Monday, August 6, 2012

Magnetic Hand Signs



Good bye, old hand signs! You have served me well for 7 years . Even though you were laminated, your thin pink paper is still curled on the edges and show years of use. You have been ripped by students who did not treat you with respect, and taped back together with care. But, the time has come for us to part.


Hello, new hand signs! I look forward to using you in many lessons! I hope your freshly laminated yellow card stock and magnetic tape will be strong enough to last years and years!  

Sincerely, 
Mrs. Dennis


These hand signs are magnetic and stay on along the side of my magnetic whiteboard. I use them often when singing solfege to songs. I like the fact that they are magnetic because I can slide pitches side to side only selecting the ones I need. When we are in pentatonic, I tell the students that fa and ti are on vacation. They think its so funny to put fa and ti in vacation. They make up stories about where they went. They think its amazing when we actually get to use fa and ti or when another pitch gets to go on vacation. 

You could spend money on a pitch ladder or posters of the handsigns, but I like that these are shaped exactly like the hands and are movable. Plus, THESE ARE FREE! I drew these and scanned them into a pdf. You have 2 options to choose from, one with the words and one without. ENJOY!

FREE DOWNLOADS


UPDATE: Be sure to check out the follow-up to this post, "Follow-up: Magnetic Hand Signs"

20 comments:

  1. That is an EXTREMELY cool idea! Very nice!

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  2. Wow- I was just getting ready to buy some. Thanks so much for sharing! Love your blog!

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  3. Thank you thank you thank you!!! I could not find hand signs anywhere, and this is an excellent idea.

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  4. This is exactly what I've been looking for. :-)Unfortunately, I cannot download the pdf's (due to broken links?) Would you e-mail/send me a workable link? I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

    Joanne
    (Music teacher)

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  5. Hi Mrs Dennis - I am taking on Music classes at my school this year for 3-6 - daunting to say the least as my background is science!! I have found your blog invaluable and just want more!! I cannot download the Curwen Hand Signs pdf - broken link - help please??

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  6. Thank you so much! I laminated mine and velcroed each to a different color construction paper in rainbow colors...I love how I can adjust which ones I display for each class based on what we're learning!

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  7. When I click on the download link, I get a message that your webpage may contain malware.

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  8. Just printed on cardstock and attached to my board with magnets. THANK YOU!

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  9. Oh no! Two weeks ago I opened the PDFs & they worked, but I didn't have access to a printer- now I do & I can't get the links to work. I am getting ready to set up my first music classroom and really want to incorporate these if you're able to look into this. Hope you see this comment- they're a great resource!

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  10. The links aren't working for me, either. I would love to have these. They are awesome!

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  11. I had uploaded the files to my classroom webpage and it seems to periodically cause issues. I am in the process of moving my shared documents to a Teachers Pay Teachers store. (They will still be free!) Check the links again. Let me know if you have trouble.

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  12. Works great! & just in time!! THANK YOU!!

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  13. Thank you! I'm going to put these on our rocket! We have the space theme this year : )

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  14. These are great. Do you have the hand signs for the minor and augmented pitches?

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  15. I am sorry, I do not have minor or augmented pitches.

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  16. I think it would be lovely to have curwen hand signs that look like a child's hands!

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