In keeping with our Beat the Pirates! practice incentive theme this year, we are incorporating rhythm activities into each of our monthly group piano classes. This week’s group class turned out to be quite the hit! I set up three stations and placed the students in pairs, then they rotated through each station. Here’s a snapshot of each station:
The first station included a laptop and the educational game, Compose Yourself. The students could input and then listen to a playback of each card with various rhythmic and melodic patterns. Here’s a link to the “Speghetti Song” that Stephanie and Violet created. When we all gathered back in the studio, each pair played back their composition on the laptop for the rest of our listening pleasure.
The second station was a “Familiar Tunes” challenge. An envelope was filled with slips of paper containing the names of familiar tunes. Together, the students were to see how many tunes they could pick out by ear in the allotted time. When we gathered in between the rounds, they selected and shared one that they had learned with the other groups.
The third station included a basket of rhythm instruments and the game, “Tapping Telephones.” Using the Directory cards, the students started at Level A and worked through the cards to see how many levels they could get through playing the instruments together. They shared their rhythmic accomplishment with the rest of us when we reconvened in the studio!
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Lisa says
I love these ideas for a group class, Natalie! I’ll have to check out the “Compose Yourself” game!