5 Favorite Pins of January

So this is called, "Five Favorite Pins of January" and I am so happy to participate. 

Thank you, Aileen Miracle from the amazing "Mrs. Miracle's Music Room" for the invite!

If you haven't seen her blog, oh my...put that on your "things I need to take time to read and get inspired to do list."  This is my very first "Linky Party," too - so if you simply click on this picture at the end of my blog post, it will take you to Aileen's 5 Favorite Pins of January post! 

  

Here are my 5 Favorite Pins this month:

#1 Before You Tell the Teacher...
Man, oh man! Since we have gotten back from winter break I felt as if I needed a tape recorder since I kept saying over and over, did you try to solve the problem? I saw this on pinterest and was SO happy to add it as a quick and easy reminder for my little guys. Now I simply point if there is a little wide-eyed friend tugging at me (as I'm in the middle of a song...ahem!) LOL. This pin is from "The Littlest Scholars" Blog - just click the picture and it takes you to the blog where you can download and print this great poster for your classroom!
 

#2 Recorder Clip Art
Talk about perfect timing!  It's almost time for "Recorder Karate! at my school!"  I was psyched to see that Denise at Dancing Crayon created this very kid-friendly set!  I love them and can use them for soooo many activities.  Click the pic to grab these goodies!


#3 Unlock the Door - Syncopa Version
So I am a big fan of Aileen Miracle's TpT products and let me tell you, last year, when I found her first version of "Unlock the Door" I was hooked!  My kids worked SO hard to figure out which key had the correct rhythm.  Such a fun way for your students to practice syncopated rhythms.  Each page has a key with a notated rhythm pattern - the students listen to a sound clip and have to choose which "key" will unlock the door!  It's adorable and engaging, and perfect to assess your student's skills.


#4 Monster Invastion Composing
What a find!  I pinned immediately and did not regret it.  David at Make Moments Matter, has a great blog with tons of ideas for your music room.  After reading this post about his "Monster Invasion" game, I went bananas and ran out to the Dollar Tree to grab some "monsters" of my own.  You see, well the only way to get rid of the monsters invading the music room is to compose your own 4 measure pattern!  Check out the directions for this game and I guarantee you'll be inspired to make your own set and your students will have a great time COMPOSING (we all know we need more composing in our lessons!) and having time to be creative!  I'm thinking about extending the activity to have the students add the solfege and turn them into "Melody Monsters" and sing and play their compositions on instruments.  Exciting!!!  Thank you for the GREAT post, David!!! 
 

#5 The Dum-Dum Song! So I stumbled upon this pin one night and after watching it, my first thought, "I am TOTALLY teaching this to my 4th grade chorus!!! ha!!!" I think I will teach them just a little bit at a time during warm-ups, and add onto it each time we meet. What a fun and engaging challenge. Just click the picture or the link below and get ready to giggle.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315181673893691570/

And I just have to add....
an Extra Special Pin
(and a freebie from a lovely and talented friend in Canada)
This is something that is very close to my heart.  I hope you can take a moment to check it out and maybe pass it on to your other fellow teachers in your schools.  What a beautiful way to help our students demonstrate the power of kindness. 

Random Acts of Kindness Book

 

http://whimsyworkshop.blogspot.ca/2013/12/random-acts-of-kindness-class-project.html

Click this picture below to go to Aileen Miracle's blog
and check out her five favorite pins of January

Do you have 5 favorites, too?  Comment below and then, link up! 
Directions are on her page below her post.

Thank you and "sing"-ya later!
Tina

December Excitement

There are so many things to look forward to in December in addition to the holiday excitement and one of them actually starts tomorrow!  

Check out this ADORABLE pic by a very talented friend at Whimsy Workshop. 

 

Also, if you love adorable clip art and more, click on her link on the left side of my page.

I think the internet may freeze tomorrow night when we're all online trying to grab our goodies. 

 Remember to enter CODE: CYBER in your cart

 Everything in my little TpT Store will be 28% off, too!

 

So the BIG CYBER SALE at TpT is the first bit of excitement and then, cue the suspenseful music...

A WINTER FACEBOOK FRENZY!!!

 

  

(Thank you, Lindsay Jervis for making this adorable advertising poster for us!)

 

What's a "Frenzy?" 

A Frenzy is a great event where the teacher-authors involved offer a FREEBIE for their Facebook Page fans as a "Thank You" for following their page/store, etc.  It's a circle of freebies! 

The dates for this Winter's Frenzy are December 6-9th and this time around,

there are also a bunch of MUSIC TEACHERS involved, like me, and many others who are offering amazing FREEBIES!  Simply click on the tab on the facebook page and there will be directions on how to download your freebie and a link to hop over to the next FB page involved in the Frenzy!

All you have to do is "Like" the page and collect your freebie. 

So make sure to mark your calendars to stop on by my facebook page, and look for this tab:

I can't wait to gather up the freebies from the other music teachers involved like Lindsay Jervis,

Amy Abbott, Aileen Miracle, Chrystine Tinney, Linda McPherson, and many, many more!  Click on their names to check out their awesome blogs.

 

Another exciting December moment will be my school's Annual Winter Sing Along.

 

 

It is always such a positive, uplifting experience for my sweet little school community.  I love how music truly brings us all together. 

I do love it, but I have to be honest and tell you, my fellow musical readers, that over the next 3 weeks, I have to find many, many different ways to not go insane from singing the same songs with many many grade levels.   It's also a challenge to get the kids to memorize music selections quickly, yet musically, when you see them once a week; however, I'm really hoping that this year especially, it will bring us all a lot of laughter and happiness like it has in the past. 

 

Do any of you do something similar in your schools?  Please comment below!  I'd love to hear about it!  :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Almost Turkey Time

It's almost turkey time!  3 days until Thanksgiving (2 full and 1/2 half days of school and oh boy do we feel the need for a little break at this point.)  Here's one of my newest creations for note reading practice:  It's called "G Clef Gobblers" and I was laughing as I made one page of it trying to come up with what a turkey would rather us eat on Thanksgiving. 

I have found lately that one of the best things to do to keep charge in my batteries, is to slow down.  And watching the kids laugh as they were figuring out what the turkey suggested they should eat on Thanksgiving, was one of the things that definitely helped me last week.

It's been quite a whirlwind since my last post and I apologize if anyone has missed me! LOL! I don't know if I'm just talking to myself here or what, but my hope is that if there are readers reading my posts, that you find some of my ideas for your classroom helpful and inspiring.

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

Enjoy some time with family and friends and gobble up some goodness!!!

Next post will be about the December Facebook Frenzy!  It will have a MUSIC FREEBIE section!  I have been so happy to meet other inspiring teachers from around the globe via social networking and teachers pay teachers.  Please feel free to leave me a comment below and a link to your blog so I can follow you, too!

Remember, throughout the upcoming holiday, no matter how stressful they can get, just...be kind. 

It truly matters.