form identifier for the amount of times played.

Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats. Then, apply it your class set of cups (to be done on the ground, in their seat, or however)!

Notation is as follows:

• CUP WITH ARROW - to be played by striking the cup (upside down) on the floor
• CUP WITH HAND - to be played with cup on the floor and patting the top of the cup
• CLAP - hands clap once
• QUARTER REST - one beat rest

Here's the track so you can play along...

https://youtu.be/kK9g0XTxSM0

Word search activities offer many benefits for students. They can help students learn new vocabulary, improve spelling skills, and develop problem-solving abilities. These word search activities are great for reviewing musical concepts in a fun and challenging way! Word search activities also make engaging brain breaks and bell-ringers.

Fifteen musical terms are hidden within! Clef, sequence, theme, note, key, and more. There is one puzzle included with four color variations, including an ink-friendly greyscale design. Choose your favorite! Answer key provided.

► It can be hard to keep track of all the dates and eras in classical music history, so we created this freebie to help you out! Grab this six-page guide of composers sorted by musical period. Birthdates, birthplaces, and their famous compositions included. Get this instant download delivered right to your inbox!

Getting your students to improve on rhythm and melody can't be any easier with "Boom and Response"!

In this resource, there are 3 tracks totally 5 minutes that you can play for your students (and repeat if necessary). Each track is a specific amount of beats for the "Call" (4 beats, 6 beats, or 8 beats) with the same amount of empty beats that follow directly after -- and thats where you students submit their "Response"

You can utilize this in one of several ways:

1. Assign boomwhackers to your students and have them play the response (any mixture of rhythms and beats) back to you directly after they hear the call
2. Individually listen to each student as they compose their OWN response after they hear the call
3. Assign TWO boomwhackers per student and have them play a melodic response to the "Call" they heard
4. Separate kids into chordal groups for Boomwhackers (C Major, F Major, G Major, etc) and have each chord take turns during a response (C Major goes first... then F Major can go next, G Major next, and so forth)
5. Ask them to utilize dynamics (piano and forte, crescendo and diminuendo, throughout their response) on their Boomwhackers

Or any other crazy way you may think!

Have a great time with this!

A departure from our typical popular music fare, we now offer you "The Imperial March" from John Williams' Star Wars franchise!

• This version specifically targeted and tailored for beginning bucket drummers can be used for younger students who are not familiar with the triplets, may not have the coordination for alternating hands, or who just want to step right into the drumming circuit with a bit more ease! All notation in this arrangement are quarter notes and quarter rests

There are five color coded slides along with the form and instrumental identifiers listed next to each phrase. Discuss form with the students (a great way to talk about the variations of the theme with inclusion or exclusions of certain instrument groupings) and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated 2 times). Then, apply it to drums!

All regular notation is to be played on the buckets (or drums, or ground, however you wish), and the X notation (with a down stem) are played as stick clicks above their head (or you could apply it to a tambourine or other auxiliary instrument)

Here's the track so you can play along... (recorded by the LSO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3SZ5sIMY6o

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**Looking for more Bucket Drumming Resources? Check out the library!

Conga, Gloria Estefan - BUCKET DRUMMING!**

Believer, Imagine Dragons - BEGINNING BUCKET DRUMMING!

Blinding Lights, The Weeknd - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Shut up and Dance with Me, Walk the Moon - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Mood, 24kGoldn (**CLEAN**) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Rolling in the Deep, Adele - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Black Pearl (from Pirates of the Caribbean) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Final Countdown, Europe - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "Ghostbusters" - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Circle of Life, Elton John (from "The Lion King") - BUCKET DRUMMING!

24k Magic, Bruno Mars (**CLEAN**) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "The Mandalorian" - BEGINNER BUCKET DRUMMING!

Girls just wanna have Fun, Cyndi Lauper - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Surfin' USA, Beach Boys - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Be True to your School, Beach Boys Cover - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We Will Rock You, Queen - CUSTOM BUCKET DRUMMING ARRANGEMENT!

