Jump In, Jump Out!

Summer is officially over, and I've had my first two days with students. I needed a name refresher activity that my students would enjoy, and "Jump In, Jump Out" was the perfect start to our school year. When a sixth grade student lingers after class, beams, and exclaims, "Thank you! That was SO much fun," you know you've picked well. 

There are different versions of the poem floating around, and there are different ways to perform it. I usually tweak things a bit, so I came up with the following format:

Class:
Jump in, jump out! Turn yourself around.
I said, jump in, jump out! Introduce yourself.

Soloist: (Class)
My name is__________ (yeah)
And I like __________ (yeah)
And I can __________ (yeah)

Class:
All right, all right, all right!

Circle game:

• Jump in, jump out: everyone jumps in the circle and back out
• Turn yourself around – turn in place one time
• Jump in, jump out (repeat as before)
• Introduce yourself – one student steps to the center of the circle to speak the solo part. (I placed a polyspot in the center and instructed children to step to the spot to speak.) 
• Class answers each statement with, “Yeah” and copies the action of the soloist on “All right, all right, all right!”
• Repeat poem with the next person in the circle stepping forward as the soloist. Continue until everyone has had a turn. Students can add claps or teacher can add a drum to help them speak in rhythm.

Here is a video of 4th graders and 6th graders demonstrating the game:

I created a PowerPoint presentation with a few examples for students to read and practice speaking in rhythm. I displayed the final slide with blanks for them while they played so the soloist could look at the lyrics if they needed assistance.

The complete PowerPoint presentation is available at my TpT Store:

Jump In, Jump Out PowerPoint Presentation

Teaching Process:

• Teach poem by rote, using the first lyric slide and completing the blanks with personal information.  Demonstrate speaking in rhythm and performing an action on the “I can” statement.
• Lead the class in reading the next 3 slides together in rhythm. Divide into two groups and take turns reading the solo and class parts. Point out the option of “My name is” or “My name’s,” depending on which works best with the name.
• Display the final slide with blanks. Instruct students to think of what they plan to say for each blank. Remind them the “I can” statement should include a movement for students to copy. They should silently practice speaking the poem in rhythm while they wait for everyone to get ready. Students could also practice with a partner to make sure they are prepared with good choices.

Looking for more name games and other activities to start your year? Check out these previous blog posts:

Getting to Know You

Off to a Great Start

All in all, "Jump In, Jump Out" was a great way to start back to school with my 4th-6th grade classes. Thinking about using this game with your students? I suggest that you go ahead and "Jump In!"

Bling Blang

I love Woody Guthrie's book, Bling Blang! It comes with a CD of the song that the children thoroughly enjoy. I like to read the book first and sing the chorus each time. The students catch on quickly and sing along. I also demonstrate the movement for the chorus prior to reading the book. It is pretty simple and learning it ahead of time gives the students plenty of practice while I read.

After we read the book, it is time to learn the rest of the movements. I vary how much of the dance we perform, according to the class. Sometimes I start with only the chorus and add the rest on another day. Sometimes we do the verse and refrain, but save the interlude for later. Other times we are able to do everything in one day.  It just depends on what else I have planned for the day and how quickly the students catch on the lesson. The basic movements that I like to perform are as follows:

Refrain:
"Bling, blang, hammer with my hammer": Pound right fist on top of left fist twice, then left on top of right twice. It doesn't really matter which is first - just do one on top, and then the other.

"Zingo, zango, cutting with my saw": Begin with four sawing motions alternating both hands (R, L, R, L) - this will be performed with a partner later. They will join hands and saw back and forth four times.

Verse:
Pat-pat-clap-clap throughout the verse while facing partners.

Instrumental Interlude:
After students can perform the verse and refrain well, you may want to let them walk around during the interlude and find a new partner.

A note about partners:
I always discuss proper behavior for finding a partner. (i.e. Eye contact with someone means they want to be your partner, never say "no" to someone, and never leave one partner for another one.) Finding a partner can be difficult for certain children. It is even a little trickier during the middle of a song, so I tell the students to raise their hand high if they don't have a partner. The key is to find someone else with a hand raised and then to actually move to that person. It's amazing how often a child will stand with his or her hand up, waiting for someone to appear.

