Stories and Song: Literature in the Music Room

What can I say about literature that hasn't already been said? Honestly, I have never met a music teacher who didn't use childrens literature in his/her lessons from time to time. As for me, I truly enjoy incoroporating literature into my elementary music classes. I find that students are more engaged in the lesson and more likely to comprehend the story. Let's be honest, literature lessons are just plain fun (and my administrators LOVE that I'm utilizing core curriculum in my "specials" classes). It's just a win all around!

General Tips for Using Literature in the Music Room: 

1. Artie Almeida has some wonderful lessons that incorporate literature and mallet instruments in her book Mallet Madness. It's one of my favorite resources for using literature in my classroom. She also has a second book Mallet Madness Strikes Again; both are worthy investments for any elementary music teacher.
2. Take the extra prep time to photograph the pages of your book and put them into a PowerPoint presentation format. This way, students can see the pictures as you read the story aloud. Another bonus: I often hear my little ones whispering along.  
3. Create a book display in your classroom. This will lend your library to being used more frequently. You might also consider adding some pillows around your bookshelf to make it enticing. 
4. Add quiet reading to your center rotations. My students love it when I add the "Reading Center" into our rotation. The rules are simple: choose a story and read quietly to yourself or a partner. 
5. Use a YouTube video reading of those nifty tales! If you're anything like me, you like to listen to a story to familiarize yourself with repetitive words, musical elements, verbs, and anything extra you can draw attention to in your lesson. Or sometimes your voice is completely shot and you just can't read the story yourself. I've been there, believe me. A video is the best solution for these situations. Another reason I love those YouTube videos: I keep many of my teaching books at home to read with my little one and I'm incredibly forgetful. Yep, sometimes I just forget that darned book at home!  
6. Don't be afraid of singalong storybooks. There are so many to choose from, and most of your kiddos will be able to sing along as you go. This makes a great five-minute-finisher at the end of a class. 

Here are some of my favorite sing-a-long storybooks

A Few of My Favorite Books 

(and how I use them)

BEAR'S LOOSE TOOTH  

by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

This delightful tale has beautiful illustrations and is very appealing to younger elementary students. I've used this book for several years with great success; the lesson is simple and straightforward and my first-graders always have a blast.

Teaching Procedures:

I typically read through a story once before introducing any specific learning concepts. After the initial reading, I add a tremolo on neighbor tones and we talk about what I'm doing and add the vocabulary term to the technique. We practice whole-note and half-note tremolos, then create a short rhythmic pattern for the words "bear's loose tooth". (Example: Bear's = whole note    Loose= whole note     Tooth= half note)

Here is a video reading if you'd like to check out this cute story! 

THE GINGERBREAD GIRL GOES ANIMAL CRACKERS 

by Lisa Campbell Ernst

This series is just darling. With vibrant illustrations and creative storylines, your students are sure to get a kick out of any of the stories. The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers happens to be my favorite because it easily lends itself to musical instruction.

Teaching Procedures:

I begin this third-grade lesson by teaching the simple melody/chorus to the children. It uses the same melody as Row, Row, Row Your Boat so the kiddos should already know it well. I teach the song by rote and then add a steady Do/Sol accompaniment on an Orff instrument or BoomWhackers. I usually use C & G because the key of C is perfect for elementary aged students. 

After I teach the chorus, we read through the story once adding the song/accompaniment as it comes up in the story. Afterward I ask students which words occur most often-- you might have to help your kiddos with this-- and we choose instruments to represent those recurring words. I usually start them off by suggesting a temple block for the word crackers, and then the kids come up with all kinds of ideas from there. We "perform" the story together at least once more and then discuss the form: AB. 

The kids really enjoy participating in this lesson because every child ends up with an instrument. It's always an exciting class to teach!

A very simple melody: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Lastly, if you'd like an energetic reading of the story, Here is a great YouTube video. This gal does a wonderful job making the story exciting for little listeners.

LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA

by Anna Dewdney

This last idea is silly; believe me, I know. I came up with this nutty little melody one evening while reading to my two-year-old, Claire. We use the term reading pretty loosely in my house because you're as likely to hear us singing the story as you are to hear us reading it.

Teaching Procedures:

I first sing the story to the children, showing the pictures on a PowerPoint as I go. They usually start to hum along by the time I've sung a few pages, and this is how you can tell they're really listening. For younger elementary, you might consider teaching them the "llama llama red pajama" then have them sing with you whenever you reach that part. For older students in grades 2-4, you could add melodic instruments on a bordun or you try having them play the melody on an Orff instrument as they sing "llama llama red pajama" along with you.

Another version: This video option is also a sing-a-long. Although it's different from what I have suggested, it is a cute version of the story and I really enjoyed it. I hope you do, too.

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Did you find any of these ideas to be helpful? Don't forget to pin or share them using the buttons below! 

As always, we welcome your input and your ideas. Let me know what you think, and if you have any favorite stories that have been successful for you. I'm always looking to add new books to my collection. 

Sing. Teach. Love!

LET'S DO THE INSTRUMENT BAR DANCE!

Do you want to use the barred instruments in your classroom more often but just don’t have the time to get them ready between classes or to set them up in the correct pentatonic scale? Spring is my favorite time of year, especially in Kindergarten because the students finally get to learn how to take care of the “big” instruments.

It was about my second or third year of teaching and requesting additional instruments that I had the revelation that I couldn’t do everything and I needed to prep the students on my expectations on how to take the “bars” off of the instruments and why we had to be careful. The lesson “Let’s Do the Bar Dance” emerged!

