00d1u000000rpp3@mckeage@uwyo.edu

[00d1u000000rpp3@mckeage@uwyo.edu]

We have PAWS testing in March as well, so to kick-off this year we are having our triad high school pep band and cheerleaders do our annual PAWS kick-off assembly! The high school band has come to our school on a few different occasions, and students LOVE seeing older kids perform! I always do the same activity at the end of February that only takes ten minutes of class time. I use construction paper to cut out hearts and have 3rd – 6th graders write why they love music. I emphasize that this is not necessarily what they enjoy about music class at school, but why they enjoy music in all aspects of their lives. I am always pleasantly surprised at the sophisticated answers even younger students convey. Students often write about why it makes them feel happy about good things and helps express their feelings about sad things. I display some of them on a bulletin board in the hallway. I think it’s important for students to articulate WHY they enjoy music, to help them realize the importance of the art we teach!

[00d1u000000rpp3@mckeage@uwyo.edu]

I like to use the Spotlight series in my classroom for this purpose. They can put on headphones and listen to the songs and follow along in a student book. iPad note reading games are also useful for older kids!

[00d1u000000rpp3@mckeage@uwyo.edu]

Hi Susan!

An elementary music teacher in our district is board certified. I will encourage her to comment and answer your questions!

[00d1u000000rpp3@mckeage@uwyo.edu]

My students in every grade level (I don’t attempt with kinder until after Christmas), even sixth graders LOVE playing Night at the Museum. I introduce it around Halloween time and use it as an incentive activity, or for when I have a sub! You will need the song “Alone (Seuls)” from The Chorus (Les Choristes) by Bruno Coulais. You can find it on iTunes. Here are the rules:

Choose one student to be the “janitor.” That student is given one scarf. All of the other students are “statues” and are frozen in their own open space. Sometimes we pick a theme (like Halloween characters), and sometimes they choose their own statue. During the A section of music, the statues are “dusted” with the scarf by the “janitor.” Then during the B section, the “janitor” “falls asleep”, or closes their eyes, and the statues move throughout the room. The teacher chooses a statue while moving. That student is the only student that is allowed to move statue positions Then, when the C section in the music comes, the statues must find their original position except for the chosen student and the “janitor” guesses which student moved. The chosen student is the new leader and the game begins again.

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