Busted! Treble and Bass Clef Versions

This summer I came across a rhythm game on Pinterest called Busted! It seemed really fun and SUPER easy to make!  All I needed was some color craft sticks. It's a game where kids go around the circle and take turns pulling a stick from a cup/jar and say the rhythm on the stick. It's cumulative, so each time they pulled a stick, they had to start with their first one and say all that they had in order. Well, if someone pulled a Busted! stick, they needed to put all the rhythm sticks back into the cup and start all over. You play the game until all sticks are out.

**See the original pin here from Stay Tuned! by Steph.  Great blog!  Thank you for the inspiration for another version!

So, I was sitting around my house on the multiple snow days we had this year (count 'em: 6 snow days!) We've only had 1 in the past 5 years!  I digress...back to my inspiration.

My students LOVE Busted! So, I thought, HEY!  ...why not create a pitch name one both for Treble and Bass Clef?!  So, I did!  I love it when I get a clever moment.

It essentially is played the same, but instead of saying all the rhythms, kids pull a stick and say the pitch name, and they need to go back and each one in a row. When a Busted! stick is pulled, then all the pitch name sticks are returned to the cup.

Game directions:

Bass Clef Bean Bag Toss Game

So I'm a fan of the Freddie the Frog books.  For several reasons. 

1.  For elementary kids their imaginations are so AMAZING, stories and characters are a wonderful way for them to connect to pitches on the staff.  So I LOVE that "F" on the treble clef is Freddie!  "E" is his best friend Eli!  And then each place on the staff is a character or place on Treble Clef Island.  Sharon Burch, YOU, my friend, are a GENIUS!

2.  I love that there is a story that teaches "D," "middle C," and "B" below the treble clef staff.  Those pitches were always a challenge for me.  Again, Sharon...GENIUS.

and 3.  The Bass Cleff Monster book is AWESOME.  I love how it is set-up to prep kids that it looks familiar, but it's NOT Treble Clef Island anymore...You're in Freddie's dream and all the spots are different, but then you get the kids to noticed the Freddie's ABC's are still there, just in a different order and with different names.

OH! and of course...these books get introduced in Kindergarten!  So my little tykes are growing up with the knowledge of pitch names already and it will be second nature to them when they are reading music.  And, Hello?!  Bass Clef in Kindergarten.  Awesome.

Did I mention that I'm a fan of these books?!  So awesome. 

Well...I wanted to do some fun things to practice the Bass Clef pitches for the Kindergartners to get them more familiar with them.  So, I did a round of Quiz-Quiz-Trade (I posted earlier about this activity).  We did a Simon Says game on the staff (that I taped on the floor) for the Bass Clef.  "Simon Says step on the Dragon....Grass...Annie the Ant..." etc.  That was fun.  We filled out a worksheet coloring all the different places specific colors to label them.  But I was looking for one more thing that was age appropriate for Kindergartners.  Some of my resources for Bass Clef were ok, but meant for older kiddos.  What to do...what to do...?

Well, all this time of practicing the Bass Clef I had the staff taped on the floor for the time being.  Then I started thinking of a game that involved doing a Bean Bag Toss.  Here's how it goes:

1.  I divided the class into 6 teams, which ended up being 3-4 kids on a team.

2.  The team gets 3 tries to toss their bean bag to the correct spot for the Bass Clef Monster.  I would say "Toss your bean bag to the Frog Log.  Ready...GO!"
3.  1st try earns their team 5 points. If they get the correct spot on the first try, then the team sits down and they are done for that round.
4.  If they did NOT get it on the first try, then the first person rotates to the back, and the next person gives it a shot.  If they get it then on the 2nd try, they earn 3 points for their team.  Again, if they get it correct, the team sits down and they are done.
5.  If they still did NOT get it on the 1st and 2nd try, they get one more chance to try.  So the person rotates to the back of the line and the 3rd person tries to throw.  If they get it on the 3rd try, the team earns 1 point for their team.
6.  If they did not get it at ALL, no points.  At which at that point, I have someone on that team place their bean bag on the correct spot to show me they know where the Dragon, or whatever, was.
5.  After all teams had their 3 tries, everyone stands back up again and we do another round.
6.  The team with the most points, WINS!  (Which means I give them a little music sticker to wear.)

FYI:  I put little strips of tape down with numbers for their teams as a starting line AND each team had a different colored bean bag to help me keep the teams straight because of course Kindergartners didn't throw straight every time! 

The kids LOVED this game!  They got excited when they tossed it to the right spot and encouraged their friends to get it on another try...and they worked together to help their neighbor through it to the right spot if they didn't know where the "Dragon" was.

I was so proud of myself for coming up with this game last minute like I did...thought I could start hanging out in the ranks of some other music teachers that I really admire!  Ha!

Now, being the Techie person that I am, I also created a SmartBoard file to go with this beautiful game.  I'm working on a TeachersPayTeachers account to get that file available to you if you feel so inclined to download it and use it in your own classroom.  SO...stay tuned for that file!


I hope this game inspires you to try a new game or two with your kiddos! 

Match Mine! A Musical Battleship

I have a FUN game/activity to share with you today!!!