Demonstrate how to grab each end of a bar and lift straight up like a helicopter. Ask a student to watch and notice what happens to the “peg” when you take the bar off wrong (use one hand and lift at an angle). He/she should notice that the peg bends. Ask the class what would eventually happen to the peg if everyone always used one hand and it kept bending 15-16 times a day. Someone will say “it will break off” and I quickly go into my options once an instrument is broken: put it in the closet - but then someone wouldn’t have an instrument to play, fix it – but I’d have to drill out the old peg and that is a little scary because if I didn’t drill straight I’d ruin the instrument and then have to throw it away or buy a new one - but the school doesn’t have $2000 (I love using a Bass Xylophone for this lesson for the cost perspective)….maybe our best option is to take care of the instruments!

Have the students stand behind an instrument. If you don’t have one instrument per student this is a perfect lesson for students to double up on an instrument or to take turns. If students need to take turns develop some type of signal to rotate. Review how to grab the bar with two hands and ask the students to take one bar off and then to carefully put it back on in the same spot. Ask them to take off another bar with two hands, then ask them to move and dance in their spot with it. After 8-10 seconds ask them to carefully put it back on with two hands. Take off a different bar and dance with it! Repeat the process a couple more times – reminding students they have to use two hands and lift straight up! Eventually, while you are asking them to take off different bars and dance add some background music during the instructions! You could use anything with a fun, strong beat. My students love the following found on iTunes:

·         AfricanTribal Music and Dances (Album) Percussion Instruments (song)

·         WorldMasters - Beat the Drum (Album) Beat the Drum (song)

·         WorldMasters - Beat the Drum  (Album) Africa We Go Go (song)

·         ExperienceAfrican Music: African Drumming, African Soukouss Music and West African DanceMusic  (Album) Beat the Drums (song)

·         ExperienceAfrican Music: African Drumming, African Soukouss Music and West African DanceMusic  (Album) West Africa Drums (song)

Music Listening Lessons for Spring

If you stepped into my classroom, you would quickly notice that music listening is a huge priority for me! I try hard to introduce each of my students to at least one new great piece of music every week. So, I am always looking for lessons to help them move to, visualize, describe all styles and genres of music.  Here are some of my favorite listening lessons for springtime:

Music & Movement

Butterfly Etude, Frederic Chopin

I love this piece because it’s the epitome of spring: lively, light, and cheery. I mostly let students just explore the motions and pathways of a butterfly, which is also a wonderful way to draw their attention to symmetrical movement. 

Here is my sequence; each number is a single listen through the song. I generally do 2 listens per class, which allows the lesson to stretch over 3-4 class periods.  (Sometimes I repeat an activity to allow for more exploration or fun!) 

•        1^st time through: Sit down and fold hands like a butterfly; follow the music with your hands. (Short discussion after about thoughts & ideas)
•        2^nd time: Move around the room like a butterfly. Put some of the movements you explored with your hands into your whole body.
•        3^rd time: Each student gets two scarves, one in each hand. Move around the room like a butterfly and use the scarves to extend those movements.
•        4^th time: Move in small groups while others watch. Ask the observing students what they noticed and what they liked.
•        5^th time: Each student receives a butterfly net. Use the nets to feel the larger phrases of the piece, arching dramatically as you follow those big phrase lines. You will probably want to join them to help demonstrate.
•        6^th time: Split into two groups, one with the butterfly scarves and one with the nets. Then switch and do it again!  Pro tip: Keep these two groups on opposite sides of the room or you will end up with someone’s net on someone else’s head. But you already knew that… 

Mystery Song

Flight of the Bumblebee, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

This is my very favorite listening activity for just about any piece of music. It is versatile, engaging, and truly higher order thinking.  And, it can be done in the last few minutes of class, or it can be paired with history and a discussion for an entire lesson.

At its simplest, I hand students a blank piece of paper and say, “Draw the picture that comes to mind when you hear this piece.”

The Flight of the Bumblebee is a great piece for this exercise because it has distinct sounds that will provoke a variety of mental images. Even if they haven’t heard it before, many of your students will pick up on the idea that this sounds like a chase or running and some will even think of bees.

I do not tell students anything about the piece, they are just doing a cold listen. Typically, I play the piece a few times and allow them time to draw and then I suggest they give it a name. "If you were the composer, what would you title this piece?"

The most important part of this activity is the discussion afterwards. I find that students are almost always eager to share their artwork and explain what they noticed and how that translated to their picture.

As you discuss, connect their drawings to the elements of the music like: the quick tempo makes us feel like we are running or the ascending and descending runs in the violins make us picture something flying up and down.  Use as much music language and terminology as you can, and eventually they will begin to use it too.

Music Listening Egg Hunt

Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite, Edvard Greig

An awesome way to make a regular activity extra fun is to turn it into a scavenger hunt, and what could be more perfect for spring than an Easter eggs?

I print a list of listening questions on small slips of paper and hide them in eggs around the room. Students hunt quietly for a single egg while they listen to the music; when they find an egg they return to their spot, open the egg, and read the question. After listening through the entire piece, everyone should be back in their spot and it’s time to ask for volunteers to read their question and provide an answer.  

I print multiples of each question, so some students will be listening for the same thing. This fosters meaningful and somewhat organic discussion, because students will have the same questions but inevitably have different answers.  Here are the questions I used for this piece:

•        Name one instrument that you heard.
•        How would you describe the tempo (speed) of this piece?
•        How would you describe the mood (feeling) of this piece?
•        What do you hear in the music that reminds you of spring?
•        If you heard this song on a movie soundtrack, which movie would you be watching?                 

Happy Listening!