Thursday, September 3, 2015

Recorder Rewards

My 4th graders are thrilled this week, because their recorders have arrived! Pretty soon they will be on their way to earning belts as they master songs from their books. We use "Recorder Express," and students can select from a couple of songs for most colored belts. (For the more info on specific song choices, you can find our recorder belt chart in Recorder Extras.)

There are many different ways to reward students for mastery of a recorder piece. I love the recorder karate idea, because it really motivates the students to work hard. They feel so much pride when they get to put a belt on their recorder. There are all kinds of materials you can use for the belts. Some teachers use ribbon, some use jelly bands, and some use yarn. There is no telling what some teachers have come up with to use for rewards. Music teachers are a creative bunch!

I like to use yarn because it's relatively cheap and makes a cute pompon on the recorder. I bought skeins of yarn about 9 years ago, and I still have a great supply. I have only had to replace white, yellow, blue, and green(although I just noticed my purple and pink are almost gone). Since I have a good number of students who work their way past black, I add some rainbow colored belts to keep the fun going.

In order to cut a lot of belts quickly, I simply wrap the yarn around a textbook about 20 times, pinch the yarn, slide it off, cut the bottom loops, and cut the top loops. Boom! 40 belts cut in 30 seconds flat!

I really don't know what took me so long to decide to cut belts quickly, but I'm embarrassed to say that I used to cut one belt at a time. Ha! Maybe it's because I didn't have an organized method for storing a lot of belts. No more! After I saw a brilliant teacher's bucket on Pinterest with dividers to store belts, I looked around my room and found a caddy, some cardboard, scissors, and duct tape. A little while later, I said "hello" to this handy, dandy, recorder belt caddy:

If you are interested in additional recorder tips, check out Recorder Extras for ideas about reinforcing flimsy plastic recorder bags and a link to a Word document I created to track students as they earn belts. You also might enjoy Recorders Rock for more info on how we label and organize recorders and for a JPEG image to insert in a PowerPoint with recorder tips for beginning players.

I hope your recorder players are as excited as mine are. Isn't being a music teacher rewarding and fun?!

15 comments :

  1. Well this seems to me like a pretty interesting event and I am pretty sure that they will be indeed excited about this. Waiting for the next post to see them singing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent information on your blog, thank you for taking the time to share with us. Amazing insight you have on this, it's nice to find a website the details so much information about different artists. tik tok video

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nobody can reject the info you have given in the blogs, this is actually a great work.
    toblay music

    ReplyDelete
  4. Useful blog. Good post. Everyone has something in their mind, so am I… Let’s share out thoughts and hang out sometimes.. Reach me at my site.. 한국야동

    ReplyDelete
  5. I’m impressed, I must say. Genuinely rarely will i encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you could have hit the nail about the head. Your concept is outstanding; the catch is something that not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy which i found this at my seek out some thing concerning this. AUDIO BRANDING SERVICES

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am impressed with this site, very I am a big fan. PODCAST BRANDING

    ReplyDelete
  7. Music download sites are one of the biggest businesses online nowadays. According to market research, digital music sales have grown by 300 percent from the previous year. Read on to find out more about selection of music download sites - where to download new music and music videos. BRANDING CONSULTANCY

    ReplyDelete
  8. Music is the recourse to the specific contributions of the data processing which characterizes its step. New conceptual tools are unceasingly provided by the artificial intelligence, which are concretized by languages such as Lisp or Prolog. They are put at once at the musicologist assistance or abstracting service to the composition. Research in systems real time and on the interfaces interactive makes it possible to conceive new connections between the instrumentalist and the electronic universe. BUSINESS CONSULTANCY MANCHESTER

    ReplyDelete
  9. Social media marketing is among one of the most difficult marketing techniques for small business owners to firmly grasp. A few of the core principles that applies to social marketing requires that business focus less on selling products and more on forming long-lasting relationships with their customers. To avoid making those social media marketing mistakes, let's cover a few do's and don's when doing social media marketing. DIGITAL MARKETING MANCHESTER

    ReplyDelete
  10. Small Businesses have to optimize their efforts in marketing, forming business alliances on and offline, while maximizing their efforts and finances by using the latest technologies and most effective marketing strategies. This is where social media tools and having effective online marketing strategies can boost your bottom line. Examine these proven social media marketing strategies presented here... SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY MANCHESTER

    ReplyDelete
  11. Like any other working environment, those in the construction industry may experience work accidents from time to time. If the employee's injury can be directly attributed to the mistakes of the employer, these accidents can lead to successful construction accident claims. INFLUENCER MARKETING AGENCY

    ReplyDelete
  12. Construction in Maryland has reached a high peak in recent years as compared to other states. While Indiana has 3.1%, Pennsylvania 2.3% and New York only 1.4% growth in construction jobs, Maryland construction jobs have increased by about 3.7% in the period between February and March 2010. VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY

    ReplyDelete
  13. Many of us get discouraged when our social media following starts to dwindle. Here are 7 great ideas to pump up your social media juices. WEB DESIGN AGENCY MANCHESTER

    ReplyDelete