Teaching Ti

I'm returning to my series on melodic teaching strategies from years ago today with my favorite lesson ideas for introducing ti. After working on the pentatonic scale in 3rd grade, I introduce ti in 4th grade: singing it, identifying it aurally, and notating it as well.

My favorite song to use to introduce ti in 4th grade is "Boots of Shining Leather". I like using this song because I use it to review canon singing (as we get ready to learn partner songs) and this song is a good level of challenge for singing in canon while adding some movement as well. Here is one example of movement you can use- adding the element of having the groups face each other and walking back and forth makes it interesting and challenging for this age group! I tend to change up some of the movements to make them a little more modern but the basic idea is the same:

Once they are familiar enough with the song to be able to sing and move in canon, I show students the notation of the 2nd line, "boots of shining leather". This line works particularly well for students to see adjacent notes and quickly find ti because it starts on do, goes up to re (which they already know), and then goes back down the scale to la. There's our new note ti right in between do and la!

I don't get into minor scales until 5th grade so I don't explicitly touch on it in this lesson, but this is also a great song to use for la-based minor. Every single year I have had at least one student who notices that the song "sounds minor" and I often give a quick explanation of la-based minor for that student(s) by pointing out that the phrase ends on la instead of do.

Once we've practiced singing the note names in the song, I introduce the "me salty" game. If you have seen my previous post on mi/ sol/ la, then this game works the exact same way the "salami" game does: I sing a 3-note phrase with hand signs and students echo it back, but if I sing mi-sol-ti (which sounds like I'm calling myself "salty") then they are not supposed to sing it back. I of course mix all the other pitches into the phrases they echo so that they get plenty of practice with all of them! Once they can consistently sing the pitches with correct hand signs, I up the ante. First I sing the notes with hand signs but humming instead of singing the names, and they have to sing them back with the note names. Then I take away my hands and continue humming and have them sing and sign the notes back, and then I use just my hands and have them sing and sign the notes back. It takes quite a bit of concentration!

My favorite way to have students practice notating melodies including ti, at this age, is with Chrome Music Lab Song Maker. I like using this software with upper elementary because it's an easy way to use the colors to see which note is which, and they can see the melodic contour of the notes going higher and lower on the screen. First I have them practice notating short phrases I sing on solfege on the computer, then I have them notate the melody for "Boots of Shining Leather", and then eventually they compose their own melody including ti on Song Maker and transfer that to staff notation.

All of this is done over the course of the entire year as they get more comfortable with the pitch concepts. If you missed them, be sure to check out my previous posts on introducing sol/mi in 1st grade and introducing la in 2nd grade. And if you want to see the full lesson plans for how I teach the pentatonic pitches throughout the year in third grade, along with all the materials I use, you'll find them in my 3rd grade curriculum set here. All of my posts on teaching melodic concepts, including solfege, pitch letter names, and more are compiled in this post.

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Teaching Do / Re / Mi and Pentatonic

I'm returning to my series on melodic teaching strategies from years ago today with my favorite lesson ideas for focusing on the do/ re/ mi pitch set. If you sequence your teaching by starting with these 3 notes, you can use these ideas to work on just do/re/mi. If you, like me, start with mi/ sol/ la and add do and re afterwards to make a pentatonic scale, you can use them that way as well.

After focusing on mi / sol / la in 2nd grade, I add do and re in 3rd grade. There are TONS of pentatonic songs using do, re, mi, sol, and la from all over the world that are perfect for practicing those pitches, but to first introduce do and re, especially in relation to mi, I like to use the song "Zudio" because it's a great way to get students moving actively with the song and repeating it over and over again!

There are so many super fun movement games to do with this song! If you are going to devote enough time to the lessons to do the full song, this game is so much fun (I like teaching just the one part in the beginning of the year with a quick game and then coming back to this full version at the end of the year- this game is perfect for the pre-summer wiggles)! This kind of movement is also really fun and much faster to learn, especially if you're just focusing on the 2 parts of the song notated above. I like to have students partner up and do a simple 4-beat clapping pattern (clap your own hands on beats 1 and 3, cross to clap each other's right hands on beat 2 and each other's left hands on beat 4) for "here we go" and do a simple hand jive for "step back Sally".

If you're following the pitch sequence to introduce do re mi first, this song works great because you can focus on the last 3 notes of the phrase where it says "all night long" and identify just those pitches. If you have students learning mi sol and la first and are then adding do and re, which is what I do, I still start with "all night long" but then go back and identify the solfege of the first line, "here we go Zudio" to have students identify the sol and la in the melody as well.

Once we've practiced singing the note names in the song, I introduce the "me dodo" game. If you have seen my previous post on mi/ sol/ la, then this game works the exact same way the "salami" game does: I sing a 3-note phrase with hand signs and students echo it back, but if I sing mi-do-do (which sounds like I'm calling myself a "dodo") then they are not supposed to sing it back. I of course mix all 5 pitches into the phrases they echo so that they get plenty of practice with all of them! Once they can consistently sing the pitches with correct hand signs, I up the ante. First I sing the notes with hand signs but humming instead of singing the names, and they have to sing them back with the note names. Then I take away my hands and continue humming and have them sing and sign the notes back, and then I use just my hands and have them sing and sign the notes back. It takes quite a bit of concentration!

