Musical Ideas for "I Am Every Good Thing"
Working with Wacky Holidays in Music Class, Part One
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We've all had them. We have our usual concepts that we teach year after year. But somehow, we tire of the same presentation. We might want to create a new theme. But, we've used the usual holidays, music themes, general sports themes, etc.
Why not try crazy holidays?
There are various websites that list things like "National Ice Cream Day" or "National Save the Kumquat Day" (OK, I don't know about that one). Consider the fun it would be to introduce these to your kids! Here are some ideas for holidays January-April.
JANUARY
January 21 is "Squirrel Appreciation Day." I don't honestly appreciate squirrels when they're in my birdfeeder, but they're cute nonetheless. There are several squirrel folk songs, of course, but this one is probably the most famous:
February 3 is Carrot Cake Day. (Bet you didn't know that.) Why not work with vegetables? There are several things you can do.
- Use plastic vegetables for rhythms. (when the world is safe). Students can work in groups and get cards with rhythm phrases. They must match the phrases to the names of the vegetables.
- Use them to diagram form.
- Use them for subsequent parts in a rondo to The Garden Song.
March also has Mario Day, March 10 (My daughter's birthday!). You could.....
- Use video game music for creative movement, like The Legend of Zelda main theme, a great theme for quiet, reflective movement. Of course, there's also one of the Mario theme songs.
- Use them as listening examples. "Zelda's Lullaby" is gorgeous and can lend itself well to emotional/feelings listening journals. A little bonus: it can be transcribed for recorder for your older students!
- Have groups of students notate the rhythms of characters of various video games and then create body percussion to perform.
- Let Us Chase the Squirrel Boom Card activity
- Bonjour, Mes Amis Boom Card activity: Good for Valentine's, Friendship Day, or Mardi Gras
- St. Patrick's Day worksheets set
- 1960s Civil Rights Songs: You the Curator Webquest. Good for Martin Luther King Day or Black History Month
- Jazz Museum: You the Curator Webquest: Good for Black History Month OR Jazz Appreciation Month (April)
- "Shoo, Turkey" Call and Response Boom Cards. Good for Thanksgiving
- Skeleton Movement Cards
- Trick or Treat Triple Meter Activities
- Pumpkin Patch
- Rhythm Halloween Color Pages