My Favorite Lesson for Teaching Mi / Sol / La

No matter what methodology you use, teaching pitch is a fundamental part of elementary general music. And while there are different schools of thought on the order in which to introduce the different solfege notes (I don't necessarily favor one over any others), at some point most sequences will focus on the combination of mi, sol, and la. Today I want to share my favorite ways to introduce students to this set of pitches, particularly focusing on la as the new note: identifying them aurally, notating them, and singing them.

In my current district we introduce mi and sol in 1st grade and add la in 2nd grade, so I focus on the mi / sol / la combination in 2nd grade. I spend quite a bit of 2nd grade using songs with those 2 notes- there are just so many great ones to use with this age (here's a pretty great list of MSL songs)- but the song I like to use to introduce the notes is Bickle Bockle:

I particularly like using this one because I'm also introducing half notes in 2nd grade, so I can hit both with one song! One thing I also look for when I'm selecting songs to introduce a new musical element is a song with a game to go with it- that way students will happily sing the song over and over again 😉 This one is no exception- here's a video example of one way to play (the explanation starts at 3:10):

Depending on the group of students I have, I will often have the students who are "out" play the steady beat on an instrument while the others continue playing.

After students have become familiar with the song, I review mi and sol and have students identify the notes in the first measure of the melody (another great reason to use this song: the first "la" doesn't happen until the 2nd measure!). We continue identifying the solfege of the melody aurally until we get to la.... Wait a minute!?! That's not mi OR sol... it's a different note! Yes kids, this note is called "la" and it's even higher than sol!!

Once we've aurally identified the solfege notes of the melody, we practice singing it with the solfege names and Curwen hand signs. Then we jump straight into my favorite solfege game of all time: the Salami game! I introduce the game by telling students to copy some 3-note patterns after me with note names and hand signs, and we do a few combinations with a mixture of mi, sol, and la. Then I have them echo me singing sol-la-mi, and after they sing it, I stop and laugh.... Wait... did you just sing "salami"? Gross! OK from now on if I sing that pattern that sounds like "salami", don't copy me. If you do, you're out! This is a great way to get kids to practice the names and hand signs for the notes and get plenty of practice singing them in different combinations.

Over the course of the next few lessons, I'll bring the Salami game back and increase the difficulty: first I'll switch to humming the notes with the hand signs (they have to sing back the names of the notes), then I'll hum with my hands behind my back (they still have to sing the names and use the signs). Makes it a lot trickier!

The final step in introducing la is to show students how to notate it. I have found this is the most difficult part for students because, if you've started with mi and sol like I do, this is the first time they'll be using a mixture of line and space notes. In 1st grade we talk about how mi and sol are buddies- if one of them is a space note, the other is too- and sol always stays just above mi. When we add la, I like to tell students that la is sol's annoying little brother. Sol and mi always want to play together, but la keeps tagging along with sol. But he doesn't play along nicely with sol and mi- he likes to be different just to annoy them. So when mi and sol are line notes, he's a space note. When mi and sol are space notes, he's a line note. He stays right next to sol because remember, he's the annoying little brother.

I have students practice notating the notes in as many different ways as possible: we start off practicing together as a class using bean bags on the floor (I have taped lines to make a "floor staff"), and drawing notes on the large whiteboard and/or moving them on the SmartBoard. Then I split them up into small groups and have them practice again using different manipulatives like mini erasers, magnets, and stickers. If you want more details on the specific manipulatives I use, where I got them/ how I made them, and how I use them, check out the posts below:

Changing up the materials they use to notate not only keeps things interesting but it helps solidify students' understanding. Once they've practiced notating mi, sol, and la in different keys and different combinations and sequences, I have students go back to "Bickle Bockle" and notate the melody on the staff.

There are of course plenty more great songs to use to practice mi, sol, and la- I review them all year long with my 2nd graders- but these are my favorite ways to introduce each aspect of using the notes. You can find more ideas for teaching those and other pitches, along with tips for teaching melodic concepts in general, in the MusicEd Blogs melody ebook (download it for free right here)! Last week I shared my favorite lessons to use to introduce mi and sol to my 1st graders:

I'll be sharing more favorite lessons for other pitch sets in future posts, so be sure to stay tuned ;) And if you want to see the full lesson plans for how I teach mi, sol, and la throughout the year in second grade, along with all the materials I use, you'll find them in my 2nd grade curriculum set here.

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Planner Quick Tip: sticker hack

I'm back with another "quick tip" for getting more out of your planner, but this week's tip is less about productivity and more about fun! And saving money. Sound good? Let's get to it!

I've talked before about how and why I use "functional decorating" in my planner- read more (and watch me demonstrate a ton more decorating "tips") right here. Suffice it to say, I think a certain amount of decorating actually helps me process my plans more effectively, and it most definitely makes me more motivated to use my planner regularly.

However, there are two problems that I run into with planner decorating: the cost of supplies and the space I have available on the page. This little hack for a neat way to use decorative stickers helps address both of those problems, and also makes my spreads look more beautiful in my opinion!

The idea is to use stickers to decorate the edges of the page so that they hang off the side, and then cut off the extra and use the other part of the sticker somewhere else on the page. On this page, I decorated all around the outside of the page with just two stickers- the ones circled in blue were all part of one sticker, and the ones circled in purple were part of another sticker:

I used to see pictures of decorated planner spreads with only part of the sticker and think it was such a waste. Now I know I can get the same effect but not waste any of the sticker! I also don't shy away from large stickers like I used to, because I know I can cut them into smaller pieces so I don't have to use up large chunks of space on my page- something I NEVER have with the amount of information I track! And it just makes the whole page look more cohesive in such an effortless way :)

Of course in the example above I used florals, but I've done this with snowflakes, leaves, and geometric shapes. I have a little more room to use larger stickers on my monthly calendars, but I use the same trick to decorate the even smaller space around the edges of my weekly spreads with smaller stickers as well.