As with the other solfege pitches that I introduce, the last step is to practice notating. To practice with all 5 notes (which can be pretty overwhelming at first), I bring back the monster magnets that I introduce in 2nd grade, and then later have them use solfege stickers, color-coded to match our boomwhackers, to practice translating a rhythmic composition to a melodic one. If you haven't already, be sure to read about both of those DIY manipulatives in the posts below- they are so effective in helping kids see the different pitches more concretely and keeping them engaged while they practice notation! 

In my case, since students now know the 5 pitches of a pentatonic scale after introducing do and re, this is also when we first talk about the word and concept of "pentatonic" music. The best way that I've found to have students grasp the idea of pentatonic melodies and see how versatile that set of pitches can be is to have them improvise with pentatonic notes on barred percussion. We get out the xylophones and remove the F and B bars (the "burgers and fries") and then take turns making up whatever they want for 4 beats each. They're always surprised at how they can use those notes in any order or combination and still sound like "real music"! 

After those lessons, the rest of the year is spent practicing and reviewing do, re, mi, sol, and la and learning lots of pentatonic songs! If you missed them, be sure to check out my previous posts on introducing sol/mi in 1st grade and introducing la in 2nd grade. And if you want to see the full lesson plans for how I teach the pentatonic pitches throughout the year in third grade, along with all the materials I use, you'll find them in my 3rd grade curriculum set here. All of my posts on teaching melodic concepts, including solfege, pitch letter names, and more are compiled in this post.

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3 Common Consequences Music Teachers Need to Stop

We need to be able to enforce boundaries and standards of behavior, but it can be hard to come up with consequences that we can use as elementary music teachers when our class times are so short and there are often several days between the times we see them. But there are some common practices I hear teachers recommending to others regularly that I think do more harm than good- here are my top 3 consequences I wish elementary music teachers would stop using, and what I do instead.

1. Give a class intentionally boring worksheets as a consequence for expressing or demonstrating negative attitudes towards regular lesson activities

As logical as it may sound to think that students will appreciate the fun and exciting lesson activities more if they experience what a boring lesson is like, if there is toxic, negative energy going around for whatever reason about your class, making it more boring is not going to help- it's going to make it worse. There is always a ringleader or two that is the root of the negative energy, even if it feels like the whole class is against you. Start by explaining at the end of the lesson that the negative energy is ruining the vibes and preventing the class from having fun and from learning- not every activity or class has to be their favorite, but everyone needs to do their best and have a positive attitude: "don't yuck someone else's yum". Tell them that starting next lesson, you are not going to allow anyone to ruin the positive energy.

If possible, make someone- the principal, the social worker, etc- aware of the situation and that you are trying to turn around the negative energy in a class. Warn them ahead of time that you may need backup during a particular class period while you handle the situation, and work out a plan, either for someone to push in or be prepared to take students, if you need it. I know sometimes teachers don't have adequate support staff or their administrator is unsupportive- in that case I would get a colleague on board who is willing to have a student or two come in their room. But I would encourage you to try to advocate for someone to be available to come in if needed- I've found administrators and support staff appreciate when you explain all the things you've already tried and that you are wanting to do this as a short-term strategy to keep everyone in class instead of having to throw them out or stop your lessons in the long run.

Once you've established that you expect everyone to keep negative energy to themselves, start the next lesson overflowing with positive energy, grinning as soon as you see them to show you're excited about having a good time that day. Don't plan anything different than what you normally would have, but be super excited about everything. Give positive reinforcement for all the students who are engaged, whether that's points or whatever other positive reward you have in place in your school or classroom (if you don't have one, start one and explain what it is to everyone!). As soon as the first person starts to make a negative comment/ face (even if it's right as they enter the room), try to quickly catch them and remind them to keep it positive. If they don't, ask them to sit away from the rest of the class and take their negative energy elsewhere and go back to having fun with the others. If they are still disrupting the lesson, offer to let them write down their negative thoughts instead of saying them out loud and spreading their negativity. If that doesn't work, put the backup plan into action: ideally I think it works best if there is someone that can be on call to come and sit with the negative student(s) while you proceed with the others, but if not, get them to leave the room, whether it's the principal's office, another classroom, or somewhere else. The goal is to turn the tide so that the majority of the class that was getting sucked into the negativity before, gets sucked into your positive energy instead. 

If you have to have a student (or several students) leave the room, it will be important to follow up with that student after class. Often they will be happy that they got to leave the class they were complaining about (which is why it's best to find a way for someone to come in if at all possible)! So there needs to be a consequence for that specific student, whether that's giving makeup work, calling/ writing home, or something else to make sure that student doesn't want this to keep happening. Having that positive reward for the students who were engaged will help here too, since obviously the ones who left will not get whatever the others did. It will get easier and easier to get those students to at least tone down their negativity to a manageable level once the attitude of the rest of the class is positive- it has never taken me more than 4 class periods of this to turn the class around.

