Broken Fan Tutorial

Props can be a great way to peak student interest in a classroom activity or add a polished touch for a performance. If you are purchasing props for an entire class or grade level, it can become expensive. It is sometimes difficult to find an inexpensive prop that is also durable and can withstand the nervous hands of a student awaiting show time.

Recently, my Orff Ensemble performed the Korean folk song "Arirang",  which included a fan dance. These fans were only $1 each from the Dollar Store. They are made of plastic and fabric and come in a variety of colors. I purchased them from the store in December, but they are currently out of season for their brick and mortar stores.  They are still available online but you must purchase a minimum of 24. Follow this link to the Dollar Tree online store.

During rehearsals, we had no trouble with these fans. While waiting to perform, two students accidently broke their fans. I'm so glad I had extra! After the performance, I tried to find a way to repair the broken fans instead of throwing them away. I am very pleased with the results. Actually, I think the repaired fans are going to be more durable than the originals. Follow this simple tutorial to save your broken fans!

Broken Fan Tutorial

To repair your fan, you will need a large paperclip and some needle nose pliers.

Step 1: Straighten the inside of your paperclip, pulling it open to form a 90 degree angle.

Step 2: Insert the straightened clip through the end of the fan.

Step 3: Using needle nose pliers, form two more 90 degree angles so that your paperclip forms a box around the end of the fan.

Step 4: With pliers, coil one end of the paperclip around the other.

Step 5: With pliers, continue coiling and then snap off any excess paperclip by bending the piece back and forth repeatedly.

Step 6: With pliers, bend the coil down and make sure there are no sharp ends that would scratch your hand while holding the fan.

I hope you find this post helpful! I originally purchased 12 fans, I will definitely be ordering some more to have a complete class set. If you have any lesson ideas that use fans, please add them in the comments below!

Tangle-Free Ribbon Wands

Are you looking to purchase some ribbon wands or do your ribbon wands keep getting tangled? You need to read this!

Eight years ago, I completed my first level of Orff Schulwerk training and devoted a big portion of my classroom budget for creative movement props. One of my biggest regrets, until now, was purchasing a class set of ribbon sticks from Oriental Trading. A very similar product is still found on orientaltrading.com.  They come in sets of 6 and are currently $8.


I had immediate buyer's remorse when I discovered how easily they would tangle. These ribbon sticks do not allow for the ribbon to swivel 360 degrees and therefore the ribbon tangles very easily. Also, once the ribbon is tangled, kids start yanking on it and cause the rubber end cap to come off. For years, they have been stored in the cabinets without being used.

This year, I pulled them out of the closet again after finding the "Chinese Ribbon Dance" lesson in Artie Almedia's Mallet Madness. I was determined to find a solution and put these props to use. 

 I searched online and found the Tikkido blog which suggested using swivels that are used for fishing lures. I had actually purchased a small package of swivels and had planned on investing in some new dowel rods. Since I had not purchased the dowels, I had not repaired them yet.

But, this week, two third graders showed ingenuity and solved my problem without the purchase of extra hardware!

My ribbons were connected to the stick with an eye hook and a metal clip. They discovered that if you remove the eye hook and rubber end cap, you can slide the biggest side of the metal clip around the stick. Then, simply replace the black end cap. The end caps may need a drop or two of glue to ensure they won't come off. My students are begging to come back to glue the end caps on another day! I was going to try super glue or a hot glue gun. But, if I let students repair it, I may use a safer adhesive.  Yes, the metal clip will slide up and down the stick. But, when you are using the ribbon your arm is continuously moving, so it does not slide around until you stop.

When these two showed me their discovery, I was elated!!! They repaired all 30 of my ribbon wands for FREE! (Although, I do plan on buying them some M&M's) 

 I have one last picture to show you how I store my ribbon wands. This is similar to my Boomwhacker storage, if you have seen that post. I separate each color in a smaller box which fit inside a bigger box.

The skinny boxes were actually very long boxes I kept when I purchased some wooden decorative shelves for my home. I had 3 boxes and simply cut them in half down the middle. I'm sure you can find similar sized boxes if you look or ask around. I am very conscious of our planet and try to reuse or repurpose things whenever possible!



