Music in Our Schools Month

Each year during "Music in Our Schools Month", we not only celebrate the music in the school, but ways that music is in our lives outside of school. I usually ask the students to listen for music outside of music class and music lessons and to report back to me. The students typically mention that they hear music in the car, in the mall, in movies, and in commercials. 

Here are the various ways we recognize music in my school:

1. Mystery song-  I put the notes for a well known song on large staff paper and hang it up by the front entrance of the school with a box  and answer sheets nearby. The students enter the guesses for a chance to win a MIOSM button. I love seeing a crowd of students standing around the song in the morning or at the end of the day. Some students actually write down the notes and play the song at home. Since there are so many guesses, I typically announce all of the correct guesses in class and then do a drawing if there are more than three students in a class that guesses correctly.  The students were getting so good at figuring out the songs that I have tried to make the songs more challenging. 

2. Musical Visitors-  Parents, teachers, and relatives of the students who have a musical skill (or interest) to share may visit a class and perform for the students. Many visitors give a short presentation about how music has been part of their life, whether they are an amateur or professional musician. Because there were not as many parent visitors participating over the years, I starting inviting the fifth graders (the oldest students in the school) to visit the younger classes. Many of the students actually voluntarily make PowerPoint presentations about the benefits of music or talk about how they started playing an instrument or singing. Some students have actually reported that they became interested in learning an instrument after a fifth grader came to visit their class. I feel very proud watching my students in a teacher role for a little while. If the student visitor does not have a presentation prepared, I ask them questions and ask them to demonstrate some things for the class.

3. What Music Means to Me- The students fill out a paper describing what music means to them. I often use the current MIOSM logo on the paper. (Ex. "Music makes me_________!")  The kindergarten students may draw pictures of their favorite musical activities or instruments.  Some of the younger students write a sentence or draw pictures. I encourage the older students to express their feelings about music in a few sentences. If they are unsure of what to write, they can list their favorite songs from school or outside of school. I also encourage teachers to write about music or use a music related quote.The papers are then hung all over the building.    

When I was in graduate school, we discussed ways to encourage our students to see a connection between music in school and outside of school. The students should not think that "school music" is not real music. I hope that by having student role models visit the younger classes and looking at the words and pictures their peers and teachers wrote about music, they will see that music is something meaningful in everyone's lives and find ways to enjoy music on their own.

Musical Apartment Story (Introducing the solfege syllables and ear training)

This story was created after I heard a similar story at a workshop. While the other story was used with reading solfege syllables on the music staff, my story is focused on ear training and learning where each pitch "lives" on the scale.

The story is told using a resonator bell step ladder and resonator bells. If you are about to sing a song that has mi, so, and la you can use E, G, and A  (for the key of C major).  However, I usually use the bells in the same key as the song. The story works best if you first tell it with two or three bells. Otherwise, the story will be a bit too long. If the students already know the story, you can quickly review the characters and start adding bells.

 I first explain that the step ladder is an apartment building.  We count the floors together to determine that there are eight floors. Then I introduce Mi, the first character in the story.

Mi was walking down the street one day and he saw a tall building with a big sign announcing that there were apartments available. Mi had been looking for a new place to live so he went inside and asked if he could see an apartment.  He walked into an apartment on the first floor and he really liked what he saw. There was a lot of closet space and the large window let a lot of light inside.  When he walked over to the window to see the view, he didn't see anything special. He saw the street, the sidewalk, and the parking lot.  He preferred living a bit higher so he'd have a nicer view.

He decided to take a look at the apartment on the eighth floor. (moving the bell to the top) The apartment looked just like the other one. However, when he went over to the window to see the view, he was feeling VERY nervous.  Why do you think he was so nervous? (I sometimes prompt the students by saying "Because he was afraid of _____" and the students say "heights." Sometimes I will call on a student who can explain the reason for Mi's nervousness.)

Mi knew that he could not live so high up in the building, so he knew he would be happier living in an apartment in the middle of the building. Which floor did he end of moving to? (If it is their first time hearing the story, I tell them that he moved to the third floor. If they have heard the story, I ask the students which floor he chose.)

Mi was very happy with his apartment. I sometimes mention here that Mi loved music and he started filling the closets with all of his instruments

One day his friend So called him. So said, "Mi, I haven't heard from you in a long time. Where have you been?" Mi told So all about the apartment. So told Mi that he had been looking for a place to live as well. So said, "Are there any other apartments available in your building?" Mi said, "I'm the only one here. It's been pretty lonely here. I'd love to have a neighbor." 

