Question

For all you preschool teachers out there, do you have any resources that you love for teaching music in the preschool classroom?  Things like rhythm sticks, reading music, etc…? 

Things that make music time INTENTIONAL teaching time?  Rather than just dancing around with the music blasting?

I am currently working on a curriculum with reading music, but the question came up with other resources and I haven’t run across anything.  Have you?

Fun Days-Teddy Bear Picnic

We often have different “themed” days in some classrooms.  Pajama day is always a fun one, and popular.

One day, however, I saw a great day in a classroom that almost made me wish I was still a lead teacher in the classroom just so I could implement it…almost, I love what I do.

They had a Teddy Bear Picnic day!

What did this entail?  Many FUN activities full of intentionality!

Everyone brings in their teddy bears.  If someone doesn’t have a teddy bear, that’s okay because the teacher had LOTS of extras!  If they forgot or didn’t have one, they were able to pick one to be theirs for the day.

The teddy bears are the children’s “students” for the day and the get to/must bring them around and share their activities with them. 

In the blocks, teddy bears were the receivers of beds made just for them…to size. 

In the dramatic play area, well, what teddy bear doesn’t LOVE coffee, cake, and plastic pizza?

During circle, they sat in a circle according the the teddy bears size!   This was a great math activity to start off and then having the responsibility of “keeping your teddy bear quiet” brought a new attention span to even the most wiggly child.

Circle time consisted of reading/singing the Teddy Bear Picnic book and going around the circle introducing the teddy bear to the rest of the group (name, favorite food, age).

At one of the tables, there were pieces of fabric, scissors, and patterns to make clothes for their bears…if they wanted.  There was one teacher close by to HELP the children stitch the things together with fat needles and thread.  Yes, the teacher allowed them to SEW with REAL needles!  Awesome practice in trusting the children!

At another table, if they so chose, the children had a picnic making activity.  Teddy bears and their owners spent time making sandwiches (math/patterning, fine motor, reading recipes), filling baggies with carrots (counting), and filling baskets with small group numbers of sandwiches, carrot bags, applesauce cups, plastic spoons, paper cups, napkins, plates, and pitchers of milk (community, counting, sorting, spacial awareness).

During outdoor time, teddy bears rode on tricycles going through obstacle courses, built sand castles, and went on…wait for it…a BEAR HUNT!  It was an awesome obstacle course!

Lunch was a picnic out on the grass!

Nap time was a breeze for the simple matter that the children didn’t want to wake their bears.

It was an awesome day!

What kind of fun days do you have?

Rhythm Sticks

When it comes to music and movement time in the classrooms I see one thing: Music playing really loud while the children jump around manically.

Occasionally there might be some instruments passed around to make this chaotic time even more chaotic (if that’s at all even possible); or sometimes there might even be some dancing ribbons or scarves tossed in as well.

Often times these scarves and ribbons are quickly collected as the children are admonished for waving them in other children’s faces or using the stick end of the ribbons as swords.

I also see classrooms that have a music center, but again there is no direction.  Therefore, the rhythm stick sit beckoning to the boys to be swords or other weapons; the drums call out to be beaten on roughly almost to the point of let’s-see-how-hard-we-have-to-hit-it-before-the-stick-punches-through-it.

What I don’t see, however, are children being taught how to use these materials. I rarely, if ever, see the teachers sitting down at free choice and exploring the drums with the children, showing them how they work.  I definitely don’t ever see the children being taught how to use the rhythm sticks.

 

Musical instruments are items that many of us have in the classroom.  If you set your room up according to ECERS standards, you probably even have a music center in the room.  What good does it do it you don’t show the children how to use the materials?

They can be great tools to use to teach patterning, team work, and even beginning reading.  If you just change the outlook of them from something-you-have-to-have-in-the-classroom-because-ECERS-or-your-director-says-so to something-that-can-be-a-great-tool-to-use-in-the-curriculum-over-all

Here’s how to introduce music to the classroom.  First, use the best musical instrument: your hands.

Get a poster board size of paper.  Evenly spaced apart, make one line of 8 circles.  Just below that line, make a line of 8 squares.  Just below that line, make a line of alternating circles and squares (so there are 8 circle, square, circle, square, circle, square, circle, square).  Just below that line, make a line of two circles, one square pattern (so there are 8: circle, circle, square, circle, circle, square, circle, circle).