I am so excited about the ribbon wands. This summer I plan on going through my Orff Level binders and searching the web for ideas to use them in lessons. If you have any suggestions, please comment below. I will leave you with one last picture of my problem-solving duo, Hunter and Leah, demonstrating the tangle-free ribbon wands!!!

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July 25, 2015

"120 Singing Games" 58% off!

This is one of my favorite resources! I am posting about it now, because I discovered that it is on clearance right now on

Walmart.com for $68.

That's 58% off!

 It normally retails for $162! I know I paid more than $100 for my used copy years ago purchased from amazon.com. If you do not have this book in your library, do not miss out on this outrageous deal!

The instructions for the dances are very clear and include helpful diagrams. There is also a very extensive movement glossary in the back of the book. Here are just a few of my favorite games and dances from this book:

"Old Betty Larkin" -a circle dance which is a mixer to trade partners. Grades 2-5 always enjoy this dance. Check out a previous post on this song.  

"Pop Goes the Weasel"-a triple circle dance for Grade 1-5

"I've Been To Haarlem"- double circle moving with partners and then separately in contrary motion. My students love to "wring the dishrag" and separate from their partner!

"Old Brass Wagon"-I love a dance where the lyrics tell you what to do!

"Paw Paw Patch"- a Kentucky song and a great dance to teach K and 1st how to "peel the banana"!

"Alabama Gal"-a "peel the banana" favorite!

"Obwisana"-an African rock passing game (we use beanbags)

"Tideo"- an arch-forming game

  

A full index of the contents is available at westmusic.com.

If you already have this great book, share your favorite game or song below!

"Old Betty Larkin": A Kentucky Folk Dance

Greetings, from Kentucky! We just finished a lesson introducing the mountain dulcimer, Jean Ritchie, and a Kentucky folk dance, "Old Betty Larkin." The dulcimer is Kentucky's state instrument, so I always make sure to expose my students to our Kentucky heritage at least a couple times throughout the school year. "Old Betty Larkin" is a game song that any age will enjoy. I teach this lesson to 2nd-5th grade every year and it is a favorite the kids remember from year to year.

The song and dance can be found in "120 Singing Games and Dance For Elementary School" by Lois Choksy and David Brummit. This is a great resource and I use it often. If you don't currently own a copy, I promise it will be worth your investment! On westmusic.com, this retails for $162.00. I know I paid more than $100 for my copy several years ago when I purchased on amazon.com.  I did a quick search and found it at walmart.com for only $68! What a deal!

The song is in D dorian, but the kids usually pick up on the melody very quickly. (It's actually refreshing to get out of the world of C Major pentatonic!) I usually accompany the song on my dulcimer just playing a drone throughout the song without worrying about the melody string because I have zero skills or training in actually playing the dulcimer. There are chord changes you could choose to play if you were accompanying the song on piano, guitar, or even Orff instruments. (I've always wanted to make an Orff arrangement for this song but haven't gotten around to it yet!)

We repeat the song several times. Usually we try to give everyone a turn, but sometimes we just run out of time. If you have an even number of students, we have 2 people in the middle to be Betty/Billy. I just remind them to go to opposite sides of the circle to start the weaving so that they don't end up stealing 2 people from the same couple. This is a time saver to allow more kids to have a turn. The older kids could handle 3 in the middle if you are adventurous!

Dance Connections

Here are a few questions I usually ask the kids to include dance vocabulary in the lesson: 

In verse 1, who was locomotor? Everyone except Betty/Billy

In verse 2, who was locomotor? Only Betty/Billy

In verse 3, who was locomotor? Only the new Betty/Billy

In verse 1, what kind of pathway did you travel? Curved

In verse 2, what kind of pathway did Betty/Billy travel? Zigzag

In verse 3, what kind of pathway did the new Betty/Billy travel? Straight (to go to the center)

Which verse(s) had a double circle formation? Verse 1

Which verse(s) had a single circle formation? Verse 2 & 3

In verse 1, did our circle move clockwise or counter-clockwise? (counter-clockwise)

I always encourage students to use the dance posters for help answering these questions. If you missed my post talking about these fabulous dance posters, click this link.

Historical Connections

This year, I saved the last 10 minutes of class to talk about Jean Ritchie and show a video of her playing "Old Betty Larkin" on the dulcimer. The video comes from a radio show that is televised on our local PBS station, "Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour." Their website woodsongs.com has video and audio archives of all their shows. The episode I use is #450. A direct link to the video can be found by clicking the picture below. The video opens in Windows Media Player.

You can cue the video to 18:10 to show only the song "Old Betty Larkin" but before she plays she talks about being a young child sneaking to play her father's dulcimer when he was out working in the fields. She also talks about going to New York straight out of college. When people saw her carrying the dulcimer on the subway, they would beg her to play it because they had never seen an instrument like that before. She began playing in clubs and is credited with bringing the sound of the dulcimer to the world-wide audience. Jean also talks briefly about the tuning of the instrument. It is a wonderful interview, very insightful and informative. The interview begins at cue mark 11:40.

After the video, I usually ask the kids to compare and contrast her version of the song to our version. Jean skips the verse that says "Needle in a haystack" but also includes another verse that says "You take mine, I'll take another." Jean's version can also be found in her book "Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians." "Old Betty Larkin" is on page 15 and can be viewed in the preview on amazon.com. The book is $15.91 on Amazon.

I'm sure your students will enjoy this game song. If you have any other activities or suggestions to accompany this lesson, please share your ideas!

Tour My Classroom

Tomorrow is the first day of school. The kids are coming! I took pictures of my classroom before it gets disturbed by the chaos of the school year.

This is the view standing in the doorway. The students always enter and sit around the edge of the carpets in a circle.

You can see most of my instrumentarium stays set up at all times and is readily available. The glockenspiels are kept on the short bookcase under the white board. When it is time to play, it only takes a few seconds to add the glocks to the front row. The red baskets actually flip over and become the tables for the glocks so the students aren't hitting their arms on their knees when trying to play.

To the right of the white board you can see my learning objectives. I'm ready for kids tomorrow!

This is the view of the left side of the room. You may have seen my storage cabinets in a previous post when I discussed "Organizing Instruments" or "Boomwhacker Storage". 

To the left of the storage cabinets you see a class set of 30 chairs. These chairs are rarely used in my classroom. I used them for beginning band about 6 years ago and kept them in case I ever started band again. But, due to scheduling conflicts, it is just impossible to have a successful beginning band. I wasn't seeing the kids often enough and they were really developing more bad habits. The students start band in 6th grade at the middle school and the band director has told me that my students excel even though they did not have beginning band in 5th grade. Instead of band, I have an Orff Ensemble which is open to 4th or 5th graders by audition.

On the music stand next to the congas, you can see my "Fake Instrument." If you missed the post on my "Orff Visual Aid" read the post to learn more about how I use the visual and how to make one for your classroom. 

On the left side of the white board you will see our classroom expectations and school-wide discipline clip chart. To learn more about these, please visit the post "Star Musicians Classroom Expectations."

This is the view of the left side of the room facing the door. 

You can see the music notes hanging from the ceiling. By the door, there is a treble clef to show where the line leader should stand. Be sure to check out the posts on  "Line Leader" or "Assessing Music With a Line-Up Song" if you missed them. 

Next to the door, you see a bulletin board that I use to record the stars at the end of each class.

Behind the door, I have posted our school-wide pledge of excellence (which is recited every morning after the pledge of allegiance), our school-wide voice levels, and our school-wide expectations using our school acronym CGES (Cedar Grove Elementary School).

The is the view of the right side of the room, my teacher corner. 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these dance posters! They are posted above my filing cabinets because this is really the only space that I can put all 4 of them together. My students loves these posters too because they feature pictures of actual kids demonstrating the dance terms. They are awesome. For several years, I taught dance on a Monday rotation instead of music. Starting this year, I will teach visual art on Mondays, but will still incorporate dance and movement into my music lessons Tuesday-Friday. I purchased the posters from West Music several years ago but could not find them when searching online. This is a direct link to their manufacturer.

These are my resources. The top shelf features children's literature and poetry I use in lessons as well as some other binders (teacher handbook, core content binder, etc.) I have grouped several of my supplemental books and materials by categories (Dance, Multicultural, Games & Flashcards, Song Collections, Orff Volumes, Orff Arrangements). On the bottom shelf, you see several teacher manuals from text book series, but a rarely consult them for lessons. I usually pull stuff from my Orff Levels Binders or other supplemental books. You also see the KET Arts Toolkits which are some fabulous resources too, but I don't consult them as often as I should.

On the center shelf, you also see this organizer. This stores all my small items so that I can get to them easily. The top rows hold my recorder strings. You also see some office supplies, loose screws and bolts, etc. I stole this idea from another teacher that I observed during college visits. (Thank you, Lisa!)

To the right of my computer desk, I have 2 short file cabinets and 2 taller ones. (These are underneath the dance posters.) On top of the short cabinets, I have several file stackers. One stack has a slot for each grade level to keep papers seperate that need to be copied or returned and also any books or visual aids needed for that week's lesson. This is the cleanest you will ever see this area. I actually "LOL"ed when I took this picture thinking of how quickly it will fill up. The shorter stack on the left is where I keep papers for each of the student groups I am in charge of (Orff Ensemble, Choir, Academic Team, Future Problem Solving). With this many student groups, this is a necessity to keep rosters, parent letters, music, and other handouts separate.

I love peeking into other teachers' rooms. Whenever our academic team scrimmages at another school, I always sneak away to check out the music teacher's room. I also love Pinterest and blogging which allows me to see into music rooms across the country or across the world! 

Here are few links to check out some other teachers' rooms:

Mrs. King always takes some nice pics of her classroom each year.

Here is her most recent post, but be sure to check out her post from last year as well.

Miscellaneous Me overhauled her classroom in the spring and has some nice pictures as well.

Yourangelofmusic.com has several classroom photos in a gallery in the right column.

If you have pictures of your classroom, feel free to post the link in a comment below.

To Stop the Train

To Stop The Train is an easy round for children to learn. It can be found on page 280 of Arvida Steen's "Exploring Orff: A Teacher's Guide." Arvida suggests adding movement to visually enhance the round, although she doesn't describe any specific gestures. 

Dr. Robert Amchin, head of the music education department at the University of Louisville, has often included this round in his classes and workshops. In the video below, you can see Dr. Amchin first teaching the movements of the round then adding the words one phrase at a time. Last, he introduces the pitches. To create harmony, he allows the class to become the first group while he sneaks in as the second part of the round. He gradually adds people to group 2 until both groups are equal.

This year, my fellow music teachers and I decided to have our students perform this simple round in our Central Area Music Festival. But, we knew we had to make the round longer and more interesting.  First, we started in unison with movements only and no voices. We added one phrase at a time until we sang the entire song in unison. Then, we sang the song one time through in a 4-part round starting 4 beats apart. Last, we sang the song one time through in an 8-part round starting 2 beats apart. Here is the video of our performance. These are the elementary choir students from 3 neighboring schools.

All of the students really enjoyed this round; it quickly became a favorite! For weeks, I would walk through the hallways or lunchroom and hear someone singing or humming it. Whether you are just performing it in class or you are polishing it for a performance, I hope you and your students enjoy this round.

Interactive Music Flipcharts

In May, I blogged about Technology In the Music Classroom. I talked about many wonderful tools we acquired during a construction renovation, including the interactive white boards. We have Promethean ActivBoards which run on ActivInspire Software. In this post, I will share some flipcharts that I have submitted to Promethean Planet and are available for free download. There are brief descriptions below, but you may also click the links to preview the slides before downloading.

This flipchart uses the poem "I Spy Elenore" in a 2-3 lesson unit. First, students will perform rhythms with body percussion (option to also perform in a rhythmic or melodic round). Students will count the syllables in candy bar names to discover the rhythmic pattern for each. Students will compose rhythms using candy bar rhythms. There is a printable worksheet for students to compose on their own after practicing on the Activboard. The final performance could be in rondo form, alternating "I Spy Elenore" with candy bar patterns.

In this lesson, students will perform a rhythmic ostinato on body percussion to accompany a poem "Once I Caught a Fish Alive." Then, students will try to identify which words the stomps, claps, pats, and snaps occur on. The body percussion will be transferred to unpitched percussion to accompany the poem. Encourage students to try the ostinato with and without the words. I can complete all these activities in one 50 minute lesson.

This flipchart features 20 multiple choices questions. Students view an instrument and identify it's instrument family. This can be used with clickers student response system or with paper and pencil. The key is included. 

This flipchart is used for a 3-lesson unit. It uses the poem "One For Ice Cream" to review rhythm, melodic contour, form, and improvise on xylophones. The final performance would be in rondo form alternating the song "One For Ice Cream" with improvised solos using ice cream flavors as rhythmic building blocks. Be sure to check out the notes on the slides for more tips to assist you through this lesson.

In this flipchart, students perform rhythmic ostinatos with body percussion and unpitched percussion to accompany the poem "Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe."

***Although all these flicharts are entirely my own creation, the lesson sequences for "I Spy Elenore," "Once I Caught a Fish Alive," and "One For Ice Cream" were adapted from lessons presented by Brian Crisp during Level I Orff Training at the University of Kentucky during the summer of 2006.

More About Promethean Planet

Click here for a direct link to view all my uploaded flipcharts:

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/Search/resources/?Author=819220
At this moment, these are only 5 that are polished and uploaded. As I add more, I will also blog about them.

Also, feel free to add me as your friend on Promethean Planet. Here is a link to my profile page: http://community.prometheanplanet.com/members/rebecca.dennis/default.aspx

If you have an Activboard, make sure you also check out these
Free Resource Packs:
Music Notes and Scales Resource Pack
Music Tempo Resource Pack

Assessing Music With a Line-Up Song

I learned this song from my KTIP mentor, Alicia Franklin, during my first year teaching. I introduce this song in kindergarten and we sing it everyday when we line up. 

I sing the first note as a fermata and hold it until every student is joining in and doing their job to line up. There are hand motions to accompany the song. On the first word "my", we raise our hands in the air (this makes it easy to see who is actually paying attention in line and ready to sing the song). Then, we do what the song says. 

           Phrase 1: place hands back
           Phrase 2: exaggerate good posture
           Phrase 3: take 2 fingers, point at eyes then 
                 straight ahead
           Phrase 4: hands return behind back
           Phrase 5: zip lips, pretend to put in pocket, 
                 hands return behind back, mouth is closed

When the kids get to 1st grade, the song only makes guest appearances when we need help remembering how to line up or when I want to see if they can apply the musical concept we just learned.

Using the Song For Assessment

Assess Tempo

If we learned about tempo that day, we may choose a tempo (largo, moderato, allegro) and sing our song accordingly. They may also get to line up to a tempo. I may ask them to show me allegro feet, largo feet, or moderato feet to line up. Depending on how much time is left in class, I may do this individually  or in small groups. If I do it individually, I usually take notes in my grade book for a performance assessment. Older students can watch the conductor and respond to accelerandos and ritardandos.

Assess Dynamics

If we learned about dynamics that day, we may choose a dynamic level for the entire song (piano, mezzopiano, mezzoforte, forte) or watch the conductor to see how the dynamic levels change throughout the song. Older students can usually remember a pattern to assign different dynamic levels to each phrase. Similar to the game discussed above, sometimes we can line up with piano feet (tiptoeing) or forte feet (stomping). Again, depending on the time remaining in class, this is either done individually or in small groups and is sometimes used as a performance assessment.

Assess Melody

If we learned about melodic direction that day, we may use our hand levels to show the melodic contour. (That's why I like the simple shape of this melody going upward then downward.) If we discussed pitch, we may sing it in a high key or a low key.

Assess Harmony

If we learned about minor harmony (Halloween), we may choose to change the song to minor and make it sound spooky. (All the kids LOVE this!)

Assess Timbre

If we discussed different types of voices (speaking, whisper, calling, singing), we may choose to use different voices to use throughout the entire song, or we may change our voices for each phrase. I also have voice cards that I can hold up and show the students what to change to. (View the next post for printable voice cards.)

Assess Rhythm

If we discussed rhythm (long and short sounds), we may sing the song exaggerating note lengths in tenuto or staccato style. If we discussed a fermata, we may choose one or two words to have a fermata and sing those words really long.

Coda

These are just a few examples of how I use our line up song for assessment. Sometimes, instead of telling them how to sing it, I let the kids pick a variation to sing. Again, I only sing it every time with kindergarten; and they never get tired of singing it. It only appears occasionally with older grades. It appears sometimes as a warning to those not ready for the hall: "Do we HAVE to revisit kindergarten and sing the line-up song?" Their behavior is quickly corrected. Many older students LOVE the line up song, as it brings nostalgia from kindergarten. 

Even if you have a line-up song already in place, you could probably use these assessment strategies with your song as well. I would love to hear other ideas to use line-up songs as assessment tools. If you have some more ideas, please comment below.

The Resources from Denise Gagne

If you are not familiar with the books and resources by Denise Gagne, you need to check her out! I am very fortunate to have met Denise during the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009. We both attended some Orff courses together at the University of Kentucky (Level II, Level III, and Curriculum Development). The first summer she was there she used her maiden name so that no one would recognize her. Over the two weeks I had shared many conversations and lunch dates with Denise and considered her a friend. Imagine my surprise when she revealed her true identity on the last day! I immediately thought of all the books I had on my shelf at home that she authored. Then, I tried replaying all the conversations we had over the two weeks to count how many times she must have thought I was an idiot! Aside from the trickery she played on us that summer, she is a wonderfully, genuine person who is very passionate about elementary music education.

BIO

Denise Gagne is a music specialist with 35 years of experience teaching band,choir and classroom music from pre-school to College levels.  Denise has completed Kodaly Level 3 studying with Lois Choksy.  She has completed Orff Level 3 and additional Orff training with Cindy Hall, Jay Broeker, Jos Wuytack, and Donna Otto. Denise is currently director of the Red Deer Children’s choir in Red Deer,Alberta and managing editor of Themes &Variations. Her choirs and bands have won many awards at Music Festivals and have performed for local and national sporting events,on national radio and even for the Queen.  Denise is the author or editor of more than 80 publications for preK- 6 music teachers. She has been a workshop presenter in every Canadian province and territory and more than 39 states. She presents regularly for Orff and Kodaly workshops, preschool and kindergarten conferences in Canada, the USA,Europe and Australia!   

(Click here for a more detailed bio)

My Favorite Publications

The Orff Source. I use this resource quite a bit. My favorite feature in this book is how she sequenced the songs by tone set. You can see for yourself in the table of contents in this Sample Preview. Also, most of the songs also include simple instructions for a game or activity to accompany the song. Volumes 2 and 3 are now available, but I have not yet been able to purchase them yet.

Singing Games Children Love, Vol. 1-4. These books also have easy-to-understand instructions for the games and activities that accompany the songs. Also, these books have cds! These books and cds are perfect for a substitute teacher who has no musical skills.

 I use these rhythm and melody flashcards every year. The rhythms start with simple stick notation and are grouped by color into different levels of difficulty gradually adding more complicate rhythms.  Rhythm Sample. The melody flash cards are color-grouped by pitch set. Melody Sample. My students love when they get to try a new color! They are printed on sturdy cardstock. I have not laminated them and they are still in pristine condition. But, I am the only one to handle them. Students do not use these on their own. The flashcards are also numbered so that you can get them back in sequential order (a feature I appreciate anytime I accidentally drop them in the floor!) 

Denise On YouTube

In addition to her publications, Denise has provided many videos and demos for free on YouTube! Here are some of my favorite videos:

 This "Mr. Potato Head" game/song is similar to "Doggie, Doggie Where's Your Bone." During this game the teacher will get to hear individual students sing in a nonthreatening environment and can also test students' listening skills as they identify the location of the body parts and try to put Mr. Potato Head together again.

"Yesh Li Yadiyim." I love how this Hebrew dance starts in pairs and gradually ends up with the entire class together. This would be a great opportunity to discuss doubling and bring in math connections.

Cup Game Listen 3 #2. I love how patterns change with the form of the song. The patterns are simple and repetitive so the kids can switch easily between the different patterns.

This is a video from a Saturday workshop at UK during the Orff Level courses. Denise shared the cup game with us and then let us create our own patterns. (Yes, I am in this video :P)

Visit Denise's YouTube channel for many more free videos!

Free Newsletters

You can also sign up for free newsletters from Denise which feature useful tips for the classroom and free lesson ideas. Visit the Theme & Variations website to sign up. Past newsletters are also available online for you to view at any time.