Aiken Drum

Now that the snow has passed and we are finally getting back to normal, first graders are reviewing rhythms and performing them.

I am using the Music K-8 arrangement of Aiken Drum (Vol 17, No. 4) so we can review tah and ti-ti with word rhythms.  The song is so silly and perfect for my first graders. This arrangement also has a "Kitchen Band" piece to accompany it. We are going to create our own kitchen band with the word rhythms of Aiken Drum's outfit and perform excerpts of the Music K-8 Kitchen Band arrangement.

Here is a link to the Powerpoint with the lyrics and the word rhythms: Aiken Drum

Once we finish our performances, we are going to create our own version of Aiken Drum with our favorite foods. I will ask the students for a food based on a specific rhythm. Then we will draw him out on the board.

Here are the word rhythms and the instrument he played on.

Cheddar cheese – ti-ti tah on a pie pan

Gingerbread –ti-ti tah on a muffin tin

Tuna fish –ti-ti tah on a serving spoon

Pizza –tah tah on cookie sheet

Raisin toast –ti-ti tah on skillet

String beans –tah tah on a teacup

Tacos –tah tah on tin can

Recorder Olympics Wall

School just started back this week! I missed my recorder kids! I told them about Recorder Olympics before the winter break and that was the first thing they were asking me about this week! We are spending the first weeks back reviewing rhythms and note names as well as basic recorder skills, then we are starting our games.

Here is a pictures of the wall I created in my classroom to keep track of who has completed each event.

Each event has a paper with each class listed. When an event is passed off, I can record their names under the appropriate class.

I made the streamers out of plastic table cloths (.97 at Walmart). These also work well for dancing ribbons. I found the dangling stars in the party aisle (3 pack for .97) and my lucky find was the Team USA stickers in the clearance aisle. Originally 4.97, I picked these up for .97! The stars are post it notes and I made the poster in the center. I also made the medals out of construction paper and reused some red, white, and blue ribbon.  All together, I have about 6 bucks in this wall.