If you want, you can add to the rows, but that’s a good start.  Later, you might even make a poster with velcro pieces and circles, squares, and even x’s with the other velcro parts on them so the children can make their own patterns.

Okay, now have the children sit in a circle and tell them that they are going to play music with their hands.  Every time you point to a circle, they are to clap their hands together.  Now point to the first row one circle at a time in rhythm.  This way, they will get the idea that with a circle they are to clap.

Once they stay in rhythm with your pointing to the circles, explain to them that every time you point to a square they are going to hit their thighs.  Demonstrate to them then point to the row of squares in rhythm.  Repeat this until they do so in rhythm with you pointing to each square. 

Then, repeat the first line and the second line until the children can stay in rhythm and can change from clapping to hitting their thighs.

 

Then challenge them by pointing to the third line.  Do this until they can stay in rhythm with you and can identify when to clap and when to hit their thighs.

 

This should only be about 10 minutes each day or else some children will get overwhelmed with the information if it’s longer.  After about 3 to 4 days, they will begin to catch on to what to do.

The second week, as they sit down for circle, quietly place two rhythm sticks in front of each child, parallel to them, and tell each one, “Leave them there until I tell you.”

If one child picks them up or even touches them, pick them back up and remind them not to touch, then put them back down.  It is VERY IMPORTANT that you not allow them to touch them until you are sitting down and ready and that you respond immediately upon them touching them.

Once you are sitting down show them how to hold the sticks, one in each hand, with their hands resting on their knees.  Show them how to tap them on the ground and tap them together (making an x).  Then tell them that every time they see a circle, they tap them together and every time they see a square they tap on the ground.

Again, walk them through the circle and square rows and walk them through reading the pattern and playing.

Eventually, add the x to the pattern.  On an x there is NO SOUND!

In 3 weeks time you will have the children making music, rather than just noise, reading patterns, and even creating patterns of their own.  Go from there and, if you start it early enough in the school year, by the end of the year you will have the children reading simple music notes.

Book of the Week-Ben's Trumpet

In 1980, Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall (illustrated by Barbara Cooney) won the Caldecott Medal of Honor. This is awarded: "It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." I am usually impressed by these awards; however I have to disagree with their choice for the year 1980. Ben's Trumpet got the honorary award, it should have won the Medal of Honor that year. This book is beautifully illustrated. It's black and white pictures are fabulous. You can almost hear the music coming off the pages just by looking at the pictures. I am enamored with this book. It's great to use as a group read or to sit one on one with a child or two.

Is there a child in your classroom who is into music? This book will be perfect for him. Talking about musical instruments or styles, this is the book for those lessons. Brass, percussion, Jazz, it's got it all. This book is fabulous. Every classroom should be introduced to it.

Book of the Week-Twinkle Twinkle Little Start

I was first introduced to Iza Trapani through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I loved her version of the song! The girl I was a nanny to at the time also loved the book. We would read it over and over. It's an excellent bed time story. The pictures are soft and comforting. They really fit well with the words. She also takes you on a different adventure for the song. What would it be like to be a star? What would you see? Where would you go? Well, this is a peek into those answers. She has several books in which she took popular children's songs and added or changed the verses to take you on all sorts of adventures. One great thing is that she includes the original verse at the beginning and the end. After that, everything in between is consistent with the rhythm and rhyme of the original verse. These are fabulous books that have brought many happy story times, bed times, and reading times. Of course, because they are songs, the children easily memorize them and are able to read them to you themselves. If you are completely "tune" deaf (can't remember the tune to save your life), the music is in the back of the book...which may not do you much good since most people who are "tune"deaf are also tone deaf and can't read music anyway!

Again, I just wish there was a picture of the author/illustrator on the book, but alas, it hasn't caught on yet. So, just for you, here is her picture:

Book of the week-Tank Tank Skunk

This weeks book is Tank Tank Skunk! by Steve Webb. I only have one complaint about the book: I can't find a picture of Steve Webb anywhere. Unless he is the British politician, which he may be. I haven't been able to find much of a history on this author, and I have only found one other book by him (which I have still to check out). As I mentioned before, I like to have a picture of the authors so that the children can make a connection to an actual person.

