Second Graders Learning About Orchestra Instrument Families

"The Remarkable Farkle McBride" by John Lithgow on PlayPosit began our new unit:
Instrument Families of the Orchestra

We will be using various resources to enhance learning.

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Instrument Safari

 This website presents the concept in an engaging and fun way.  

Students are welcome to explore this at home, and can register for a free account.

(Unfortunately because it uses Flash, it doesn't work on iPads)

By creating their own "secret name", password, and hint, students are able to experience all of this for themselves. This is an advantage because we take turns when we are learning as a class.

First Graders Have Fun With Classroom Instruments

First graders have been learning about our classroom instruments: 

How they look, sound, and name.

Also they're learning the correct way to play these instruments.

I used an interactive lesson that I designed to teach about this topic.

The Instrument Naming Game was a fun experience!

Now we're adding instruments to songs, and excited to use instruments created in STEAM class too!

Kindergarten Kids Explore Solfege

The Kindergarten Kids have been learning to sing with solfege, 

which are the Kodaly syllables and hand signs for singing. 

Activities have included a selected clip from "The Sound of Music"; 

playing with Boomwhackers (pitched tube instruments).

They will soon experience the book "Tap The Magic Tree" and Apple Tree, a circle game with a sol-mi-do song;

and the interactive white board program "Maestro Maestro" (sol-mi-do singing while learning instrument families).

Kindergarten kids have been singing many "I Sing, You Sing" songs, as well as seasonal songs from 

K8 Music/Plank Road Publishing. There is always movement incorporated. We also explore the software "Groovy Shapes by Sibelius on our Smart Board, which introduces many music concepts in engaging ways.