2. Put away instruments and ban their use from the entire class because of chaotic behavior while using them or damaging an instrument(s)

If students don't know how to use instruments properly, giving them less opportunity to learn how is not going to help long-term. It's also never helpful to punish an entire class for something that most likely wasn't something everyone did. First of all, I have a strict rule in place of, "if you play before I say you'll make the instrument go away". I tell them every single time we get out instruments, and I also remind them often that I'm not here to judge if it was intentional or accidental- if you touch/ make sound with something when you're not supposed to, you will miss a turn with that instrument. The key is to make sure the time they lose the instrument is short and then they quickly get a chance to try again and do it right.

If as a group a class is too chaotic while using/ getting out instruments, slow it way down to whatever point you need to be able to monitor each student more closely. Sometimes that means only half the class plays at a time instead of everyone at once, having one student at a time go and get out their instrument while the rest of the class waits and watches and you narrate the correct way of doing it every step of the way, or having a few students designated to get out an instrument for others, etc. 

3. Having a class practice coming into class silently/ calmly over and over until they are all coming in the way you expect

I used to do this ALL THE TIME at the beginning of my career. Having students practice a behavior or procedure the right way when they do it wrong is obviously a good thing. But again, punishing an entire class for something that is probably not something everyone is doing is only going to make students feel frustrated and agitated, not calm and focused like you want them to be.

If the vast majority of a class comes into my room too rambunctiously, I will definitely stop and have them go back and try again. But 1) I only do it one time and I make sure to give positive reinforcement to the ones that do it right, and 2) I do not have them go back in the hallway- I have them line up as close to the door as possible but still inside my room, and then walk to their spots from there. I find going back in the hallway is counterproductive because I never know who else is going to walk by making noise and/or distracting my students, and usually sound carries a lot more in the hallway so every little noise is amplified. I keep them in my controlled environment to practice instead.

If it's just a few students, obviously I just ask those few students to do it again. If the class has practiced once there will only be a few students, if any, who still aren't doing it right- in that case I will have those few students try it again by themselves. But again, only once- after that it just turns into a power struggle and it's not effective. If I still have students who are running/ talking loudly etc after that, I tell them we will practice another time and move on. I talk to the homeroom teachers and/or principal and figure out a time when I can take them by themselves and practice walking appropriately (some years I've been lucky enough to be available to do it during their recess, other times I take them first thing in the morning when everyone else has circle time, or immediately after class).

As a sidenote, one thing that has helped tremendously with this problem specifically is I've stopped needing my students to walk in silently. Yes, they should not be yelling, running, or touching other people or things, but the thing that has helped me get everyone focused right away without requiring them to be silent is to immediately start student-led warmups. It took away so many power struggles to start class this way! Check out this post on how I do that, and this post for a whole bunch of activity ideas for warmups.

I know this may ruffle some feathers but I hope this gives teachers some new ideas to try that will help turn the tide in a positive direction! I would love to hear your thoughts on these common consequences, and any other strategies you have used effectively in these situations, in the comments below. 

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Elementary Music Lesson Warmup Activities

I've been using student-led warmups at the beginning of my elementary general music lessons for years now and I am a big fan! I've gotten a lot of questions about the warmups I do and how I do them, and over the last few weeks I've been sharing my favorite activities for lesson warmups in my K-6 general music classes (26 in all!) that focus on important musical skills and concepts. In this post I've compiled all of my posts on how I set up and manage the student-led warmups in general, all of the different activity ideas, and the visuals I use to run them.

First of all, my warmup activities start as soon as students start coming into the room- it's more like a "do now" where I don't wait for the class to all be seated before I start. Once I get it going, I hand it off to the small group of students assigned to lead warmups (the job rotates throughout the year) and they take over, giving me time to finish setting up, pull aside a student who needs a checkin, etc while the others are engaged in the activity. Here's the full post on how I run my warmups:

Besides the benefits from a management perspective, I've found the warmups very helpful for student learning because it gives me an easy way to quickly touch on those skills and concepts that need regular "drilling" for students to attain and maintain fluency, especially steady beat, rhythm, pitch, reading notation, and music vocabulary. In each of the posts below you'll find 4 or 5 different activities I use with different grades to practice these fundamental skills and concepts in quick and easy (and fun!) ways:

 

 

All of these can truly be done without any special slides or equipment, but I got several request to share the slides I use- for those who want something ready-made at your fingertips to implement all of the different warmups mentioned above, here they are:

If you haven't tried using warmup activities at the beginning of your elementary music classes, I highly recommend trying them out! It took me a long time to be convinced I should do it, but I have been hooked ever since I started. If you have more ideas for activities, or questions about anything, please leave a comment below.

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