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!!!