I use this lesson with kindergarten and first grade classes. It is a fun way to work on performing a steady beat. It never fails to bring smiles and giggles.

Enjoy!

Must Be Halloween

I know it's a little early, but due to some early dismissals for parent conferences next week and the fact that I will be attending the national NAfME conference in Nashville the next week, I am trying to pack in as much Halloween fun as possible.  My kindergarten and 1st grade classes are learning "Must Be Halloween" this week, and they are playing instruments as they sing.

Here's a Halloween PowerPoint slide for the song, which is in Jeff and Randy's GamePlan. See their book for the melody and their complete lesson plans for this song. The song is either in the 1st or 2nd grade curriculum. I don't have my books at home and don't recall at the moment. I'll try to remember to edit my post later. If you don't already have any of their GamePlan books, I recommend purchasing them for well thought-out, high quality lesson plans that the students enjoy.

I also included a slide with a picture of the xylophone with the D and A bars marked:

My kindergarten students have been doing a lot of drumming to work on their steady beat, but this is the first time they have played xylophones. I like to limit the number of students playing at once on their first xylophone experience, so I can assist students as much as they need.

I set up four instruments in a square and let the students line up behind each one. I sat in the center, so I could reach all of the children. They played a steady beat bordun on D and A. After they played, they rotated to the end of the next line. We continued until each student had played all four xylophones. Students in line continued to sing & pat the beat on their thighs.

I gave my first grade classes a little challenge. All students went to instruments to sing and play. I had two rows of barred instruments with triangles interspersed. Students played xylophones on beats 1, 2, & 3, and rested on beat 4. Triangles played on beat 4. It worked great, except for the third line where there was a word to sing on the rest. It may be easier for first graders to only rest on the xylophone and play triangles after "halloween" each time and not worry about the third line.

First grade students rotated through all of the instruments, if time allowed. It's amazing how many times they will sing the same song, just so they can play every xylophone and triangle. Fortunately, my first grade classes are pretty small this year so we only had to perform about 15 times. :)

Looking for more Halloween fun? See some of my other favorites here and here.

Patriotic Fun

February is a great time to brush up on patriotic songs and American folksongs in the music classroom. It's also a fun chance to work on steady beat with kindergarteners. "Yankee Doodle" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" present wonderful opportunities for playing drums or rhythm sticks and marching around the room.

Today, I had two kindergarten classes in a row. The first class did an amazing job with rhythm sticks. They paid attention, worked on their steady beat, and used self-control with their instruments. They even marched around the room and played in a parade. I was so proud of them and was pleased with how well the lesson went. My next class would be a breeze!

As my next class entered the room, I noticed a boy carrying a tiny stuffed animal. Children do not typically come to class with toys, but for some reason I didn't feel the need to take it away. This was an active boy, but the animal was not causing a problem. Instead, it inspired me to try something new with the class. I know... I said the lesson had just been a success. Why would I want to change it? I think I can always improve upon a lesson. Also, variety helps ME enjoy the lesson more, which makes it more fun for the students. Therefore, I am constantly tweaking and trying new things. I also look for innovative ways to engage the children, and I believe that novelty is a great way to keep students actively involved in the learning process.

We have tons of stuffed animals in the music room. We use them for rewards quite often, and we use some of the animals, like Winnie the Pooh, with specific songs and lessons. Children LOVE the stuffed friends. Even 6th grade boys beg to hold them. So, today, after being inspired by the child with a tiny elephant, I handed each child an animal to bounce on the steady beat while we sang.

The children bounced cats, dogs, bears, and bunnies to the beat of "Yankee Doodle." They passed the animal to the next person between the verse and refrain, and then passed again at the end of the song. Smiles were everywhere, and the animals made it all the way around the circle.

As much as I enjoy using rhythm sticks with kindergarten students, I have to admit that the quiet bouncing of a stuffed animal on the steady beat was a welcome change, and the students had a blast.

We also used the animals to show the melodic direction of pitches in the song, "Mr. Lincoln." Children would lift their animal high then touch the floor on "picture", "penny", "Lincoln", and "penny" to show the do-sol interval.