Hotline Bling, Drake - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "The Mandalorian" - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Levitating (**CLEAN**), Dua Lipa ft DaBaby - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Into to Unknown, Panic! at the Disco (from "Frozen II") - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sunflower, Post Malone/Swae-Lee (from Spiderman) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Penny Lane, The Beatles - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Up on the Housetop, Pentatonix (PTX) - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Last Christmas, WHAM - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

All I Want For Christmas is You, Mariah Carey - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Mariah Carey - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Underneath the Tree, Kelly Clarkson - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

You're the One That I Want, Grease - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from the Munsters - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Les Toreadors (from Carmen Suite), Bizet - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), The Proclaimers - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Heart Attack, Demi Lovato - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Wrecking Ball, Miley Cyrus - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We are Young, Fun ft. Janelle Monae - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We Go Together, Grease - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Thunderer, John Philip Sousa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Don't Start Now, Dua Lipa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dynamite, BTS - BUCKET DRUMMING!

BANG! (Clean version), AJR - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Friend Like Me (Will Smith), Aladdin - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Prince Ali (Will Smith), Aladdin - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

YMCA, The Village People - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stereo Hearts, Gym Class Heroes - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Africa, Toto - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dance Monkey, Tones and I - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stronger, Kelly Clarkson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

U Can't Touch This, MC Hammer - BUCKET DRUMMING!

You're Welcome, Dwayne Johnson (MOANA) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Love Rock 'n Roll, Joan Jett - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Don't Stop Believin', Journey - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Remember Me (Ernesto De La Cruz), Coco - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from Superman, John Williams - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Hey Soul Sister, Train - BUCKET DRUMMING!

When Can I See You Again, Owl City (Wreck it Ralph) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Pirates of the Caribbean (He's a Pirate) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Try Everything, Shakira (Zootopia) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Cantina Band, Star Wars - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Eye of the Tiger, Survivor (Rocky III) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

William Tell Overture, Rossini - SUPER ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Imperial March, Star Wars - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We're all in this Together, High School Musical - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Billie Jean, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stars and Stripes Forever, Sousa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stitches, Shawn Mendes - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Beautiful People, Ed Sheeran - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Brave, Sara Bareilles - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Roar, Katy Perry - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Kids in an Adult World, Hello Sister - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Best Day of My Life, American Authors - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Want You Back, Jackson Five - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Centuries, Fall Out Boy - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Wizards in Winter, Trans Siberian Orchestra - BUCKET DRUMMING!

ME, Taylor Swift - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Good Time, Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Firework, Katy Perry - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

If I Can't Have You, Shawn Mendes (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Never Really Over, Katy Perry - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sucker, Jonas Brothers - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Girls Like You, Maroon 5 (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Havana, Camilla Cabello (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Happy, Pharrell Williams - BUCKET DRUMMING!

This is Me, The Greatest Showman - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bad Romance, Lady Gaga - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Treasure, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Gangnam Style, PSY - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Life is a Highway (2018), ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Grenade, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Knew You Were Trouble, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

How Far I'll Go, Moana - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Natural, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

High Hopes, Panic! at the Disco - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bad Blood, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Animals, Maroon 5 - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Radioactive, Imagine Dragons - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dynamite, Taio Cruz - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Shake it Off, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Grenade, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Fight Song, Rachel Platten - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

ABC, Jackson Five - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Feel it Still, Portugal. The Man - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Thunder, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Can't Stop the Feeling, Justin Timberlake - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Believer, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Uptown Funk (CLEAN), Mark Ronson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

All you got are rhythm sticks for classroom equipment? Or do you need something else to do with them other than keep a steady beat?

Put some creativity in your lesson with a rhythm stick read-a-long featuring the epic space-saga theme everyone KNOWS and LOVES... John Williams' classic The Imperial March from Star Wars!