So stopped by Mi's apartment and said, "You're right, it is nice here."  So moved into the fourth floor apartment right above his friend. Soon  after he moved in, he realized that the fourth floor was not working out for So. Mi loved music so much that he would play music all day and all night long. He would play a drum set and then the saxophone (usually name other instruments.) When he was not playing instruments, he would play his radio. (For students who have heard the story before, I ask them if the fourth floor apartment worked out and why not.) So didn't want to complain to Mi and upset his friend, so he decided it would be easier to move to the fifth floor instead.

(Depending on the song we are singing next, I either introduce La or Do.)  When Do or La first finds out about the apartments their friends are living in, he wants to live right between them on the fourth floor, but Mi's loud music is a problem.  La is happy to live near one of his friends, So, on the sixth floor.  Do tries living on the sixth floor, but his extreme fear of heights is a big problem.  He does not need a special view and is happiest on the first floor.  

(Let's say that the story was told with Do, Mi, and So. This is the next part of the story.)

They were all happy with their apartments, when they heard a strange sound one day. (play the bells: So-Mi- Do, or in whatever order works for the song you are introducing)  They didn't know what the sound was at first, but eventually realized that it was the doorbell. The bell rang throughout the entire building. Do came to the door first. Mi had a visitor. Do asked Mi's friend to wait until Mi got to the door.  Mi came down and let his friend inside.  By the time So got downstairs, no one was at the door. He was a little bit annoyed and walked back upstairs.

The next day, they heard the doorbell again. (Play bells)  Do was expecting a package in the mail, so he immediately brought his package in.  Mi was taking a nap and got startled by the doorbell.  When he got downstairs, no one was there. So was reading a book. He dropped his book and lost the page when he heard the doorbell. (I sometimes say that he was watching his favorite tv show...a mystery.  He went to answer the door right before the ending. When he got back upstairs, the show was over.)  

This became a big problem, because they never knew who the visitor was coming to see.  They decided to call an electrician to fix the doorbell.  The electrician said, "I have good news and bad news." The good news was that there were now three doorbells. The bad news was that the electrician was not able to make the bells ring only inside the individual apartments. Since each bell has a different sound (play bells individually), they could decide which bell they each wanted. Do decided to take the bell with the deepest sound or deepest pitch.  He thought he could remember the sound since he lived on the lowest floor. So chose the highest pitch since he was on the highest floor.  Mi said, "That makes sense. I'm in the middle, so I can remember the pitch that's in the middle." 

Now when someone came to the do, they looked for the name of the person they want to visit and rang the bell.  Who was the person visiting? (Students respond with the name of the bell played. This is done for each bell.) 

Many of the visitors were friends with all of them and would ring all three bell. If the visitors rang the bells in a different order, Do, Mi, and So would come to the door in the order of the bells. (Practice this with the students several times. Ask the students to wait until you ring all three bells before answering.)   Do, Mi, and So were not able to see the doorbells like we can, and they sometimes came down at the wrong time until they learned the sound of their doorbell. Let's see if you can recognize the bells by closing your eyes. 

After playing the bells and the students sing the pattern back, ask them to open up their eyes and play the pattern again. "If you got the right answer, give yourself a silent cheer."

I tell the story with Do, Mi, and So before teaching the kindergartners "Ten in a Bed."  After singing the song, I play the pattern "so-mi-do" and ask the students which part of the song I played.

By the time the students reach 2nd grade, I fill in the rest of the scale.  We go through each character pretty quickly.  I do not spend as much time playing the patterns.  

High Do - is Low Do's little sister.  I play them together to show the students how their sounds blend.  High Do is not afraid of heights.

Re and Fa obviously love music and do not mind Mi's loud music habits. 

You can come up with your reasons for why they each chose their floor. Please share your ideas in the comments. Since I only tell the story and have not written it out before, let me know if anything needs to be clarified or if you have any other questions.  

If you start telling the story in kindergarten and repeat the story two or three times a year, they students really look forward to hearing the story.  They also enjoy helping to tell the story. I do not know if fourth or fifth graders will respond as well if they are hearing it for the first time.  However, if they remember hearing this story from when they were younger, they will probably enjoy if you quickly review the story to introduce something new. Let me know if you use this story and how the students respond.