Reference Sheet for Folders

 

For the last couple of years, I've been wanting to put a reference sheet in folders for students.  The glossary in their book has more words than we talk about in a year, and they're sorted alphabetically, rather than by topic.  It can also be a little overwhelming to see so many words on those two pages in the back of the book.  The folders that my music store supplies does have musical terms inside, but they are not the same words that I would have picked out, and it's all just words, no symbols.  I wanted something that could work for all instruments, so I'd only have to make one per grade level and something that was a little more visually appealing.  My stumbling block has been knowing what to include and what to leave out, as there is so much that I could include but only limited space.  Here's what I came up for this first version:

Reference Sheet for Folders for 1st year students--tempo/dynamic 

• Google Slides
• PDF

Reference Sheet for Folders for 2nd year students--articulations

• Google Slides
• PDF

As always, feel free to make a copy and edit for your use!

The versions for first- and second-year players are nearly the same, except the first-year version has dynamics and tempos and the second-year version has articulations in place of those.

I used Google Slides to create the reference sheet, as it was really easy to create different text boxes and move them around and format them the way I wanted.  The symbols are screenshots from Finale (going to the "Staff" tool, I can uncheck "Barlines" under "Items to Display" to just see the symbols with white space behind instead of barlines).

Then, I downloaded the Slide as a PDF, edited the PDF to copy/paste that page into two. When printing, select a custom 1 by 2 pages per sheet (portrait orientation) to get two reference sheets per piece of paper.  When cut apart, they fit perfectly inside the folder! 

The other things I stick into folders at the beginning of the year are a pencil on a piece of yarn, a fingering chart, the concert dates for the year, and list of contents.

We'll see how these reference sheets work this year, and then I can always update them for future years!  What would you like to see on a reference sheet for beginning string students?

Parts of a Note Beginning-of-the-Year Bulletin Board

 

For this year's beginning-of-the-year bulletin board, I wanted to label the different parts of notes and eventually came up with the title "Take note: We are all PART of what makes our school community shine!"  It's a little wordy, but I liked that it included both "note" and "part."  You could insert your school name in place of "our school community" too.  This bulletin board can also double as a year-round reference, simply titled "Parts of a Note."  

Parts labeled:

• Note head (the internet is telling me it's really spelled "notehead" but I just can't do it...)
• Stem
• Beam
• Flag
• Dot

I used the pictures of the different rhythms from this blog post and rearranged them for each note part (see links to printouts below).  I did use a black Sharpie to round out a couple places that looked a little cut off.  For the large version, I printed as-is, then cut a half-inch off each side to be able to use an 8 1/2 by 11" background.  For the smaller version, I set the print settings to 2 pages per sheet and then cut each to 3 1/4 by 4 1/2".  The colored background was a half-sheet of paper, 4 1/4 by 5 1/2, with a bigger black background behind that, again cut to make a half-inch border.

For the large pair of eighth notes, I didn't trust my free-hand drawing skills, so I greatly enlarged an image of an outline of eighth notes, printed/cut/traced onto black paper and then cut/attached the pieces.  I used a Cricut for the text (Fontastic Fonts, DJ Smooth) and arrows, but created a Google doc with everything here to print out.

• Text (Google doc)
• Rhythm printouts (Word document)
• Rhythm printouts (PDF)
• Template for large eighth notes (Word document)
• Template for large eighth notes (PDF) 

Feel free to use!

Name That Tune--Concert Prep

For our last small group before a concert, we'll often play "Name that Tune."  First we rosin bows as I walk through the call time and concert details with the students.  Then, for "Name that Tune" I'll play a note or two or three of a part of one of their concert pieces.  Once someone correctly identifies the piece, I have students pull out their music to find the measure number(s) of the excerpt, and then we play the whole piece together and touch up whatever needs touching up.

A variation on this game is to make it rhythm only, and I'll clap a distinctive rhythmic pattern from each of their pieces.  Another variation (challenge) would be to include an excerpt or rhythm pattern that a different instrument plays--not a part that the specific kids in that small group play.

I'm often surprised by which students are quickly able to identify the concert piece--they're not always the strongest players--and the students like the game aspect of it (though we do not keep score in any way or recognize winners or anything).  It's also more of a fun way to review the different concert pieces than just playing through everything once more before the concert.

When we play through concert pieces on this day, I like to play a different instrument's part along with the students (like I'll play cello with a violin group or violin with a bass group etc.).  It helps to develop their chamber music skills and makes students more aware of what another instrument is doing while they're playing their part.  And there are always students surprised that I know how to play a different instrument than they're used to seeing me play :)  I also get students who look at the white board when they arrive and ask which song is "Name that Tune"...

At the end of this small group, we'll use a cloth to wipe the rosin dust off our strings and instruments so they're totally set to go for the concert, we'll get our music in concert order, and then I always ask which piece they're each most looking forward to performing at the concert.

What kind of lesson plans work well for you as you approach a concert?

Rhythm Magnets

Here are some magnets I made for different rhythms.  The length of each magnets corresponds to the number of beats (one beat = 6 inches).  I also color-coded the background of rhythm by the number of beats represented (which matches the rhythm bulletin board).  This will be a very visual way to see the relationships between different rhythmic values and to create measures with different note values.

The documents have the rhythms already spaced out--just cut on the line (or cut it slightly smaller than the lines to make room for a colored border).  The longer values (whole note, dotted-half note, etc.) will need extra white paper on either end to make them the corresponding length.  Then, after laminating, I just cut strips of adhesive magnetic sheets to finish them off.

I'm able to use these on the white board or on my teacher desk, as both are magnetic.

• Rhythms (Word document)
• Rhythms (PDF)  

Rhythms Bulletin Board

Here's a bulletin board of different rhythms, organized by number of beats, for my elementary orchestra classroom.  I wanted to include both up-stems and down-stems, notes and rests, and single eighth notes and beamed eighth notes.  I color-coded these by number of beats, which matches the rhythm magnets that I just made as well.

• Symbols (Word document)
• Symbols (PDF)
• Labels (Google doc)

Rhythms include:

• Whole note
• Whole rest
• Dotted half note
• Half note
• Half rest
• Dotted quarter note
• Quarter note
• Quarter rest
• 2 Eighth notes
• 4 Sixteenth notes
• Eighth note
• Eighth rest
• Sixteenth note