In this resource, you will see the entire arrangement structured across 4 slides in coded colors with the corresponding repeats. There will be eight boxes that hold each beat along with one of three action icons.

• Sticks - Click your sticks together
• Quarter Note - Hit your sticks on the ground (or chair or desk or lightly on your lap)
• Quarter Rest - Rest

Teach the entire thing line by line through a rote method and play through at the end! Alternatively... use Boomwhackers! (or as the kids would them light sabers for this activity) :)

Here's the track for you to play along:

https://youtu.be/s3SZ5sIMY6o

In "Holiday Rhythm Discovery" students will see a rhythm appear on the screen and will be given the opportunity to clap back (or perform back, say back, sing back, however you wish!) the rhythm being displayed. Then, they will see a multiple choice listing of songs -- which song matches the rhythm?

Advance the slide and the correct answer will turn GREEN

9 examples in this, just a little starter kit :)

RHYTHM BASKETBALL is in with Carol of the Bells (Christmas Eve Sarajevo), by the Trans Siberian Orchestra!

There are six all-color coded slides along with the form identifiers listed next to each phrase. Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated 2,3, or 6 times).

• For this, your students will each have a basketball (can be regulation size or smaller) and bounce their ball on the ground each time they see a basketball icon. Each basketball icon is denoted as a quarter note. The rests are in between each ball for the students to hold the ball. Any smaller balls (grouped in two) will be played as 2 eighth note pairs and students will have to lower themselves a foot or two to dribble eighth notes on the floor

• There's also a "pat" icon with a hand below the basketball icon itself, so you will have the student hold the basketball in one hand and pat the ball on the beat

Here's the track so you can play along...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCabI3MdV9g

Have fun with this and let us know how it goes!

Think your kids know rhythms? Challenge them with matching familiar italiano verbiage in the form of Pizza Rhythms, a printable worksheet for your students!

There are four rhythms that line the sheet (variations of quarter and eighth note pairs) along with terminology on the side. Which italian phrase (topping, style, etc) matches the rhythm? Simply identify and ask the students to write it down, easy as a pizza pie!

Not ready for instruments but want to involve your students in some body percussion (while still assessing their reading and performing skills?). Try out "Poison Percussion" the ever-popular Poison Pattern game for body percussion!

This takes students through 63 slides and 3 levels of body percussion (clap, snap, stomp, and pat) sight reading.

Students will play a variety of rhythms as the teacher scrolls through the slides. Each slide contains one rhythm they will play and after advancing to the next slide, you can elect to give them a 4 beat or 2 beat prep to read the next rhythm, whichever works for you. The less prep they have, the better because...

There will be one rhythm (the poison rhythm, poison pattern, or OOPS! rhythm as we'll call it) that students DO NOT play! If they do, they're out of the game.

Students learn the rhythm before the round is played. Be careful or you will be ELIMINATED!

You can play this in teams, As vs Bs, however you wish!

There are 5 background grooves that go from 80 bpm to 120 bpm to challenge your kids as they go through the levels. There are 4 beat rhythms with quarter, eighth note pairs, and quarter note rests

Have a great time with this!

End of the year review or just starting up with aural theory? Try on "Inspector Interval"!

In this fast paced game, students will do a brief review of how a musical interval is defined and jump right into the contest -- have an interval on the treble clef staff appear and TEAM A or TEAM B will have to name the interval as fast as they can!

There are no qualities of intervals (major 2nd, minor 6th, etc), just interval names by itself. There will always be a grounded "F", so the intervals will be built on top of that

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 an interval 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!

... or use it as an individual activity!

A game that will keep your students entertained, engaged, and competitively charged with identifying chord quality, here's One "Minor" Imposter inspired by "Among Us"!

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IN ONE MINOR IMPOSTER, YOU WILL LISTEN TO 2, 3, 4 EVEN 5 CREWMATES PLAY MAJOR CHORDS ONE BY ONE. ONE OF THE MAJOR CHORDS IS ACTUALLY NOT THE MAJOR CHORD PERFORMED!