Later, we will add Mr. Washington on the quarter.

If you do not know this song, here is the melody & rhythm:
     la ti | do sol la sol | do sol     (ti-ti; ta, ta, ta, ta; ta, to-o)
     re mi  |  fa sol mi re  |  sol     (ti-ti; ta, ta, ta, ta; to-o-o)
     la ti  |  do sol la sol  |  do sol    (ti-ti; ta, ta, ta, ta; ta, to-o)
     re  |  mi fa mi re  |  do      (ta; ta, ta, ta, ta; to-o-o)

Whether we used drums, rhythm sticks, or stuffed animals, we had a great time playing the steady beat with songs about America. Have fun as you find innovative ways to keep your lessons fresh and engaging!

What Will You Be for Halloween?

Have I mentioned how much I love Jeff & Randy's GamePlan curriculum? I can't recommend it enough. The books are reasonably priced and provide engaging lessons that organize musical objectives logically. "What Will You Be?" is another great song/lesson from GamePlan (Grade One, p. 24). This song has a nice melody in d minor, and it works beautifully with a bordun on the barred instruments. As usual, I seem to be unable to follow a lesson exactly, so here are my changes/extensions:

1. Due to past experiences at our school, I felt that we needed to remove the word "witches" from the song. Here are our altered lyrics:

To use this image in a PowerPoint, open it, right click, copy, and then paste it into a new Ppt presentation.

2. Students pat the beat while they sing, and I add a solo turn for each student to sing into the microphone: "I'll be a _____." Then the student moves to a xylophone to play the bordun, and then rotates through the instruments. I adapt the number of instruments to the level of the class and what will make the activity run smoothly. I want to focus on the students' singing voices first, so sometimes I do not even use the xylophones during the first introduction of the song. I extend the activity on another day.

3. During another class period, I place a box of masks and animal headbands behind a large bush that is in my room, which was a prop in a play. The box could also be placed behind a piano or other large piece of furniture. One child hides behind the bush and selects a "costume" and pops out at the end of the song wearing what he/she selected. The child sings "I'll be a _____" into the microphone that is placed in a handy spot for the students to grab as they are exiting the hiding spot. I have an empty tub for them to place used items in, so no one picks the same thing. It helps to have one child selecting an item, while one is dressed and waiting to pop out. Then they are ready at the end of the song and the activity moves quicker. 

I have organized the game in different ways. I have set up xylophones and other unpitched percussion instruments in a circle and had the students move around the circle. One place has a polyspot, which indicates it is time to move behind the tree. Other times, I have simply used my regular instrument rotation, and have a certain position that goes to the bush. My barred instruments are set up in 3 rows. Children move to the right on row one, back to row two and then to the left, back to row three and to the right. When they reach the final instrument they circle around the front to the beginning of row one. I walk through the rotation pattern and call it "zig" on row 1, "zag" on row 2, "zig" on row 3, then "zooooom" around the room back to 1. The zoom is a great place to move to the bush.

I began using this lesson with kindergarten and first grade a few years ago. Now, my older children see the bush in position for the game and beg for this activity. I've promised my 3rd graders that they will get to play this year, and I'm sure they won't let me forget. This is one of those activities students will remember with fondness. Who doesn't enjoy dressing up and playing instruments? I know I do!

Hippity Hop (to the Candy Shop)

Are you ready for some October fun? My K-1 students are! Here is a nursery rhyme that allows them to work on steady beat and pitch-matching skills, while singing about one of their favorite things: candy.

We sang "Macaroni" last week, which included singing solos, galloping on a stick pony, and playing a steady beat bordun on xylophones. You can read about "Macaroni" here. It was the first time for my kindergarten students to play the barred instruments. Therefore, I wanted to continue working on the steady beat bordun this week while continuing to focus on the singing voice, and "Hippity Hop" seemed like the perfect lesson choice.

