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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Teacher Tuesday: lesson ideas for teaching rhythm

Welcome back to Teacher Tuesday! Today I'm sharing my favorite ways to teach rhythm in a full-class lesson setting. Obviously rhythm is something that comes up in almost every song that we learn in class, but these are my favorite activities to use when we are really focusing on a particular rhythm.


1. Ostinato Composition

I think of composition just like writing in any other language: it is the highest level of skill development (just like we speak, then read, then write in our native tongue). So the best way to practice a musical element (and assess student understanding) is to use it in composition! One easy way to do this is to have students add an ostinato to a familiar song. I usually pick a song we have recently learned that they know well and love, and tell them to create a 1-measure pattern to add to the song, using the rhythm we are learning somewhere in their pattern. I usually have them create the rhythm in small groups by clapping, or individually by writing it down, then have them choose a percussion instrument to use with the class. Sometimes we perform the song in a "theme and variations" format, where we sing the song over and over while one group or student at a time performs their ostinato as an accompaniment, or we will put all or several of the ostinati together to create a more complex, layered accompaniment. With older students I throw in some higher-order thinking by asking students to choose an instrument that fits with the overall message of the song, and after the performance, I have the class discuss which ones best fit with the piece. Another extension is to transfer the rhythm to xylophones or other pitched percussion!

2. Rhythm Chairs

Split the class into two groups, with each group in a line leading to the front of the room, where you will be displaying a 1-measure rhythm (on a projector screen, whiteboard, or even flashcards in your hand). At the front of each line, put 4 chairs going across, facing the front of the room. Tell the students that a person is a note, and a chair is a beat. They need to show you whatever rhythm they see. On your signal, show the first rhythm. The first team to get the correct number of people in the correct chairs wins that round- if there are two eighth notes on a beat, two people share one chair, a quarter rest would be indicated by an empty chair, and they would show a whole note with one person laying across four chairs etc. The best part of the game is making them figure that all out on their own without any additional instructions! This game has been a real aha moment for many of my students, and boy is it fun! I've been doing this game with just 1-measure rhythms projected on the screen, but Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road has an awesome file, including game instructions and rhythms to use in the game, in her store here:

Rhythm Chairs Bundle

3. Rhythm Battle

I use this as a special activity during Music In Our Schools Month (read more about the things I do for MIOSM here), but you could definitely pull this out any time of year!I choose a song with a clear, stead beat- usually the instrumental version of an upbeat pop song to rev them up :) After the music starts, I put up a slide on my projector that says "Rhythm Battle!". When the intro is ending, I count off 4 beats and click to the next slide on "four". There is a 4 beat rhythm on that slide. If the class claps it correctly, I click to the next 4-beat rhythm slide on the 4th beat, and they have to continue clapping with no pause. They keep going until they make a mistake. When they mess up, they go back to the first slide and start over. Whatever their longest run is before the song ends, that is their class score for the day.  For MIOSM I keep a running tally throughout the month and the winning class from each grade level gets a prize. The competitive aspect definitely makes it more exciting, so I recommend running it as a competition between classes, but you could also set a goal for a certain score and work towards the goal. This is by far the best activity I have found for improving sight reading, and the kids beg for it every year! Here are the slides I use if you're interested- you can also easily make your own slides to fit the level of your students or even use flashcards if you have those.

I also do a lot of focused practice on rhythm concepts in small groups/centers. If you missed my post last week on center ideas for teaching rhythm, go check it out here:


14 comments :

  1. Thanks for the shout-out! I love the rhythm battle game you describe, sounds like a lot of fun for the kids :)

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    1. You're welcome, your visuals take the prep work out of this awesome activity! Thank you for putting it together :)

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  2. I love these ideas! I use chairs to create rhythms all the time, but never thought to make a competition out of it. I also like the rhythm battle game because students can practice rhythms and sight-reading at the same time. Clapping rhythms with music in the background makes students keep a steady beat but it also allows the teacher to pick styles of music that they may be working on at the time. I am looking forward to using these ideas in my classes this year!

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad you like these ideas, they have been very successful with my students :)

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  3. I love these, thank you! I have been looking for competitive, rhythm games just like these to keep students invested. So happy I read this post!

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    1. That's awesome! I'm so glad you found the right ideas at the right time, that makes my day! Thanks so much for commenting.

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  4. Love these ideas. Are the Rhythm Battle slides available for download?

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    1. Not currently- all I did was make a bunch of 4-beat rhythm patterns in Smart Notebook, there is seriously nothing fancy about them! ;) If I didn't have an interactive board I would either use PowerPoint and project the slides, or just hold a stack of flashcards. If you have any rhythm flashcards you can just use those. If you're interested in my Smart Notebook files just send me an email caldwell.organized.chaos@gmail.com

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  5. Hi! Your ideas are amazing. As a students teacher from Denmark I'm grateful that other teachers have made an efford to share some of their great ideas.
    I'd like to make rhythm-battle with my 3rd grade students next monday, but I'm not sure how quickly there are able to clap the rhythms. Do you have any songs you can recommend..? The beat should be very easy to hear so they won't get confused - they are still practicing on keeping a steady pulse but rhythm notes is no problem for them.

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    1. Hi! I'm so glad you've found the posts helpful- thank you for your kind words! :)
      I've used lots of different songs in the past for the Rhythm Battle, but "Walking On Sunshine", "Unbelievable" by Owl City, and "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior are all good ones- they're all upbeat, have a clear pulse, and a medium tempo, and they aren't too long. Let me know if you have any other questions, and have fun!

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  6. My school recently purchased your curriculum for me, and I LOVE IT! I did have a question about the method you used in your September notes under Rhythm: Dotted half note. Can you share with me how you teach them to speak the notes? I am new to this school and want to be consistent with what your curriculum teachers. I can teach them they way I know, but wanted to check with you.

    Thanks!!

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    1. Hi! I intentionally leave it open in my curriculum resources to whatever counting system your district is using, so if there is a method your students were using before I would use that one or whichever one you are most comfortable with. That being said, I started off my teaching career using ta/ ti-ti/ to-o-o for lower elementary and Eastman (1-e-&-a) for upper elementary, and in my current district I use du/ du-de for lower and Eastman for upper (I make the switch end of 3rd/ beginning of 4th- you'll see there are lessons for helping students practice and learn the new counting system at the beginning of 4th grade). I switch over around that age from whatever other system I was using because the secondary ensemble music classes usually use Eastman counting in their classes. I'm so glad you're enjoying the curriculum resources- email me at caldwellorganizedchaos@gmail.com if you have any other questions! I'd love to chat more about how it's going!

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  7. Hi! I'm curious how your students represent dotted notes on the chairs during rhythm chairs. I'm thinking sit on one chair with a hand on the next??

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    1. For dotted half notes I would expect them to have one person covering 3 chairs (usually they lay down across them). For dotted quarter, I would expect them to cover one and a half chairs (probably doing something like you said). Part of what I love about this activity, though, is the higher-order thinking that's required- I never explicitly tell them HOW to show different rhythms once I've explained that people represent notes and chairs represent beats! So sometimes they come up with creative solutions that still work :)

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