STEADY BEAT - TIME SIGNATURE FIREFLIES

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It's a Firefly Night
Written by Dianne Ochiltree
Illustrated by Betsy Snyder

With summer around the corner, and finding it's time to wrap up the year, I decided to spin many of my end-of-year assessments through summer titles and activities.  This story is a delightful summer tale of a little girl who goes hunting for fireflies one evening.  As she collects each firefly, the counting story continues until she runs to show daddy the collection.  Then, very carefully, she releases each firefly back into the summer night.

My second graders have been working on bar lines and time signature, so in this activity is simply a learning center where they have to put the correct number of fireflies in each jar.  Print, cut out and laminate several jars.  Each jar lid should have a time signature in the lid.  You could also do this activity using large clear plastic pickle jars.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FREE PICTURE OF A GLASS JAR.

Click on the link below and print several copies of the firefly coloring page.  On each firefly, write a single beat rhythm pattern.  Include the quarter note, the quarter rest, 2 eighth-notes connected as well as individual eighth-notes.  You can also include a firefly with the half note, half rest, whole note and whole rest - but this depends on where your children are at rhythmically.  For my students, it was important to assess connected and disconnected eighth-notes, so I have included "ti-ti" fireflies as well as "ti" fireflies.  Color and laminate each firefly and place them in the learning center.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FREE FIREFLY COLORING PAGE.

After sharing the story with the children, invite them to come to the learning center as a class.  Share with them that each jar has a specific time signature on the lid.  They are to put the correct number of fireflies in each jar to match the time signature.

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CLICK HERE FOR A BEAUTIFUL VIDEO OF FIREFLIES (this is a foreign video with subtitles - but completely instrumental).


OTHER BOOKS TO CONSIDER:

TEN FRIENDLY FIREFLIES

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THE VERY LONELY FIREFLY

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF "THE VERY LONELY FIREFLY" FROM AMAZON.


FIREFLIES!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF "FIREFLIES!" FROM AMAZON.