Following some vocal warm-up activities, I displayed the following PowerPoint visual for the students to read while they learned the song:

Jeff & Randy have an arrangement of this song in the first grade GamePlan. (If you do not have this book, I highly recommend it!) They use only "sol" and "mi" for the melody, which is perfectly fine. However, I find that my students naturally add "la" in certain places, and I sometimes I get tired of fighting that battle. I really love the question and answer they added to the poem. The teacher sings, "What's your favorite candy?" and a soloist answers, "I like _____."

Of course, I rarely follow a lesson plan exactly. So, although I found this wonderful song and lesson idea in GamePlan, the activity has evolved and changed over time. My lessons seem to vary from class to class, depending on student suggestions and where the class leads based on what they seem ready to do. Sometimes an idea comes to me right in the middle of an activity that I think will improve the lesson.

In addition to adding "la" to the melody, I also did something different with the question at the end of the song. Since we have done a lot of solo-singing in our classroom microphone, I felt that my students could take over the teacher solo. Instead of me asking the question, I let one student sing the question and another student answer.  We turned it into a circle game and added two xylophones to the mix to practice playing the steady beat.

Students sat in a circle, and the student who was "it" walked around carrying a Hershey's Kiss pillow that I happen to already have. The child also held a microphone that is part of our classroom amplification system. He/she skipped around the circle (or hopped) while the class sang and played the beat on their legs. The leader stopped at the end of the song and dropped the Hershey's Kiss into a friend's lap. The first student sang the question, then handed the mic to the seated student who sang the answer. One thing that is helpful for younger students is to pause before the game starts and let children think about what candy they want to sing about when it is their turn. It helps for them to have an answer ready.

Next, students rotated to a new job: "It" moved to xylophone 1 to play the steady beat bordun, and the chosen student became "It." After the next round, the student at xylophone 1 moved to xylophone 2, etc.

I had one first grade class that was more advanced, so I tried a different option. I allowed half the class to move to the barred instruments to accompany the rest of the class while they played the game. They even wanted to rotate through the instruments after each turn. Some classes would not handle that many different activities at once, but they did a beautiful job. After everyone in the circle had a turn, the groups switched jobs.

There was just one problem I had while teaching this lesson. When I was giving an example of how to sing an answer to the question, I had a hard time picking just one favorite candy. I guess a teacher should like Smarties, but Pay Days are always nice!

Macaroni

One of my favorite songs to use for introducing the xylophones to kindergarten students is "Macaroni." I love to use this lesson, because it offers several activities at once. Therefore, all students are engaged throughout the game and I can work with a couple of students at the instruments. This game is so popular, that we vary the lesson slightly and play it again in first grade.

"Macaroni" offers the chance for students to work on the following skills:

• Pitch-matching (sol-mi melody)
• Steady beat
• Galloping
• Playing a bordun on barred instruments

I introduce the song by unveiling the PowerPoint presentation pictured above with the funny picture. I think it is important for visual learners and emerging readers to see the text as we sing songs, so I create PowerPoint slides for most of the music we learn in K-1. Although I sometimes use PowerPoint slides with all grades, I usually display actual music for them to read as they get older.

Kindergarten Version

Learn the song

• Teach song by rote (demonstrating solfege hand signs)
• Work on the solo at the end. Really extend the notes, so that students will have time to hear the pitch and be more successful when they sing by themselves. Use hand signs to demonstrate the melodic direction.

Prepare for Instruments

• Explain (or review) proper technique:
• Hold mallets like bicycle handlebars
• Elbows out, hands a little higher than the bars
• Strike bar in the center (not too hard)
• Let mallets bounce like tennis balls (so bars can vibrate)
• If this is the first time students have ever played the xylophones, I remove the bars surrounding the ones they will play so they can focus on form, rather than trying to find and strike the correct bars.

Play the Game

• Class sits in semi-circle with two xylophones in front of the class.
• One student gallops on stick pony while everyone sings the song and pats the beat on their legs.
• At the end of song, student on pony stops in front of a classmate, who sings the solo part of the song. (Assess the soloist for pitch-matching and strive to at least get each child in head voice, rather than speech-mode.)
• The pony rider then hands Macaroni to the soloist, who becomes the new rider. The first rider moves to the first xylophone.
• Play game again with a student on the xylophone, and assist the student as needed.
• After the next round, the xylophone player rotates to the next instrument, while the rider rotates to the first xylophone, and the soloist becomes the new rider. (Oversee the instrument players and assist, as needed. Students are usually fairly independent on their second turn at the instrument.)
• Continue until all students have had a chance to sing the solo, ride the pony, and play two xylophones.

