Fun Music Lesson for Older Students

I wanted to share a fun music lesson that I did with my older students. Every year I teach patriotic music to my music classes. I was very excited to find a great YouTube video with a class using tennis balls to practice working on rhythms together. So I decided to use this fun music activity along with my patriotic lesson this year. My class was totally engaged and it was a big hit with my 5th and 6th graders. They loved
 
learning about the composer John Phillip Sousa while working on rhythms with tennis balls.

This activity helped my class to understand that they needed to perform rhythms exactly together when they are counting their music. I loved this activity because the class can visually see if they are together with the beat of the music and I can quickly assess their understanding of how to count rhythms together. This fun activity


Click on the picture. Here is the power point
I used for our Patriotic Sing-A-Long Lesson.

was done by playing the music "Stars and Stripes Forever" and performing whole notes with balls going in a full circle around your body. Half notes were done by bouncing the ball on the floor on count 1 and catching the ball on count 2. Quarter notes we done by tossing the ball up in the air with one hand on each beat. Eighth notes were passed from hand-to-hand in front of your body. Start the music and then the teacher will call out a rhythm such as (whole notes ready go) and the class would begin demonstrating whole notes around their body. Throughout the music the teacher will switch to an new rhythm (half notes, quarter notes or eighth notes. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Please take a moment to leave a comment below about what works well with your older students.
 Want more fun activities and ideas for your class? Be sure to Sign-up by email on my side bar to claim a monthly freebie, teacher tips & tricks. I would love to hear what tricks you use or other thoughts you might have in the comments below. Enjoy!

You Might Also Like: