So, Let's Talk Centers

So, I haven't posted in quite sometime.  Once the hustle and bustle of school started, I started teaching piano again and my student load rose to to a record 19 students.  So that along with my mom and wife duties I decided that I had to let go of a few things.  But I have a lot of new ideas  and can't wait to share them with my fellow music teachers.

I have been really wanting to focus my summer on putting together some centers for my classroom.  I have spent quite a bit of time checking out ideas on Pinterest and have put together what my students need to review when we get back to school.  Those things would be note names, rhythms and musical terms.  I'm including some pictures so that you can see what I have so far.  For more ideas follow my Music Games and Music Centers folders on Pinterest.  There are some amazing teachers out there who are sharing their amazing ideas, so why reinvent the wheel.

For this center, each frog has a note value.  You then match that frog to the corresponding log.

Each barrel has a word which you need to then match to the monkey.  I call this one Barrel of Monkeys.

For this one match the note on the cone to the note name on the scoop of ice cream.  I chose not to add a clef symbol so that the game could be interchangeable between both the bass and treble clef.

The ideas for the centers above came from http://katietraxler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=466

I used the game Lucky Ducks for this one. Though, I took out the batteries because I can only take quacking ducks for so long. I'd personally rather be in a classroom full of 35 beginning recorder students.  lol Each of the 12 ducks has a music symbol on it.  Students turn over a card and have to match with the ducks. It's basically an old fashioned matching game.  I think that my students will love this! Here is the link to the original game that I came across on Pinterest http://musicclassideas.blogspot.ca/p/music-games.html
The second center is Lego Rhythms.  I took it directly from this website http://elementarymusicresources.blogspot.ca/2013/05/centers-lego-music.html 

This year, I will be assigning my students to small groups for these centers.  These groups will be changing quarterly.   Within each group I will have a variety of students. They will be grouped in a way that all students feel successful and feel that they have contributed.  This will be a great way to assess student learning.



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