May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor...

These new trailers are just teasing us! I cannot wait until some Hunger Games really come out! If you haven't read the books, there is still time! Don't walk to get them. Today. RUN. They are written so well and grab your attention from the beginning! I highly recommend them, along with many of my fellow teachers!

LOVE IT.

Drummer Hoff Fired It Off!

Tuesday Tune-Ups with Firsties!

I very much enjoy my lesson with my first graders this week. I started with a couple of opening Thanksgiving songs, but dove straight into our lesson after that...

DRUMMER HOFF FIRED IT OFF!

LESSON ONE:

I love using this great book, because it has so many great rhythmic qualities and I always tie it in with instruments. Adapted by Barbara Emberly & illustrated by Ed Emberly (yes, we always have to make sure we make the connection of their names.. haha), I always have a good time hearing how the two may be related! Cousins, siblings, parents, etc. So cute!

Anyway, we start the first day by reading the book and I have them actively participate by clapping as a whole group once after I say the sentence, "Drummer Hoff fired it off!" I like to keep them on their toes, so I tend to change it up and a pause in different places to really test their listening skills. At the end of the book, I tell them, "When I say this next word, I want you to pat your legs as quickly as you can until I give you this signal." And yes, the next word is "FIRE!" so they pat their little legs as quickly as they can until the explosion is over and I give the signal. LOVE THIS!

After we finish reading/clapping, I have the names of all of the officers in the book and I have the students put the names in order. Then, we clap the rhythm of each. "General Border gave the order" = ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti and "Major Scott brought the shot" = ti-ti ta ti-ti ta and so on.

DRUMMER HOFF FIRED IT OFF!

Our school has adopted Safari (which is a recent switch from Discovery Education), and I actually found a great reading of the book that has animated the pictures and "makes them come to life!" Firsties were super impressed with that! (Let's be honest, I'm impressed, too. I'd love to know how to do that myself!)

That usually takes most of the first day, since I only see them for 30 minutes, so the next lesson is when we really dive into our instrument time!

LESSON TWO:

We start off by reviewing our book by either reading the book again with the claps or watching the video. (Always keeping fresh on their minds the explosion and cut-off signal.)

Next, I have my instruments set up in the front of the room, with each instrument representing a different character. I assign 3-4 students to each character, and then we read through the book. Students play the rhythm of their character on their instrument and stop once it gets to the next character. Of course, my Drummer Hoff could be a giant drum that only a few kids get to hit at the end, but since I do not have many drums in my classroom, I chose to use small cymbals. (I kept it a very small group of 1-2 kids only. It was plenty loud enough.) ;)

Again, always anticipating that explosion at the end, I have ALL instruments play when I say the word "FIRE!" If there's time, I have the groups change places, so the students are able to play more instruments. All is good fun though!

I need to take a cute pic of the students actually playing these instruments, but for today, you can see the set up of how it all went down.

DRUMMER HOFF FIRED IT OFF!

Hope you enjoy!

Sunday Fun-Day: Class Dojo

OK, so I've been reading about this all over the blogging world: Class Dojo.

I'm kind of obsessed!

Usually after the first 9 weeks (and once our procedures are down and practiced pretty well), I start a competition between every class that comes to music. I think my librarian may start the same thing and join my efforts, so I'm very excited about that, too!

How it works: I have a chart that lists every class, and I have students keep track and mark their stars once they line up. When they enter music, they are all awarded 5 stars as a class. It is their job to keep those 5 stars throughout our 30 minutes together. And then it all starts over the next day. (Since they come to me three times a week, a single class can keep up to 15 stars per week. After Friday at 3:00, it starts over the next week.)

Here are my 5 stars and what I require of them for their class to keep them:

Enter - come in quietly and go to their spot on the risers

Cooperation - work well with others, no disruptions, doing as they are asked, etc.

Participation - pretty self-explanatory, but if a couple aren't singing/clapping/etc., they lose this star

Attitude - a poor attitude towards fellow classmates, teachers, or the music = no star

Exit - line up quietly and ready for the hall

I've been posting these stars in the front of the room, so it is always visible to them, but I think this Class Dojo will be just as easy! I have it set up (for free, btw) for one class: Music, and then listed the classroom teacher's name as my "students."

