Holiday Rhythm Discovery (NAME THAT TUNE!)
By Jason Litt
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 :)
Pizza Rhythms (Printable Worksheet)
By Jason Litt
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!
Inspector Interval - Identifying Intervals (2nd-7ths)
By Jason Litt
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!
By Jason Litt
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:
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...
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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
The amount of suction cup balls tossed at the screen would be insane
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!
By Jason Litt
Reviewing the Percussion chapter with your kids and have discussed unpitched instruments? Pitched instruments and the accessory effects and how to play?
Try this interactive powerpoint that's full of fun with Percussion Jeopardy!
All new categories, all new answers! An authentic jeopardy game board with categories for:
Pitched Percussion
Unpitched Percussion
Percussion FX
Percussion Techniques (How to Play)
Students can elect to pick $200, $400, $600, $800, or $1000 answers. After clicking on the amount, the answer will appear on the next slide. Students (keeping in true Jeopardy! fashion) can answer in the form of a question
"What are Timpani Drums?"
"What are mallets?"
"What is a Piano"
After the money is awarded (You can split sides of your class, boys vs girls, class vs class, however you want it!), there is a link in the bottom right hand corner to go back to the title screen and game board.
After extracting the ZIP file, make sure to install the Jeopardy! font included, or else you'll see random characters all over -- not good eats!
Email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com or leave a comment if you have any questions. Happy Jeopardy...ing!
Measure Up! (* Distance Learning Approved! *)
By Jason Litt
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!
By Jason Litt
Oh, the kids and this game. Well, might as well learn something? I cut out construction paper squares of the following colors: Purple, Blue, Yellow, Grey, Red, Orange, and Pink A FORTNITE character (or characters) are shown on the screen along with different rhythms in different colored boxes. Which colored box of rhythms goes with the character on the screen? Line up the syllables and find out! I mix it up by putting students into teams of 2 and letting them work through the activity or you can have them play individually by themselves. Or maybe even a race to the board to see which one is right (all you have to do is advance the slide and the answer will appear!) There are 9 different examples of rhythms. The kids will LOVE seeing Fortnite up in your room (and don't worry, this is ALL family friendly, no mentions of violence or weapons in here) :) HAVE FUN!
By Jason Litt
This is a competitive solfege naming game in powerpoint format. The learning goal is for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to name solfege hand signs as fast as they can. 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. Despite the previews, the solfege symbol has a blank below it, and on the next animation it will appear. 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, especially in 5th grade.
TAKE NOTE, Lines of the Staff (Reproducible Worksheet)
By Jason Litt
Review your lines of the treble staff from EGBDF and FACE with "TAKE NOTE"
In this reproducible worksheet, there are 3 pages of exercises where students will identify the names of the treble clef letters from 1st line E to top line F.
TAKE NOTE 2.0 is a continuation of the first page
TAKE NOTE 3.0 is a treble clef note shown and the student will circle the answer they think is correct.
You may use this as an assignment, warmup, timed practice, or however way you see fit!
Bar Line Blitz! (Identifying measures in simple rhythm patterns)
By Jason Litt
Down, Set, HUT!
In Bar Line Blitz, student will see a meter with several beats of music – except the bar lines are missing to separate the measures from each other!
They will will see 2 or more line placeholders (small grey lines) in between notes. One of the placeholders is where the bar line should go… but which one is it?
Identify where the bar line should be placed and the correct area will illuminate
green if it is accurate!
Play team vs team, A vs B, or individually... and enhance it by playing some fun football music in the background (search NFL themes or college football fight songs on YouTube) ;)
There are 4 levels (4 quarters if you wish) of varying difficulties. The last quarter, they students will need to identify where it should be placed without any small grey lined hashmarks
Have a great time with this one!
Poison Bucket Patterns! (Poison Patterns/Poison Rhythms)
By Jason Litt
One of the favorite end-of-the-year (or even beginning-of-the-year) activities for the kids to get them sight reading and of course, keeping their eyes and ears out for one of those DEADLY Poison Rhythms/Poison Patterns!
Poison Bucket Patterns! takes students through 78 slides and 5 levels of Bucket Drumming 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. Levels begin with 4 beat rhythms and end with 6 beat rhythms with rests, quarter notes, and 2 eighth note patterns.
Have a great time with this!
"Among Us" themed Music MEGAPack - 8 Activities @ 15% off!
By Jason Litt
In this AMONG US themed MEGAPack, you will get 8 custom games that are ALL ABOUT AMONG US!
Content Covered:
You can check out the individual lesson content by clicking each link below, but buying them all together here you will receive a 15% discount
One "Minor" Imposter ("Among Us" theme chord quality identification)
Meter Imposter ("Among Us" theme Time Signature practice!)
Among Instrument Families
Staff Imposter ("Among Us" themed Treble Clef Staff practice!)
Solfege Imposter ("Among Us" themed solfege lesson!)
Instrument Imposter ("Among Us" theme timbre lesson!)
Rhythm Imposter ("Among Us" theme Aural Theory!)