On an earlier post, I shared about "Quiz-Quiz-Trade," a SIOP (ELL) strategy that I use.  My building has a very strong population of ELL students (we have 4 ELL teachers for a building of 550 students and about 1/4 to 1/3 are EL students, just to give you an idea)  Yesterday I decided to try something from the Match Mine: Music resource that I purchased over the summer.  So many fun ways to practice music terms and symbols, instruments, etc.

2nd Grade has been working on rhythm and learning to identify the names of the notes.  So I decided to try this musical version of Battleship. 

SET-UP:
The kids have 2 file folders, 2 game boards, 2 sets of different colored pieces, and a paper clip.  They first need to set-up their file folders up Battleship style and paper clip the top so they stay standing.  We found that we needed to pull the folders about an inch away from each other from the bottom in order for it to stay upright.  Then each kid gets a set of pieces and a game board to set down.

 

One person is the "Sender" and one person is the "Receiver."  The "Sender" places their pieces on the game board in random places.  Their job is then to tell the "Receiver" where to put their pieces using describing words like "Top Middle" or "Top Left Corner," etc.  They are not only trying to identify my vocabulary, but also using descriptive words to help their partners put them in the same spot as they did.  So the students were expected to use sentences like "I put the Whole Note in the Top Left Corner."  There could be NO peeking or looking, which is why I have them laying on their bellies so they couldn't look over the barrier.  They had to figure it out using words and asking questions if they need clarification or help.

 

 

 

 

 

I found it was VERY helpful to model it first on the Smart Board and do it together as a class.  (I scanned the gameboard and then made my "pieces" with the SmartBoard Notebook.)  I was the "Sender" for the class and had students move the pieces to the places I wanted them to.  I reminded them they need to know the difference between Right and Left (showed them the "L" trick with their thumb and finger) and they also need to use words like Top, Bottom, Middle. 

 

 *Looks like Left and Right got mixed up!*

 

For this activity, I wanted them to practice identifying the note names.  i.e.Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter Rest, Half Rest, Pair of Eighth Notes, etc.  But you could have them use "ta" and "ti-ti" language as well.

 

Once they were finished, they can compare their boards to see if their partner matched their board.  Then they switched jobs.  This kept them entertained for the remainder of the class period.  It was really fun walking around hearing them using the descriptive words and using the music vocabulary that I wanted them to know!

 

 

This can also be a GREAT activity for a center as well.  I would suggest pre-teaching it to the class before making it a centers activity, then the students will understand the goal of the game better.

 

So glad I made this purchase!  There other game boards for Instruments of the Orchestra, Classroom Instruments, Form, Dynamics, Ostinatos, Orff Bar Placements, Rhythms, Melodies, etc.  and it has game boards designed for ages PreK through 12!  (The older activities are designed for grades 6-12, so if you teach those grade levels, this could be a fun different way to practice music skills.)

Quiz-Quiz-Trade

Our school is a SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) building.  Which really is a way for ELL teachers to better aid their students.  My school has a high population of ELL students and our whole staff has done training on SIOP to better incorporate some strategies and activities to help strengthen their vocabulary.  I wasn't sure what this would offer me as a music specialist, but then realized that I gained a TON of different ways to teach music vocabulary and concepts to my students in really fun, interactive ways.

One strategy or game that I LOVE to do with my students is called Quiz-Quiz-Trade.  This week I played this game with my Kindergartners to review Letter Names on the staff (which they learned via the Freddie the Frog stories). 

NOTE:  If you are not familiar with Freddie the Frog--check him out here!  He has been a WONDERFUL addition to my classroom.  Sharon Burch is a genius!

Now, the way Quiz-Quiz-Trade work is like this.  Usually students have a flashcard of some sort.  They then face a partner and each take turns asking a question about that flashcard (QUIZ-QUIZ).  In this case they were asking "What is this place?"  Trying to get the answer for Treble Clef Island where Freddie and his friends lives.  Once each of them answered correctly (giving some clues to help if they were struggling), they would TRADE their cards and find a new partner.  Kids looking for a partner would need to raise their hand and find another kid doing the same thing.  Got that idea from one of our 2nd grade teachers and it works really well when they are looking for a new partner.  This activity can last 5 minutes if you want just a quick review for them OR up to 15-20 minutes if each kid has something different.

You can also do this activity with rhythm cards.  Part of the activity is not just about the content, but about practicing language skills...asking a question, answering correctly, etc.  So in the case of doing rhythms...I would have a 4 beat rhythm pattern fitting the age group, of course, and they would say to their partner "Say this rhythm."  or "Clap this rhythm" or "Clap and Say this rhythm."  You can do it with ANYTHING that you want students to gain more knowledge about.  Instruments of the Orchestra, Tempo Terms, Dynamics Terms, etc...the list is endless! 

Some resources that are pretty great for SIOP can be found on the Kagan Website.  They are always coming up with new strategies and activities.  Check them out here.  And they have even come out with Music Resources!!!  And I'm SO pumped to use them!  Both Match Mine Music and Cooperative Learning and & Music can be found on the Kagan Website.