You can add it to your smart phone AND pull it up on your SmartBoard anytime you'd like, too! I'm going to try it this week and see how it goes or if I need to stick with my old way. (Sometimes technology really is a fun time!)

Hope everyone's Veteran's Day Programs went smoothly - almost time for the Christmas ones! (Never a break... haha)

ABC's of Me!

I saw this cute get-to-know-you-idea on a fellow blogger's site, and decided that it would be a great time to throw it into the mix this week!

A. ATE FOR BREAKFAST: Mango-Pineapple smoothie from McD's. Yum.
B. BED SIZE: Queen
C. CHORE YOU HATE: Cleaning up a puppy mess or mowing. Not a fan.
D. DOG'S NAMES: Pete and Wrigley (pictured above)
E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY" ITEM: My phone! First, it acts as my alarm clock, but I tend to check emails and the weather first thing.
F. FAVORITE COLORS: Hot pink & turquoise. To wear - black or purple.
G. GOLD OR SILVER: My wedding rings are white gold (aka silver), but it depends on the outfit of choice for the day. :)
H. HEIGHT: 5'6"
I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I took piano lessons for years, but studied voice after that. Other than my two weeks on the recorder, that's been about it.
J. JOB: Elementary music teacher
K. KIDS: Nope.
L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Bought a house. Going on 2 1/2 years now!
M. MY FAVORITE SNACK: chips and salsa, Dr. Pepper, chocolate... You see where I'm going with this. N. NICKNAME: Linny was the only one that ever really sort of stuck.
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Never. (Thank goodness).
P. PET PEEVE: I have a lot of these, but I can never think of them when someone asks!
Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: It's from Noah to Allie in The Notebook -- "So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day."
R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY: Righty (except when I swing the bat! ...blame it on Pops.)
S. SIBLINGS: One of each, but I'm the oldest.
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: On Wednesdays, I have a rehearsal at school at 7:30 a.m. and two/three days week I was running at 5:30 a.m. But I like to be at school extra early (since I only have 25 minutes to plan between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.), which gives me time to accomplish at least one thing for the day. So I'm usually waking up between 6:05-6:15 now that it's too chilly.
U. UNDERWEAR: Um. Awkward turtle, homes. I have quite a variety, in case you were wondering. Oh, and I like to match my undies to my outfits if possible. True story.
V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: I like most vegetables, but I've never had brussel sprouts and I doubt I'd be a fan.
W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: I love to sleep. Sometimes I get sucked into reading blogs/books on my nook or checking facebook (not as much anymore now that Pinterest has me completely inspired) and time gets away from me. Sometimes I have fashion emergencies - aka I just can't decide what to wear.
X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: For my teeth -- at the dentist & orthodontist.
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: I make lots of yummy food (if I do say so myself). Tonight's dinner was stolen from a fellow teacher and it may be my new favorite! Kind of a shephard's pie-type-thing. (Croissant rolls in a pie pan filled with beef, green beans, onion, tomato sauce and cheese - sooo wonderful!)
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Elephants (always my #1), penguins, anything my hubby wouldn't let me have as a house pet really.

Kinder-Music Mondays

I'm feeling a little behind with my kinders. For most of their classes, I usually follow Joy Nelson's The Music Effect to keep us on path, but this year has been a whirlwind of way too many extra things that have to be put into our musical time together. With my schedule, I only have time for one kinder class to come three times a week.

(Therefore, the other three kinder classes in our building have another - astounding, btw - teacher that sees them in the cafeteria... Yes, our building is officially out of classrooms and has no room for our traveling music teacher to have a classroom. She was presented with a Redcat-speaker system and CD player on a rolling cart. That's it. She's unbelievable. I don't know how she does it three days a week.)

Back to point. If you are not currently using The Music Effect books 1-2, I highly recommend them! Dr. Nelson gives you great stories and tips to keep the kids engaged and - if all keeps on track - a great base for their upcoming years in music.

