Piano Unit

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What do you do when you discover you have access to 7 pianos/keyboards, you have 9 students in 7th grade and you have a "break" before you have to start preparing for the Spring Musical? If you are like me, you decide it is the perfect time to teach Class Piano for the first time. I may be taking on too much, but I am excited about teaching my students a lifelong instrument and I hope they enjoy it. 

I see my 7th graders for 50 minutes one time a week. We will be preparing to sing at church and some other mini projects during third quarter but our main focus will be on piano. 4th-8th graders at this school are 1:1 with iPads, so I plan to use these to my advantage. I am trying more of a flipped model with videos and activities for the students to work through at their own pace. 

I don't believe in recreating the wheel, so I am using free online resources that I found. The web and YouTube are FULL of useful resources. I don't see the point in recreating something when someone else already did the work.

I created a Google Slide for my students to work through. Eventually I may tie it to Symbaloo Lesson Plans.

Paper.lil

I don't know if paper.lil is still the "cool" thing but I started my own paper. I quickly discovered that it is an easy way to stay up to date on news in areas that I care about: education, music and physical education.

I want to share resources and information and I want to stay current in the fields that are important to me. I am striving to share more resources and tools during 2018.

Do you have a paper.lil? Do you follow any papers?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear Rhythms

I used the book 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear' to reinforce ta and ti-ti rhythms in my First Grade classes.  We read the book, played the singing game 'Grizzly Bear' and students created their own rhythm patterns by connecting different animals.

I am a big believer in the old saying "If it's not broken, don't fix it."  I found these Brown Bear word cards online through a google search, which led me to Pinterest.

My students enjoyed this activity and it helped me access their ability to recognize ta and ti-ti patterns.

World Wall 2015

These vocabulary words are based on the Quaver Music Curriculum

Kindergarten

• Beat
• Steady Beat
• Sing
• Talk
• Shout
• Whisper
• Rhythm Syllables
• High
• Low
• Up
• Down
• Waltz
• Beats of 2
• Beats of 3
• Beats of 4
• Stepping Song
• Instrument Families
• Woodwind
• Brass
• Flue
• Trumpet
• Percussion
• Drum
• String
• Violin
• Loud
• Soft
• Tempo
• Fast
• Slow
• Long
• Short
• Found Sound
• Singing Voice
• Performance

First Grade

• Beat
• Measure
• Steady Beat
• Strong Beat
• Weak Beat
• Meter
• Waltz
• Ostinato
• Rhythm
• Bar Line
• Pitch
• Low
• High
• Mi
• Sol
• Sing
• Short
• Talk
• Lungs
• Breathing
• Whisper
• Solo
• Vocal Chords
• Lines
• Spaces
• La
• Treble Clef
• Mallet
• Staff
• Song
• Melody
• Melodic Direction
• Notes
• Rests
• Duration
• Length
• Tempo
• Presto
• Moderato
• Largo
• Dynamics
• Forte
• Piano
• Cresendo
• Decresendo
• String
• Percussion
• Pitched
• Non Pitched
• AB Form
• ABA Form
• Chorus
• Verse
• Repeat Sign
• Performance

Second Grade

• Beat
• Steady Beat
• Strong Beat
• Weak Beat
• Medly
• Meter
• Waltz
• Conducting
• Conductor
• Improvisation
• Ostinato
• Rhythm
• Partner Songs
• Staff
• Home Tone
• Diaphrahm
• Pentatonic Scale
• Phrase
• Melodic Direction
• Step
• Skip
• Repeated Notes
• Compower
• Ornaments
• Baroque Period
• Duration
• Quarter Note
• Quarter Rest
• Whole Rest
• Whole Note
• Half Rest
• Half Note
• Dynamics
• Forte
• Piano
• Fortisimmo
• Pianisimmo
• Cresendo
• Decresendo
• Embouchure
• Lyrics
• Melody
• Composition
• Verse
• Chorus
• AB Form
• ABA Form
• ABACA Form
• Repeat
• Performance

Third Grade

• Ostinato
• Meter Sign
• Rhythm
• Round/Canon
• Range
• Musical Alphabet
• Soprano
• Alto
• Tenor
• Bass
• Pentatonic Scale
• Improvisation
• Interval
• Lines
• Spaces
• String Quartet
• Classical Period
• 16th Notes
• Whole Note
• Whole Rest
• Crescendo
• Decrescendo
• Mezzo Forte
• Mezzo Piano
• FFF
• Recorder
• Woodwind
• Note A
• Note B
• Blues
• 1st/2nd Ending
• Treble Clef
• Measure
• Metronome
• Acc.
• Rit.
• Largo
• Moderato
• Molto
• Presto
• Chords
• Harmony
• Major
• Minor
• ABA Form
• Rondo Form
• Verse
• Chorus

Day 303: Collaboration - Elementary Music Literature Recommendations

Daily Blog Challenge Day 303/365

As I prepare for a new school year I am organizing different spreadsheets with resource ideas.  One of my goals this year is to incorporate more books into my clasroom.  I decided to create a public Google Spreadsheet with the hope that teachers can collaborate and create a resource we can all use.

Music Literature Recommendations

Please add your favorite books that you use in your classroom.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

Day 296: Collaboration - Elementary Music Technology Resources

Daily Blog Challenge Day 296/365

As I prepare for a new school year I am organizing different spreadsheets with resource ideas.  I decided to create a public Google Spreadsheet with the hope that teachers can collaborate together and create a resource we can all use.

Music Technology Resources

Please share your favorite technology resources.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

Day 289: Collaboration-Elememtary Music Song Suggestions

Daily Blog Challenge Day 289/365

As I prepare for a new school year I am organizing different spreadsheets with resource ideas.  I decided to create a public Google Spreadsheet with the hope that I can collaborate with other teachers and to create a resource we can all use.

Music Song Suggestions

Please add your favorite songs and where we can find the music for them.

Thank you for reading and sharing.