Singing Games-Elementary Music Curriculum-The Singing Classroom

Check out our new bunny animation of "There Was an Old Miller," a play party where partners move in a double circle. The game is active and exciting, and has an upbeat song great for teaching "first ending/second ending" and the solfege syllable "fa." Learn how to avoid having one child intentionally not find a partner in order to be in the middle! Also, read tips for getting kids in a double circle quickly and easily!

Newly added:  Johnny Has One Friend!

Johnny Has One Friend is a wonderful way to engage your PreK-K students by counting on their fingers. Then, sing the song to count the children in the class and help them stand up one by one.  Containing only three notes, this song is great for in-tune singing!

Name Learning Games!  Start your free 30 day trial now to access name learning songs and games for PreK-6!

New on The Singing Classroom:  Stick Games, Part 1

Sarasponda:  Great for grades 4-6, this song has a great stick game that’s just the right amount of challenge for older kids.  You can use rhythm stocks or rolled magazines taped firmly that the students click and toss with a partner.  The song itself is great for teaching:

The pick up note, since the pick-up and downbeat are reinforced by the stick motions

The mi-re-do pattern for older beginners

The solfege syllable “fa”

The rhythm pattern “Dotted quarter note eighth note”

New on The Singing Classroom:

Singing, Sewing and Solfege

The Thread Follows the Needle-This class singing game recreates an activity that most children used to see a lot of-sewing!  Watch the video to see an effective way to demonstrate sewing with a needle and thread, and check out the bunny animation to see how to play the game.  The game allows the children to work together in a group.  Each individual is critical for the success of the game!  Children link hands to become the “thread”, and walk under arches created by their arms to create “stitches”.  Wonderful for grades K-3 (best for older/more capable K’s.)  The song is also great for working on in-tune singing of a melody with a wider range.  Revisit the song with older kids to isolate the solfege syllable “fa”.

Here’s the text version, in case you cannot see the image above: Dancing Down The Alley

Croatian Beat Passing Game-Son Makaron

Son Makaron is a beat-passing singing game that’s excellent for teaching the quarter rest and the solfege syllable “fa”.  Great for grades 2-5, this game can be a lifesaver in those last few weeks of school when you need to keep your classes interesting for the kids and for yourself!

Can’t see the above image?  Here’s the text version:

Teach a Classic!

Engine, Engine

Engine, Engine Number Nine...a tried-and-true activity for the PreK-1st grade set.  Learn how to first introduce the chant with motions and then transition smoothly to making a train around the room.  Also covered:  how to transition smoothly into your next activity!  Engine Engine is fantastic for teaching eighth notes and quarter notes, as well as form.

Can’t see the above image?   Here is the text version:

New Free Sample Content!

See More of What’s Inside...

We understand that it can be a leap of faith to sign up for a subscription site without being able to try it first.  So we’ve added more recent material to our sample content page for you to check out!  Try out the games and activities to see how your kids respond--we’re willing to bet that you and your classes have a great time!

Here’s what we added:

LITTLE CIRCLE, LITTLE CIRCLE:  Picture-drawing songs are songs that describe how to draw a picture, and they are very popular in Japan.  Perhaps the best-known picture drawing song in the U.S. is the pig-drawing song “Little Circle”.  Children in Pre K-6h all love this one.  It’s also great for teaching sixteenth notes!

ALABAMA GAL:  Alabama Gal is a wonderful play part that’s great for teaching the rhythmic pattern eighth-quarter-eighth (syncopa.)  Three different animations show how to vary the game for children spanning grades K-6.  Younger children will enjoy learning the song from the poster (print out the poster from the sample content page) and playing the glockenspiel accompaniment, and older children can learn how to reel down the set during the play party.  Showing the animation to your students will make learning that section a breeze!

BATE BATE CHOCOLATE:  Bate Bate Chocolate is a simple Mexican children’s chant with an accompanying partner hand clap/spinning game.  It’s great for grades K-3, and wonderful for teaching eighth notes and quarter notes.  You can also use it to teach the concept of accelrando since you speed up at the end.  Learn the game by watching the bunny animation, and print out and use the poster to teach the words!