I'd love to know what you're using in your kinder music classes!

Good luck to everyone on Veteran's Programs this week!

Solfa for Thought

So I've been doing some serious reflecting and research this weekend.. I have officially applied to grad. school and I am finally inspired! These past few weeks have felt like I was in a huge body of water, treading day after day, only to swim a few miles and tread again feeling like I've gotten no closer to land.

The past few years of my teaching experience have been a mixture of many of the main music-making approaches: Kodaly being the most dominate, with Orff following closely behind, and a dash of Dalcroze (which I am the least familiar with - but hope to change that and get a good grasp of all three and how they can be incorporated and somewhat fuzed together).

In the process of all this reflecting (and extra thinking), I've decided to give my posts a new goal. I've got an idea of where I'm going to go with my students, but getting there will be the work. So..

Each post will have some sort of concept I'm working on for the week. And only to make it easier on myself (since I can't promise that I'll get to post everyday), I want to dedicate one day a week to certain grade levels. It'll consist of anything from a great lesson I've got planned that day/week and maybe a cute story or two. Either way, here's my thinking:

Kinder-Music Mondays

Tune-Up Tuesdays for Firsties

What Second Grade Wants Wednesdays

Third Grade Thursdays

Fourth & Fifth Grade Fridays

Special Ed. Saturdays

Sunday Fun-Day!

I'm looking forward to a good time! Each day will have a theme - not saying there may not be something else on my mind to write about on these days - but this gives me a good place to start with ideas to jot down during the week!

November Goals...

OK... Let's be honest. I didn't do the best at last month's goals. It's already November 1st and my time is out! Here's a run-down of how October went. (I'm almost embarrassed to type..)

1. Run a full mile by the end of the month. FAILED. I am still up twice a week and running/walking, so I feel like that's a close one. I'll keep it up for November, and (even though it's about to get oh-so-cold) I'll have the mile before Thanksgiving!

2. Spend no more than $200. FAILED MISERABLY. I don't know what I was thinking with this one. I hosted an engagement party for a friend this month, so I down-right plummeted to failure at #2. (I also found some super-cute flat boots for $30 that are perfect to start this cold weather in and I couldn't resist! ...both pairs.)

3. Cook dinner 4 nights a week. ACCOMPLISHED!! Yay to me! I did do this one all but one week this month - and it was only 3 nights for that week, because I was not home for everyday of my so-called "Fall Break." (A week would've definitely done the trick.)

4. Send 5 cards to special people in my life just for fun. ACCOMPLISHED! Of course, my grandma got one again, but I also sent one to my sister and a Halloween one for my niece. A couple of teachers at work were having a tough week, so I technically didn't "send" them a card as much as I wrote them one and stuck it in their boxes at work. (If I count the 35 party invites for my friend's engagement, I'm way over my goal! haha)

5. Blog consistently twice a week WITH PICTURES! FAILED. I fully intend to continue with this as well for November.

So here's the final list for November:

1. Run a full mile by the end of the month. Without stopping. Without walking. I cannot wait to write "ACCOMPLISHED" for this one!!

2. If needed, spend only ONE day at school after 5:00. Last week, my workdays ranged anywhere from 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. There was only one day that I got home before my husband last week, and that was because I had to finish up a couple of errands before driving to the engagement party 90 minutes away, so I had to leave on time. There's just not enough time in my day when I teach 12 classes in a day!

3. Plan dinner 4 nights a week. This has to stay a goal each month. With the destination wedding moved to June, that gives me more time to get fit and eat healthy! Wish me luck!

4. Send 5 cards to special people in my life just for fun. I love this one! It's such a great feeling to get a card! I received a holiday card from my friend this month and it feels so good to be loved! (Thank you, Katie!)

5. Start planning holiday lists. I started one for myself and the hubs beginning this past summer. Just a quick collection of things I'd like to have and didn't want to buy myself when funds were tight. :) Thanks to other blogs and pinterest, I've got tons of ideas for my family and house decorations!