CHILDREN'S LITERATURE - BOOKS TO SING

The Crayon Box that Talked
Written by Shane DeRolf
Illustrated by Michael Letzig
ISBN:  978-0-385-37303-6

This charming story about a box of crayons that learns to get along can be sung to the familiar melody of "Four and Twenty Blackbirds."

Be sure to go back to Feb 15 2014 in the blog for the activity that goes with this children's title.

CLICK HERE TO LINK TO THE BLOG ACTIVITY FROM FEB 15 2014.

STEADY BEAT - RHYTHM CRAYONS

The Crayon Box that Talked
Written by Shane DeRolf
Illustrated by Michael Letzig
ISBN:  978-0-385-37303-6

In this fun little story about arguing colors in a crayon box, I thought it would be fun to have students discover the different rhythm patterns that each crayon name can have.  First share the story above with the children.  After hearing the story, we started with simple crayon shapes (I put a link below to order them if you don't already have access to them) that were laminated with magnets on the back.  You could also use the attached SMART board activity if that's easier -- but the kids really enjoyed using the actual crayons from the box most.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BULLETIN BOARD CRAYON CUT-OUTS.

Take each color from the box and lead students to discover the rhythmic pattern of each name.  For example, "red" would be a simple quarter note pattern while "yellow" would be an eighth-note pattern.  We decided that we would call "purple" lavender - thus giving it 3 sounds on a beat.  They also decided that "blue" would be a 2-beat sound and used the half note for this color.

After introducing the color rhythms, share the story with the children again, asking them to "build" rhythm patterns as they hear the colors mentioned in the story.  After each 2-page reading, invite children to read their color rhythm patterns as an interlude between each page of text.

Create and INTRO and CODA with the following poem:
Can you hear all the crayons in my box?
No one ever listens since everyone talks.
They argue all the day and they never get along.
Some day I hope they hear their names as rhythms and as songs.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF THE CRAYON BOX THAT TALKED.

MELODY - VALENTINE HEARTS

Tweet Hearts
Written and Illustrated by Susan Reagan
ISBN 978-0-307-93153-5

This activity connects to the activities in the last 2 weeks of posts which included a way to sing the book (Jan 25 2014) as well as a rhythm activity (February 1, 2014).  Please visit those sites for more information.

This week, I wanted to make melodic connections between this fun story by Susan Reagan and the concepts that I need to address in my classroom for a range of grade levels.  So, I will be giving you several options as well as the manipulatives that you can download.

GRADE 1
My students have been practicing composition by writing s-m melodies.  I will be using hearts shapes with "s" and "m" labels to assist in their improvisational singing.  On the back of each heart, I have attached an additional heart that has a quarter rest.  The download will include 3 hearts - an "s" heart, a "m" heart and a "Z" heart.  Duplicate a "Z" heart for each heart you print.  Before laminating, attach a "Z" heart to the back of each solfege heart so that it can be turned around to represent a beat of rest.

Invite 10 students to stand and hold one of the hearts.  As the teacher reads a line of text from the story, these children will create a random line of s-m hearts.  Give children a starting pitch (the first heart in the sequence) and invite them to sing the line of hearts.  After singing the line, remove one of the "hearts" buy choosing a child to sit.  Once they sit down, they must turn their heart over revealing a quarter rest - "Z" - written on the back of the heart.  As you read the next line of text, the children will move to create a new SM line of hearts.  Continue the activity until only one of the hearts remains.  If time permits, ask children to give their heart to another child and "sing" the story again.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD S-M SOLFEGE HEARTS.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE "TWEET HEARTS S-M MELODY" SMART BOARD FILE.

GRADE 3
My students need LOTS of practice reading B-A-G notation.  So this week, I will be challenging them to continue their reading while adding a bit of composition fun.  Use the B-A-G Valentine Hearts to create an 8-beat melody that can be played on soprano recorder after reading each line of text.  Print several of each heart so that students have a variety of options to choose from when creating their B-A-G Valentine melodies.  Laminate and place magnets on the back -- or simply use your pocket chart.  My students LOVE creating their own melodies and they continue to improve their reading skills.  Be sure to discuss and include the Treble Clef, time signature and bar lines.  I have included all of these, as well as the quarter rest as well as "Z" in the B-A-G Valentine Cards.

EXTENSION:  Print  copies of the student B-A-G Valentine Hearts to encourage individual or small group work.  Have one student create the melody while another student says / plays the final composition.  Use bingo markers to write the melody on enlarge staff paper to share with groups.  Create a VALENTINE RONDO with the different notated melodies.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE B-A-G VALENTINE CARDS.


ALL OF THESE DOWNLOADS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO COST UNTIL 2-15-14.  AFTER THAT DATE, THEY WILL BE POSTED ON TEACHER-PAY-TEACHER.  TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!

STEADY BEAT - TWEET HEARTS

Tweet Hearts
Written and Illustrated by Susan Reagan
ISBN 978-0-307-93153-5

This activity connects to the Children's Literature Connection in last week's posting -- as the book can be sung independently from the following lesson activity.

CLICK HERE TO IMMEDIATELY RETURN TO LAST WEEK'S POSTING.

Take 8 pre-cut heart shapes, laminate them and place a "Z" on the back - representing ta rest.  As you share the story with the children, tap each of the hearts to indicate each of the beats as you say each line.  The last heart will always be on the final rest of the phrase.  Lead the class to discover that the last beat of each phrase is always silent.  Once they have discovered this, turn the heart over to show the "Z" or ta rest.  Tell the children that since there is a "heart-beat" of silence, we can call this a rest.  Continue reading the story, allowing children to "hear" the silent heart at the end of each phrase.

EXTENSION 1:  Using and 8x8 grid of pre-cut heart shapes (64 hearts) will be the extension activity as we begin interpreting the rhythm patterns of each text of the story.  As you read the text, remembering to begin with "8 little hearts," tap each heart; thus, keeping a steady pulse as the story is read.  Invite students to "conduct" the hearts as you re-read the story.  Invite the class to discover where the ta rests are found.  Initially, they will find that there is a rest at the end of each line of text.  However, there are additional rests throughout the story.  Encourage students to discover where these rests are located.  You may wish to read each line of text individually a few times to assist in their decoding.  Once the rest is found, turn the heart over to reveal the "Z."

EXTENSION 2:  Once all of the beats of rest are found, go back into the text and decode each line rhythmically.  You may have to read each line several times for your students to "hear" the rhythm patterns.  I just finished doing this with "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" by Michael Hague, so my GR 1 students are ready for this challenge.  Here are the steps in the process I used and/or the words I used with my class:
     1.  "Listen to what the words say."
     2.  "I'm going to say and play what the words say."
     3.  "This time, I'm only going to play what the words say."
     4.  "This time, instead of hearing what the words say, listen to see if you hear ta's and ti-ti's."

As a final activity, invite students to play the rhythms of the story while playing the recording of Fjaskern from RHYTHMICALLY MOVING.  They will delight in the challenge as the music begins to speed up.

I have attached a copy of the handout that I will be using in my lesson plans.  The first page is simply an 8x8 heart grid.  The second page can be used once the ending rests are identified.  Either paste into a power point or SMART file or simply print and project onto your white board.  Use an erasable pen to notate rhythms as the children hear each line of text.  Invite your students to decode the rhythm patterns they here.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE TWEET HEARTS WORKSHEET.


I have also created a SMART board file.  Because of copyright limitations, the words used in the file are general.  Once you download the file, you can easily edit my text with the actual text from the story.
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE TWEET HEARTS SMART BOARD FILE.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THIS TITLE FROM AMAZON