I hope you enjoyed this quick "sticker hack" and that you'll try it out in your own planner spreads! If you want to see more of my planner pages, come follow me on Instagram- I post all of my weekly and monthly pages over there. And if you want to get more regular updates and ideas sent straight to your inbox, be sure to sign up for the newsletter! Click here to sign up!

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My Favorite Lesson for Teaching Sol / Mi

One of the most fundamental concepts in general music teaching is melody/ pitch. When I'm creating my scope and sequence for all of the grade levels I teach, I always start by mapping out the rhythm and pitch elements I'll be introducing in each grade level. Although there are variation within different methodologies for the exact sequence in which specific pitches are introduced, I wanted to share some of my favorite lessons for introducing each pitch set in the order that I teach them. Today I'm starting with the first two notes I introduce in first grade: mi and sol.

Of course before I introduce the specific notes mi and sol, I spend a lot of time in kindergarten teaching high and low, along with other fundamental musical concepts. If you want to see the lessons I use to teach high and low, here is my post on that:

Once we get to first grade, it's time to start identifying specific pitches. I like starting with sol and mi because when we talk about notation it's easy to see the higher and lower notes and practice writing them on lines or spaces, and because so many playground chants are sung/spoken on mi and sol. I start by teaching students the song, "Rain, Rain, Go Away":

I like using this song, even though it has other pitches besides mi and sol, for 2 reasons: 

1. It uses quarter and eighth notes, so I can review those rhythms with the same song, and
2. I can have them repeat the song several times and keep it fun by changing out the name in the second line ("little ___ wants to play") for different students' names.

After using the song to practice steady beat and review rhythms, I have students sing the first measure and have the class identify which notes are the "high note" and which are the "low note", then have them sing the measure with the words "high" and "low" for the corresponding notes. While they are singing it that way, I use the Curwen hand signs for sol and mi to show "high" and "low". Then I have them practice identifying the difference between the high and low notes by having students echo me as I sing 3-note patterns on the two notes. I ask them to show the high and low notes with their hands while we do it. After the first few patterns, I hum the notes and have students sing it back on "high" and "low" to see if they can hear the difference.

Once I'm confident that the majority of the students can differentiate the two pitches aurally, I introduce the names of the notes: mi and sol. Then we go back and repeat the process: identify which notes are which in the first measure and sing the notes on "mi" and "sol" with hand signs, then echo 3-note patterns on mi/sol. 

Once students can identify mi and sol and sing them with the correct names and hand signs, I show them how to write the notes. I use a floor staff (masking tape lines on the floor) and have students place bean bags on the higher or lower lines to match the notes I sing, then have them stand on the matching lines, then repeat the process putting mi and sol in the spaces. I tell students that mi and sol are partners- they always follow each other to be either space notes or line notes- but sol is always one spot higher than mi. Once they get some practice writing the notes in different ways, it's fun to turn it into a race! I'll sing a 3-note pattern and have the the students race to place bean bags on the correct lines/spaces. 

There are of course plenty more great songs to use to practice mi and sol- you can find more ideas for teaching those and other pitches, along with tips for teaching melodic concepts in general, in the MusicEd Blogs melody ebook (download it for free right here)! I'll be sharing more favorite lessons for other pitch sets in future posts, so be sure to stay tuned ;) And if you want to see the full lesson plans for how I teach mi and sol throughout the year in first grade, along with all the materials I use, you'll find them in my 1st grade curriculum set here.

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Planner Quick Tip: advance planning for the new year

For those of us on a traditional U.S. school calendar, this is often the time of year when we start looking ahead to dates for next school year. And with all of the concerts, festivals, and springtime chaos to already keep track of for the current school year, it can get pretty confusing trying to keep track of all of those dates and plans! Today I have another "quick tip" for streamlining your planner: how to keep track of important dates and information for the new school year!

Sure, you could go ahead and get all of your weekly and/or monthly calendars printed out for the next year and start writing in your plans there, but I found when I did that I got completely overwhelmed by #allthecalendars and could not keep track of things very easily. Whenever a new event or question would come up about the following school year, I found that I either didn't have those calendars with me because I didn't want to carry 2 year's worth of planners around, or it took me forever to find the information I needed because there were just. so. many. pages.

My solution: print off a one-page overview for the new school year and stick it in the front of my current planner. I started doing this last year and have found it much easier to keep track of everything without getting overwhelmed.

I already had these pages with monthly boxes to use for long-range curriculum planning, so I added the heading for the next school year at the top, printed it out, and stuck it in my current planner. Then I use sticky notes to add in important dates in the months that they fall, like extended breaks, school events, and potential concert dates.

I highly recommend keeping some small sticky notes handy for things like this- it's pretty simple to make your own dashboard to keep some sticky notes right inside your planner. Here's a tutorial on how I made mine:

You can easily set up a page like this yourself to add to whatever planner you use, or you can find these in my printable planner sets with all different date ranges to accommodate different school year calendars. I usually keep this page right next to a printed copy of the new school year's district calendar so I can reference that if I need to.

Want to see more of my teacher/ life planner? Here's a "tour" of last year's planner:

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