Changes and Mystery Songs

This past week has pretty much been insane! Sometimes I forget how much time it takes for me to settle into my routines (both at school and at home) after a relaxing summer. If you can actually call wedding planning relaxing...I got to do lots and lots of crafts, though, so it was fun! You know what else is fun? Boomwhacker songs! There may be something therapeutic about making music by hitting things but don't quote me on it. 

Our school has had to do some reorganization of classes in the Junior Division so at some point next week I will no longer be a Music/SERT teacher but will be a Grade 5 Language/Social Studies/Drama/Dance teacher in the morning and a Grade 4-8 Music teacher in the afternoon. Believe it or not, I'm super excited about this and am looking forward to the challenge!

Now on to the post I've been meaning to write since last Wednesday...

boomwhacker-songs

I love Boomwhackers but hadn't had much of a chance to use them last year as I was teaching Music from a cart and the thought of having to manage those instruments and my cart was too daunting for me. I wasn't sure how to get started. Where would I find Boomwhacker songs? How was I supposed to do a Boomwhacker play along? I saw this great idea on the Elementary Music Methods:Real Life Edition blog about a Boomwhacker Mystery Game. Cassandra created her songs with Powerpoint but my computer and projector were not set up yet so I grabbed some chart paper and markers and went to town. 

I started off by having the students predict the name of these mysterious instruments and how they thought they produced sound. A lot of students thought they worked by blowing into them and were excited by the prospect of actually being able to hit something to make a sound. I did go over how we were going to play them today (hitting the Boomwhacker on the hand) to avoid any sword fighting issues. I showed them the Low C tube and we compared it to the High C one and the students predicted which one would be higher or lower. We talked about the music alphabet and I taught them the Music Alphabet song (to the tune of the regular ABC song except we sing ABCDEFG over and over again) and the Grade 8s actually sang it. Love it! 


boomwhacker-songs

Originally, I was planning on having the students play the mystery song with their Music Groups but realized that I did not know these students well yet so I wanted to make sure that I modeled how to play the Boomwhackers appropriately and also get them used to me counting them in to begin playing. The students easily identified the Mystery Songs and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves.

Now that I've managed to get my act together I have created my own set of Boomwhacker songs. You can check them out here. You can definitely go with the old school option of chart paper and markers (like I did at first) but now I'm loving the option to project-and-go or print-and-go. You've gotta do what works for you and your class and I know that Boomwhacker songs totally engaged my students and I hope they'll do the same for yours!


boomwhacker-songs


from-math-to-music



Comments

  1. I'd like to be a fly on the wall just to see the looks on your students' faces. Or maybe I'd just like to come and play, too.
    G Janssen

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  2. Hi there! I've discovered you via pinterest! I'm a great fan of using boomwhackers in my music classes (once I've made it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that they are not swords or light sabres). Have you tried using them in the "Penguin Song" - (Have you ever had, a penguin come to tea, take a look at me, a penguin you will see). My year 1 and 2 children loved this - that would be round about age 6.

    Now that I've found you, I'll be back! I blog over at themusicjungle.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much Kirsten! It is so important that you lay down the "no weapon" law right away. Thanks for sharing the link to your blog. I'd love to know more about how you use boomwhackers with the Penguin Song.

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