6th Grade Other (Music) Activities

In "Zimbab all the Wae", introduce your kids to some great music from indigenous instruments from Africa! Using your classroom Djembe or Tubanos (along with tambourines), learn the music by rote by taking it one rehearsal section at a time (with rehearsal markings [A], [B], [C], and so forth). This is terrific practice with your older students who want to work on alternating hands and adding different timbres in with the tambourine

Included is the key for tubano and tambourine notation

At the end, wrap it up and put on a show! Want to layer it?

• Have shakers play 16th notes all the way throughout or in specific sections
• Have half the class play 1st and 3rd measures, the other half play 2nd and 4th measures
• Do it in a round! :)

Use this in class, a concert, a parent showcase, admin, faculty and staff, whatever you wish!

Have a terrific time with this one :)

With “Rhythms Around the Horn”, students will see four rhythm squares on the powerpoint (or PDF), all of them containing different rhythms.

For starters, have the entire class perform rhythm 1 (with instruments, vocalizing, clapping, patting, etc), then rhythm 2, then 3, and then finally 4.

After students understand the rhythms, then you can have the rhythms all be performed several different ways...

• Assign an instrument to each number and have them repeat their rhythm
• Example: #1 will be shakers, #2 will be tambourines, #3 will be hand drums, #4 will be guiros
• Example: #1 will be bass xylo, #2 will be soprano xylo, #3 will be alto xylo, #4 will be glockenspiel
• Example: #1 will be C and D boomwhackers, #2 will be E and F boomwhackers, #3 will be G and A boomwhackers, #4 will be B boomwhacker
• Assign an instrument to each number and have them rotate throughout the numbers (1, 2, 3, 4)
• Assign an instrument to each number and have them repeat the rhythm 2 times, 4 times (or however long you wish) and move to the next number to do the same thing
• Assign all instruments to start at the beginning, but at different times (a canon or a round).
• Example: Instrument 1 will play #1 first, then #2 consecutively, then the second instruments begin on #1 when the first are on #2, and so forth
• Go backwards, 4, 3, 2, 1
• Or maybe a free for all – have students pick their favorite number and repeat

There are 4 levels of rhythms all with increasing difficulty

• Quarters and Eighths
• Half Notes
• Eighth Note Rests
• Triplets

Have a great time with this!

With "Meter Reader", students will see a 4/4, 3/4, or 2/4 meter with typical rhythms inside the measure.

There will be an empty box within the measure and students will have to figure out which corresponding rhythm completes the measure.

There are 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 examples with quarter, whole, eighth and half note rhythms and rest patterns and also dotted quarter and half note rhythms.

There are multiple ways of assessment -- play as a class, individually, or team against team!

Have a great time with this!

TREBLE CLEF FOUR CORNERS!

· To play Four Corners, ensure all students understand the lines and spaces of the staff (bottom line E to top line F).

· Number each side of the room 1, 2, 3, and 4 (or alternatively, color code it green, blue, red, or purple with floor tape)

· They will hear a 9 second timer. Students will have a chance to walk to one of four corners and stay there for the duration of the round.

· On the next slide, the treble clef notation will appear in each corner and you will see a letter name from the Treble Clef Staff

· The students will have to guess which treble clef notation it is by showing it with their fingers (1, 2, 3, or 4)

· The teacher then reveals to the students which treble clef note it was (#1, #2, #3 or #4) and the students who are in that corner are OUT!

· Keep repeating until no kids are left!

Included are 12 examples (you can switch it up each time and do different notation each time), the 9 second timer embedded in the powerpoint file, and instructions

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!

Ready to talk about Forte and Piano in any of your grades? Drum it up, Dynamically II 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. 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.

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)

No need to have drums, recorders, or even auxiliary instruments for this one! If you don't have access, are traveling to rooms, or want to give a change to your curriculum try "Body Percussion Dynamic Challenge"!

There are nearly 30 Dynamic rhythm in each level with CLAPS, PATS , STOMPS, and SNAPS, and CHEST PATS, all indicated on the powerpoint slide with icons. Count your kids off with a few prep beats and watch them go!

If the kids master the rhythm with the appropriate dynamics, advance the slide and see how far they can get! (scoreboard included!)

• I usually put a 2-3 minute song on and see if they can get the highest score before the end of the song and track it for next time

Also terrific for reading in some of the younger grades who are not familiar with standard notation and need a warmup to reading using these icons.

Use the included background tracks (90bpm to 110bpm) or put on your favorite music so the kids can jam along (or choose your own)!

Here are the 4 levels:

• Level 1 - Piano and Forte
• Level 2 - Adding in Quarter Rests
• Level 3 - Crescendo
• Level 4 - Diminuendo

Trying to wean the kids off of the letter names but want to do it easily? Start with a warmup! In "Super Simple Recorder Warmups", you'll receive 25 4-beat exercises designed to warmup your kids while working on quarter and half note patterns.

Use the background accompaniment tracks if you wish (ranging from 80bpm to 117bpm) and reinforce the notes of the staff and rhythms throughout before heading into your recorder activity!

