Music: Theme Activities for the Classroom
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Brainstorm with your class a list of the musical styles your students can name. Play short samples from a variety of different musical genres: an opera aria, salsa, rock, country, hip hop, mariachi, rap, classical, etc. With each piece, ask your students to offer adjectives or describing words that capture the way the music sounds and the way it makes them feel. Encourage your students to get out of their seats and dance to each different selection. What types of physical movement does each piece inspire?
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Teach your curious learners a simple song like "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat" or "Pop Goes the Weasel" and then divide the class into thirds and teach them how to sing it in rounds.
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With what musical instruments are your students familiar? Play recordings of different instruments, or invite parents or musical friends to play for the class. Play the Music Matching Game.
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Play works from classical composers such as Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi during a quiet time of concentration for one week. Discuss how the background music affected your students’ work and ability to focus.
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Create your own percussion shakers by adding uncooked rice or small dried beans to empty pill canisters or yogurt containers. Secure lids tightly! Let your curious learners experiment with different motions to create different sounds. How softly can they shake their shakers? How loud can they make them sound? What rhythms can they create? Play a salsa recording and have the students accompany it with their shakers.
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Music is all around us—from lullabies sung at bedtime, to commercial jingles on the radio and television, to movie soundtracks, to birds singing in the trees. Encourage your curious learners to be attuned to the music in their world by noticing the times they hear music outside the classroom. Complete the I Love Music worksheet.
Print the Music Matching Game
Print the I Love Music worksheet