Instruments of the Orchestra Games

At the end of our instruments unit, 4th graders will be playing review games! I created an instrument version of Battleship that is played the exact same way as the original version.

 Each player places their instruments on their hidden grid. There is also a tracking sheet that I laminated for each player to keep track of the hits and misses that they have called for their opponent's grid. The players call out locations on the grid and the opponent replies with hit or miss. The player then records (with an expo marker) that information on their tracking grid. This is how the player can figure out where their opponent's instruments are placed.

If the opponent calls a location on the grid where the player has an instrument, the player must reply hit and place a hit marker on their grid, over the instrument on that square.

The game is over when one player has figured our where their opponent's instruments are place. The tracking sheet and the player's grid must match.

To make 1 game (2 folders), you will need: 2 manilla folders, 2 cover pages, 4 grids (2 glued in the folders and 2 laminated) 2 expo markers, Instrument pieces and hit covers, cut out,

The printable is here.

We are also going to play a trivia game. I have used this template before to create trivia games for other topics and the kids love it. I set up two stools with 2 tone bells and a mallet on each. When a student is up to answer a question, they use the bell to buzz in.The bells are two different pitches so I can tell who buzzed in first. Here is a link to the Jeopardy game I created for the instruments of the orchestra.

Here is the link to a previous post on an instrument scavenger hunt. I placed these clues around the school and the students loved hunting for them and answering the riddles!

Instruments of the Orchestra Study Guide for 4th Grade

In 4th grade, we are starting Instruments of the Orchestra next week! I am so excited because they can choose to join band next year! We are going in depth with the instrument that they can choose to play in band.

We are going to create a study guide for each family. At the end of the unit we are going to play several games and they will need the facts from their notes!

Here is a picture of the brass notes page and here is a link to the notes we are using.

To make this even more interesting and enjoyable, we are going to have an instrument petting zoo! I have most of the band instruments and have borrowed the ones I didn't own. I plan to teach 2 families per class so after we complete the notes, the students will get a chance to play instruments from those families. We are also helping the band director out by administering an informal rhythm assessment for those students interested in playing percussion next year. They will play a series of rhythms, each progressively harder and we will assess which students would excel at playing the percussion instruments.

During the brass petting zoo, we will discuss forming an embouchure and they will each have a chance at playing the horn, trumpet, and trombone. At the woodwind station, they will look at a reed, play the clarinet and the flute.

Instrument Case Files Review Game

After Spring Break, we are going to begin instrument of the orchestra. 2nd grade is working on the string family and I needed a way to review during this unit with the other grades. I saw a sort of case files game for preschool on pinterest and adapted the idea for a review game.

The students are paired up and work together to discover which instrument is at which station. The stations are numbered 1-10 in the music room and the instruments at the station are partially covered. The students must use what they know about the design of the instrument and the size to decided what each instrument is. Once they have figured it out, they write the name of the instrument on the correct line of their worksheet. The worksheet also has a word bank for additional help.

This is my clue for String Bass

Here is a link to the game printables.