How to Recover From a Really, Really Bad Class If you’ve ever had a class go so badly that you decided you were a terrible teacher and thought about quitting teaching forever, then this post is for you! 

Awful classes can happen to even the most experienced of teachers, and it can really shake your confidence.  This video will show you a simple charting technique that takes almost no time, but will give you some perspective on your teaching.

 A few notes (to read after you’ve seen the video): •     The red dots give you valuable information.  For example, you may notice that they always happen on the same class.  Seeing that everything else is going well can help you feel more confident about fixing the problems with that class. 

•    You may also notice a particular day when many classes go badly.  Maybe you were sick or sleep deprived that day, or all the kids just get back from a field trip. Try to give yourself a pass on those days. 

Interviewing for a music teaching job soon?  There are lots of resources out there to help you prepare for interview questions— if you simply search for “music teacher interview questions.”  All of them will recommend that you come prepared with questions to ask your interviewer.  But what should you ask?  Below is a list of questions that serve a dual purpose:

1. To make sure you know the answers so that you can make an informed choice about whether the school is the right fit for you;

2. Impress the administrator with how thorough you are and how much you know and care about the teaching process and your role in the school.

Of course, many of the questions will be answered during the course of the interview.  When the administrator asks, “do you have any questions?” at the end of the interview, take out your list and scan it, looking for questions that haven’t been answered yet.

Basic Responsibilities:

• Do I have a music room, or go from class to class?

• How many students per class?

• How many times per week does the class meet?

• How many classes per day?

• Class period length?

• Is the school on a 5 or 6 day cycle?

• What are my other duties?  What kind of meetings do I need to attend?

• Start and end time of the day?

• Are general music classes expected to produce performances, or just the chorus?

• Is there a musical?  Am I part of it?

• How do I do report cards/grades, and how often?

• What would be my budget for materials for the classroom?

• Budget for professional development? If so, can I use it the summer before starting?

• Do I have a desk in my music room or somewhere else in the building? • Which file cabinets and bookshelves can I use?

• Does the school use Smartboards or other interactive whiteboards?   Would I have one?

• Am I expected to maintain a page on the website for parents and students?

• What is the review process of my teaching?

• How would you describe music teachers’ role school wide

• What would the salary be?*

Chorus:

• How many students per chorus?

• How are the kids in the chorus selected?

• Is chorus all year or in semesters?

• How often are performances?

• Do they always have their own performance, or with other ensembles?

School:

• What is the school culture, mission?

• How does the administration view the role of music in the school?

• Is there a school-wide system of classroom management?

• Am I encouraged to send children to the principal or school head for discipline issues or encouraged to handle a problem in my classroom?

• What is the role of sacred music, for example, at Christmas time?   Does the school prefer to include many different kinds of sacred music, or be totally non-sectarian?

Colleagues:

• Is there a formal process for connecting the music curriculum to the classroom teachers’ curriculum, or does that happen informally by just asking the teachers what they’re doing.

*Ah, salary.  We music teachers may be the only professionals who get all the way to the point of a job offer without knowing what the salary will be.  We are afraid to ask in the interview for fear of appearing inappropriate, as if we are teaching only for the money and not for the love of it.  Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, of course, but you may consider opening the topic with a question like “is there a salary range for this position?” Our friends in the finance field wouldn’t believe it :)

Can’t see the image above?  Here is the text version:

How to Introduce Betty Larkin-Teach the Song Quickly and Have Fun Doing it!

“Betty Larkin” has been in The Singing Classroom’s database for some time, complete with an animation showing the game and tips for making the game succeed.  However, one of our subscribers recently asked for help in introducing the song itself before playing the game.  Watch our new video to learn a quick method for teaching the song that’s fun for the kids, and while, simple, make them feel challenged.

Can’t see the image above?  Here’s the text version:

The Naughty Kitty Cat Speaks Spanish- Gato Travieso

Can’t see the above image?  Here is the text version:

From the Playgrounds of New York...