Higher Than a House

1.  Read some riddles to get in that riddle mood! 🙂  (See below)  End with “Higher Than A House”, but don’t let them guess the answer yet.
2. Learn Higher Than a House rhythm w/patschen w/clap on last word “be”.
3. S step beat as they speak the riddle.
4. Add the pat rhythm as move around the room. Call on one person to guess an answer.  S repeat that answer 4 times then continue stepping beat/patting rhythm.  T notates answers in a long list as they move.  Try not to stop between answers.
5. After 8-10 guesses, class puts guesses in rhythm bricks
6. Class creates a 4 beat riddle answer.  I like to repeat it to match the length of the riddle. Say it w/added BP and perform ABA form.  Here’s an example.
   

   Harry Potter, golden eagle, airplane, cloud

7. Create 4 beat answer combos in groups of 4.  Again, you may want them to repeat their pattern.
8. Share and T corrects any rhythm problems
9. Perform in rondo.  A=class speaks riddle, B, C, D, etc. group answers.  ABACADA…

EXTENSIONS

1.  Improvise melodies on xylophones.
2. Create a class melody.
3. Add “answer” ostinati such as “airplane cloud”, “Harry Potter planet”.
4. Take class melody to the riddle rhythm that becomes the A section to a rondo form where the B, C, D etc are individual improvisations on the rhythm.
5. I usually play the bordun on a bass to keep us all together.  If you wanted to perform it, a student could certainly take over the bass part.

At some point in the lesson, I reveal the answer to the riddle!  A STAR!

 Riddles

Higher than a house, higher than a tree.  Oh, whatever can it be?

– a star

What does a cat have that no other animal has?

– Kittens.

What has two heads, four eyes, six legs, and a tail?

– A cowboy riding his horse.

What always sleeps with its shoes on?

– A Horse.

What is as big as an elephant, but weighs nothing at all?

– The shadow of an elephant.

What fur do we get from a Tiger?

– As fur away as possible! –

Why do dragons sleep all day?

– They like to hunt Knights.

What can honk without a horn?

– A goose.

What has a horn but does not honk?

– A rhinoceros.

 

What two keys can’t open any doors?

– A Donkey, and a Monkey.

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Bell Horses

This is a great song to teach SLS and quarter note/rest and eighth note pairs.  Here’s my process.

After learning the song by echo singing with a pat/clap steady beat pattern, I told the Ss the history of the song from the info I found HERE.  That info led me to have the students get in groups of 3 with two horses and a driver.  I cut lengths of rope for the reins that went around the torso area of the two horses in front, with the driver holding the ends behind. We trotted around the room after singing the song, with the idea that the horses had done their work for the day and were heading home.  We switched until everyone had been the driver.  Lots of giggles and fun!

• The next music class we sang and clapped the rhythm, then partners got bells or other non-pitched metal percussion and played the rhythm as they sang.
• The third music class, as a group, we sat at my large rhythm chart, and together determined the rhythm of the song.  How I made my chart is located HERE!

• The fourth music class, partners got a 16 beat template, an envelope with the necessary rhythmic icons, and then wrote the rhythm.  After a few minutes of them working on it, I clapped the first line, let them look at what they had, then I put it on my large chart for them to check and see if they were correct. I continued this method until all 4 lines were complete.  Then one partner touched the answers as the other partner clapped and sang the song.  They switched roles.

Here’s the version of Bell Horses that I use!

BIG Rhythm Chart

I needed a big chart for K-2 so that we could write song/rhyme rhythms.  I wanted something cheap! 🙂 I bought a black foam board (20×30″) at Dollar Tree, then added strips of thick paper such as card stock to form the pockets.  The actual rhythms are written on blank 4×6 note cards.  I laminated them but that isn’t completely necessary.

A foam board is about 20″ wide.  The pocket strips were cut to 20″ wide and about 2″ in height, and then I glued the strips on the left,right, and bottom edge, and then a vertical line about every 4.25″, enough room to slide a 4″ note card into.