Among Rhythm ("Among Us" themed Rhythm Practice)
Brass with Class! (Identifying order of Brass instruments)
By Jason Litt
Focusing on the timbres of the Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, and Tuba? Try "Brass with Class" on and let your kids zero in on differentiation between each... and more!
In "Brass with Class!" will hear the brass instruments in all sorts of orders (immediately following each other's segment) and their goal is to put them in order they hear them. Students will get a brief review in the beginning by playing the examples of a Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, or Tuba.
After reviewing the timbres, go onto the game where the options will be shown at the top and blank spots at the bottom for the instruments to go. Students can either have printed cards with the instruments, write it in on the whiteboard, call it out, or however you wish! I like to do the printed cards on the floor so the students can line them up and I can assess from the top.
Included are
Have some class -- Brass with Class!
Call it the Response! (Orff/Auxiliary Percussion improvisation)
By Jason Litt
Mastering the “Call and Response” technique just got a bit more automonous! Sit back and let the music be freely created with “Call it the Response” for Orff Instruments!
In this lesson, student swill hear a “Call” which is the first part of a musical phrase. They will then play a “response” which completes the short musical phrase. Their response may be a certain number of beats or maybe a certain rhythm (could be same or different than the call)
There are 8 different exercises for your kids to give their response on Orff Instruments (or even auxiliary percussion instruments or boomwhackers, the possibilities are endless!).
Each exercise has a percussive backing track with the "Call" built in (played by marimba and xylophone, so you as the teacher aren't responsible for making it up yourself!) and varies in tempo from 100bpm to 110bpm and covers V7, Pentatonic, IV chords, and bourdon notes.
Get creative with “Call it the Response!”
Common Sense (Identifying Errors in Common Meter)
By Jason Litt
"4 beats in a measure with the quarter note getting the beat", the time old concept we ingrain in our students' mind! Assess your students by letting them identify inaccuracies in a measure of music with "Common Sense"
Students will view examples of a measure of Common Time (4/4) and find the measure that has too many or not enough beats to equal common time!
After the students select the correct measure, advance the slide to find out the answer. You can then trigger a discussion of what made it inaccurate (too many beats, not enough beats, etc)
The latter half of the lesson shows you one measure of music with a [ ? ] box. Students will have to select (from a multiple choice selection of answers) which answer would best fit in the box to complete a measure of 4/4
Rhythm MEGAPACK (18 Rhythm Lessons Grades K-5)
By Jason Litt
Looking for a load of rhythm lessons? Look no further! All of the Rhythm lessons you need to run your K-5 curriculum are in this MEGAPACK! Receive these 18 rhythm lessons in one comprehensive file that is sure to be hits during your lessons throughout the year!
Included are lessons and their corresponding grades:
_Upon extracting, make sure you extract each folder to the desktop to link up any associated sound files.
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Major Problem, Minor Adjustment (Identifying Major & Minor chord quality)
By Jason Litt
Chord quality galore! Help your kids understand to identify Major and Minor chords in "Major Problem, Minor Adjustment"!
Students will hear 3 to 4 chords back-to-back and have to select the chord (represented by a box from left to right) they think is "minor" or "major" as indicated by the slide
Advance the slide to discover the answer!
There are 8 questions and answers in this series
By Jason Litt
Tracking your students, classes, and sections of your groups have never been easier with music tracking powerpoints! Included are 10 files, all different templates of tracking such as leaderboards for classes, boys vs girls charts, a thermometer powerpoint, and various high score templates All you need to do is plug and play -- put names, classes, however you wish and save it as a different file! If you need any creative ways to track student or class progress, feel free to email or leave a comment. I truly hope this visual aid brings some flare to your classrooms!
Stick it to the Rhythm - Part II!
By Jason Litt
In Stick it to the Rhythm, we used popsicle sticks to identify quarter and eighth note notation in our classrooms. What happened if we didn't give the kids a blank slate and they had to use eyes, ears, and minds? In this follow-up, "Stick it to the Rhythm Part II", students are instructed to put a number of sticks on the floor (6 to 12 'quarter notes') and will listen to a musical example made up of quarter and eighth notes. They are then to interpret that example and use the last sticks and place them where they think they heard the eighth notes... In essence, they are taking the quarter notes at the end of the phrase and making them into eighth notes by beaming the quarter notes together -- this will really get your kids thinking! There are 10 examples (all with an 8 beat count off to establish tempo) and the examples range from easy to difficult with the mp3 embedding into the file. Have a great time and let me know what you think in the comments :) As always, any questions or concerns, you know where to find me!
By Jason Litt
Aural Dictation has never been more colorful! Students will be given 3, 4 or 5 color coded rhythm examples on the board. Students will then listen to a 4, 6, or 8 beat example of music and try to identify which color has the rhythm they just heard. As the lesson goes on, it gets progressively harder adding in more beats and more cards to the mix. I typically like to play this by cutting out red, green, yellow, purple, and blue construction paper, giving the kids a stack, and have the kids sit on the floor and hold up the answer they think is correct. Sometimes for the 6th or 7th example, I let the kids hear it twice so they can double check their answer! All slides include the embedded sound file in it (with 8 beats of prep before the rhythm example) and you get 10 examples to illustrate for your kids Have a colorful time with this one!