Checking In, Checking Up

 My daughter, Caiya, is about to turn 13.  With that is all the expected eye rolling, sarcasm dripping from the tongue, and the need for independence. She is an awesome kid- funny, incredibly artistic, and still loves hugs and talks with Mom. She loves to be around us (yay) and is very sweet and tender-hearted, all of which I am incredibly grateful for. Here is some of her amazing art: 

I chose this image my daughter drew below because I think many of us are feeling all the feelings - lonely, sad, angry, frustrated, discouraged, disappointed, and so on. I hear that - I see you.  

While my daughter was in hybrid mode this fall I was full-time with students at school. She would be home, in the craft room at her drawing desk online with classes. She is incredibly responsible and on top of things- well organized, and a good student. My husband works from home, and did pre-Pandemic, so nothing has really changed for him except that we have been underfoot. He would wander in occasionally to "check in" on Caiya. She saw it as Dad "checking up on" her. We had to talk about the importance of understanding there was CARE behind it, not accountability. 

So, how are YOU handling your CARE of yourself right now?  Are you taking walks, reading a non-PD book, indulging in Netflix and Prime, baking, making time for a hobby, and making some music for YOURSELF these days? Are you reaching out to friends and family and staying connected?  All of these things are not just important, but they are vital right now. 

Recently some beautiful music teacher friends got together to chat about our various situations - we were spread across the US - Michigan, Washington State, North Carolina, and Connecticut. Not one of us are teaching in the same situations - we all have various ways of doing and being but we all deeply love and miss our students and normal music making. Not one of us is teaching with the same schedule/mode/model this year.  I will be updating this post early next week and will share the link from my dear friend, Elizabeth of https://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/.  

Please take CARE, my friends - there is only one you and YOU MATTER!

 

in the Hall of the Mountain King Part 3

 The saga continues.. Peer in the castle, Troll King nearing... 

This piece of music will forever be my favorite for this time of year!

I published Part 1 of this in early October 207 - check out Part 1 of In the Hall of the Mountain King here.

Then Part 2 was published a short while later - check out Part 2 of In the Hall of the Mountain King here! 

Today, a few MORE ideas for you! 

Body Percussion with Sevens! 

 Did you know you can play the hand game, Sevens, along with In the Hall of the Mountain King? This is SO much fun!  The game is from my Hands to Hands, Too Book: 

Need a more visual demonstration of how to play the game?  Here you go! 

Movement/Body Percussion/Instruments with In the Hall of the Mountain King from Musication

Perfect for these times of not sharing instruments- this one is SO fun to add lots of various movement and/or instrument sounds from Music Packs! 

Super fun! Enjoy!!

Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month

 From September 15-October 15 Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated in the US.  The dates coincide with  national independence days in Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

Here are a few resources I have found helpful:

Books 

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist

Best Mariachi in the World

My Name is Celia

Tito Puente Mambo King

Most students are familiar with this tune - here is Tito Puente performing Oye Como Va: 

Conejito A Folktale from Panama

Cuckoo 

Drum Dream Girl

Songs

Video on my facebook -@o for tuna orff. 

El floron from my Sing a Song, Play a Game book published by Beatin' Path Publications.

Al citron, from same book above

SO many other wonderful resources included here: 

El patio de mi casa:

Arroz con leche

De Colores and Other Latin-American Folk Song for Children

Dances

Carnavalito from Bolivia - here is how to modify it for physically distant dancing: Video here.

Chililin from Bolivia - Yes, that is the correct spelling, often seen as Chilili - modified on the same video above. 

Dance: 

Dance with Legos: 

Music: 

Los Machetes- here is the incomparable Rob Amchin with a wonderfully modified version:

Check out these kids in Cuba performing salsa dancing- amazing!

These are just a FEW resources to get you started. Enjoy!

Dragons Love Tacos

Today I am sharing "Dragons Love Tacos". For the full pdf, send an email to musicquilt@hotmail.com.

Zoom and Face to Face Music Games

 I began compiling these a few months ago and modifying them for music classes. These are SO fun and I wanted to put them into card format to make them more user-friendly.There are also some empty cards for you to write your own games.  

Click here to download them as a pdf. 

Enjoy!  

Your Name is a Song

Updated 9.24.2020

Names are SO important! I fell in love with this new book, Your Name is a Song, by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. This is a VERY new book and was just released July 2020!  Here is a video of the author pronouncing the names included in the book: 

Dreamer of Names

You can choose to speak the created rhyme or sing, or sing and perform with Orff instruments.  If choosing virtual, students will be able to play the melody but not the score as written with most virtual instruments as they would need a 2-octave set but you can modify as needed.  The Chrome add on Xylophone is excellent! Many thanks to my friend, Jody, for introducing it to me! You can search on google for xylo playsprout and you can also use the internet-based version.

Names and Movement

Many thanks to Casey Goryeb for this BEAUTIFUL idea: 

• Research meanings of students names.
• Develop movement to represent meaning while saying the name. Names could be for all family members, pets, relatives, etc. If no meaning to be found, students choose a meaning to represent their name.
• Eventually pass the name movement silently from one student to another in the room. 

Extensions:

• Create a chart of one, two, three sound names with everyone in class. Put names together into a 4-beat phrase, use body percussion to play, transfer to instruments.  
• Name games like Ickety Tickety and Jump In, Jump Out. There are MANY here on this previous post! 
• Use Chrome Music Lab Song Maker and have students create a song to go with their name. Customize instruments, percussion, number of beats in measure, notes (settings to create pentatonic scales), etc. 

• Chrome Music Lab Kandinsky - use this one to have students draw their names and turn it into music!  Such fun! 

Here are some free printables to go with the book:

Happy Days in First Grade

Stories by Storie

Worksheet by Jody Petter

 

Happy back to school!