The glued bottom edge serves as a stop for the note card.  The red lines on the photo to the right show where I used glue.

 

 

 

This picture shows rhythmic icons, which required that I copied images onto the note cards.  This is what I use for the song “Bell Horses”.

 

In and Out (chant)

A great chant to teach quarter note, quarter rest, and beat bonding!

1.  Echo speak each line of the chant as you keep a pat/clap beat.  The 2 part pat/clap beat is preferable over a single body percussion choice (patting, clapping) because it forces the children to NOT disregard the rests!
2. Getting young children to pass a ball or bean bag to a beat is challenging.  The following method has worked so well for me.  Sit in a circle and give everyone a number, with the teacher having the LAST number.  This means you are sitting between the last student number and the number 1 student.
3. Explain to the students that the ball has to be in their hands on THEIR number.  (If someone passes it too slowly or too quickly, you can explain why they didn’t have possession of the ball on their own number)
   

   Using numbers reinforces steady beat, so students aren’t inclined to HOLD the ball or RUSH the ball.

4. With students’ eyes on the person with the ball, which in the beginning is YOU, they clap and speak “1” when you hand it to the child next to you.  This is an important step because it forces them to watch who has the ball, to know when to begin.  They continue counting and clapping until the ball gets back to you.  I like to do this step twice to solidify the idea that everyone has a number (beat).  If all goes well after two practices, go on to the next step.  If not, repeat again.
5. This time, tell the Ss to THINK the numbers as they clap.
6. The final step is to begin passing the ball as you say the chant.
7. The student who has the ball on the last word “out”, is out, gives the ball to the next person, and leaves the circle to go get a non-pitched percussion instrument to play the beat.  I have them sit a couple of feet behind their normal circle spot.
8. Everyone is reminded to watch the person with the ball so that they know when to begin the chant again.
9. In the beginning, most are chatting and having fun and aren’t watching, but I encourage the person with the ball to start anyway, and then I make a BIG deal about the people who clap the very first beat and say the first word of the chant!  This increases watchfulness GREATLY!  Then the game is totally student-directed with the teacher as an observer, assessor, and occasional referee! 🙂 You can SO easily mark a steady beat assessment watching this game!!!

If you want to see MORE great ideas about this chant, check out the information at one of my favorite sites-Beth’s Notes!

Rhythm Practice

I use a blank chart to prepare, present, and practice rhythms.

1.  Present the 16 beats of the chant as students speak and pat/clap the chant, T pointing to the beats.
2. Repeat, but this time have students only SPEAK the chant, discovering which beats have NO words on them.
3. Change those into RESTS and speak with syllables of your choice.  I use “ta” and “sh”.
4. Body Percussion—Clap on quarters, snap on rests.  How else could we do it?
5. Movement—Step on quarters, jump on rests.  How else could we do it?
6. Percussion—Everyone will get a percussion instrument and working with a partner, one will play the quarters and the other play the rests.  Pick an instrument for the rest that has a light sound.  Partners will practice and then share with the class.  After everyone has shared, have students share which instrument combo was their favorite and why they chose it.
7. You could have students choose wood and metal combinations or combinations of their choice that weren’t in the same family.  Many options here.
8. Have partners reverse what they played.  Question-Which was your favorite?  Why?

Making UP Rhythms

1. There are 13 quarter notes and 3 rests in the chant.  Re-order the notes into a NEW piece.  Partners can work together and then perform for the class.  A great time to talk about measures and 4/4.

Rhythm Writing

1. Write the rhythm of the chant using human notes!  16 students will lie down on the floor, 4 rows each with 4 beats.  Then the notes will “perform” the chant saying rhythm syllables and/or the words of the chant.  Those Ss watching will then take someone’s place and repeat the “performance”.
2. Students take dry erase boards, paper/pencil, whatever you use, and write out the chant’s rhythm.  This is a great time to practice writing quarter notes and rests even before you write out the chant.  Students can then touch each beat saying the notes or the words of the chant to make the connection between what they see and what they hear.