YOUR TASK IS TO DECIDE WHICH CREWMATE IS THE IMPOSTER BY SELECTING THE CREWMATE WHO PLAYED THE MINOR CHORD INSTEAD OF THE MAJOR CHORD

HERE WILL BE ONLY ONE CREWMATE WHO IS THE IMPOSTER

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In each example is a piano/guitar/harpsichord mix with different background percussion tempos to keep the kids engaged. Each crewmate, lined up on the powerpoint (1, 2, 3, etc) will be representative of the musical example played.

Included in this resource are

• Mp3 examples embedded in each question (15 questions)
• A printout where you can replicate and cut out cards (if you want the students to place on the floor or hold up to show which one was the imposter)
• 3 levels of rhythms with 3 crewmates (2 major crewmates, 1 minor imposter), 4 crewmates (3 major crewmates, 1 minor imposter), and 5 crewmates (4 major crewmates, 1 imposter)

Have a terrific time with this while your kids study chord quality!

The follow-up to "Rhythm Wind Up and PITCH!"
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This one will get the kids on their edge of their seats!

You will need 1 thing for this particular game:

• A sticky suction cup ball (or maybe a soft squishy ball)

The students will see a melody at the bottom of their screen and memorize the melodic direction or say it back in their head (just make sure the melodic is not sung out loud). They will then hear a musical example of an endless loop of melodic figures separated by 4 beats each in between rhythms. (Teacher will click the speaker icon to play)

Take a listen...

....

....

One of the melodic figures will be the melody that is on the screen. AS SOON AS THEY HEAR THAT MELODY, they throw their suction cup ball at the target. The first kid who gets it correct is the winner (and make sure you advance the slide to make the target turn green) :)

Obviously, we cannot play this as a class because of

1. The amount of suction cup balls tossed at the screen would be insane

2. Team A v Team B would be a bit more competitive and only two balls would be launched at once

If you don't have a whiteboard/projection screen, you can alternatively have the students raise their hand when they hear it and choose the kid who has their hand up the fastest.

Have a great time with this fast paced game!

Understanding notation duration and how they fit mathematically into bars of music is one of the fundamental learning goals of upper elementary students!

With Measure Up! Students will see a measure of music… but… it is incomplete! They will then Choose the correct notation from one of the boxes to complete the measure. Students can use the powerpoint in design mode to click and drag it, draw a path for their specific box to the open box, or write it in!

Can also be used for Distance Learning as well!

15 examples with quarter notes and rests, half notes and rests, whole notes and rests, eighth notes and rests, 4 sixteenth notes and 2/4, 3/4, 5/4, 4/4, and a bonus 6/8 example at the end!

In your percussion unit and want to compose bit by bit? With Percussive Party, students can click and drag classroom percussion instruments to create their own composition in 4 to 8 beat segments.

Arranged nice and neatly on your template are all click and drag-able Boomwhacker colors and widely used classroom percussion, Tubanos, Maracas, and Tambourines with a quarter note rest as well.

There are 8 templates included in the powerpoint with different variations of quarter and eighth note rhythms

Have a great time with this, a fun way to get creative with composition!

The ultimate Boys vs Girls competition! If you're working on notes of the treble clef staff, this is a fun way for kids to competitively spell them out. First, we made a boys side (on the left of the screen) and girls side on the (on the right). A word will appear and the students have 10 seconds to spell the word out (there is a timer attached to the powerpoint and it will count down as soon as the slide appears). This games works best on a whiteboard that has magnetic backing as I print out notes and have the kids race as fast as they can to put them on. After the kids lock in their answer, the next slide reveals the notes. For notes that have F's and E's, the answer key has both top line, top space notes -- those F's and E's both count! :) Some are easy (CAB, DAB, DAD), some get a little tricky (BECCA, CABBAGE, DECADE) and so on. Towards the end they repeat, and feel free to edit and make your own! Have fun with this and if you have any questions, let me know!

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!