All about my life

I have devoted September to rhythm learning craziness. Since I have been at my school for a few years now, it is has taken less time to go over routines and we have been able to get right down to music learning business! This past week I taught my grade 2s all about ta-a. We move it with jumps (versus walk=ta and tip-toe=ti-ti), we sing it (I use the traditional "Jim along Josie"), we look at it, we talk about it. After all of that, the students dictate rhythms that I perform for them. Prior to writing them out, I like for my grade 1 and 2 students to use manipulatives to dictate.  Popsicle sticks are so easy to use! I have students use them for their tas and ti-tis. I cut pipe cleaners in thirds in order to make circles that will be attached to sticks for ta-as. I also cut pipe cleaners in thirds to make quarter rests. Students have everything they need!  I find this activity very useful to do formative assessment. It is easier for me to see their work from far away and it t...

I love my tempo cats. The kids love the tempo cats. They are great! I refer to them all the time when singing and playing instruments with my students. Sorry for the glare! The cats have been around for a while and also are in a million different Music rooms. I wanted to think of some other creative way to quickly incorporate tempo so that the students don't get bored with our kitties! I still love those cats! I found something called a Tempo Turn spinner on Pinterest! Unfortunately the link was broken so I couldn't see where it was from or anything. I used the photo as inspiration and here is what I came up with! I just got it back yesterday from laminating. I can't wait to use it! - Steph

I decided to reorganize and redecorate my classroom this year! After inspiration from Another Day In First Grade  I started with a colour scheme, bought new storage tubs and labelled EVERYTHING! I got some great fonts at Sweet Rose Studio  to create my labels. Here are some before and after photos of my shelf. BEFORE: AFTER: Spending a few minutes to print off nice, clear labels is so worth it! - Steph

Once in a while I like having a music games class after students have demonstrated great teamwork. This year, I will be doing a program called "(my school name) Is Noteworthy!" When students have a great music class and demonstrate amazing cooperation and teamwork, they receive a music note on the chart next to their class name. Once the class receives 10 music notes, we have a music games class! To make the chart, I simply typed up the class names in a table and printed it on coloured paper. I then inserted the paper into a black frame from Dollarama and hung it on my bulletin board with a tac and binder clip. I use dry erase markers to mark the music notes, and voila! -Steph

Yay! It's back to school week although I actually don't begin Music classes until tomorrow afternoon. Last week was super busy for me as I was preparing for a day long reading session workshop that my friend Sean and I presented on behalf of St. John's Music. About 90 Music teachers gathered to sing, see and listen to new publications including choral pieces, musicals, resource books and videos! It was tons of work to prepare, but fun to collaborate with St. John's and my friend. I wanted to feature some resource books that I scoped out and am super excited about using! Blue is the Sea by Sofia Lopez-Ibor is my absolute favourite new resource this year! This book is all about arts integration in K-6 Music and how you can tie visual arts, movement, games and music together in order to enrich the musical experience for children. I am excited about this because I think one of the most important jobs as a music teacher is to foster creativity and Sofi...

I am trying out my very own Music room website and I am so excited! I think I will use it especially for information of upcoming events, posting PDFs of notes, and to show parents what we are doing in the Music room! I am completely new to this, so please give me some tips or let me know if you have a classroom website or blog and what you use it for! I used Weebly for mine. I wanted to keep it nice, simple and easy to use! Weebly is super easy to set up! Weebly can be used for classroom teachers too. Ms. St. Laurent at my school just created a great one for her grade 1 class and plans to add a blog to it for her kids to interact on-line! Check out my Weebly page  ryersonrocks.weebly.com ! Stay tuned! -Steph