The Amazing Race: World Music Unit

I have been looking forward to a world music unit this year, especially after finding Jamie's World Music Bundle. This set is so great! She included everything that you need and my favorite, a recording of each song with the pronunciation.

I am planning the world music unit for my rowdy 3rd grade classes. These classes require lots of activity and movement. That being said, I created an Amazing Race World Music Game.

I love the Amazing Race!

My plans are to teach a song and game for the destination country and then teams will complete the Detour and Roadblock challenges. Some challenges are musical and some are just fun. I have a bunch of rowdy boys to win over!

Below are examples of some of the cards for the challenges. I tried to recreate the Amazing Race with similar procedures. The first card is a Route Info card. This card details the game and offers clues as to the destination. The clues are especially easy because the song we learn each day is from our location.

 

A Detour card is a choice between two challenges; one is a mental challenge, the other is physical. The team performs this task together.

 A Roadblock is a challenge the the team members must work separately on. (In the real game, only one member performs the challenge, but I didn't want one student from each team to be left out.)

 You can download the challenge cards HERE!

And now, for the songs and challenges. So far, I have 3 weeks of the unit complete. I will be adding more when they are complete.

Hawaii
Epo I Tai Tai E
I learned this song and activity at a general music conference and thought it was perfect to include in this unit. You can find it (and all the songs) in Jamie's set.

Detour Challenges: Perform Epo I Tai Tai E with the hand game OR Successfully perform the limbo.
(Like in the Amazing Race, there is only one Limbo set...if students choose this task, they may lose time waiting for a turn)
Roadblock: One team member assembles a puzzle of the ukulele. Once complete, the other team member labels the parts.

Supplies Needed:
Limbo set made of PVC
Ukulele puzzle (made from this worksheet) and labels (just print and cut out)

China

Kicikicikici song and game
Detour Challenges: Chopstick Challenge: Share a pair of chopsticks with a partner to place 5 items in the cup OR recreate the Chinese symbol meaning music 音乐.
Roadblock:  Taste Test
One team member will pick a mystery food and the other team member must take 3 bites. The mystery food is only baby food!

Supplies Needed:
Chopsticks and items to pick up: marble, eraser, marshmallow, a cheeto, a piece of yarn
Markers and paper to draw the symbol
Baby food and spoons

France
Bonjour Mes Amis
Detour Challenges: Construct a paper plane and hit a target (since we have to "fly" from China to France) OR Collect coins from a bowl of escargot (cooked round noodles with some olive oil for extra slime). The team will be blindfolded for the pasta challenge.
Roadblock: Construct a replica of the Eifel Tower that is equal to the height of a team member. (We did a cup stacking challenge with Carnival of the Animals from Mrs. King's Blog and they loved it!)

Supplies Needed:
Paper for a plane and a target (I might add some wet red paint to the target so teams are sure they hit it)
Coins
Cooked round noodles
Plastic cups


I will be adding the rest of the locations and challenges when I have them finished!

General Music Minute to Win It Games

As winter break is ending, I've been compiling rhythm games to play as a review during the first weeks back to school. I am planning to use these games with my 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade classes. Over the holidays, my family played some Christmas themed "Minute to Win It" games for the younger kids. It was so fun and everyone was engaged so I searched for music themed MTWI games. I found some great resources, adapted some for my age groups, and created some for use in general music classroom.

Rest Sculpting
Construct 3 rests from play-doh and arrange them from shortest to longest duration. If the student completes this task successfully, the team earns a point.
(Found at Heidi's Piano Studio post)

Treble Clef Van Goh
Draw a Treble Clef on the board using a visual cue. Correct? Team earns a point.
(Just a fun review for my 4th grade classes that made a treble clef ornament before break.)

A Bit Dicey
Using rhythm dice, roll the dice to create a measure of 4/4 time. Students may roll as many times as needed.
(Found at Heidi's Piano Studio post) Correct? Earn a point.

Rhythm Sorter
Solo cups are labeled 1-4 representing the number of beats. Students are to sort a set of ping pong balls with notes and rests into the appropriate cup. Correct? Earn a point.
(Found at Orchestra Classroom Ideas post)

Bean Bag Rhythm Toss
With rhythmic values placed on the floor as tiles, a student must toss a bean bag to the correct symbol as the rhythm values are called. The teacher must keep track of correct answers, maybe clear the beanbag if the answer was wrong. I also anticipate needing a student to collect the stray beanbags.
(You can get the "tiles" here)

Note Value Dice
Roll the value dice as many times as you can in a minute, answering the number of beats the rhythm receives after each roll. Teacher keeps track of number of correct answers in the minute. Correct answers? Earn a point.
(You can find a rhythm dice printable here!)

Staff Spelling (4th grade)
As a review, students will draw staff spelling words out of a hat and "spell" them on the staff board. Correct answers earn a point.

Rhythm Telephone- Group Finale Game
Everyone knows this game and it is an old favorite in my classroom. I thought it would be a great team game for the finale that requires everyone to participate. We may end up doing several minute rounds because they love it so much.

You can find more advanced MTWI games from these blogs:
Orchestra centered games: Orchestra Classroom Ideas 
Piano centered games: Heidi's Piano Studio
More piano centered games (and some for older, advanced students): Noteable Music Studio 

Lastly, here is a great timer that frees you up from keeping the time, lets the students see the time left and will build excitement in the onlooking students! Use it as full screen and listen for the buzzing when times up!