Included in this version are the recorder notes, G, A, B, and C

Working on alternating hands and reading down true percussive stickings? Try on "Stick it to the Buckets" with 30 great exercises that will get your upper elementary and lower middle kids reading with ease!

All regular notation is to be played on the middle of the buckets (the head of the drum) and the X notation (with a down stem) are played as side clicks on the bucket (or on the rim, however you choose!)

In this resource, there are multiple levels of rhythms along with percussive background tracks to get your kids grooving (or you can select any song of your choice in common time!)

• Level 1: Quarters and Eighths in Four Beat Patterns
• Level 2: Adding in Quarter Rests in Four Beat Patterns
• Level 3: Adding in X Notation (side clicks) in Four Beat Patterns
• Level 4: Adding in X Notation Eighth Note Pairs in Four Beat Patterns
• Level 5: Eight Beat Patterns in Four Beat Patterns

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

____________________________

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!

A game that will keep your kids entertained, engaged, and competitively charged, here's SOLFEGE IMPOSTER inspired by "Among Us"**!

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_IN SOLFEGE IMPOSTER, YOU WILL SEE MULTIPLE CREWMATES ASSIGNED WITH DIFFERENT SOLFEGE HAND SIGNS.
_

_YOUR TASK IS TO DECIDE WHICH CREWMATE IS THE IMPOSTER BY SELECTING THE CREWMATE WHO IS HOLDING UP THE WRONG HAND SIGN

THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE CREWMATE WHO IS THE IMPOSTER?

_________________________________________
_
Included in this resource are

• 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)
• Solfege Hand Signs
• 3 Levels of Solfege Identification (3 crewmates, 4 crewmates, multiple syllables)

Have a terrific time with this while your kids study and reinforce solfege!

Need a resource that is a creative and intuitive way to work on the notes of the treble clef staff?

In “Fully Staffed” students will see several notes on the Treble Clef staff. They will then be asked to identify one specific note out of all of the notes shown. By process of deduction, or even using previous knowledge, they’ll have to find the note as fast as they can, either individually, as a class, or team vs team, boys v girls, however you wish! As soon as they’ve locked in their answer, advance the slide, and the correct note will be revealed by illuminating green

I like to have the students challenge either other and see who can be the first student to name the note

Included in this 55 slide resources are 5 levels:

• Level One: Find one note out of 3 listed (ex, find the “E”)

• Level Two: Find one note out of 4 listed (ex, find the “F”)

• Level Three: Find two notes listed out of a melodic figure (ex, find “A” and “D”)

• Level Four: Backwards! Find the note that is NOT “F” or NOT “D”, etc

• Level Five: Find one note out of 8 notes listed (ex, find the “G”)

Get ready to get FULLY STAFFED!

Reviewing the families of instruments with your kids? In Instrument Pick-em, students will hear a musical example of a woodwind, brass, percussion, or string instrument. They will then see a multiple choice listing of an assortment of instruments. They will then have to decide which instrument on the screen best matches the example being played.

Great for class, boy vs girl, individually assigned, or even for Distance Learning!

Have a great time with this and let us know how it goes in the comments :)

Working on melodic direction with some of your upper level students in elementary? Lock your eyes and ears onto Melodious Masterpiece, an activity which engages the kids to think, listen, and use their knowledge to determine the direction of melody!

A melody, the main tune of the piece will be played on each example (10 examples included, ranging from 3 note melodies to 8 note melodies) along with 4 corresponding trapezoids. Students will have to select which trap best represents the melody being played and the answer will illuminate green on the following slide

Students do not need to know lines or spaces of the staff or even note names -- their previous understanding just rests with melodic direction (up and down!)

Can be great as a class activity, boys vs girls, or even assigned as distance learning!

The all-encompassing Solfege mastermix!

Solfege Back-to-Basics includes 55 separate solfege etudes which range from 3 to 6 solfege syllables all arranged colorfully on a 5-lined staff!

Below each exercise has highlight syllable names so your students can focus on the syllables that will be displayed on the screen

Sing along with this ear training exercise, accompany the students on piano, or just perform it acapella!

There are 7 levels included in this powerpoint from 3 solfege syllables all the way to 7

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments -- ENJOY!

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!

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!

Need to connect with your kids with their pop music through general music? Involve them in play along percussion with tubanos, djembes, tambourines, and more with "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida-Georgia Line! There are three all-color coded slides along with the form identifiers listed next to each phrase (and the answer key in the first slide, just in case you wanted to tie this into an Identify Form in Pop Music lesson) :) Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated 4, 6, or 8 times). Then, apply it to drums, tambourines, and hand claps! This is an all rote notation powerpoint and most are quarter and two eighth rhythms. There is one two sixteenth-eighth passage in a few of the slides to give the kids a little more challenge at a slow tempo. Your metronome marking for this piece is around 74BPM to the quarter note. Here's the track so you can play along... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOP5HrIkTrA Have a terrific time!

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!