How perfect that today was Cowboy Day in kindergarten!

First Grade Version

• Review song, hand signs, and solo.
• Use classroom set of barred instruments (if there are not enough barred instruments, add some unpitched percussion instruments into the mix)
• My instruments are set up in 3 rows (I have 18 barred instrument). I walk through and demonstrate the rotation procedure prior to students moving to instruments.
• Students rotate through the instruments by moving down row 1, back to row 2, across row 2 in the opposite direction of row 1, then back to row 3, and across row 3 the same direction as row 1. 
• After the final instrument on  row 3, they move to the opposite diagonal corner of row 1. 
• I call it "zig, zag, zig, zooooom." (The pattern is a little like a Z, zigging and zagging back and forth on the rows, then zooming from the back corner to the front one.
• Use whatever configuration and rotation pattern works best for your space.
• In addition to the instruments, set up 2 stations for the pony and for the solo. After the final instrument on row 3, students move to the open area and ride the pony. After the pony, they move to a microphone for the solo. Then they move to row 1 of instruments.
• Play the game until students have moved through each spot.

Take a ride on Macaroni, the pony, and get with the beat!

Getting to Know You

It's the beginning of a new year, and that means there are new names to learn and old names to review. We spend the first few class sessions playing several different name games to cement names and also work on different music skills.

Sing Me Your Name

This name game is useful for developing pitch matching skills in younger students.

• Teacher sings: "Sing me, sing me, sing me your name." (S-M-S-M-S-M-R-D) (ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ti-ti, ta)
• While singing, teacher makes eye contact with a student and tosses a bean bag to the student at the end of the phrase.
• Student answers by singing the same melody, but sings his/her name twice, and then, "That is my name."
• Student tosses bean bag back to teacher.

Before we begin the game, we practice the question/answer several times. Sometimes we insert a silly name for the class to sing as the answer, such as, "Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter, that is my name." We also demonstrate correct answers and incorrect and have students identify whether the answer is right. 

Later, the game can be played to assess pitch matching with new lyrics. Teacher can change the question to "Sing me, sing me, sing me your food." Student answers with favorite food. The possibilities are endless: show, color, animal, etc.

Higglety Wigglety Bumblebee

This poem is good for working on steady beat with K-1 students.

• Teacher teaches poem by rote (lyrics can also be placed on board/screen for emerging readers).
• Students speak poem and pat steady beat.
• When students can speak poem successfully, game begins.
• Class speaks poem while patting the steady beat, then one student speaks name.
• Game can be played at different levels as students progress. The first time
• First student speaks name, then class continues with poem. Play continues with the next student.
• Later, student speaks name on steady beat and class answers back on the steady beat before continuing with the poem for the next student.
• Play can also take place with teacher using a bumblebee puppet. 
• Teacher walks around the circle and taps students on the beat. 
• The student which the bee taps at the end of the poem speaks his/her name. 
• Teacher says name, instructs children to say the name, then improvises a way for the class to repeat the name. ex: "Sal-ly. Let's all say it, Sal-ly. Let's all whisper it, Sal-ly." Other ideas: "Let's clap and say it," or "Flap your wings and say it."

Up the Ladder

This fun game was found through Pinterest. You can find the poem, as well as many other fabulous lesson plans in Jeff and Randy's 3rd Grade GamePlan.

We extended the game by letting students play the rhythm of the student introductions. 2nd-6th graders stood in lines behind 6-7 drums. After the poem, students at the drums introduced themselves (rhythmically) and everyone echoed and played the rhythm on the drums. Students waiting in line put the rhythm somewhere on their bodies. Students rotated to the end of the next line during the poem. They loved it!

Here's a video of our extension of Up the Ladder:

Do you have favorite name games? They are a great way to start the year for students and teachers.

Enjoy!