Other than that one issue, I love Tanka Tanka Skunk! Children of all ages love it as well. I have read this book succesfully with children as young as 12 months all the way up to 5 years old. It is a great book for so many things: rhythm, rhyming, music, animal recognition, syllables, volume (loud and soft) and patterning. The "refrain" of the book is simple and the children quickly pick it up before the first time through. This way they can immediatly participate in the reading of it. This engages them quickly! The pictures are simple and viabrant. It also does what every toddler probably wishes every book did: insists on reading it again, as the last sentence is "Once more from the top...faster this time, please!"

In some ways, it's like the song that never ends. When I want to stop reading this book, I just leave out that last page. It's a great way for children to practice with lanugage and rhyming. The older the children, the fast they try to go every time we read it through.

A great activity with this book is to have some drums and percusion instruments to beat along with as you read. When you start talking about syllables, this is the first book that should come out!

There are common animals, such as a donkey and a duck, and there are also animals that you never really read about in children's books, such as lemur, badger, yak, and armadillo.

Children will also be able to read this book on their own as the pictures tell you the words. They will easily read this on their own.

This is one of those books that is necessary in any classroom or home library! It will last through many years of growth!

Music

I do a lot of my shopping for the center at the Dollar Tree. This is a fabulous store to get many fun items. And everything is just a dollar! When I as parents for donations, I also refer them to the dollar store. If we need crayons, puzzles, bowls, buckets, etc.. It can usually be found there. One thing that I discovered recently was that they have CD's! I bought a couple, not sure what I was going to be getting, to try out. I am greatly impressed! The music is fun and recognizable. They use songs that are used come from pop culture and are sung reasonably well. To be honest, I was afraid that the music on these discs would be some bad singing by children who have no talent whatsoever; I have a few of those CD's. I was very pleasantly surprised and I will be going out to find more CD's from them as well. The children also seem to like the CD, as they keep asking for it to be played repeatedly; as opposed to another CD.

The other nice thing about buying CD's for a dollar? I don't get so nervous about the children scratching them as they handle them. After all, it was only a buck! And I have my radio at child level with a book of CD's available so that they can decide what they want to listen to.

Things Homemade Friday-bottles

Many of you have probably already seen these; some of you have already made them even! However, it you haven't, they are awesome. If you have, I am going to expand on ideas you may not have thought of. The simple way to make these is to get regular water bottles. Peel the labels off then you may need to put some hot water in them to help get the glue off. If you fill the bottle with hot water, it will melt the glue on the outside and you should be able to work off the sticky glue. Then get creative!

The common one is to add some colored water and oil into the bottles. Then add glitter or sprinkles, confetti. Pretty much anything!

A really fun one is to fill it about a quarter full with water then get a clear dish soap and just put a couple of drops in it. It will bubble up when shaken and will eventually go back to looking like clear liquid.

These are great in an infant and toddler room! Be sure to glue the caps on! They are also fun in a preschool room. However, I change it up a bit.

I use Snapple bottles or another glass bottle that has a cool clear shape. (Yes, I use glass bottles in the classroom! I trust my children and I teach them how to respect things!). I have taken 8 glass bottles, filled each one with a different color to a different level in order to make a musical scale. I then line them up on the shelf and put two rhythm sticks next to them (so that two can play at a time). It's also fun to fill the jars with a three layer separator: water, oil, and hair conditioner works well.

Leave the water out of it and put some bells in there too! That's always fun!

The key to making these bottles is to be creative. Add a liquid, don't add a liquid. Use anything that can fit into the opening: glitter, confetti, cotton balls, screws, beads, toothpicks, the list is endless!

If I have the children help me make the bottles, which the older ones do, I don't glue the lids shut because they already know not to open it. If I use it with the younger ones or they didn't help me make it, I hot glue the lids shut so that they don't accidentally get opened. Then again, if they did, we would just clean it up. No big deal!

With the plastic bottles, they will eventually crack (usually a small hole in some inconspicuous spot) and will begin to leak. In the 7 plus years I have use glass in my classroom, I have only had 2 bottles break. One was my fault completely. I wasn't paying attention when I was putting away mats and hit one off the top of the shelf. It happens! I cleaned it up, and we moved on...making another bottle to replace the one I broke.

The infants and toddler get fascinated and use lots of observation with these. The preschoolers like using them in dramatic play, music, and science. They are a lot of fun! If you make some, take pictures and send them to me. I would love to see what you all come up with!