Continuing with my posts on how the nine national standards from The National Association for Music Education (MENC) can be enhanced by technology in the elementary general music classroom, today I approach standard #5.
Content Standard #5: Reading and notating music.
Achievement Standard:
5b. Students use a system (that is, syllables, numbers, or letters) to read simple pitch notation in the treble clef in major keys.
This lesson comes from my book: Technology Integration in the Elementary Music Classroom.
Can you spell these words?
(A Note Naming Game using the Classics for Kids Website)
Objective:
The objective of this lesson is to have the students spell the musical words on the Treble Clef Staff, using only the notes found on the lines and spaces of this staff. Therefore, this game does not involve notes on the ledger lines.
Materials/Equipment:
The materials required for this lesson are:
- A large staff
- Notes to place on the staff
- A computer
- The website: http://www.classicsforkids.com
- A TV, SMARTboard, or LCD projector so that the students can see the website
Duration:
20-30 minutes
Prior Knowledge and Skills:
The students need to know the note names on a Treble Clef Staff.
Procedure:
1. Review the Note Names of a Treble Clef Staff:
a. Take out a large staff (this could be a felt staff, a staff drawn on an easel, a staff used as a carpet, etc.)
b. Review lines and spaces
c. Review the note names on the staff with the method that you taught the students to identify and comprehend the note names on a Treble Clef Staff.
2. Play the Game:
a. Before you begin, please go over good sportsmanship. If you decide to play a game that divides the class into two teams, then it is very important to go over what good sportsmanship means. In my school, I have an excellent PE program, so when I speak about sportsmanship to the students, they have already experienced it in their PE classes and know how to practice it.
b. Connect your computer to a TV, SMARTboard, or LCD projector.
c. Launch the Classics for Kids website: (http://www.classicsforkids.com)
d. Click on “Games”.
e. Click on the “Note Name Game” (see Fig. 1).
f. The game will appear with the notes dancing from side-to-side on the staff. They dance from side-to-side until you place the correct letters beneath them.
g. Divide the class into two teams. I usually name my two teams after composers, such as Team Bach and Team Beethoven.
h. The first few words that appear on the screen are only one to three-letter words. As the students progress, the words have more letters.
i. Assign Team Bach to go first.
j. The goal is to drag the correct letter name to the space below each note to spell a word.
k. For a three-letter word, such as AGE (see Fig. 1), have three members of the Bach team go to the computer (or SMARTboard) and drag the letter to the corresponding note. When the student puts the correct letter under the note, he/she earns Team Bach a point. Therefore, for the word AGE, if all three students place the correct letters under the notes, then Team Bach has earned three points. If a student does not place the letter under the correct note, the computer gives you a sound to let you know that the letter was incorrect and the team does not earn a point. I will usually give each student two tries to earn the point.
l. The game will give you ten words to spell. Many times, the team that earns the most points is the one who had the words with the most letters. Therefore, at the end I give each student (on both teams) a reward of a musical pencil or a lollypop. It is up to you how you decide to reward them, or if you choose to reward them at all.
Evaluation:
As the students each take a turn, you can sit in the back of the classroom and evaluate each student individually for naming notes and if you choose, you can evaluate each student for sportsmanship.
Follow-up:
This lesson can be followed-up with more note naming games like “Musical Hangman” – a game where the words used only have the seven letters on the musical alphabet – or creating compositions with the notes of a Treble Clef Staff.
From Burns, A. Technology Integration in the Elementary Music Classroom. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2008.
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